First elected: 6th May 2010
Left House: 30th March 2015 (Defeated)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Tessa Munt, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Tessa Munt has not been granted any Urgent Questions
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to make provision to require factors other than cost to be considered for schemes for the transmission of high voltage electricity where infrastructure would impact on the visual and other amenity of a landscape; to provide that in certain cases such infrastructure be installed by visually unobtrusive works; to require that public consultation be undertaken and inform the selection of the method and technology for the transmission infrastructures used; and for connected purposes
Tessa Munt has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The Ofgem Review of 2010-11 recommended that the Social and Environmental Statutory Guidance to the Gas and Electricity Market Authority should be replaced with a new Strategy and Policy Statement. The guidance will be repealed once the statement is designated. The draft statement, which Government consulted on last year, makes it clear that helping vulnerable households is one of the Government’s strategic priorities to which Ofgem should have regard to when carrying out its regulatory functions.
Flaring of gas at onshore sites will require a permit from the Environment Agency. The Agency will require the applicant to carry out a risk assessment in line with published guidance. Where appropriate, they may require additional modelling which may include factors such as proximity to sensitive receptors (such as occupied premises) and prevailing wind direction. In any case, the Agency would normally expect the drilling operations to be at least 200 metres from the nearer sensitive receptor.
Additionally, in their consideration of the suitability of the proposed location for any drilling, the local planning authority concerned should address potential impacts on local amenity, including from light and noise arising from flaring, as part of their consideration of the related planning application.
Flaring of gas onshore or offshore also requires the consent of my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State under the Energy Act 1976. Our policy is that any flaring should be reduced to the economic minimum.
The current regulatory framework requires that wells are made safe so that they can be decommissioned securely. Few instances are known of problems with decommissioned wells, and none of significant pollution caused by decommissioned wells.
When operations finish, the licensee (and there may be more than one for each licence) is responsible for safe decommissioning of the well(s) and for restoring the well-site to its previous state or a suitable condition for re-use.
The key aim of the procedure for decommissioning a well is to ensure that the well will require no further work and ensure that it is permanently sealed.
The Health and Safety Executive scrutinises the design of all wells prior to any construction taking place. It also monitors well construction and will undertake joint visits to all new shale gas and oil wells with the Environment Agency. HSE also scrutinises the decommissioning/ abandonment process in the same way.
The Government accepted all of Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering’s recommendations made in their report. We have implemented the majority of recommendations in full, for example:
· We have introduced a requirement, through the Infrastructure Act, that the Secretary of State will not issue a hydraulic fracturing consent unless a range of conditions have been met. These include that appropriate arrangements have been made for the monitoring of emissions of methane into the air, the independent inspection of the integrity of the relevant well and for the environmental impact to be taken into account by the local planning authority.
· The British Geological Survey has published regional data on tectonic history and faulting in many prospective areas and DECC set out new requirements for operators to control seismic risks, including a ‘traffic light’ system to pause or halt fracking if unusual seismic activity is detected.
· DECC now requires operators to compile an Environmental Risk Assessment, with the participation of the local community, at an early stage of developing shale gas projects. This is in addition to extensive guidance to drive high standards throughout the lifecycle of a project.
· The Infrastructure Act includes the requirement for relevant water companies to be statutory consultees.
We continue to respond as exploratory wells provide more data and information. For example, DECC is working with the industry to develop appropriate monitoring for the period after production ceases and the well is decommissioned.
The aim of the current regulatory framework is that wells are made safe so that they can be decommissioned with no need for on-going attention. In the UK very few instances are known of problems with decommissioned wells, and none of significant pollution caused by decommissioned wells.
There is, however, a case for further quality assurance, with some period of monitoring post-decommissioning. We are discussing suitable arrangements with regulators and industry. As regards monitoring of the site restoration, this is a matter for the planning authority.
