Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has commissioned or published reports on the use of medicinal cannabis.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Department of Health part funded the Cannabinoid Use in Progressive Inflammatory brain Disease study through the National Institute for Health Research’s (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme. The report of this study was published in February 2015 and is available on the NIHR Journals Library website at:
http://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/hta/volume-19/issue-12#abstract
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to implement a pay award for nursing staff in line with the retail price index.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Government makes its determinations on pay awards informed by recommendations from the independent NHS Pay Review Body (NHS PRB).
The Retail Price Index was discontinued as a national statistic. Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) is a standard measure for understanding changes in earnings in the context of inflation. It is used widely to determine a measure of the real value of earnings and is used by the Bank of England for its 2% inflation target. CPI is an internationally recognised inflation tracker which the independent Pay Review Body also recognise.
We look forward to receiving this year's NHS PRB report shortly.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to restructure the most junior Agenda for Change pay bands to (a) pay the living wage and (b) maintain pay differentials.
Answered by Philip Dunne
It is the Government’s policy that employees should be paid at least the statutory National Living Wage (NLW) introduced in April 2016 and this is the case for all National Health Service staff. NHS trades unions and NHS Employers continue to work in partnership to consider the impact of the NLW on the lowest pay bands within the Agenda for Change pay structure to ensure that staff continue to receive equal pay for work of equal value.
Based on the current Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts, the NLW is unlikely to affect Agenda for Change staff in 2018/19 or 2019/20.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of recent UCAS statistics showing a 23 per cent reduction in applications to nursing courses; and what steps he is taking to increase the number of nursing graduates.
Answered by Philip Dunne
At this stage of the application cycle, based on the data the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service published on 2 February, Health Education England (HEE) is confident that the National Health Service will be able to fill the number of nursing and midwifery training places in England.
HEE has increased nurse training commissions by nearly 15% over the last three years and is forecasting that up to 40,000 additional nurses could be available to the NHS by 2020.
In addition to the increase in training commissions, HEE has also implemented a number of steps to increase nurse numbers within the NHS. These include:
- proactively promoting the Return to Practice programme, aimed at encouraging previously qualified nurses that have left the NHS, to update their skills and qualifications and return to practice within the NHS;
- the provision of flexible routes into nursing for pre-existing support staff; and
- working closely with universities to improve attrition rates from courses which will further increase the number of nursing students who graduate.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on increasing the number of nursing graduates.
Answered by Philip Dunne
At this stage of the application cycle, based on the data the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service published on 2 February, Health Education England (HEE) is confident that the National Health Service will be able to fill the number of nursing and midwifery training places in England.
HEE has increased nurse training commissions by nearly 15% over the last three years and is forecasting that up to 40,000 additional nurses could be available to the NHS by 2020.
In addition to the increase in training commissions, HEE has also implemented a number of steps to increase nurse numbers within the NHS. These include:
- proactively promoting the Return to Practice programme, aimed at encouraging previously qualified nurses that have left the NHS, to update their skills and qualifications and return to practice within the NHS;
- the provision of flexible routes into nursing for pre-existing support staff; and
- working closely with universities to improve attrition rates from courses which will further increase the number of nursing students who graduate.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the NHS has been of purchasing opioid painkillers in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The net ingredient cost (NIC) to the National Health Service of opiod painkillers of items prescribed in the United Kingdom and dispensed in England in each of the last 10 years is provided in the following table:
Cost of British National Formulary 4.7.2 opioid analgesics to the NHS, by primary and secondary care, in England, 2005-15
Year | Primary Care1 NIC (£, '000s) | Secondary Care2 Cost (£, '000s) | Total Cost (£, '000s) |
2005 | 143,536.2 | 29,363.3 | 172,899.5 |
2006 | 177,677.2 | 31,384.3 | 209,061.4 |
2007 | 205,366.0 | 33,222.7 | 238,588.7 |
2008 | 212,354.8 | 33,118.0 | 245,472.9 |
2009 | 237,768.2 | 34,574.2 | 272,342.4 |
2010 | 265,503.1 | 34,972.6 | 300,475.7 |
2011 | 267,642.6 | 34,172.7 | 301,815.3 |
2012 | 272,440.2 | 34,601.4 | 307,041.6 |
2013 | 289,751.8 | 34,650.3 | 324,402.0 |
2014 | 304,771.2 | 34,666.6 | 339,437.8 |
2015 | 313,531.6 | 35,376.5 | 348,908.2 |
Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA); IMS HEALTH 2016: Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index
Notes:
