Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the financial and other obligations incurred by the West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust are as a result of the agreements with Watford Borough Council and the property company Kier signed in June 2013 in relation to the Watford Health Campus Partnership LLP.
Answered by Will Quince
National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts own their own land and buildings and are responsible for the sale or disposal of identified assets. Trusts work with integrated care boards, including the local authority and NHS England, on planning and optimising their estate.
The NHS has advised that the arrangement between West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Watford Borough Council and Kier was signed in 2013 and has a termination date of 2033 unless otherwise agreed by the parties. The housing regeneration is ongoing, and the hospital redevelopment is now part of the New Hospital Programme.
The Trust will make contributions to infrastructure costs as the work progresses and details of these will be made public in the normal way. To date, a £7 million contribution has been made by the Trust to the development of Thomas Sawyer Way, an access road which has an ambulance-only section, as well as access for staff, patients, and visitors to the new multi-storey car park. There have been no subsequent legal agreements which have changed either the original obligations or the rights applying to the West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any subsequent legal agreements have been reached to change the original (a) obligations and (b) rights applying to the West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as set out in the June 2013 agreement for the Watford Health Campus Partnership LLP.
Answered by Will Quince
National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts own their own land and buildings and are responsible for the sale or disposal of identified assets. Trusts work with integrated care boards, including the local authority and NHS England, on planning and optimising their estate.
The NHS has advised that the arrangement between West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Watford Borough Council and Kier was signed in 2013 and has a termination date of 2033 unless otherwise agreed by the parties. The housing regeneration is ongoing, and the hospital redevelopment is now part of the New Hospital Programme.
The Trust will make contributions to infrastructure costs as the work progresses and details of these will be made public in the normal way. To date, a £7 million contribution has been made by the Trust to the development of Thomas Sawyer Way, an access road which has an ambulance-only section, as well as access for staff, patients, and visitors to the new multi-storey car park. There have been no subsequent legal agreements which have changed either the original obligations or the rights applying to the West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Asked by: Aaron Bell (Conservative - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much foreign nationals paid for the treatment they have received on the NHS via the visitors charging regime in each of the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
We have taken foreign national to mean an overseas visitor. The following table shows that over the last five years the National Health Service has received £150 million from overseas visitors.
Year | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
Cash payments received | £30 million | £35 million | £39 million | £21 million | £25 million |
Source: Consolidated NHS provider accounts
Asked by: Aaron Bell (Conservative - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many foreign nationals received treatment on the NHS via the visitors charging regime in each of the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
We have taken foreign national to mean an overseas visitor. The following table shows that over the last five years the National Health Service has received £150 million from overseas visitors.
Year | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
Cash payments received | £30 million | £35 million | £39 million | £21 million | £25 million |
Source: Consolidated NHS provider accounts
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 potential impact of trends in the number of Health Visitors on (a) health and wellbeing outcomes for children under the age of five and (b) parenting skills and confidence in those skills among parents of children under the age of five.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. Health visitors have an important role supporting child health, wellbeing, and parenting confidence, alongside other professionals such as community staff nurses and nursery nurses and other health services. Data on service coverage and child health outcomes are published to support local commissioning processes, available at the following link:
https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/child-health-profiles
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that health visitors work with safe caseloads in the context of trends in the number of health visitors.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
It is the responsibility of local authority commissioners, with their service providers, to determine health visitor numbers based upon local needs. To support, we have also published employer guidance, including information on caseload management which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 number of health visitors that are required to operate a safe and effective service for parents; and whether he is taking steps to integrate the findings of that assessment into the NHS workforce plan.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made. It is the responsibility of local authority commissioners, with their service providers, to determine health visitor numbers based upon local needs. The Government has committed to publish an NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan this year.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of Health Visitors on the ability of family hubs to operate effectively.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to make an assessment. Family Hubs are intended to enhance services so parents and carers can access support they need. This can include health visiting services where it is determined locally. The Government has published supporting guidance and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 5 December 2022 (HL3057), what assessment they have made of the Cochrane Review on Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses, published on 30 January 2023; and whether they will update their guidance on face coverings in response to those findings.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is aware of the Cochrane Review published on 30 January 2023, which concludes that there is uncertainty about whether wearing masks helps to slow the spread of respiratory viruses based on the studies assessed.
The National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM), published on the National Health Service website in April 2022 in an online-only format and most recently updated in January 2023, is consistent with the recommendations in the Cochrane Review. The NIPCM is used by healthcare providers in all healthcare settings in England and is complemented by pathogen/disease specific guidance produced by the UK Health Security Agency.
The NIPCM does not require patients or visitors to NHS settings to routinely wear a face mask. However, there are some circumstances where it is recommended by a local risk assessment that patients and visitors to care settings wear masks, for example, where patients are at high risk of infection due to immunosuppression.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
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 Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses published on 30 January 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of that report's recommendations on wearing of face masks; and if he will make it his policy that no patients or visitors are required to wear face masks in NHS settings.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government is aware of the Cochrane Review published on 30 January 2023, which concludes that there is uncertainty about whether wearing masks helps to slow the spread of respiratory viruses based on the studies assessed.
The National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM), published in April 2022, is consistent with the recommendations in the Cochrane Review. The NIPCM is used by healthcare providers in all healthcare settings in England and is complemented by pathogen/disease specific guidance produced by UKHSA.
The NIPCM does not require patients or visitors to NHS settings to routinely wear a face mask. However, there are some circumstances where it is recommended by a local risk assessment that patients and visitors to care settings wear masks. For example, where patients are at high risk of infection due to immunosuppression.