Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Parliamentary Health and Service Ombudsman.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Ministers do not review any aspect of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s (PHSO) performance. The PHSO reports to Parliament directly as an Officer of the House of Commons and is held to account through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, who, although it cannot adjudicate on individual cases, does hold an annual scrutiny session to evaluate the PHSO's performance.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there have been any power cuts on their Department's property in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
There have been no power cuts on the Department’s property in the last three years.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the value of Healthy Start vouchers for the purchase of baby formula.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The value of the Healthy Start is kept under continuous review. From April 2021, the value of the Healthy Start increased from £3.10 to £4.25, providing additional support to pregnant women and families on lower incomes to make healthy food choices.
Healthy Start can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fresh, frozen, or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried and tinned pulses, milk and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries are also eligible for free Healthy Start Vitamins.
There are currently no plans to increase the value of Healthy Start.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of the accessibility to people with dementia of the assessment process for NHS Continuing Healthcare.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Eligibility for CHC is not determined by age, diagnosis or condition, or financial means; it is assessed on a case-by-case basis considering the totality of an individual’s needs. This ensures a person-centred approach to CHC, whereby the individual is placed at the centre of the assessment and care-planning process. We continue to work with our partners, including NHS England who is responsible for oversight of CHC delivery, external organisations, and people with lived experience, to seek feedback on CHC policy and implementation.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 officials in her Department are on long-term sick leave.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department defines long-term sick leave to be four weeks or more of sickness absence. Our central data shows there were 13 members of staff on long-term sick leave on 31 July 2023, this equates to approximately 0.4% of the total number of staff in the Department at the time.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department plans to take to improve (a) outcomes and (b) survival rates for people with pancreatic cancer; and if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the report by Pancreatic Cancer UK entitled Don’t Write Me Off.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
NHS England is delivering a range of interventions that are expected to increase early diagnosis and improve outcomes for those with pancreatic cancer. This includes providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk to identify lesions before they develop into cancer and diagnose cancers sooner, creating new pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms that could be linked to a range of cancer types, and increasing direct access for general practitioners to diagnostic tests. A group has been formed to consider a pathway for Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary cancers, including pancreatic cancer.
NHS England is also funding a new audit into pancreatic cancer to provide regular and timely evidence to cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, to increase the consistency of access to treatments and to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients.
In addition to this, the Getting it Right First-Time team in NHS England is undertaking a deep dive into pancreatic cancer, which will highlight actions National Health Service providers need to take to improve services, as well as gathering examples of good practice to share.
The Department does not currently intend to undertake an assessment of the Don’t Write Me Off report as NHS England is already taking steps to improving pancreatic care pathways.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data their Department holds on the (a) number and (b) total cost of replacing (i) laptops, (ii) mobile phones, (iii) memory sticks and (iv) external hard drives that have been (A) lost and (B) stolen in the last year.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The following table includes the number of lost or stolen devices in the Department in the last 12 months and the cost of replacement. The Department does not issue memory sticks or external hard drives.
Type | Number | Replacement Cost (ex-VAT) |
Stolen Laptops | 13 | £10,728.38 |
Stolen Phones | 14 | £8,354.92 |
Lost Laptops | 0 | £0 |
Lost Mobile phones | 6 | £3,580.68 |
All Departmental IT is fully security encrypted. The Departmental security unit records and investigates each reported loss from the Department. If appropriate, the police are invited to undertake further inquiries. Lost and stolen phones are remotely wiped and a bar put on the SIM card. Lost and stolen laptops are remotely wiped.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 implications for his policies of the report by the Law Commission entitled Building Families Through Surrogacy: A New Law, published on 29 March 2023; and whether it is his policy to reform surrogacy laws.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government is considering the reforms about surrogacy contained in the Law Commission report, Building Families Through Surrogacy, and will publish a Government response in due course. Ministers wrote to the Law Commission on 8 November 2023 to confirm that we would not be bringing forward legislation in this parliament.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the decision to reject the use of the drug Abiraterone to tackle prostate cancer.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that guides the National Health Service on funding new medicines, based on clinical and cost-effectiveness.. The NHS is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, usually within 3 months of final guidance.
NICE has recommended abiraterone for the treatment of metastatic hormone-relapsed prostate cancer before chemotherapy is indicated and for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen. NHS England funds abiraterone in line with NICE’s recommendations, ensuring access for eligible patients.
Abiraterone is not licensed for the treatment of non-metastatic prostate cancer and has therefore not been appraised by NICE for such use. NHS England is currently considering a clinical policy proposal for abiraterone as a treatment option for potential use in specific cases. The proposal is due to be discussed later this month, with potential stakeholder testing by January 2024, if supported.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 an adequate supply of (a) methylphenidate, (b) lisdexamfetamine and (c) guanfacine.
Answered by Will Quince
We are aware of disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including methylphenidate, lisdexamfetamine and guanfacine. Some issues have now been resolved. However, we know that there are currently disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. These issues are expected to resolve by the end of December 2023.
We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine shortages can be and we want to assure patients that we are working intensively with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues as soon as possible and to ensure patients have continuous access to ADHD medicines in the United Kingdom, in the short and long term.
We have issued communications to the National Health Service to advise healthcare professionals on management of patients whilst there continue to be disruptions to supplies. Patients are advised to speak to their clinician regarding any concerns they have and to discuss the suitability of treatment with alternative medicines.