Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many regulations were repealed by the Department for Health in calendar years 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Answered by Philip Dunne
We do not keep a central record of all regulations introduced or repealed by the Department and to obtain that information would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many regulations were introduced by the Department for Health in calendar years 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Answered by Philip Dunne
We do not keep a central record of all regulations introduced or repealed by the Department and to obtain that information would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support GP services in (a) Sevenoaks and (b) England.
Answered by Steve Brine
It is the responsibility of local commissioners, overseen by NHS England, to ensure that general practitioner (GP) services meet the needs of local people.
In line with its strategic vision, Mapping the Future, that was approved by West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in July 2017 a Local Care Plan that describes the model of GP care, the infrastructure required and what will change for local people was published.
In this local care model, the system is organised at four different levels – general practice, cluster, local care hubs and west Kent-wide services. There are seven ‘clusters’ of general practices in West Kent. The cluster model is being implemented in three phases across the seven clusters. The Sevenoaks cluster lead GP, Dr Vicky O’Neill, is leading the development of a bid on behalf of local practices to secure GP Five-Year Forward View funding to help ensure that local GP care is sustainable.
Several practices in Sevenoaks are finalising practice premises development plans to allow them to expand their services. The Sevenoaks cluster is also working to prepare for delivering the enhanced access requirements for general practice and West Kent CCG expects the cluster to be compliant by the target date of March 2019.
In April 2016, the General Practice Forward View set out a package of investment in English general practice. This included a number of reforms which will support general practice through increased investment in general practice, recruitment and retention of GPs and the wider workforce, and investment in extended access to GP services.
By 2020 the Government has committed to supporting general practice by incrementally increasing investment up to £12 billion (an additional £2.4 billion compared to 2015/16); an additional 5,000 GPs and 5,000 other staff working in general practice; and by March 2019 everyone having access to GP services, including sufficient routine appointments at evenings and weekends to meet locally determined demand.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has increased the level of funding allocated to A&E departments, maternity units and GP surgeries in (a) England and (b) Kent in each of the last five years.
Answered by Philip Dunne
NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that information on funding for accident and emergency departments and maternity units, at both a national and local level, is not held centrally. These services are commissioned locally.
Information on funding for general practice in Kent is not held centrally. Data published by NHS Digital shows that investment in general practice has increased nationally in real terms in each year since 2012-13, as set out in the following table.
England | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
Cash terms (£ million) | 8,459.881 | 8,830.540 | 9,173.038 | 9,696.562 | 10,203.859 |
% Change |
| 4.38% | 3.88% | 5.71% | 5.23% |
Real terms (£ million) | 8,960.946 | 9,201.796 | 9,420.326 | 9,890.167 | 10,203.859 |
% Change |
| 2.69% | 2.37% | 4.99% | 3.17% |
Source: NHS Digital
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Orkambi in treating people diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.
Answered by Steve Brine
In July 2016, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the independent body that develops guidance on drugs and treatments for clinical / cost effectiveness for the National Health Service in England and Wales, did not recommend access to the Vertex drug Orkambi as although clinically significant for managing cystic fibrosis, the longer term outcomes and benefits were not sufficient to justify its considerable costs.
Since then there has been a constructive dialogue underway between the company, NHS England and NICE, including discussion hosted through NICE’s confidential ‘Office for Market Access’. Both NHS England and NICE have been consistent in advice to Vertex that progress can only be made by working through NICE appraisal processes and the existing commercial framework.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to monitor the adequacy of health and social care service provision for disabled children in England.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Health and social care services for disabled children are monitored by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted respectively. In May 2016, Ofsted and the CQC began a five-year programme of joint inspections of all local areas on their effectiveness in jointly commissioning services for children and young people with special educational needs and disability.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how the proposed reorganisation of the NHS will affect GP surgeries in Sevenoaks constituency.
Answered by Steve Brine
It is the responsibility of local commissioners, overseen by NHS England, to ensure that general practitioner (GP) services meet the needs of local people.
NHS England advises that, in line with its strategic vision, Mapping the Future, NHS West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) – which covers Sevenoaks – approved in July 2017 a Local Care Plan that describes the model of care, the infrastructure required to deliver this and what will change for people who live in west Kent. In the local care model, the system is organised at four different levels – general practice, cluster, local care hubs and west Kent-wide services. NHS England advises that there are seven ‘clusters’ of general practice in west Kent. Eight general practices form the Sevenoaks cluster; the third largest cluster in west Kent covering a registered population of 79,745.
During 2017, the CCG has, working with health and care partners, developed and started the implementation of the service specification for a core cluster level team, focusing on prevention and planned care covering four main areas: frailty, end-of-life, dementia and mental health. In line with NHS England’s GP Five Year Forward View, the CCG is also working with clusters and practices to implement local programmes to help struggling practices, reduce workload, expand the workforce and also invest in technology and estates where needed.
The cluster model is being implemented in three phases across the seven clusters. Phase 1 went live in October 2017, Phase 2 went live in November 2017 and Phase 3 is planned for April 2018. The practices in the Sevenoaks cluster were in Phase 2. More detailed information on the Local Care Plan can be found at:
http://www.westkentccg.nhs.uk/about-us/local-care-plan/
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the prevalence of young sudden cardiac death in England.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy was published in 2013. This highlighted the importance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and availability of Public Access Defibrillators (PADs).
The Community Resuscitation Steering Group, chaired by the National Clinical Director for Heart Disease at NHS England, has since encouraged campaigns to increase awareness of CPR and availability of PADs.
In order to further support the National Health Service and local communities, the Government provided £2 million to make public access defibrillators more widely available and to increase the numbers of people trained in CPR.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to promote and develop heart-screening programmes in England, and what research his Department is funding on reduction of the prevalence of young sudden cardiac death.
Answered by Steve Brine
Both the Fetal Anomaly and the Newborn and Infant Physical Examination screening programme offer heart screening to detect abnormalities early, however not all abnormalities can be identified.
In 2015 the UK National Screening Committee reviewed the evidence for screening for major causes of sudden cardiac death in young people between the ages of 12 to 39 and recommended that screening should not be offered.
The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including young sudden cardiac death; it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity. The NIHR does not currently fund any research on reducing the prevalence of young sudden cardiac death.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contact his Department has made with the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young; and how his Department is supporting that charity.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department is in regular dialogue with organisations concerned with the health and wellbeing of those with, and at risk of, heart conditions. Cardiac Risk in the Young is a registered stakeholder of the UK National Screening Committee and has actively taken part in consultations as well as stakeholder events. The Department is aware of the important work that the charity does to reduce the frequency of young sudden cardiac deaths, particularly in their funding of clinical and pathology research.