Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of GP surgeries refuse to provide supporting letters for disability benefit claimants; what proportion of surgeries charge for those letters; and how much surgeries charge to issue those letters.
Answered by Steve Brine
NHS England contracts with general practitioners (GPs) as independent providers of medical services for the National Health Service. Under the terms of their contract, GPs are required to provide certain medical reports or complete certain forms, including those related to claiming disability benefits, free of charge to their registered patients.
Outside their contractual requirements, GPs also offer a variety of other services which successive governments have regarded as private matters between the patient and the GP. In such cases, decisions on whether to charge a fee and the level of the fee charged are at the GP’s discretion.
Where GPs intend to charge for services to patients, the British Medical Association (BMA) advises them to forewarn patients, at the earliest opportunity, of the likely level of fees. The BMA also produces guidance on the level of fees that should be charged for commonly provided services.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Government provides guidance to GP surgeries on whether they should provide supporting letters for disability benefit claims if patients request them.
Answered by Steve Brine
NHS England contracts with general practitioners (GPs) as independent providers of medical services for the National Health Service. Under the terms of their contract, GPs are required to provide certain medical reports or complete certain forms, including those related to claiming disability benefits, free of charge to their registered patients.
Outside their contractual requirements, GPs also offer a variety of other services which successive governments have regarded as private matters between the patient and the GP. In such cases, decisions on whether to charge a fee and the level of the fee charged are at the GP’s discretion.
Where GPs intend to charge for services to patients, the British Medical Association (BMA) advises them to forewarn patients, at the earliest opportunity, of the likely level of fees. The BMA also produces guidance on the level of fees that should be charged for commonly provided services.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will make an assessment of the lessons to be learned for the payment-by-results contract model for support services from the closing down of drugs and alcohol charity Lifeline.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department commissioned a three year independent evaluation of the Payment by Results (PbR) for Recovery Pilot Programme in 2014. The evaluation was undertaken by the University of Manchester and publication of a final report is expected later this year. This evaluation is aimed at ensuring the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of drug and alcohol recovery PbR models.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason the Government decided not to provide an additional 10,000 nursing degree places.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Government remains committed to reforming nursing, midwifery and allied health pre-registration education and increasing the number of places available for students so that two in three nursing applicants are no longer turned down for a place; at the same time ensuring these students have more cash available to them while they study.
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service data show that up to March 2017 there had been around two applicants per available training place. Health Education England is confident that the National Health Service will have the required number of students it needs starting courses this year and will continue to work with the education sector to deliver these reforms successfully for the longer term.
It should also be noted that students will continue to apply for courses up to September and through clearing.
Arrangements confirming the future clinical placement commission model will be published in in due course.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the Government has made of the effect on the ability of the NHS to hire sufficient nursing staff of the (a) 23 per cent decrease in applications to study nursing following the ending of bursaries and (b) 96 per cent decrease in nurses from the EU registering to work in the UK.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Government remains committed to reforming nursing, midwifery and allied health pre-registration education and increasing the number of places available for students so that two in three nursing applicants are no longer turned down for a place; at the same time ensuring these students have more cash available to them while they study.
Data published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service on the number of applicants that applied for courses up to March 2017, showed that nursing and midwifery applications had fallen by approximately 22% in England compared to the same point in 2016.
However, the data also show that up to March 2017 there had been around two applicants per available training place. Health Education England is confident that the required 22,500 student training places the National Health Service needs will be filled; assuming students meet the entry requirements of their offer from their course provider.
It should also be noted that students will continue to apply for courses up to September and through clearing.
We are aware of a reduction in the number of nurses who trained in the European Economic Area applying to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council following July 2016. We are monitoring the impact of this on the NHS. Between June 2016 and March 2017, the number of nurses with a European nationality working in the NHS increased by more than 400.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of steps to improve provision for the investigation and treatment of autism-related medical conditions.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Clinical commissioning groups have a responsibility to commission services that best meet the needs of their populations including those with autism. In doing so, they may take account of clinical guidelines published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Whilst NICE’s clinical guidelines are not mandatory, adherence to them will support improvements in the quality of care and services.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of lifting the NHS pay cap and allowing the NHS Pay Review Body to set pay increases.
Answered by Philip Dunne
In setting the public sector pay policy, the Government struck a balance between giving hard working staff a pay rise and the need to exercise restraint in public spending.
The independent NHS Pay Review Body and the independent Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration took evidence from the Government, NHS Employers, National Health Service trade unions and other stakeholders and made recommendations on the level of pay needed to recruit and retain NHS staff.
This year the Government accepted the Review Bodies’ recommendations of a pay rise of 1% for all staff groups.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of NHS pay levels and rates of pay increase on staff (a) retention and (b) morale.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Successive Governments have relied on the independent Pay Review Bodies; the NHS Pay Review Body and the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration to make recommendations on the level of pay for National Health Service staff. The Review Bodies consider written and oral evidence about the recruitment, retention and motivation of NHS staff, put to them by Government, NHS employers, NHS Trade Unions and other stakeholders.
Based on that evidence the Review Bodies prepare reports for government which make recommendations on the level of pay award that will enable the NHS to continue to recruit, retain and motivate the staff it needs. The reports consider carefully a range of issues including affordability of the workforce and the prevailing public sector pay policy.
On the 28 March this year the Government accepted the Pay Review Bodies’ recommendations for a 1% pay increase for all NHS staff for 2017/18, that will be in addition to incremental pay for those staff that are eligible.
Staff satisfaction with pay remains unchanged since 2015. The staff engagement score recorded by the NHS staff survey has reached an all time high of 3.79/5 since it was first recorded in 2012.
The Department is taking action to increase the supply of trained staff available to work in the NHS and wider health and care system. Since 2010 there are over 11,200 more doctors and over 12,100 more nurses on our wards.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Government plans to establish an independent taskforce on lung health.
Answered by David Mowat
There are no plans for the Government to establish an independent taskforce on lung health. However NHS England is continuing to work with clinicians, professional organisations and third sector organisations, including the British Lung Foundation and Asthma UK, to improve outcomes for patients suffering from common lung diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia and asthma.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has received representations on the G4S Ambulance provision of the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Patient Transport Service; what guidance his Department provides to the NHS when outsourcing similar provisions on ensuring the safety and security of ambulance parking areas; and whether liability for damage to ambulances on the equipment they contain rests with the NHS or with companies to whom ambulance transport services are outsourced.
Answered by Philip Dunne
No such representations have been received. This is an operational matter for the local NHS Trust. Liability for damage to ambulance vehicles would be for local determination between local National Health Service bodies and the companies to whom ambulance transport services are outsourced.