In the 2014 Autumn Statement, the Government announced £31 million funding for a world-leading facility for research, technology and monitoring of the subsurface that will provide openly available data for academia, industry and regulators. The independent research will provide an evidence base for better regulation and to reassure the public that subsurface developments can be safe.
I take any failure to provide children and young people with the services they deserve very seriously and I issued Somerset County Council with an Improvement Notice in November 2013. I recently met Somerset’s leadership and my officials have been working closely with the local authority against the requirements of my Improvement Notice; Ofsted’s 2013 report; and the Ofsted multi-remit inspection published on 26 November 2014.
Under the terms of my Notice, an improvement board with an independent Chair is in place and the Chair reports on progress in Somerset every three months. My officials are in regular communication with council leadership, and have attended each of the monthly boards to assess the LA’s improvement.
Ofsted is currently inspecting child protection and children in care service provision in Somerset and I am considering my next steps in relation to this intervention. I will not hesitate to escalate the intervention in the local authority if I am presented with further evidence that children and young people are still not safe in Somerset. I will inform Somerset County Council of my decision shortly.
Ofsted inspected Somerset County Council’s arrangements for the protection of children between 24 June 2013 and 03 July 2013 and published their findings on 05 August 2013. Ofsted judged the authority’s performance as ‘inadequate’.
I take any failure to provide children and young people with the services they deserve very seriously and issued the Council with an Improvement Notice in November 2013. The Improvement Notice requires the Council to institute an Improvement Board headed by an independent chair to drive improvement and hold partners to account.
I am currently considering next steps in relation to this intervention and will inform Somerset County Council of my decision shortly.
Defra does not hold this data.
In England we have robust regulations in place to prevent contamination of water supplies. The Environment Agency will ensure that no hydraulic fracturing will be permitted where groundwater and drinking water supplies could be affected.
The Department will, through its public communication channels and local engagement, continue to raise awareness of all of its grant schemes to the widest possible audience and relevant recipient groups.
The Government announced in the 2014/15 budget that it would make £1 million of grant funding available annually for the inshore and inland lifeboat scheme, for a 5 year period from this financial year.
Only one trigger was recorded in the 2013/14 Cold Weather season and an estimated 1,100 payments paid. Further details can be found in the ‘Social Fund Cold Weather Payments for Great Britain from 1st November 2013 to 31st March 2014’ update on Gov.uk which may be found at
Information on the number of recipients of UK state pension residing in France, and of those how many are in the French Overseas Departments, is available at: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/cccountry/cnage/a_carate_r_cccountry_c_cnage_may14.html
Information on the number of recipients of UK state pension residing in France, and of those how many are in the French Overseas Departments, is available at: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/cccountry/cnage/a_carate_r_cccountry_c_cnage_may14.html
All existing contracts for stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy services, including that with University Hospital Bristol, were transferred to NHS England on 1 April 2013. Gamma Knife treatments started at University Hospital Bristol in October 2013, as there was an identified need for this provider to replace its existing equipment.
NHS England intends to update the information contained within the Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services - needs assessment and service review to reflect the 2014-15 contract position as part of the work to review the results of the consultation on the future provision of stereotactic radiosurgery services.
All existing contracts for stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy services, including that with University Hospital Bristol, were transferred to NHS England on 1 April 2013. Gamma Knife treatments started at University Hospital Bristol in October 2013, as there was an identified need for this provider to replace its existing equipment.
NHS England intends to update the information contained within the Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services - needs assessment and service review to reflect the 2014-15 contract position as part of the work to review the results of the consultation on the future provision of stereotactic radiosurgery services.
The remit of patient and public engagement now falls to NHS England’s new Patient and Public Voice Assurance Group which met for the first time in June 2014.
Discussions about the publication of the minutes of the Patient and Public Voice Assurance Group are ongoing.
The Patient and Public Engagement Steering Group is no longer in existence and NHS England has no plans to publish the minutes of the Patient and Public Engagement Steering Group.
