Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
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 quality of the provision of the ambulance service in the East of England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Ambulance services are assessed through monthly performance data on response times. In June 2022, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust’s mean Category 1 response time was 10 minutes and 15 seconds, against the standard of seven minutes.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to require dentists to spend 50 per cent of their time working for the NHS for the first five years after they qualify.
Answered by James Morris
There are currently no plans to do so. Health Education England’s ‘Advancing Dental Care Review’, published in September 2021, made recommendations to address recruitment, retention and attract newly qualified dentists into the National Health Service. These recommendations will be implemented through the Dental Education Reform Programme.
The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are negotiating with the British Dental Association on reforms to the dental contract to ensure that working in the NHS is more attractive for new dentists.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the average waiting time for an NHS dentist appointment in (a) Ipswich and (b) the UK in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by James Morris
The information requested is not collected centrally, as appointments for National Health Service treatment in England are managed by dental practices.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
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 the availability of steel on the health infrastructure plan; and what steps he is taking to tackle any issues arising from the availability of steel.
Answered by Edward Argar
No specific assessment has been made. The Department is aware of pressures on the supply chain related to rising inflation and market capacity constraints and keeps this under review.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
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 most effective interventions for increasing levels of physical activity in a local authority area.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The national framework for physical activity, Everybody Active Every Day enables local authorities to support communities to lead more active lives. This includes setting out the evidence base on successfully enabling people to become more active and options for action at each level of the public health system, including local authorities. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance on physical activity and the environment emphasises that local authorities should prioritise the creation and maintenance of environments which encourage people to be active. Local authorities can access physical activity data at community level through the Public Health Outcomes Framework and Sport England Active Lives survey.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of the average level of physical activity in Ipswich and other local authority areas in England.
Answered by Maggie Throup
To support local monitoring of physical activity in relation to the Chief Medical Officer’s (CMOs’) guidelines, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities produces estimates of physical activity for each local authority in England from Active Lives Adult Survey data and present estimates from the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey.
In 2020/21, an estimated 54.1% of adults in Ipswich aged 19 years old and over reported achieving recommended physical activity levels, which was lower than the average for the East of England at 65.7% and 65.9% in England. During the academic year 2020/21, an estimated 40.2% of children and young people in Ipswich aged five to 16 years old in Ipswich met the CMOs’ guidelines of participating in sport and physical activity for an average of 60 minutes or more every day. This was similar to the average for the East of England at 43.2% and 44.6% in England.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
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 impact on elderly Ipswich residents of moving elective surgeries from Ipswich to Colchester hospital.
Answered by Edward Argar
No formal assessment has been made. The creation of a new surgical centre at Colchester will not remove access to orthopaedic services from Ipswich Hospital. A locally commissioned patient transport service will be available to all residents who cannot access other methods of attending the centre.