Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of dental appointments for patients in (a) Lowestoft and (b) the East of England.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
NHS East of England are working with stakeholders to amend the Directory of Service to improve pathways for urgent patients to urgent dental centres and dental practices across the East of England. In addition, a web-based programme called ‘Service Finder’ has recently been launched which provides up-to-date information about services that are available locally to a potential patient. A Transformational Dental Strategy has also been developed in the East of England, the aim of which is to prioritise urgent care, prevention and inequalities. Plans to procure additional primary care dental services across Suffolk, Norfolk and Waveney are currently being reviewed.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve (a) the recruitment and retention of NHS dentists and (b) access to those dentists in England.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet local need and the interim NHS People Plan commits to addressing shortages.
We are working both on improving career pathways and the current dental contract. In the summer, Health Education England will publish the report of their ‘Advancing Dental Care’ programme which has explored opportunities for flexible dental training pathways and the Department will publish a report on the learning from dental contract reform programme. NHS England and NHS Improvement have been asked to lead the next stage of dental contract reform to design implementable proposals taking the learning from reform programme into account.
National Health Service dentists have been asked to maximise safe throughput, focussing first on urgent care and vulnerable groups followed by overdue appointments. This has been underpinned, taking into account current infection prevention and control guidelines, by the requirement for dental providers to deliver 60% of normal activity volumes for the first six months of 2021/22 for full payment of the NHS contractual value.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 covid-19 testing kits available to close relatives of extremely vulnerable people that are presenting symptoms.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Testing is available to all symptomatic people across the whole of the United Kingdom. Anyone with any of the three main coronavirus symptoms should self-isolate and access a test as soon as possible, this includes those who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable.
Where a person is exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms but cannot order a test for themselves, there is the ability for a member of their family or community to order a test on their behalf. Should their condition worsen they should call 111, their own general practitioner or in the event of a medical emergency, 999.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities have access to adequate data on air pollution and its associated health risks in order to make informed policy decisions.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the Government’s Clean Air Strategy, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committed to making local and national monitoring data accessible from a single location to help local authorities make informed policy decisions. These data can be viewed at the following link:
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs also provides calculation tools to support local authorities in their monitoring and modelling efforts at the following link:
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that surgery after-care equipment is (a) collected from patients when it is no longer needed and (b) reused when in pristine condition in order to reduce costs.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
There is a responsibility on National Health Service trusts to make the very best use of all resources and items where they are safely and legally reusable and returnable.
The policy on the return of equipment is a matter for each individual NHS trust. The policy should be included in the trust’s Sustainable Development Management Plan (SDMP). The publication of a trust’s SDMP is a requirement under Service Condition 18 of the NHS Standard Contract. This should be available for inspection by any member of the public.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish details of the scope of the planned consultation on social care.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
We will work to address the challenges of social care for our ageing population, bringing forward proposals for consultation to build widespread support.
We will provide further details on the next steps on social care in due course.
The Government is committed to listening to people’s views on how to reform the social care system, to ensure it is sustainable for current and future generations and that the quality of care improves. Further information on this will be made available shortly.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 consult with (a) disabled people, (b) carers and (c) social care providers during the planned consultation on social care.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
We will work to address the challenges of social care for our ageing population, bringing forward proposals for consultation to build widespread support.
The Government wants to hear a range of views from members of the public, representative groups, commissioners, providers, those using services and carers as its shapes its thinking.
This is why we have set out our intention to consult and will set out more detail shortly.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to share best practice in care for people with a lung condition.
Answered by Steve Brine
This is a matter for NHS England. The National Clinical Director for respiratory disease shares best practice in care for people with a lung condition by working with relevant stakeholders including the British Lung Foundation and the NHS Right Care Programme. Examples of current activity include:
- NHS Right Care is developing an evidence based pathway for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in close collaboration with National Clinical Directors, Public Health England, Royal Colleges, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and other non-statutory stakeholders including patient groups;
- The Best Practice Tariff for COPD is now in place and aims to improve the quality of care by reducing unwarranted variation and promoting best practice; and
- NHS England is funding a large national audit of COPD as well as the Respiratory Futures programme hosted by the British Thoracic Society, a resource to support innovation and sharing of best practice on respiratory conditions. In addition, an asthma audit has been agreed and a specification is currently being developed.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support research into lung disease.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a wide range of research on this topic. Expenditure by the NIHR on respiratory disease research, including research into lung disease, has increased by over two thirds from £15.7 million in 2009/10 to £26.7 million in 2015/16 (the latest available figure).
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including lung disease. These 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.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who is accountable for monitoring and evaluating the long-term outcomes of the implementation of NICE and NHS England changes to the arrangements for evaluating and funding drugs which will come into effect on 1 April 2017.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England have committed to review the impact of the changes to the arrangements for the assessment and adoption of new treatments three years after their implementation.