Since 1 April 2013, radiosurgery treatment is planned and paid for by NHS England to a national specification, developed through public consultation. All existing contracts for stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy services, including that with University Hospital Bristol, were transferred to NHS England on 1 April 2013. NHS England has continued to commission against these contracts, during the review of stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy.
The future provision of stereotactic radiosurgery services in NHS England will be determined by the procurement exercise that will follow on from the consultation exercise that has recently ended. Until this process is completed there are no plans to change current commissioning arrangements.
In each of the calendar years, 2013 and 2014, less than five claims for clinical negligence involving treatment for trigeminal neuralgia were submitted to the NHS Litigation Authority.
I once again hope that my hon. Friend will understand that where a small number of cases exists, the Department is unable to provide a specific figure, as the disclosure of such information could breach an individual’s confidentiality.
It is not possible to provide details of which trusts reported the incidents due to the small patient population for this kind of treatment and potential issues regarding patient confidentiality.
No non-commissioned hospitals providing stereotactic radiosurgery are permitted to routinely treat National Health Service patients outside of national policy.
However, an application could be made for stereotactic radiosurgery through the individual funding request route demonstrating exceptional circumstances as to why an NHS England commissioned provider could not provide the treatment.
No non-commissioned hospitals providing gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery are funded to treat NHS patients outside of national policy.
No non-commissioned hospitals providing stereotactic radiosurgery are permitted to routinely treat National Health Service patients outside of national policy.
However, an application could be made for stereotactic radiosurgery through the individual funding request route demonstrating exceptional circumstances as to why an NHS England commissioned provider could not provide the treatment.
No non-commissioned hospitals providing gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery are funded to treat NHS patients outside of national policy.
No non-commissioned hospitals providing stereotactic radiosurgery are permitted to routinely treat National Health Service patients outside of national policy.
However, an application could be made for stereotactic radiosurgery through the individual funding request route demonstrating exceptional circumstances as to why an NHS England commissioned provider could not provide the treatment.
No non-commissioned hospitals providing gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery are funded to treat NHS patients outside of national policy.
NHS England has advised that the future provision of Stereotactic Radiosurgery services for the National Health Service in England will be determined by the procurement exercise that will follow on from the consultation exercise that has recently ended. Until this process is completed there are no plans to change current commissioning arrangements.
All feedback received via the online consultation for the Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review will be collated and summarised and a report of the consultation findings will be considered by the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group.
NHS England will publish a report outlining the key themes of the consultation findings on its website.
NHS England has advised that the future provision of Stereotactic Radiosurgery services for the National Health Service in England will be determined by the procurement exercise that will follow on from the consultation exercise that has recently ended. Until this process is completed there are no plans to change current commissioning arrangements.
All feedback received via the online consultation for the Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review will be collated and summarised and a report of the consultation findings will be considered by the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group.
NHS England will publish a report outlining the key themes of the consultation findings on its website.
The National Reporting and Learning System identified five incidents over the past two years, which had been reported by three different National Health Service trusts.
Three incidents were reported in 2013 of the following nature:
Intra-procedural problem: stereotactic radiotherapy
- Treatment dosage issue (reported as no harm)
Intra-procedural problem: stereotactic radiosurgery
- Localisation markers not correctly placed (reported as no harm); and
- Beam positioning issue (reported as no harm).
Two incidents were reported in 2014 of the following nature:
Intra-procedural problem: stereotactic radiotherapy
- Beam positioning issue (reported as low harm); and
- Near miss wrong side stereotactic radiotherapy treatment due to transcription error (reported as no harm).
None of these incidents gave details of the machine involved.
The NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA) handles clinical negligence claims on behalf of its members under the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST). Currently, all NHS trusts in England are members of the CNST.
A search of the NHS LA’s claims’ database shows that less than five claims for clinical negligence involving treatment for trigeminal neuralgia have been submitted to the NHS LA from all members of the CNST during the last 10 years.
