Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance to Integrated Care Boards on transparency around commissioning decisions including (a) which commissioning decisions and details thereof should be published and (b) which commissioning decisions and details thereof should be considered commercially sensitive for purposes of freedom of Information requests.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England are working to reform the rules on procurement for healthcare services, otherwise known as the ‘Provider Selection Regime’, including for transparency surrounding decisions, and will provide an update on this in due course. Right now, integrated care boards (ICBs) must follow the current rules on transparency in procurement as set out in the Procurement, Patient Choice, and Competition Regulations (PPCCR) 2013 (No. 2) and the Public Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015.
ICBs are responsible for ensuring that commercially sensitive information is handled appropriately and in line with the law.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral statement of 25 May 2023, Official Report, column 477, when his Department will confirm how much funding will be provided for the rebuilding of Whipps Cross Hospital; and when the funding will be available to Barts Health NHS Trust.
Answered by Will Quince
We are committed to delivering the Whipps Cross New Hospital Programme scheme by 2030 and we are working with all Trusts to progress their new hospital builds with the certainty of the Programme now expected to be backed by over £20 billion. All schemes in the Programme, including Barts Health NHS Trust, have now received the details of of individual indicative funding envelopes to work towards in the progression of their schemes.
The disclosure of individual funding allocations is commercially sensitive information and could undermine future negotiating positions for the scheme, and should therefore not be released into the public domain. As per usual process, the availability of the funding for the full scheme is subject to the Final Business Case being reviewed and agreed.
Up to the end of financial year 2022/2023, Barts Health NHS Trust has received £18.9m to support the development of the business case as well as a range of preparatory activity to prepare the site ahead of main construction, such as demolition works.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
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 impact of NHS flexible working practices on levels of GP recruitment and retention.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government actively encourages better flexible working such as job-sharing and part-time hours. To support retention, the National GP Retention scheme is a package of financial and educational support to help doctors who might otherwise leave the profession remain in clinical practice.
However, as self-employed contractors to the National Health Service to provide primary medical services, it is largely up to general practices how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff. Employers have the flexibility to set terms and conditions, including to aid recruitment and retention.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of GPs that have left their practice (a) immediately following and (b) in the year following a period of parental leave in each of the last five years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, (a) what arrangements her Department has in place to help ensure that hospital trusts who have entered PFI contracts for buildings remain able to afford interest payments on those contracts and (b) what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of those arrangements in the context of rising inflation and interest rates.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department and NHS England are in regular discussions with National Health Service trusts over their financial affairs and this would include the impact of inflation on trusts’ contracts.
This Government has taken decisive action in response to the inflationary pressures on the NHS. On top of the additional funding of £3.3 billion from the 2022 Autumn Statement in each of the next two years NHS England has provided an additional £1.5 billion in funding to the NHS in 2022/23. This has been added to system allocations and is covering a range of pressures reported by systems including energy costs, higher costs of consumables, and the cost of PFI contracts that are tied to the retail price index.
The payments due under NHS PFI contracts are not subject to changes in interest rates. In 2023/24 the funding issued to the NHS, and reflected in the NHS payment scheme cost uplift factor, takes account of inflationary pressures in 2022/23 as well as further growth to account for expected non-pay inflation and energy price increases in 2023/24.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to certificates which exempt the holder from prescription charges, how many (a) Medical Exemption Certificates (b) NHS tax credit exemption certificates and (c) Maternity Exemption Certificates were held in each of the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
The following table shows the number of certificates issued in each requested category, in each of the last five years. This information has been provided by the NHS Business Services Authority. Data on certificates held at any one point in time changes as certificates expire, eligibility changes and individuals choose or choose not to apply for a medical or maternity exemption certificate.
Certificate Issued Year | Maternity Certificate | Medical Certificate | Tax Credit Certificate | Grand Total |
2018 | 474,982 | 463,022 | 3,793,684 | 4,731,688 |
2019 | 483,299 | 457,021 | 3,437,594 | 4,377,914 |
2020 | 444,670 | 366,960 | 2,555,064 | 3,366,694 |
2021 | 463,214 | 387,787 | 1,977,486 | 2,828,487 |
2022 | 471,603 | 397,552 | 1,540,848 | 2,410,003 |
Grand total | 2,337,768 | 2,072,342 | 13,304,676 | 17,714,786 |
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he plans to (a) revoke, (b) retain or (c) replace the Meat (Official Controls Charges) (England) Regulations 2009.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 December 2022 to Question 102910.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he plans to (a) revoke, (b) retain or (c) replace the Medical Devices Regulations 2002.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, the Government is currently reviewing which retained European Union (EU) law should be repealed, reformed or preserved. The Government continues to work with a range of stakeholders to ensure that any such reforms maintain current standards in patient safety and public health. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is participating in the review of all retained EU law within its responsibilities.
In parallel, we are progressing reforms to the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 under the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021. These are outlined in the government response to the consultation on the future regulation of medical devices in the United Kingdom published in June last year.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS tax credit exemption certificates for prescription charges, how many (a) enquiry letters were issued to patients who claimed they held a valid NHS tax credit exemption certificates and (b) Penalty Charge Notices were issued to these patients in each of the last five years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The table below shows the total number of Enquiry letters and total number of penalty charge notices (PCNs) that have been issued in regard to an NHS Tax Credit Exemption Certificate. More than one PCN or Enquiry letter may have been issued to an individual patient.
Please note, prior to February 2020 there were no Enquiry letters issued as this was not part of the exemption enquiry process at that point.
Year | Enquiry letter issued | PCN issued |
2018 | N/A | 421,970 |
2019 | N/A | 423,462 |
2020 | 23,393 | 43,602 |
2021 | 583 | 461 |
2022 | 130,455 | 103,271 |
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Maternity Exemption Certificates for prescription charges, how many (a) enquiry letters were issued to patients who claimed they held a valid maternity exemption certificate and (b) Penalty Charge Notices were issued to these patients in each of the last five years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The table below shows the total number of Enquiry letters and total number of penalty charge notices (PCN) that have been issued in regard to a Maternity Exemption Certificate. More than one PCN or Enquiry letter may have been issued to an individual patient.
Please note, prior to February 2020 there were no Enquiry letters issued as this was not part of the exemption enquiry process at that point.
Year | Enquiry letter issued | PCN issued |
2018 | N/A | 92,208 |
2019 | N/A | 92,440 |
2020 | 2,066 | 13,359 |
2021 | 109 | 85 |
2022 | 38,191 | 30,625 |