Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
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 improve screening for prostate cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended by the UK National Screening Committees (UK NSC). This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test, the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). A PSA-based screening programme could harm men, as some of them would be diagnosed with a cancer that would not have caused them problems during their life. This would lead to additional tests and treatments which can also have harmful side effects; for example, incontinence of faeces and urine and impotence.
The UK NSC is undertaking an evidence review for prostate cancer screening and plans to report within the UK NSC’s three-year work plan.
The evidence review includes modelling the clinical cost effectiveness of several approaches to prostate cancer screening; this includes different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years of age onwards and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher-than-average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people (a) presented at the Princess Royal Hospital A&E, Telford, and (b) were admitted to that hospital in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on accident and emergency attendances and admissions is not available in the format requested, as it is only available at a National Health Service trust-level. The following table shows the accident and emergency attendances and emergency admissions for the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, from 2019/20 to 2024/25:
Year | Accident and emergency attendances | Emergency admissions | Emergency admissions via accident and emergency |
2019/20 | 143,008 | 59,793 | 31,804 |
2020/21 | 103,203 | 45,701 | 30,240 |
2021/22 | 149,323 | 54,807 | 34,574 |
2022/23 | 149,413 | 54,969 | 33,723 |
2023/24 | 154,766 | 59,307 | 33,118 |
2024/25 | 64,904 | 25,971 | 15,813 |
Source: the data is from NHS England, and is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/
Note: the data for 2024/25 is only up until August 2024.
NHS England publishes monthly provisional quality indicators that include the median average and the 95th percentile times that patients spent in accident and emergency by NHS trust. The following table shows the monthly range, from lowest and highest, of the median average time in minutes that patients spent in accident and emergency, each year since 2019/20 to 2024/25, for the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust:
Year | Range of median average time patients spent in accident and emergency | Range of the 95th percentile time patients spent in accident and emergency |
2019/20 | 169 to 211 | 577 to 921 |
2020/21 | 138 to 199 | 361 to 796 |
2021/22 | 158 to 218 | 471 to 1,089 |
2022/23 | 201 to 268 | 899 to 2,086 |
2023/24 | 212 to 240 | 1,698 to 2,339 |
2024/25 | 208 to 250 | 1,663 to 2,123 |
Source: the data is from NHS England, and is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/provisional-accident-and-emergency-quality-indicators-for-england
Notes:
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average waiting time for (i) children and (ii) adults was at Princess Royal Hospital A&E, Telford, in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on accident and emergency attendances and admissions is not available in the format requested, as it is only available at a National Health Service trust-level. The following table shows the accident and emergency attendances and emergency admissions for the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, from 2019/20 to 2024/25:
Year | Accident and emergency attendances | Emergency admissions | Emergency admissions via accident and emergency |
2019/20 | 143,008 | 59,793 | 31,804 |
2020/21 | 103,203 | 45,701 | 30,240 |
2021/22 | 149,323 | 54,807 | 34,574 |
2022/23 | 149,413 | 54,969 | 33,723 |
2023/24 | 154,766 | 59,307 | 33,118 |
2024/25 | 64,904 | 25,971 | 15,813 |
Source: the data is from NHS England, and is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/
Note: the data for 2024/25 is only up until August 2024.
NHS England publishes monthly provisional quality indicators that include the median average and the 95th percentile times that patients spent in accident and emergency by NHS trust. The following table shows the monthly range, from lowest and highest, of the median average time in minutes that patients spent in accident and emergency, each year since 2019/20 to 2024/25, for the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust:
Year | Range of median average time patients spent in accident and emergency | Range of the 95th percentile time patients spent in accident and emergency |
2019/20 | 169 to 211 | 577 to 921 |
2020/21 | 138 to 199 | 361 to 796 |
2021/22 | 158 to 218 | 471 to 1,089 |
2022/23 | 201 to 268 | 899 to 2,086 |
2023/24 | 212 to 240 | 1,698 to 2,339 |
2024/25 | 208 to 250 | 1,663 to 2,123 |
Source: the data is from NHS England, and is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/provisional-accident-and-emergency-quality-indicators-for-england
Notes:
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to ensure the long-term (a) funding and (b) sustainability of hospices.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people, and their loved ones, at the end of life.
Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by ICB area, and will, in part, be dependent on the breadth and range of palliative and end of life care provision within their ICB footprint.
The Government is going to shift the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community, and we recognise that it is vital to include palliative and end of life care, including hospices, in this shift.
The Department, alongside NHS England, will continue to proactively engage with our stakeholders, including the voluntary sector and independent hospices, on an ongoing basis, in order to understand the issues they face.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
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 the effectiveness of the performance of (a) Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, (b) Shropshire Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board and (c) NHS Shropshire Telford and Wrekin with respect to (i) waiting times, (ii) value for money and (iii) CQC reports
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has been clear that National Health Services are currently not meeting the high standards that patients should expect, and is committed to supporting the NHS to return to the standards set out in the NHS Constitution. As a first step, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has appointed the Professor Lord Darzi to lead an independent investigation of NHS performance, which will report this month.
NHS England holds integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS providers to account for delivery of national priorities and statutory functions and oversees them via the NHS Oversight Framework, which assesses the effectiveness of each NHS system across five themes: quality of care, access, and outcomes; preventing ill-health and reducing inequalities; people; finance and use of resources; and leadership and capability. More information is available at the following link:
NHS England has allocated the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB to segment four of the NHS Oversight Framework segmentation. As a result, both are receiving national mandated support with NHS England’s Recovery Support Programme. They are also subject to NHS England’s regulatory undertakings.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB are currently in Tier 1 for urgent and emergency care, electives, and cancer, which means they receive intensive and significant national and regional support and oversight. The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust's overall rating from the Care Quality Commission, published in May 2024, is ‘requires improvement’.