I hope my hon. Friend will understand that where a small number of cases exists, the Department is unable to provide a specific figure or location, as the disclosure of such information could breach an individual’s confidentiality.
All feedback received via the online consultation for NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review will be collated and summarised and a report of the consultation findings will be considered by the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group.
NHS England will publish a report outlining the key themes of the consultation findings on its website.
NHS England’s radiotherapy service specification states that providers of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy must serve a minimum population of 2 million and treat 25 cases per year. It should be noted that a range of other factors could also influence the outcome of these discussions, including referral pathways and quality requirements.
University Hospital Bristol has advised that it has treated the following number of patients with gamma knife since it opened in October 2013:
Time period | Number of patients |
2013-14 (October 2013 – March 2014) | 95 |
2014-15 (April 2014 – December 2014) | 148 |
Total | 243 |
Gamma knife is delivered as one treatment per patient. As these patients were all treated under NHS England commissioning policies, individual funding requests were not required.
The evidence used by the Clinical Reference Group for Stereotactic Radiosurgery to form their opinions on the effective delivery of Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and
Stereotactic Radiotherapy (SRT) is referenced in their publication ‘Clinical Commissioning Policy: Stereotactic Radiosurgery / Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Cerebral Metastases’ which is attached.
The information on which providers use frames in the provision SRS and SRT is not held centrally.
The evidence used by the Clinical Reference Group for Stereotactic Radiosurgery to form their opinions on the effective delivery of Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and
Stereotactic Radiotherapy (SRT) is referenced in their publication ‘Clinical Commissioning Policy: Stereotactic Radiosurgery / Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Cerebral Metastases’ which is attached.
The information on which providers use frames in the provision SRS and SRT is not held centrally.
The evidence used by the Clinical Reference Group for Stereotactic Radiosurgery to form their opinions on the effective delivery of Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and
Stereotactic Radiotherapy (SRT) is referenced in their publication ‘Clinical Commissioning Policy: Stereotactic Radiosurgery / Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Cerebral Metastases’ which is attached.
The information on which providers use frames in the provision SRS and SRT is not held centrally.
NHS England advise that questions about the running of clinical trials should be directed to the trial sponsor. In the case of clinical trials for stereotactic ablative radiotherapy the sponsor is Cancer Research UK.
The current assessment of the number of patients that will be recruited to the trials is a provisional estimate and it is important to note that this will vary dependent on a number of factors, including local recruitment and randomisation to different trial arms.
The proposal of a seven-day service is part of NHS England's consultation on the future configuration of services for stereotactic radiosurgery which closes on 26 January 2015. Providers are encouraged to input into the consultation process through:
http://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/options-for-change
As a result of consultation feedback, NHS England will make the decision whether to procure a seven-day service. At this point providers can consider whether they wish to offer a service on this basis.
Attendees of the stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy focus group meeting who are members of the Clinical Reference Groups (CRG) were as follows:
21 March 2014
Bob Bradford – Adult Neurosurgery CRG
Adrian Crellin – Radiotherapy CRG
Peter Enevoldson – Neurosciences CRG
Paul Grundy – Brain and CNS CRG
Richard Grunewald – Neurosciences CRG
Neil Kitchen – Stereotactic Radiosurgery CRG
Catherine McBain – Brain and CNS CRG
Paul May – Adult Neurosurgery CRG
Matt Radatz – Stereotactic Radiosurgery CRG
Nick Slevin – Radiotherapy CRG
23 May 2014
Adrian Crellin – Radiotherapy CRG
Neil Kitchen – Stereotactic Radiosurgery CRG
Paul May – Adult Neurosurgery CRG
NHS England has advised that the overspend on the Cancer Drugs Fund in 2013-14
was managed as part of its routine financial management process. The overspend represented less than 0.05% of NHS England’s total budget for that year.
