Asked by: Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in the North West were on the waiting list to receive a kidney transplant in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The information requested is found in the table below.
United Kingdom kidney only transplant list, 31 March 2012-2016 | |||||
Area | March-2012 | March-2013 | March-2014 | March-2015 | March-2016 |
North West1 | 712 | 688 | 700 | 697 | 603 |
UK (including North West) | 6,417 | 6,114 | 5,662 | 5,468 | 5,081 |
Source: NHS Blood and Transplant
1 Former North West Strategic Health Authority area (Lancashire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Merseyside)
Asked by: Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS trusts used agency doctors from other countries in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The information requested is not held by the Department.
Asked by: Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of drug-related visits to accident and emergency units involved the use of legal highs in the last six months.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
This information is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the obesity rate is in Lancashire.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Obesity is commonly presented as prevalence. The most recent data available from the Active People Survey shows that between 2012 and 2014 24.0% of adults in Lancashire were obese. This is the same as the average for England.
Data from the National Child Measurement Programme show that for the academic year 2014/15 in Lancashire 9.4% of children in Reception aged 4-5 years were obese; similar to the English average (9.1%). For children aged 10-11 year in Year 6, 18.4% were obese; similar to the value for England (19.1%). Data for 2015/16 is not available.
Asked by: Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to support Royal Blackburn Hospital's accident and emergency department.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The provision of accident and emergency services at the Royal Blackburn Hospital is a matter for the local National Health Service.
The Pennine Lancashire System Resilience Group is responsible for overseeing system performance and the effective delivery of urgent and emergency care locally.
We are making additional resources available to the NHS to deal with increased demand, by backing the NHS Five Year Forward View with £10 billion a year real terms additional funding by 2020-21, compared to 2014-15, and £3.8 billion real terms growth in 2016-17.
Asked by: Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the potential loss of jobs which would arise from closure of the Calderstones hospital.
Answered by Ben Gummer
No estimate has been made. These are matters for the local National Health Service.
Asked by: Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of the change in student funding for nurses on the number of people applying to study nursing; and what the potential effect on the NHS will be.
Answered by Ben Gummer
A preliminary Economic Impact Assessment and Equality Analysis was published alongside the public consultation launched on 7 April 2016.
The Government assessment shows that nursing is consistently one of the most popular courses on University Central Administration Service with 57,000 applicants for around 20,000 nursing places in 2014. Midwifery and Allied Health Professional courses receive higher than average applications as well.
Asked by: Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to improve breast cancer survival rates for women in England.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020, in July last year, recommending improvements across the cancer patient pathway, including for breast cancer. An implementation plan, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: Taking the strategy forward, was published on 12 May 2016 and we hope to see great progress as it is delivered.
On breast cancer specifically, the cancer strategy recommended that we:
- ensure that chemo-prevention is being used appropriately to reduce the risk of developing breast cancers, particularly in younger women at high risk of developing cancer;
- commission the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop updated guidelines for adjuvant treatment for breast cancer, including the use of bisphosphonates and aromatase inhibitors to prevent secondary cancers in women previously treated for early stage breast cancer;
- ensure that all patients treated for cancer are given advice on how best to manage their risk level and ensure that the risk of developing secondary cancers is reduced, as well as ensuring that there is a fast and efficient route back into treatment for patients who suffer recurrence; and
- ensure that, by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person, live well beyond cancer, including psychological and social support for those whose cancer recurs, or who live for a long time with cancer or its consequences, as is often the case in women with secondary breast cancer.
More generally on breast cancer:
- in the Budget earlier this year, the Chancellor announced that Breast Cancer Care is to receive a £1 million Tampon Tax Fund gift to support women at the end of treatment;
- we have run two national Be Clear on Cancer campaigns to raise awareness of the symptoms of breast cancer in women aged over 70; and
- breast screening saves an estimated 1,300 lives a year in the United Kingdom. A major randomised controlled trial is testing whether extending breast screening to women aged 47-49 and 71-73 will save more lives. Over two million women have been randomised into the trial, and results are expected in the early 2020s.
Asked by: Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the cumulative effect of tobacco control measures on small retailers over the last 10 years.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Department assesses the impact of all proposed measures before laying legislation using standard government methodology. These assessments are set out in Impact Assessments which are scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee before publication alongside the Statutory Instrument. Impact Assessments specifically look at the impacts on small and micro businesses.
The Department assesses the impact of tobacco control measures on an ongoing basis as it develops policy and considers new measures. In September 2013, the Department published An Audit of the impact of the Department of Health’s Regulations upon business. A copy of the report is attached. The Audit report covered all regulations for which the Department has responsibility believed to have a potential cost to business, including those relating to tobacco control. As advised in the report, there is a robust cost-benefit case for the tobacco control regulations considered and experience shows that initiatives to reduce smoking prevalence work best in combination, with cumulative effects over time.
Asked by: Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to work with Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust following the closure of Chorley Accident and Emergency unit.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The Department is concerned about the current situation at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital and is actively monitoring developments. These matters, including recruitment, are for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as employer, and NHS Improvement as regulator. The Trust has not asked the Department for any support in resolving these issues.