1 NIC is the basic cost of a drug. It does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charge income.
2 The cost of the medicines at NHS list price and not necessarily the price the hospital paid. May include drugs dispensed via hospital pharmacies to private patients in private wards within NHS hospitals.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost has been to the NHS of purchasing benzodiazepine in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by David Mowat
The cost to the National Health Service of benzodiazepine drugs1 prescribed and dispensed to patients in England is shown in the table.
Year | Primary care net ingredient cost2 £k | Secondary care cost3 £k | Total cost £k |
2005 | 24,633.2 | 5,491.3 | 30,124.5 |
2006 | 33,367.9 | 6,007.9 | 39,375.8 |
2007 | 46,557.3 | 6,789.5 | 53,346.8 |
2008 | 52,839.3 | 6,879.3 | 59,718.6 |
2009 | 55,000.9 | 6,072.4 | 61,073.3 |
2010 | 57,160.8 | 5,353.9 | 62,514.7 |
2011 | 46,968.0 | 5,069.9 | 52,037.9 |
2012 | 44,828.6 | 5,831.6 | 50,660.1 |
2013 | 81,221.7 | 6,799.1 | 88,020.7 |
2014 | 66,409.4 | 7,273.1 | 73,682.6 |
2015 | 55,886.6 | 7,423.8 | 63,310.5 |
Source: Prescription Cost Analysis and Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index © IMS HEALTH 2016 provided by NHS Digital
1 Includes alprazolam, chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride, clobazam, clonazepam, diazepam, flurazepam hydrochloride, loprazolam mesilate, lorazepam, lormetazepam, midazolam hydrochloride, midazolam maleate, nitrazepam, oxazepam, temazepam.
2 Net ingredient cost is the basic cost of a drug. It does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charge income.
3 The cost of the medicines at NHS list price and not necessarily the price the hospital paid. May include drugs dispensed via hospital pharmacies to private patients in private wards within NHS hospitals.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost has been to the NHS of purchasing anti-depressants in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by David Mowat
The cost to the National Health Service of antidepressant drugs1 prescribed and dispensed to patients in England is shown in the table.
Year | Primary care net ingredient cost2 £k | Secondary care cost3 £k | Total cost £k |
2005 | 338,546.7 | 16,907.9 | 355,454.6 |
2006 | 291,511.4 | 14,112.4 | 305,623.8 |
2007 | 276,107.6 | 12,496.8 | 288,604.4 |
2008 | 247,355.1 | 11,360.6 | 258,715.7 |
2009 | 230,062.9 | 9,816.0 | 239,878.8 |
2010 | 220,372.8 | 8,223.5 | 228,596.3 |
2011 | 270,177.2 | 7,819.4 | 277,996.6 |
2012 | 211,145.4 | 7,453.6 | 218,599.0 |
2013 | 282,121.6 | 8,708.9 | 290,830.5 |
2014 | 265,003.7 | 8,901.4 | 273,905.1 |
2015 | 284,745.6 | 9,232.8 | 293,978.4 |
Source: Prescription Cost Analysis and Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index © IMS HEALTH 2016 provided by NHS Digital
1 For primary care, antidepressant drugs are defined as those listed in the British National Formulary (BNF) section 4.3 using the classification prior to edition 70. For secondary care, data on all drugs listed in BNF section 4.3 have been extracted from the Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index.
2 Net ingredient cost is the basic cost of a drug. It does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charge income.
3 The cost of the medicines at NHS list price and not necessarily the price the hospital paid. May include drugs dispensed via hospital pharmacies to private patients in private wards within NHS hospitals.