The proposal of a seven-day service is part of NHS England's consultation on the future configuration of services for stereotactic radiosurgery which closes on 26 January 2015. Providers are encouraged to input into the consultation process through:
http://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/options-for-change
As a result of consultation feedback, NHS England will make the decision whether to procure a seven-day service. At this point providers can consider whether they wish to offer a service on this basis.
Attendees of the stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy focus group meeting who are members of the Clinical Reference Groups (CRG) were as follows:
21 March 2014
Bob Bradford – Adult Neurosurgery CRG
Adrian Crellin – Radiotherapy CRG
Peter Enevoldson – Neurosciences CRG
Paul Grundy – Brain and CNS CRG
Richard Grunewald – Neurosciences CRG
Neil Kitchen – Stereotactic Radiosurgery CRG
Catherine McBain – Brain and CNS CRG
Paul May – Adult Neurosurgery CRG
Matt Radatz – Stereotactic Radiosurgery CRG
Nick Slevin – Radiotherapy CRG
23 May 2014
Adrian Crellin – Radiotherapy CRG
Neil Kitchen – Stereotactic Radiosurgery CRG
Paul May – Adult Neurosurgery CRG
The proposal of a seven-day service is part of NHS England's consultation on the future configuration of services for stereotactic radiosurgery which closes on 26 January 2015. Providers are encouraged to input into the consultation process through:
http://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/options-for-change
As a result of consultation feedback, NHS England will make the decision whether to procure a seven-day service. At this point providers can consider whether they wish to offer a service on this basis.
Attendees of the stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy focus group meeting who are members of the Clinical Reference Groups (CRG) were as follows:
21 March 2014
Bob Bradford – Adult Neurosurgery CRG
Adrian Crellin – Radiotherapy CRG
Peter Enevoldson – Neurosciences CRG
Paul Grundy – Brain and CNS CRG
Richard Grunewald – Neurosciences CRG
Neil Kitchen – Stereotactic Radiosurgery CRG
Catherine McBain – Brain and CNS CRG
Paul May – Adult Neurosurgery CRG
Matt Radatz – Stereotactic Radiosurgery CRG
Nick Slevin – Radiotherapy CRG
23 May 2014
Adrian Crellin – Radiotherapy CRG
Neil Kitchen – Stereotactic Radiosurgery CRG
Paul May – Adult Neurosurgery CRG
The majority of the trials in the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) clinical trial programme run over three years, although some extend to five.
CRUK has approved five United Kingdom-wide trials to date, and a sixth is being considered in November 2014. The current assessment of the number of patients that will be recruited to the trials is a provisional estimate and it is important to note that this will vary dependent on a number of factors, including local recruitment and randomisation to different trial arms.
The current trial protocols indicate that around two thirds of patients will be allocated to SABR trial arms.
NHS England is providing a package of support of up to £6 million to trusts that are participating in the CRUK trials. The support package for SABR, for each participating trust will vary dependent on the fractionation used within the trial, but has been developed using the existing tariff structure for external beam radiotherapy as its basis.
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, based in Liverpool, provided the cost information referenced in Section 121 of NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review, published on 3 November 2014.
Two separate consultation (focus group) meetings were held and chaired by Mr Sean Duffy, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cancer, involving members of the Radiotherapy Clinical Reference Group (CRG), Adult Neurosurgery CRG, Brain and Central Nervous System CRG, Neurosciences CRG and Stereotactic Radiosurgery CRG to agree key principles and options. Details of the membership of each of the CRGs are set out on the NHS England website at the following link:
http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/d-com/spec-serv/crg/
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, based in Liverpool, provided the cost information referenced in Section 121 of NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review, published on 3 November 2014.
Two separate consultation (focus group) meetings were held and chaired by Mr Sean Duffy, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cancer, involving members of the Radiotherapy Clinical Reference Group (CRG), Adult Neurosurgery CRG, Brain and Central Nervous System CRG, Neurosciences CRG and Stereotactic Radiosurgery CRG to agree key principles and options. Details of the membership of each of the CRGs are set out on the NHS England website at the following link:
http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/d-com/spec-serv/crg/
NHS England’s review is concerned with assessing and meeting the need for the treatment of intracranial conditions with SRS/SRT; fractionated extracranial radiotherapy and Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) are not included in the review.
