Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to sections 105 and 120 of NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review, published in November 2014, which members of (a) NHS England's staff and (b) the Clinical Reference Group made up the project team; from where the focus group was drawn; and what the names are of those who sat on that focus group.
Answered by Jane Ellison
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/
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to section 121 of NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review, published in November 2014, what the names are of those who supplied the data demonstrating (a) the cost effectiveness of treating patients surgically as against treating with stereotactic radiosurgery, (b) the cost of providing surgical treatment and (c) the cost of providing stereotacic radiosurgery.
Answered by Jane Ellison
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/
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to NHS England's agreement to provide £6 million of funding for Cancer Research UK's Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) clinical trial programme, (a) over what time period that funding will be available, (b) how many patients in total will take part in that trial, (c) how many of those patients will receive SABR and (d) what the cost per patient will be.
Answered by Jane Ellison
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.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to NHS England's consultation document Proposal for a sustainable Cancer Drug Fund, page 9, Points 24 and 25, what NHS England's overspend of the Cancer Drug Fund (CDF) was during its first year in charge of the CDF; whether the CDF was in budget each year prior to 1 April 2013; how much was taken from the radiotherapy budget to underwrite the overspend; from which disease area money was taken to underwrite the CDF overspend; and how much funding was taken in such a fashion to underwrite the overspend.
Answered by George Freeman
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.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review published in November 2014 is solely for the purpose of assessing the needs of intracranial radiotherapy treatment in England.
Answered by Jane Ellison
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
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review published in November 2014, what evidence NHS England has received that demonstrates that instances of both malignant and benign brain tumours are lower in England than in other devoloped countries; and for what reasons NHS England is supporting proposals which will prevent the NHS from adopting a programme to allow it to reach parity with other developed countries for the provision of stereotactic radiotherapy for brain tumours.
Answered by Jane Ellison
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
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review published in November 2014, section 58, how NHS England is able accurately to protect the growth requirements for stereotactic radiosurgery if the data source it is using does not allow it to draw firm conclusions for the purposes of this Review.
Answered by Jane Ellison
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
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to NHS England's Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review published in November 2014, section 96, if he will ensure that NHS England's proposals to use modified Linacs to supplement highly specialised stereotactic radiotherapy provision (a) comply with national recommendations that a minimum number of 25 patients is treated each year and (b) do not reduce patient access to the conventional radiotherapy the Linacs are designed to provide.
Answered by Jane Ellison
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
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 22 October 2013, to Question 171517, for what reasons NHS England's review into stereotactic radiosurgery was not completed by the end of 2013; and when NHS England will complete this review.
Answered by Jane Ellison
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.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether University College Hospital London included the provision of gamma knife services at its Queen Square site in its notification log to commissioners before 1 April 2013.
Answered by Jane Ellison
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).