Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Shipley to her predecessor, dated 27 September 2023.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Lord Markham) replied to the hon. Member on 20 November 2023.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
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 levels of productivity in the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
The most recent indicator of National Health Service productivity comes from the January to March 2023 Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) quarterly total public sector productivity measure, which is available at the following link:
This measure doesn’t specifically identify health productivity but as health is around 40% of the measure, it is an indication of health productivity. The latest figures for January to March 2023 showed public service productivity was 11.6% above the average 2020/21 level suggesting NHS productivity is recovering.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the level of capacity in the independent health sector which can be used to help reduce waiting times in the NHS; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The Elective Recovery Taskforce heard that service planning in the independent sector, including to help reduce waiting times, is best informed by close working relationships with local systems and confidence in patient flows. To better inform planning and capacity utilisation in the independent sector, we are working with NHS England to enhance the patient choice offer. At the point of referral, patients will be actively offered a list of providers, including local independent sector providers, which are clinically appropriate for their condition.
From October 2023, all patients waiting over 40 weeks who have not had a first outpatient appointment booked, or where a decision to treat a patient has been made but the patient does not have a date for their treatment, will be able to initiate a request to transfer to another provider via the Patient Initiated Digital Mutual Aid System. This will include independent sector providers where appropriate.
To reduce waiting times for diagnostic tests, NHS England recently announced 13 Community Diagnostic Centres run by the independent sector, creating capacity, and enabling treatments to be started sooner.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
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 11 September to Question 197441 on Surgery: Shipley, in what format the is data held.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Data for elective referrals is collected and published in official statistics by NHS England, but none match the format of the data requested. Referrals particularly are not counted or recorded for “surgery” specifically but to see a consultant which may result in treatment including surgery.
Published referral to treatment statistics show, amongst other things, the number of referrals for National Health Service-funded care that resulted in elective inpatient treatment and can be disaggregated at NHS provider, independent provider, commissioner & integrated care board level geographies, but not at a constituency or general practitioner (GP) level. The monthly outpatient referrals data shows the number of referrals for an NHS funded outpatient appointment and can also be disaggregated at the provider level, including both NHS and independent. The annual hospital episode statistics (HES) publications include the total number of admissions by provider.
Furthermore, NHS England can provide from HES data a count of Finished Admission Episodes by GP practice with an elective admission where the patient was resident in the Shipley parliamentary constituency and the placement was NHS funded for the period 2018/19 to 2022/23. However, this is a count of activity rather than of referrals, namely a demand metric.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average hourly pay for NHS consultants is (a) on a typical day and (b) when covering strike action.
Answered by Will Quince
Within the NHS Staff Earnings Estimates collection, NHS England publishes annual earnings estimates for staff working in Hospital and Community Health Services. This shows the estimated average annual full-time basic pay for National Health Service consultants is £105,484 for the 12 months to March 2023, giving an average hourly basic pay for NHS consultants of £50.57 per hour.
The Department does not hold data on the average hourly pay for NHS consultants when covering strike action.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of healthcare professional regulators; and if he will take steps to consolidate them.
Answered by Will Quince
In 2021 the Government commissioned a review of the number of healthcare regulators, considering whether opportunities exist for simplifying the landscape. There are no current plans to reduce the number of healthcare professional regulators, but the Government is committed to reforming the system of regulation for healthcare professionals in the UK, making it faster, fairer, more flexible, and less adversarial.
A modernised regulatory framework will be introduced first for anaesthesia associates and physician associates, who will be brought into regulation under the General Medical Council by the end of 2024, before the reformed legislation is rolled out to doctors, and to the professions regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Health and Care Professions Council over the following couple of years.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to introudce a cap on the cost of agency workers in the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
The Agency Rules include price caps on the total amount a trust can pay per hour for an agency worker. Trusts should not pay more than this amount except in exceptional patient safety circumstances.
Additionally, the 2023/24 NHS Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance states that NHS England must reduce agency spending across the National Health Service to 3.7% of the total pay bill in 2023/24
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the (a) number of people directly employed by, (b) freelancers and (c) consultants in each of the health and care regulators in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department does not hold information regarding the number of people employed, or the basis of that employment, within each health and care regulator. Healthcare regulators are independent from the Government.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals for elective surgery were made by each GP surgery in Shipley constituency and funded through the NHS which were made to (a) the NHS and (b) independent health providers in each of the last five years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The data is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of (a) board members and (b) employees of the Care Quality Commission have previous experience in the sectors that they regulate.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are currently 11 members of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Board, of whom eight are non-executive members appointed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and three are executive members appointed by the non-executive members.
Of those 11 members, all but two have experience in the sectors that CQC regulates. Details of board members’ experience can be found on CQC’s website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/our-board
CQC does not hold data centrally to give the number and proportion of employees with previous experience in the sectors they regulate.