Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the time taken for patients with inflammatory skin conditions to access (a) specialist care and support and (b) treatment.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top priorities. We are making good progress on tackling the longest waits, to ensure that patients get the care they need when they need it.
We are taking action to recover elective services, including for patients waiting for National Health Service dermatology services, by working towards the targets set out in the Elective Recovery Plan and providing the NHS with record levels of staffing and funding. To facilitate this across the NHS in England, we are: increasing activity, with plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25; expanding capacity though creating a new network of community diagnostic centres; and maximising all available independent sector capacity. We are managing demand through specialised advice in primary care and giving patients more control over where they receive their care, and we are increasing productivity through transforming outpatient services, developing new surgical hubs to increase theatre productivity and working actively with trusts to support and challenge on their performance.
No specific assessment has been made of the potential impact of implementing NHS England’s referral optimisation for people with skin conditions on the cost of treatment and the number of referrals for people with skin conditions in England, Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System or Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.
The aim of referral optimisation is to triage referrals using electronic means, so that those with less serious problems can be offered rapid advice by their general practitioner (GP). This has the potential to create efficiencies by offering people with disabling skin problems rapid treatment to get them back to work and functioning at home quickly. Ensuring only those patients with the most serious conditions are sent to hospital will help to reduce waiting lists and ensure NHS hospital resources are used for those most likely to benefit most.
It is important that integrated care systems work with both GPs and hospitals to monitor referral numbers and ensure that the benefits of electronic triage are not outweighed by increased demand.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for NHS treatment in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Cutting National Health Service waiting lists is one of the Government’s top priorities.
To facilitate this across elective services in England, we are increasing activity, with plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, expanding capacity though creating a network of community diagnostic centres (CDCs), and maximising all available independent sector capacity. We are managing demand through specialised advice in primary care and giving patients more control over where they receive their care, and we are increasing productivity through: transforming outpatient services; developing new surgical hubs to increase theatre productivity, funded by part of £1.5 billion; and working actively with trusts to support and challenge on their performance.
We recognise that local areas were affected by COVID-19 differently, resulting in variation in elective waiting times across different parts of the country. Tackling inequalities in access to elective care has therefore been a key component of the Department’s and NHS England’s approach to recovery. This is supported by the creation and expansion of CDCs and surgical hubs. There are currently 94 surgical hubs and 136 CDCs operational across England.
In the West Midlands there are 16 surgical hubs and six operational CDCs. In Coventry North East Constituency there is one surgical hub and one CDC.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has a risk register for NHS England's Federated Data Platform.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Federated Data Platform is an important upgrade to NHS data systems, allowing Trusts to improve services for patients, by managing data more effectively. The benefits have been demonstrated in a series of pilots, which have seen Trusts shorten waiting lists, improve theatre utilisation, and arrange discharges more quickly and easily.
NHS England has a risk register as part of their standard programme documentation, including processes for ensuring this is updated on a regular basis and reported through relevant governance structures. The FDP is a Tier A Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) programme and therefore is required to report on a regular basis to the GMPP, including risks. The GMPP report is published annually.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care to the Chair of the Health and Social Care on NHS Federated Data Platform dated 30 August 2023, which 24 NHS trusts are actively realising benefits from the Improving Elective Care Coordination for Patients and Care Coordination Solution programmes.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Following the information shared by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Lord Markham) on 30 August 2023, NHS England has continued to work with sites to deliver the Improving Elective Care Co-ordination for Patients (IECCP) programme.
Overall, there are now 31 trusts who are realising waiting list and theatre benefits under IECCP. Some of these trusts are also realising discharge benefits using the Optimised Patient Tracking and Intelligent Choices Application pilot. The 31 trusts are listed below:
- Barts Health NHS Trust;
- Bolton NHS Foundation Trust;
- Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
- Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
- Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust;
- East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust;
- East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust;
- Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust;
- Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
- Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust;
- Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
- Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust;
- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust;
- Medway NHS Foundation Trust;
- Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
- North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust;
- North Tees and Hartlepool Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
- Northampton General Hospital Trust;
- Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust;
- Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust;
- Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust;
- Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust (now Mersey and West Lancashire);
- South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
- South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust;
- The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
- United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust;
- University Hospitals of Derby & Burton NHS Foundation Trust;
- University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust; and
- University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to promote English baroque musical tradition in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by John Whittingdale - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
England is home to some of the world’s most respected performers of baroque music, from the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. At this time of year in particular, performances of extracts from Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio will be heard and enjoyed around the country.
Performance of baroque music in England, along with other individual musical genres, receives support from a wide variety of sources, including public funding via Arts Council England. There are a number of National Portfolio Organisations and other Arts Council-funded organisations which deliver activity in England relating to baroque music. For example, Britten Pears Arts (which receives over £1.4 million per annum through Arts Council England) operates a baroque orchestra training scheme for younger players and provides residencies and performance platforms for small ensembles including those specialising in period instrument performance.
