Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department will maintain its commitment to publishing a long-term NHS workforce plan by the end of 2022; and whether that plan will be underpinned by multi-year funding.
Answered by Will Quince
In January 2022, the Department commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan to follow the NHS People Plan. The plan is due for completion by the end of 2022 and its key conclusions will be available in due course. The plan will be used to inform how we can meet the future needs of patients and the National Health Service workforce. Funding plans beyond the current Spending Review period will be subject to the outcome of future Spending Reviews.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 (a) podiatry vacancy rates in the NHS in St Austell and Newquay constituency and (b) the impact these vacancies will have on patient treatment for diabetic foot complications.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the exclusion of pharmacists from the shortage occupation list and the effect of that exclusion on the community pharmacy sector.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions with the Home Secretary on a range of subjects including immigration policy and its impact on the health and social care sectors.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the National Health Service has the right number of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals that it needs.
Latest NHS Digital data shows there are 4,300 more pharmacists in March 2019 than there were in March 2010.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will develop a national action plan to (a) provide all NHS hospitals with automated dispensing cabinets integrated with ePMA to improve patient safety and eradicate errors in medicine prescription and administration and (b) deliver on all other aspects of his Department's technology vision.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Funding has been identified (£68 million) to support the acceleration of the introduction of ePrescribing and Medicine Administration (ePMA) systems for which there is evidence to support benefit. Individual trusts are making their own determinations of requirements for technology such as automated cabinets and are introducing as required locally. Work to integrate such systems with ePMA has started and will be reinforced with the advent of medication messaging standards as these are developed.
The Government has created NHSX, a joint unit between the Department, NHS England and NHS Improvement, to deliver the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care's Technology Vision and build on the Long Term Plan for the NHS. NHSX will combine all the levers of policy, implementation and change to allow a single-minded focus on giving the National Health Service the technology that patients and clinicians need.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the funding allocated to support the roll-out of electronic prescribing and medicines administration systems across the NHS will be allocated during the financial year 2019-2020.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
For the financial year 2019-20, £20 million of funding has been allocated to support the implementation of Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administrations Systems (EPMA) in provider trusts.
Allocations (between trusts and between systems) are based on a bidding process as usual. NHS Improvement have already received some bids for EPMA funding, which were of a high quality. Trusts have been informed that decisions can be expected in summer.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the funding allocated to support the roll-out of electronic prescribing and medicines administration systems across the NHS will be allocated to medicines administration systems.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
For the financial year 2019-20, £20 million of funding has been allocated to support the implementation of Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administrations Systems (EPMA) in provider trusts.
Allocations (between trusts and between systems) are based on a bidding process as usual. NHS Improvement have already received some bids for EPMA funding, which were of a high quality. Trusts have been informed that decisions can be expected in summer.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 the administration of medicines in NHS trusts.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Work has commenced on a variety of projects to help improve the administration of medicines in National Health Service trusts.
Following the announcement of £75 million of funding for ePrescribing and Medicines Administration (ePrescribing or ePMA) systems, work has commenced to accelerate the uptake and implementation across the NHS. Funding was provided to 13 trusts in 2018/19 all of whom have now commenced work. Applications for the second wave of funding have been received – a total of 48 bids are currently being reviewed for 2019/20 funding. A further round of funding is also planned for 2020/21.
Additionally, the Global Digital Exemplar programme is providing funding to support the roll-out of new, integrated technologies including ePrescribing and closed loop medicines administration and will share their learning as they make progress.
The sites that have led the way with closed loop medicines administration have provided valuable learning for what is a relatively new approach to support this process in England. Early work is demonstrating a positive impact on medication related administration error.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on implementing electronic prescribing and medicines administration systems across all NHS trusts by 2021.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Work has commenced on a variety of projects to help improve the administration of medicines in National Health Service trusts.
Following the announcement of £75 million of funding for ePrescribing and Medicines Administration (ePrescribing or ePMA) systems, work has commenced to accelerate the uptake and implementation across the NHS. Funding was provided to 13 trusts in 2018/19 all of whom have now commenced work. Applications for the second wave of funding have been received – a total of 48 bids are currently being reviewed for 2019/20 funding. A further round of funding is also planned for 2020/21.
Additionally, the Global Digital Exemplar programme is providing funding to support the roll-out of new, integrated technologies including ePrescribing and closed loop medicines administration and will share their learning as they make progress.
The sites that have led the way with closed loop medicines administration have provided valuable learning for what is a relatively new approach to support this process in England. Early work is demonstrating a positive impact on medication related administration error.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what long term digital support his Department is providing for (a) people who are in remission from and (b) those at highest risk of type 2 diabetes.
Answered by Steve Brine
The NHS Long Term Plan published on 7 January 2019 outlines commitments to support individuals with type 2 diabetes through a number of digital and web-based approaches.
This includes:
- Plans to fund a doubling of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme over the next five years, including a new digital option to widen patient choice and target inequality;
- Plans to support people who are newly diagnosed to manage their own health by further expanding provision of structured education and digital self-management support tools, including expanding access to HeLP Diabetes an online self-management tool for those with type 2 diabetes.
- Work with the wider National Health Service, the voluntary sector, developers, and individuals in creating a range of apps to support particular conditions; and
- People newly diagnosed with diabetes will be supported through expanded pilots for digital structured education.
Due to a limited evidence base for digital approaches, NHS England has been running a large scale real world evaluation of digital interventions. They have been working with five digital providers and currently over 4,000 people have registered to use these services. The evidence indicates positive rates of engagement, encouraging weight loss, and suggests a strong uptake amongst the working age population. The formal evaluation will be complete at the start of 2020, and if positive, will justify wide-scale roll-out of digital delivery, beyond the 20,000 per annum currently planned.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to ensure Clinical Commissioning Groups use consistent criteria in relation to the clinical effectiveness of low carbohydrate diets when making local commissioning decisions .
Answered by Steve Brine
In the United Kingdom, the Government recommends that most people should follow a healthy balanced diet based on fruit and vegetables and higher fibre starchy carbohydrates, as illustrated by the national Eatwell Guide, available to view at the following link:
Government advice on carbohydrates is based on recommendations made by Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition in its Carbohydrates and Health report. This report is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-carbohydrates-and-health-report.
Low carbohydrate diets appear to have an effect on weight loss in the short term, but there is no difference in weight after about 12 months, compared to losing weight through conventional weight loss diets. Further information on this can be viewed at the following links:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/obr.12405
The Department would expect clinical commissioning groups to take account of Government and Public Health England guidance.