Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2023 to Question 126505 on Community Diagnosis Centres: Royston, whether the Cambridge and Peterborough Integrated Care Board will make decisions on primary care facilities in Royston.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board is responsible for making commissioning decisions on primary care facilities in Royston.
All integrated care boards (ICBs) have been responsible for commissioning primary medical services since they were established on 1 July 2022. NHS England plans to delegate additional responsibility for ICBs to commission dentistry, eyecare and pharmacy services from April 2023.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans for a new health centre, including for diagnostics, for (a) Royston and (b) the surrounding area; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
Locations of new community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are determined by each integrated care system based on a detailed review of a range of factors, including accessibility for the most deprived local populations and through discussions with relevant local stakeholders. West Essex Community Diagnostic Centre will be opening in 2024 to increase diagnostic capacity and reduce waiting times, with state of the art equipment to deliver non obstetric ultrasound, x-ray, phlebotomy and point of care tests. Once fully operational, the CDC plans to deliver up to 115,157 scans, tests and checks a year. It is for Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board to determine whether a CDC is needed in Royston.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of hospital stays of more than two months for children in each of the last three years for which records are available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The following table shows the number of hospital stays where the duration was greater than 60 days for patients aged between 0 and 17 years old in each of the last three years where data is available. Data for 2021/22 is currently being collated and centrally validated.
2018/19 | 4,598 |
2019/20 | 4,562 |
2020/21 | 3,894 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commit additional funding for clinical trials on the repurposing of drugs to treat Epidermolysis Bullosa; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Morris
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). While the usual practice of the NIHR is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics, the NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of health or care research, including trials for the repurposing of drugs for conditions such as Epidermolysis Bullosa. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospitals follow the sepsis six care pathway approach; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The information requested is not held centrally. However, all 29 pathology networks in the National Health Service in England have the capability to undertake the tests required to support the diagnosis of sepsis. Healthcare providers are encouraged to adopt the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) which supports clinicians to identify and respond to patients at risk of acute deterioration, including those with suspected sepsis. Since 2019, NEWS2 has been implemented in 100% of ambulance trusts and all except one acute trust in England.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for a satellite radiotherapy centre for Hertfordshire.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Hertfordshire radiotherapy service is provided by East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust from a specialised cancer centre in Northwood in North Middlesex. The cancer service is not clinically sustainable on its present site and a review is underway to relocate the services, including radiotherapy.
Final options are expected to be decided in April 2021 before the public consultation, which is expected to start from June 2021, dependent on receiving confirmation that capital funding will be available, and a decision expected next autumn.
No capital funding has been identified for either a satellite radiotherapy centre or the relocation of the main centre.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of cancer patients receiving treatment at Mount Vernon Hospital live in Hertfordshire.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of November 2020, 44% of cancer patients receiving treatment at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre live in Hertfordshire. In 2019/20, 32% of activity on the Mount Vernon site was from West Hertfordshire or the Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group area and 12% from East and North Hertfordshire.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make a decision on the future of Mount Vernon cancer centre.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Hertfordshire radiotherapy service is provided by East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust from a specialised cancer centre in Northwood in North Middlesex. The cancer service is not clinically sustainable on its present site and a review is underway to relocate the services, including radiotherapy. Final options are expected to be decided in April 2021 before the public consultation which is expected to start from June 2021 and a decision expected next autumn.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on waiting lists for CAMHS.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
There is broad consensus that there is the potential for an increase in demand for children and young people’s mental health services as a result of the effects of the pandemic. We are working with the National Health Service and a wide range of stakeholders to assess potential need over the coming weeks and months and to plan accordingly.
Mental health services are still open and working to support people with mental health issues through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Our community, talking therapies and children and young people’s services have deployed innovative digital tools to connect with people and provide ongoing support.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the speed of growth within Cambridgeshire on local health services.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
NHS England is responsible for decisions on the weighted capitation formula used to allocate resources between clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). This process is independent of Government. NHS England takes advice from the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA), a group of academics and other experts.
NHS England published five-year CCG allocations 2019/20 to 2023/24 on 8 February 2019 at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/ccg-allocations-2019-20-to-2023-24-core-services/
In making these allocations, NHS England accepted all recommendations made by ACRA, including changes in the way population estimates and projections are used. NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s revenue allocation is based on the actual average registered population in the 12 months to October 2018, which was 967,902. Using population growth rates estimated by the Office for National Statistics, the allocations include an estimated population growth to 973,472 in 2019-20 (0.62% growth). We continue this approach throughout the allocations period so that by 2023-24 we assume a population of 992,432, equivalent to an average growth of 0.50% per annum over the period.