Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answers of 20 November to Questions 2738 and 2739 on Intensive Care: Hospital Beds and Hospital Beds respectively, if she will make a comparative estimate of the number of NHS acute hospital beds (a) available and (b) required in winter 2023-24; how many and what proportion of the 5,000 additional beds that were promised have been deployed; and what her planned timeframe is for the deployment of the remainder of the 5,000 beds in each constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Published data from NHS England shows that there were 99,067 total general and acute (G&A) beds available in October 2023, including 96,781 core beds and 2,285 escalation beds.
Our Delivery Plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services set the ambition to increase the core G&A bed base by 5,000 permanent staffed beds in 2023/24 compared to planned levels for 2022/23. This would increase the number of core beds to 99,500. As of October, the National Health Service has delivered 2,281 additional core beds. NHS England continues to work with local systems and trusts to deliver this ambition this winter.
G&A bed numbers are expected to peak in January 2024 in response to expected demand. A breakdown of these additional beds by constituency is not available centrally.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS England publication of 20 January 2023 entitled Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services, what his planned timetable is for delivering 5,000 additional permanent beds; and what steps the Government is taking to progress delivery of those additional beds.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our Delivery Plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services set the ambition to increase the core general and acute bed base, above originally planned 2022/23 levels, by 5,000 sustainable, permanent beds in 2023/24. This takes the funded core bed base to over 99,000. NHS England in continuing to work with local systems and trusts to deliver this ambition.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
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 adequacy of the number of hospital beds for acute treatment.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our Delivery Plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services set the ambition to increase the core general and acute bed base, above originally planned 2022/23 levels, by 5,000 sustainable, permanent beds in 2023/24. This takes the funded core bed base to over 99,000. NHS England in continuing to work with local systems and trusts to deliver this ambition.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nightingale hospitals were constructed during the covid-19 pandemic; and what the total cost was of those facilities.
Answered by Will Quince
There were seven temporary Nightingale hospitals constructed during financial year 2020/21 and the total cost for the Nightingale hospital programme in that year was £362 million.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any mechanisms exist to allow the Government to intervene in devolved health matters if it believes there is a significant risk to patient health.
Answered by Will Quince
Broadly, healthcare is devolved and it is the responsibility of the Devolved Governments to ensure the safety of patients accessing health services.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom retains the power to legislate in devolved areas and would usually do so with the consent of Devolved Governments. Under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, there are reserved emergency powers to make regulations when an emergency is declared within the terms defined in the Act, which include protecting human life, health and safety or treating human illness or injury.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the average cost to the public purse of the provision of health and social care for people aged (a) 65 to 79 and (b) 80 and above in the latest period for which data was available.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not held centrally. Age cost curves are available for integrated care board-commissioned health services rather than overall health expenditure and unit costs for social care are available for over-65-year-olds, but not more granular age bands.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's commitment to build 40 new hospitals, where those hospitals will be located.
Answered by Will Quince
The locations of the announced schemes in the New Hospital Programme, along with hospital upgrades and other investment in equipment and technology, are available at the following link:
https://engage.dhsc.gov.uk/nhs-recovery/buildings/
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with counterparts abroad about ensuring that the standards of nursing education in their countries meet the requirements of the NHS; and what recent discussions he has had with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on their acceptance of the qualifications of foreign nurses applying to work in the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
There have been no recent discussions. As the independent regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council define the requirements for overseas nurses applying to work in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 20 June 2022 to Question 19015 on Medical Treatments: Innovation, if his Department will take steps to help ensure that research and data collected by the (a) Innovative Medicines Fund and (b) Cancer Drugs Fund will be shared with NHS bodies in the devolved legislatures.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There are existing mechanisms in place where the outcomes of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) and the Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) are available to the devolved administrations. Medicines funded through the CDF and subsequently from the IMF are re-appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to determine whether the products can be routinely funded by the National Health Service, including with evidence generated through the CDF and IMF. NICE publishes the papers considered by its appraisal committees online, including the outcomes from data collected through the CDF and IMF on outstanding clinical uncertainties.
Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the Government has made on its stated commitment that no person needing care should be forced to sell their home to pay for it.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
From October 2023, the new £86,000 cap and higher capital limits will mean that more people will be able to preserve more of their assets if they need care.
When assessing the contribution towards care, housing assets are only considered if the individual is receiving care in a residential home and no eligible adult continues to live in the residence. Where accessing these assets is required to pay for care, a Deferred Payment Agreement is available, with any costs deducted from the estate after death. This will ensure that no-one will need to sell their home to pay for their care in their lifetime.