Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an estimate of the real-terms value of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s £30,000 Quality-Adjusted Life Year threshold since its introduction in 1999.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) considers the overall resources available to the National Health Service when determining whether an intervention represents value for money. Therefore, decisions about a new technology must consider the implications for healthcare programmes for other patient groups that may be displaced by the adoption of the new technology, and the opportunity cost, including those programmes or technologies not evaluated by NICE. NICE’s threshold represents the opportunity cost to the NHS of recommending a new technology. Empirical evidence suggests that the actual opportunity cost is closer to £15,000 per Quality Adjusted Life Year gained. Considering the real terms value of the NICE’s threshold is therefore not directly relevant because it represents the opportunity cost to the NHS.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an assessment. We believe the duties of such a role are covered by work elsewhere in the system. For instance, the Chief Nurse champions and raises the profile of nursing in social care and works alongside the Chief Social Worker for Adults, to increase the recognition and appreciation of all social workers in the care sector.
Baroness Casey, as part of the independent commission, has been tasked to start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families should expect from adult social care.
The commission is tasked with producing tangible, pragmatic recommendations that can be implemented in a phased way over a decade. It will aim to make adult social care more productive, preventative, and to give people who draw on care, and their families and carers, more power in the system. Baroness Casey will report on medium-term recommendations in 2026, and longer-term recommendations by 2028.
The 10-Year Health Plan will also set the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs, including for older people. It will set out how to support and enable health and social care services, and wider services, to work together better to provide that joined-up care.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 all Integrated Care Boards offer (a) three full cycles of IVF to women under 40 who have not conceived after two years of regular unprotected intercourse or 12 cycles of artificial insemination and (b) one full cycle of IVF to women aged 40 to 42 who meet the same criteria.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the light of broader pressures on the National Health Service and on-going changes within NHS England, we have been looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to fertility services and fairness for all affected couples.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is currently reviewing their guidelines, Fertility problems: assessment and treatment, which will be the clinical standards for the future NHS offer.
The Department is also considering how best to support integrated care boards to improve their local offer.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 (a) that Integrated Care Boards are (i) required and (ii) resourced to deliver fertility services in accordance with NICE guidelines entitled Fertility problems: assessment and treatment, published on 20 February 2013 and (b) equality of access to fertility treatments across England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the light of broader pressures on the National Health Service and on-going changes within NHS England, we have been looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to fertility services and fairness for all affected couples.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is currently reviewing their guidelines, Fertility problems: assessment and treatment, which will be the clinical standards for the future NHS offer.
The Department is also considering how best to support integrated care boards to improve their local offer.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has received (a) evidence and (b) data from the life sciences industry on increasing the NHS medicines budget.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We regularly engage with the life sciences sector to understand what the latest data and evidence shows about the impact of Government policies on patient outcomes, innovation, and growth, including through the ongoing Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access, and Growth mid scheme review. We take all evidence we receive seriously and, alongside our own analysis and patient engagement, use this to refine our policy thinking. Decisions on the size of the medicines budget are, therefore, taken in the round considering the overall needs of the health system as well as the impact on the sector.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of prescription medication that is wasted.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has made data, tools, and resources available to integrated care boards (ICBs), primary care networks, and general practices following the 2021 overprescribing review. These include a National Medicines Optimisation Opportunity dashboard for ICBs, a Polypharmacy Comparators dashboard, an Oversupply Dashboard for general practice and primary care networks, and an Opioid Prescribing Comparators dashboard.
The overprescribing review set out a series of practical and cultural changes to ensure patients are receiving the most appropriate treatment for their needs, while ensuring clinicians’ time is well spent and taxpayer money is spent wisely. The recommendations aim to support National Health Service systems to highlight variation, identify opportunities for medicines optimisation improvement, and support ongoing monitoring.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that a full blood count is (a) categorised as a core diagnostic service and (b) available at all community diagnostic centres.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Blood tests, particularly full blood count (FBC) tests, are among the most commonly requested diagnostic investigations across primary and secondary care, and are readily available across all 27 National Health Service pathology networks. FBC tests play a vital role in detecting and monitoring a wide range of conditions, and as such, FBCs are essential to timely diagnosis and treatment planning across multiple clinical pathways.
Phlebotomy, the procedure to collect blood samples, is widely available across general practice, community health services, and secondary care phlebotomy clinics, supporting equitable access to essential blood testing.
Phlebotomy is also a core service provided by all standard and large community diagnostic centres (CDCs). CDCs are designed to deliver a range of high-volume, low-complexity diagnostic tests, including common blood tests such as FBCs, closer to patients’ homes.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to announce further steps to help reduce waiting times for mental health treatment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Nationally, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Young Futures hubs in every community.
Despite the challenging fiscal environment, the Government has chosen to prioritise the funding to deliver expansions of NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement & Support schemes, demonstrating our commitment to addressing the root cause of mental health issues and providing support for people with severe mental illness to contribute to the economy by remaining in or returning to work.
In addition, people of all ages who are in crisis or who are concerned about a family or loved one can now call NHS111, select the mental health option, and speak to a trained mental health professional. National Health Service staff can guide callers with next steps such as organising face-to-face community support or facilitating access to alternative services, like crisis cafés or safe havens, which provide a place for people to stay as an alternative to accident and emergency or a hospital admission.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 help ensure that GPs are able to access their pension information.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Pension Scheme members, including general practitioners (GPs), can access information about their pension via My NHS Pension, an online portal from the NHS Pension Service, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/my-nhs-pension
To provide accurate pension information for practitioners, the NHS Business Services Authority needs a fully up to date record in respect of their NHS Pension Scheme membership. This means practitioners must submit their Annual Certificate(s) of Pensionable Profits to Primary Care Support England (PCSE), so that PCSE can keep their record updated.
PCSE launched the PCSE Online GP Pensions system in 2021 to provide GPs and practices with greater convenience, and more transparency and security when it comes to their pension contributions data. Supporting GPs to accurately submit current and historic Type 1 or Type 2 annual certificates remains a priority for NHS England and PCSE. Since the PCSE Online solution for submitting Type 1 and Type 2 certificates electronically went live in 2021, PCSE have developed user guides and held webinars to educate GPs on how to complete forms accurately.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 potential impact of closing Long Covid clinics on patients with Post-Covid syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services for people with long COVID. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local need and priorities, and to improve outcomes.
NHS England has recently completed a long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), stocktake, aiming to provide a nationwide overview of service delivery in commissioning and contracting, assessing access, activity, and outcomes. The findings confirmed the widely recognised challenges of significant variation in care delivery across England and a lack of comprehensive activity data.
Executive NHS England board members were updated on the current provision of long COVID and ME/CFS services, noting those challenges. Discussions considered service prioritisation and potential COVID Inquiry recommendations. It was agreed that long COVID and ME/CFS services are rightly commissioned by ICBs, which have responsibility for ensuring coverage for their population.