Many National Portfolio Organisations regularly perform or engage with baroque music in England. This includes specialist organisations such as the National Centre for Early Music in York (which receives over £275,000 per annum), and organisations which perform a broader range of music, such as the Royal Opera House (which receives more than £22 million per annum), which has recently staged Handel’s oratorio Jeptha.
Arts Council England’s open programmes (such as National Lottery Project Grants, and Develop Your Creative Practice) have also supported individuals and organisations delivering baroque music. This support is open to organisations and individuals across the country, including to those in Romford.
Many performances of baroque music in England will be by orchestras, which may be eligible for the Orchestras Tax Relief. At the Spring Budget this year, HM Government announced a two-year extension to the higher rates of Theatre and Orchestra Tax Relief.
Romford and Havering are home to an amateur choir, as well as an orchestra, and the Havering Singers’ past concerts have included a performance of Handel’s Messiah.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the backlog in neurology appointments in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Cutting the National Health Service waiting lists, including for neurology, is one of the Government’s top priorities. To facilitate this across elective services, we are increasing activity, with plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, and expanding capacity though creating a new network of community diagnostic centres. We are managing demand through specialised advice in primary care and giving patients more control over where they receive their care, and we are increasing productivity; through transforming outpatient services and developing new surgical hubs to increase theatre productivity, funded by part of £1.5 billion and working actively with trusts to support and challenge on their performance.
The Northern Care Alliance is the main provider for neurology care across Greater Manchester with a small number of patients under the care of Manchester University Foundation Trust for children and young people, and Bolton NHS Foundation Trust for long term neurology conditions service provided by NCA.
These trusts are currently working hard on validating waiting lists and keeping in regular contact with all waiting patients to ensure they are informed and supported while they wait for care. There has been a significant reduction in long waiting patient numbers that has been driven through several initiatives, including some small transfers of patients to other providers, but mainly through introducing external neurologists to see patients within the service at weekends and through their own clinical team doing additional work at the weekend.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for gastric band surgery for people who are clinically obese.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for gastric band surgery, is one of the Government’s top priorities. To facilitate this across elective services, we are increasing activity, with plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, expanding capacity though creating a new network of community diagnostic centres, and maximising all available independent sector capacity. We are managing demand through specialised advice in primary care and giving patients more control over where they receive their care, and we are increasing productivity; through transforming outpatient services, developing new surgical hubs to increase theatre productivity, funded by part of £1.5 billion and working actively with trusts to support and challenge on their performance.
As a result, we met our target to virtually eliminate long waits of two years or more for elective procedures in July 2022, and as of September 2023, a total of 10,196 patients still remain, a reduction of almost 92% from the peak of 125,000 in September 2021. We continue to make progress to hit our next ambition of eliminating waits of 65 and 52 weeks.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provided by Arts Council England for cultural activities in the North West.
Answered by John Whittingdale - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country, including through public funding to organisations in the North West of England via Arts Council England.
Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 120 organisations (up from 97 in the 2018–22 portfolio) in the North West across theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries.The total investment in the North West through the national portfolio is currently £49.7 million per year – an increase of more than £7.5 million per year compared to the last portfolio.
Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £428 million in arts and cultural organisations in the North West of England. This includes £13,651,486 of public funding through the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, Libraries Improvement Fund and Museum Estate and Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England. Arts and cultural organisations in the North West of England also benefited from over £120 million through the Culture Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provided by Arts Council England for cultural activities in the South East.
Answered by John Whittingdale - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country, including through public funding to organisations in the South East of England via Arts Council England.
Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 139 organisations (an increase from 105 in the 2018–22 portfolio) in the South East of England across theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries. The total investment in the South East through the national portfolio is £45.6 million per year – an increase of over £5 million per year from the last portfolio.
Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £360 million of public money in arts and cultural organisations in the South East of England. This includes £12,439,377 through the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, Libraries Improvement Fund, and Museum Estate and Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England. Arts and cultural organisations in the South East also benefited from over £106 million through the Culture Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential merits of supporting schools with transport costs to theatre productions.
Answered by John Whittingdale - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State has regular conversations with the Secretary of State for Education on a number of issues, including on improving access to the arts for school pupils.
In March 2022, the Department for Education updated its pupil premium guidance and recovery premium guidance to make it clear that schools may use these funding streams to fund extracurricular activities, including school trips. Many theatres also offer subsidised travel in a bespoke or targeted manner through their work with community groups and targeted to specific groups. For example, the Lyric Hammersmith regularly offers to fund the cost of transport to enable local schools to visit, and its ‘free panto tickets’ for schools programme has been successfully running for many years.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is also working with the Department for Education to publish a Cultural Education Plan, as committed to in the Schools White Paper. This aims to improve access to cultural education for all children and young people in England. The development of the plan is supported by an expert advisory panel, chaired by Baroness Bull, which includes advising on routes to tackle disparities in opportunity and outcomes in cultural education.