Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2017 to Question 65172, if he will publish a list of NICE-approved treatments that NHS England forecast would have a high budget impact in any of the first three years of their use, including the actual budget impact of those treatments in each year.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The changes to technology appraisals and highly specialised technologies are being implemented for topics with a first evidence submission to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) after 1 April. It is therefore too soon for products assessed under the new arrangements to have received final guidance from NICE.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mechanisms there are to ensure that local authorities and clinical commissioning groups meet their statutory duty to provide free aftercare under Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Mental Health Act 1983 Code of Practice, which provides statutory guidance on the operation of the Mental Health Act is clear that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and local authorities are legally required to provide or arrange aftercare for patients who have been detained in hospital for treatment under certain sections of the Act.
CCGs have to provide assurance that they are meeting their statutory duties. Where there are concerns that a CCG is not meeting those duties, NHS England may ask for further information or an explanation from the CCG and take such action as appropriate.
Local authorities are independent bodies accountable to their electorate and have a legal obligation to fulfil a range of statutory duties to provide key services. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government can request an inspection under section 10 and intervene under section 15 of the Local Government Act 1999 where there is clear evidence that an authority is failing either to discharge its functions adequately or meet its statutory obligations.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were in receipt of free aftercare under section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
This information is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2016 to Question 51566, what discussion he has had with the (a) Chancellor of the Exchequer, (b) Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and (c) Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on whether an assessment should be made of the potential additional cost pressures of the National Living Wage on learning disability service providers' wage budgets in relation to sleep-in shifts.
Answered by David Mowat
My ministerial colleagues and I discuss a range of care issues; no assessment has been made specifically pertaining to sleep-in shifts as we do not collect data on the extent of sleep-overs.
We work with the care sector to understand challenges and support local authorities to meet their obligations in regard to wages under the Care Act 2014.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 level of cost pressures on learning disability service provider wage budgets arising from the application of the national living wage to sleep-in shifts.
Answered by David Mowat
No assessment has been made as we do not collect data on the extent of sleep-overs, so are not in a position to estimate costs.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities must have regard to fostering an effective workforce with the appropriate capabilities when shaping their local markets. The Act and its statutory guidance make clear that prices and fee rates agreed with providers must reflect these duties.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of supported housing in helping people with acute mental illnesses recover and live independently.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Department has made no formal assessment of the potential benefits of supported housing in helping older people with support needs and those living with acute mental illness to live independently. However, the Department’s work in this area is underpinned by a variety of evidence – including a report commissioned by the Homes and Communities Agency, Financial benefits of investment in specialist housing for vulnerable and older people (2010), which provides a useful overview. This is based on a review of literature, and is split by different client groups including older people and those living with a mental health condition.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of supported housing in helping older people with support needs to live independently and stay out of hospital.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Department has made no formal assessment of the potential benefits of supported housing in helping older people with support needs and those living with acute mental illness to live independently. However, the Department’s work in this area is underpinned by a variety of evidence – including a report commissioned by the Homes and Communities Agency, Financial benefits of investment in specialist housing for vulnerable and older people (2010), which provides a useful overview. This is based on a review of literature, and is split by different client groups including older people and those living with a mental health condition.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what area in the East of England is covered by each NHS dentistry contract commissioned between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014; what the start and finish dates are of each contract area in the East of England; what the value of each such contract is; and how many units of dental activity were (a) contracted to be completed and (b) completed under each contract between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014.
Answered by Dan Poulter
I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 3 September 2014, Official Report, column 238W. The table placed in the Library with that answer includes information from the NHS England area teams that cover the former East of England Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area: Essex, East Anglia and Hertfordshire and the South Midlands. Note, however, that Hertfordshire and the South Midlands area team covers Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes, which are outside the East of England SHA area.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of NHS dentistry contracts in place in the East of England between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014; and what the (a) name and (b) location was of each provider.
Answered by Dan Poulter
I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 3 September 2014, Official Report, column 238W. The table placed in the Library with that answer includes information from the NHS England area teams that cover the former East of England Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area: Essex, East Anglia and Hertfordshire and the South Midlands. Note, however, that Hertfordshire and the South Midlands area team covers Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes, which are outside the East of England SHA area.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of NHS dentistry contracts that were in place between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014; and what the (a) name and (b) location was of each provider.
Answered by Dan Poulter
A table has been placed in the Library which sets out the number of dental contracts reported to the NHS Business Services Authority as in place between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014, the name of the contract holder and the area in which the contract is held. The table includes start and, where applicable, finish dates. It also shows the contract value, commissioned and completed units of dental activity and units of orthodontic activity.