The two activity scenarios in the consultation document assume a significant growth in treatment rates. Scenario A is based on the level of need identified in the NHS England Clinical Commissioning Policies, whilst scenario B is based on an expected growth demand based on the treatment rates of some other European countries. The relative merits of these two scenarios are laid out from page eight of the consultation document
www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/options-for-change/supporting_documents/srssrtconsultguide021114.pdf
NHS England’s reasons for recommending scenario A with a seven-day working week, ‘Option 2’, is set out in their report as follows:
“SCOG [the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group] decided on Option 2 as the preferred option as it is based on seven-day working, which aligns to the national strategic direction of moving towards seven-day service provision. Additionally, the risk of overcapacity is minimised if clinical trends change more slowly than expected because the centres providing the service could revert to fewer days per week. The avoidance of machines lying idle 2/7ths of the week will ensure best price for the NHS. Option 2 could be superseded by further expansion of national capacity should the activity levels increase beyond those described in Scenario A.”
“It was recognised that in planning for Option 2, future increases in capacity would still be possible should activity levels rise beyond those described in Scenario A, in order to mitigate any risk of future under-capacity”
The national recommendation that a minimum number patients be treated each year relates specifically to Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) which is out of the scope of this consultation.
NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review is currently subject to an ongoing public consultation, which closes on 26 January 2015. NHS England would welcome any detailed comments being fed directly into the consultation process, including on data sources. Comments can be made at this link:
www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/options-for-change
NHS England’s review is concerned with assessing and meeting the need for the treatment of intracranial conditions with SRS/SRT; fractionated extracranial radiotherapy and Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) are not included in the review.
The two activity scenarios in the consultation document assume a significant growth in treatment rates. Scenario A is based on the level of need identified in the NHS England Clinical Commissioning Policies, whilst scenario B is based on an expected growth demand based on the treatment rates of some other European countries. The relative merits of these two scenarios are laid out from page eight of the consultation document
www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/options-for-change/supporting_documents/srssrtconsultguide021114.pdf
NHS England’s reasons for recommending scenario A with a seven-day working week, ‘Option 2’, is set out in their report as follows:
“SCOG [the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group] decided on Option 2 as the preferred option as it is based on seven-day working, which aligns to the national strategic direction of moving towards seven-day service provision. Additionally, the risk of overcapacity is minimised if clinical trends change more slowly than expected because the centres providing the service could revert to fewer days per week. The avoidance of machines lying idle 2/7ths of the week will ensure best price for the NHS. Option 2 could be superseded by further expansion of national capacity should the activity levels increase beyond those described in Scenario A.”
“It was recognised that in planning for Option 2, future increases in capacity would still be possible should activity levels rise beyond those described in Scenario A, in order to mitigate any risk of future under-capacity”
The national recommendation that a minimum number patients be treated each year relates specifically to Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) which is out of the scope of this consultation.
NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review is currently subject to an ongoing public consultation, which closes on 26 January 2015. NHS England would welcome any detailed comments being fed directly into the consultation process, including on data sources. Comments can be made at this link:
www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/options-for-change
NHS England’s review is concerned with assessing and meeting the need for the treatment of intracranial conditions with SRS/SRT; fractionated extracranial radiotherapy and Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) are not included in the review.
