Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 merits of ringfencing funding for cycle paramedic services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 impact of NHS tie-in periods for newly qualified dentists on access to NHS dental service.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It costs £200,000 of taxpayer’s money to train a dentist. We believe it is right and fair to taxpayers to expect graduate dentists to invest their skills and expertise in the National Health Service for at least some amount of time.
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will make it a requirement for newly qualified dentists to practice in the NHS for a minimum period. That will mean more NHS dentists, more NHS appointments and better oral health. We intend this minimum period to be at least three years.
We will be working closely with the sector on the detail of the tie-in scheme and will consult on the detail and design of the model in due course.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 dental patients in Norfolk will be included in NHS tie-in periods for newly qualified dentists.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It costs £200,000 of taxpayer’s money to train a dentist. We believe it is right and fair to taxpayers to expect graduate dentists to invest their skills and expertise in the National Health Service for at least some amount of time.
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will make it a requirement for newly qualified dentists to practice in the NHS for a minimum period. That will mean more NHS dentists, more NHS appointments and better oral health. We intend this minimum period to be at least three years.
We will be working closely with the sector on the detail of the tie-in scheme and will consult on the detail and design of the model in due course.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has conducted any regional modelling of dental workforce planning in (a) Norfolk and (b) the East of England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England data shows that as of December 2024, 2,810 general dentists were working in the East of England, including 1,108 National Health Service full time equivalent (FTE) general dentists. The vacancy rate for NHS dentists was 17%. On the same date, 365 general dentists were working in Norfolk and Waveney, including 149 NHS FTE general dentists. The vacancy rate for NHS dentists was 18%.
We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a workforce ready to deliver a transformed service. Staff will be more empowered, more flexible and more fulfilled. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the best care for patients, when patients need it.
Integrated care boards are also recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 16285 on Methylphenidate: Shortage, what recent progress his Department has made on improving the supply of methylphenidate in (a) Norfolk and (b) the UK.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The supply of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets has greatly improved. However, some issues persist. We are continuing to work to resolve these remaining issues by engaging with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets and capsules to assess the challenges faced and their actions to address them. We are also directing suppliers to secure additional stocks, expedite deliveries where possible, and review plans to build further capacity to support continued growth in demand for the short and long-term. The Department is also working with new suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets and capsules to improve the supply and resiliency for the United Kingdom’s market.
The Department continually updates a list of currently available and unavailable attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) products on the Specialist Pharmacy Service website. This helps ensure those involved in the prescribing and dispensing of ADHD medications can make informed decisions with patients. This list is available at the following link:
www.sps.nhs.uk/articles/prescribing-available-medicines-to-treat-adhd
The Department monitors and manages medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. Information on stock levels within Norfolk is not held centrally.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce cost inefficiencies in purchasing medical supplies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s new Operating Model, published on 30 January, sets out in Section 4 how it will support National Health Service bodies to deliver efficiencies by improving commercial arrangements. Further information is available at the following link:
These include supporting them to make full use of the products, goods, and services available through the NHS Supply Chain, when best value exists, to procure from frameworks operated by an accredited framework host, to use the NHS Spend Comparison Service to identify savings, the Health Commercial System, also known as Atamis, to undertake commercial activity, and the NHS procurement value and savings methodology to track and report on procurement savings and benefits.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of when he will meet his target of providing an extra 62,000 neurology appointments in England in each year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. Currently, the waiting list stands at 7.48 million patient pathways, with over 6 million people waiting, including 235,000 on neurology waiting lists.
We will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029, increasing performance to 65% by March 2026, as set out in the Elective Reform Plan. We will deliver an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments across all specialties, including neurology appointments, during our first year in Government, as a First Step in our commitment to ensuring that patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.
Alongside the breadth of reforms and productivity efforts in the plan, we will increase activity, deliver improvements in patient experience, and reduce waiting times for neurology patients across the country.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a cross-Government strategy on the health and wellbeing of coastal communities.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
We are taking action across Government to address the environmental and socio-economic determinants of health, and are aiming to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions. We know that targeted action to tackle health inequalities will facilitate economic opportunities, and support a National Health Service fit for the future.
Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the 10-Year Health Plan, to ensure the NHS is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it. We have established 11 working groups to take forward policy development that will feed into the plan. This includes working groups focused on how care should be designed and delivered to improve healthcare equity, alongside ensuring that access to healthcare services is effective and responsive.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescriptions for pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy were dispensed by Norfolk and Waveney (a) integrated care board and (b) clinical commissioning group in each year between 2019 and 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) provided by the NHS Business Services Authority gives the total number of prescription items of each medicine dispensed in the community in England. The following data relates to prescriptions for products that fall within the definition as set out in Paragraph 010904, related to pancreatin, in the British National Formulary.
The following table shows the total number of National Health Service prescription items that were dispensed in the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, regardless of where prescribed, from January 2019 to November 2024
Year | Number of prescription items |
2019 | 14,291 |
2020 | 13,587 |
2021 | 13,933 |
2022 | 13,933 |
2023 | 14,460 |
2024 | 14,698 |
Note: data for 2024 is from January to November.
The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) relates to the prescribing organisation, so the following statistics are consistent with the English Prescribing datasets rather than the dispensing organisation shown in PCA.
The following table shows the total number of NHS prescription items that were prescribed by cost centres linked to the Sub Integrated Care Board Location (SICBL), or prior to 2020 the CCG area of Norfolk and Waveney, from January 2019 to November 2024:
Year | Number of prescription items |
2019 | 14,290 |
2020 | 13,727 |
2021 | 14,238 |
2022 | 14,387 |
2023 | 14,904 |
2024 | 14,935 |
Note: data for 2024 is from January to November.
Historical data has been re-presented using the latest NHS organisation structure. These two tables are not directly comparable as the data available for integrated care boards relates to dispensing, whereas the data available at the SICBL or CCG level relates to items prescribed.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve (a) data for and (b) research into coastal communities.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The National Institute for Heath and Care Research (NIHR) has funded a range of research specifically focusing on coastal populations, including investing in local authority and higher education partnerships, as well as studies that focussed on health care in these areas. Further information about this research is available at the following link:
https://nihr.opendatasoft.com/pages/homepage/
The NIHR has a Research Inclusion Strategy which, amongst other objectives, aims to widen research access and participation for greater diversity and inclusion, including for populations in coastal communities. Further information on the strategy is available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/research-inclusion/strategy-2022-27
The NIHR’s research funding guidance requires researchers to show how they will make sure their research is inclusive and addresses inequalities in health and care, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/research-inclusion/funding-application-guidance