Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of NHS hospital sites in England are compliant with his Department's guidance entitled, NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The level and appropriateness of car parking charges at National Health Service sites is the responsibility of the local NHS trust. The Department have published the NHS Car Parking Principles which clearly state that concessions should be offered to groups who most need help, such as disabled people including those with blue badges and temporary disabilities.
Information is not collected on car parking costs, concessionary parking arrangements for blue badge holders or the number of private provider companies that operate NHS hospital car parks in England.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of maternal postnatal checks in identifying maternal mental health problems.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Laura Smith MP) on 2 July to Questions 268577 and 268578.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of GPs in identifying and treating perinatal mental health problems in mothers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Laura Smith MP) on 2 July to Questions 268577 and 268578.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled, Fair to Refer, published by the General Medical Council in June 2019, what steps his Department is taking ensure the NHS is an inclusive environment for new doctors.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
It is the responsibility of each National Health Service organisation as individual employers, to ensure all workforce policies and procedures comply with the Equality Act 2010. This includes policies and procedures that help to promote inclusivity and prevent all forms of unlawful discrimination.
A substantial programme of work is being taken forward to improve the working lives of doctors in training through the working group ‘Enhancing the Working Lives of Doctors in Training’ led by Health Education England and the British Medical Association. This includes a range of work programmes based on extensive consultation with doctors including improving the induction processes and the training environment for new doctors.
For trained doctors who are new to the NHS and who take up Specialty and Associate Specialists (SAS) doctor positions, the SAS doctor development guide aims to make sure that this important group of doctors are helped to remain fit to practice and develop in their careers. In addition, the SAS Charter sets out the support available to SAS doctors and what they can expect from their employers to help provide an optimum working environment for this group of doctors.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled, Fair to Refer, published by the General Medical Council in June 2019, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of support locums.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
Doctors who work within health organisations for short-term placements (or locums) may face specific challenges due to the short term, flexible nature of their work. In October 2018, NHS England set out how National Health Service doctors can be best supported to enhance their work experience and provide safe provision of healthcare as a valuable part of the workforce in the publication ‘Supporting organisations engaging with locums and doctors in short-term placements: A practical guide for healthcare providers, locum agencies and revalidation management services.’
NHS England Responsible Officers (Regional Medical Directors) are currently carrying out a review of locum agency governance arrangements alongside establishing established a six-month programme of learning sets for Responsible Officers and locum agency managers to share governance learning and good practice.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled, Fair to Refer, published by the General Medical Council in June 2019, what steps his Department is taking to BAME discrimination in the NHS.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
It is the responsibility of each National Health Service organisation as individual employers, to ensure all workforce policies and procedures comply with the Equality Act 2010. This includes policies and procedures to prevent all forms of unlawful discrimination, including bullying, harassment and victimisation from other staff, patients or other members of the public.
Policies and procedures should be easily accessible to staff and managers and should be regularly monitored and reviewed by organisation boards in partnership with staff-side representatives. Employers provide a range of support services for their employees, including counselling, Freedom to Speak Up guardians, other staff trained to support affected colleagues, bullying hotlines and mediation.
The Department is committed to supporting NHS organisations in this via the Social Partnership Forum’s ‘Creating positive workplace cultures and tackling bullying in the NHS - a collective call to action’, the Alliance of Healthcare Organisations committed to civility and respect throughout the NHS and the new offer for staff being developed as part of the People Plan.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of doctors who have taken on additional responsibilities within their working hours as a result of gaps in staff rotas.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
There has been no recent estimate made by the Government because work schedules for junior doctors and job planning for consultants and specialty doctors are a matter for individual hospital trusts.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 reduce the number of adult male suicides.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Government is committed to reducing suicides across society and we published the first cross-Government suicide prevention workplan in January 2019, which sets out an ambitious programme for suicide prevention across national and local government.
The National Suicide Prevention Strategy highlights men, and especially middle-aged and young men, as a hard-to-reach, high-risk group and that is why the Government is investing £25 million to support local suicide prevention plans and is testing a range of approaches to reaching men in local communities.
We also recently announced up to £600,000 to support local authorities to further improve their plans, including sharing best practice in targeting high risk groups such as men.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the suicide risk among (a) immigrants and (b) each ethnic minority group.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Ethnicity and immigration status is not recorded at the time of death registration so this information is not available.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information the Department holds on the number of NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups that follow the NICE 2017 guideline, NG77, on cataract surgery.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The Department holds no information on the number of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which follow the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2017 guideline, NG77.
NICE clinical guidelines are based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and are developed through engagement with stakeholders. They represent best practice and CCGs are expected to take them fully into account when planning and commissioning high-quality services healthcare services that meet the needs of their local population, including cataract surgery.
NHS England is responsible for holding CCGs to account to ensure they are commissioning services that meet the needs of their local populations.