The two activity scenarios in the consultation document assume a significant growth in treatment rates. Scenario A is based on the level of need identified in the NHS England Clinical Commissioning Policies, whilst scenario B is based on an expected growth demand based on the treatment rates of some other European countries. The relative merits of these two scenarios are laid out from page eight of the consultation document
www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/options-for-change/supporting_documents/srssrtconsultguide021114.pdf
NHS England’s reasons for recommending scenario A with a seven-day working week, ‘Option 2’, is set out in their report as follows:
“SCOG [the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group] decided on Option 2 as the preferred option as it is based on seven-day working, which aligns to the national strategic direction of moving towards seven-day service provision. Additionally, the risk of overcapacity is minimised if clinical trends change more slowly than expected because the centres providing the service could revert to fewer days per week. The avoidance of machines lying idle 2/7ths of the week will ensure best price for the NHS. Option 2 could be superseded by further expansion of national capacity should the activity levels increase beyond those described in Scenario A.”
“It was recognised that in planning for Option 2, future increases in capacity would still be possible should activity levels rise beyond those described in Scenario A, in order to mitigate any risk of future under-capacity”
The national recommendation that a minimum number patients be treated each year relates specifically to Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) which is out of the scope of this consultation.
NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review is currently subject to an ongoing public consultation, which closes on 26 January 2015. NHS England would welcome any detailed comments being fed directly into the consultation process, including on data sources. Comments can be made at this link:
www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/options-for-change
NHS England’s review is concerned with assessing and meeting the need for the treatment of intracranial conditions with SRS/SRT; fractionated extracranial radiotherapy and Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) are not included in the review.
The two activity scenarios in the consultation document assume a significant growth in treatment rates. Scenario A is based on the level of need identified in the NHS England Clinical Commissioning Policies, whilst scenario B is based on an expected growth demand based on the treatment rates of some other European countries. The relative merits of these two scenarios are laid out from page eight of the consultation document
www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/options-for-change/supporting_documents/srssrtconsultguide021114.pdf
NHS England’s reasons for recommending scenario A with a seven-day working week, ‘Option 2’, is set out in their report as follows:
“SCOG [the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group] decided on Option 2 as the preferred option as it is based on seven-day working, which aligns to the national strategic direction of moving towards seven-day service provision. Additionally, the risk of overcapacity is minimised if clinical trends change more slowly than expected because the centres providing the service could revert to fewer days per week. The avoidance of machines lying idle 2/7ths of the week will ensure best price for the NHS. Option 2 could be superseded by further expansion of national capacity should the activity levels increase beyond those described in Scenario A.”
“It was recognised that in planning for Option 2, future increases in capacity would still be possible should activity levels rise beyond those described in Scenario A, in order to mitigate any risk of future under-capacity”
The national recommendation that a minimum number patients be treated each year relates specifically to Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) which is out of the scope of this consultation.
NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review is currently subject to an ongoing public consultation, which closes on 26 January 2015. NHS England would welcome any detailed comments being fed directly into the consultation process, including on data sources. Comments can be made at this link:
www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/options-for-change
Prior to April 2013, the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority. There were no overspends through the Fund during this period.
NHS England has had oversight of the Cancer Drugs Fund since April 2013 and publishes information on spend and patient numbers routinely on its website at:
www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/
NHS England has published a summary financial report for the Cancer Drugs Fund which states that the Fund was overspent by £30,539,000 in 2013-14. We understand from NHS England that this overspend was not funded from funding for radiotherapy services but from underspends in other parts of NHS England’s budget.
Since October 2010, over 55,000 patients in England have benefitted from the Cancer Drugs Fund.
NHS England released ‘Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services – needs assessment and service review’ on 3 November. NHS England is now consulting on this document until 26 January 2015, after which it will publish a report outlining the key themes of the consultation findings on its website.
NHS England advises us that the review took more time than originally planned to ensure that the options being consulted on were as comprehensive as possible. This included further testing of a number of issues including the appropriate level of throughput activity in each centre.
The Consolidated Notification Log 2012/13 record dated 30 September 2011 makes reference to a gamma knife service that might be available sometime in the future at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, part of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH). A gamma knife service is not currently provided by the Trust.
A gamma knife service is provided by an independent provider called Queen’s Square Radiotherapy Centre Limited based at Queen’s Square (a site owned by UCLH).