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422660

	registered interest
	date	20/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Pregnancy: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the net change has been in the number of inpatient perinatal mental health beds since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Wavertree
	tabling member printed	Luciana Berger
	uin	12670
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2015 answer text <p><ins class="ministerial">Since 2010 there has been a net reduction in the number of inpatient perinatal mental health beds from 118 beds in 2010 to 115 beds in 2015.</ins></p><p><del class="ministerial">Since 2010 there has been a net reduction of mother and baby units from 17 units to 15 units.</del></p><br /> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 23/10/2015 13:48:26 question first ministerially corrected 29/10/2015 10:29:54 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt previous answer version 25494 answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
	tabling member	4036 label Biography information for Luciana Berger

420885

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Cancer: Drugs
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government why patients in England cannot access the drug Docetaxel, in contrast to patients in Scotland.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
	uin	HL2571
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2015 answer text <p>The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body which, for England, makes decisions on the clinical and cost effectiveness of products based on thorough assessment of the best available evidence. NICE has recommended docetaxel for the treatment of hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer (where the disease becomes unresponsive to hormone treatment). It has not appraised docetaxel for use alongside hormone treatment.</p><br /><p>In the absence of guidance from NICE, it is for commissioners in England to make funding decisions on drugs and treatments based on the available evidence. Although docetaxel is not licensed for this indication, there is no funding, legal or regulatory barrier to prescribing drugs off-licence. Where clinically appropriate, off-licence prescribing is safe and legal and most clinicians regularly prescribe in this way.</p> answering member printed Lord Prior of Brampton question first answered 23/10/2015 12:17:38 answering member 127 label Biography information for Lord Prior of Brampton
	tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

420899

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Hospital Beds
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to introduce requirements for Clinical Commissioning Groups with patients in acute hospitals in other areas to prioritise those patients to prevent bed-blocking.
	tabling member printed	Lord Smith of Leigh
	uin	HL2585
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2015 answer text <p>NHS England has advised that it does not currently have plans to introduce requirements on clinical commissioning groups to prioritise patients in one area over another.</p><br /><p>However, NHS England is working to improve patient flow, for example through the Urgent and Emergency Care Review, which proposes a radical transformation in the way services are provided to deliver a more sustainable urgent and emergency care system, delivering care closer to home whenever it is safe and appropriate to do so.</p><br /><p>NHS England has also recently published guidance on <em>Transforming urgent and emergency care services in England </em>to help frontline providers and commissioners deliver safer, faster and better urgent and emergency care to patients of all ages, collaborating in networks that cross traditional boundaries in order to deliver best practice. A copy of the guidance is attached.</p> answering member printed Lord Prior of Brampton question first answered 23/10/2015 10:54:03 answering member 127 label Biography information for Lord Prior of Brampton attachment 1 file name NHS England Guidance.pdf title NHS England Urgent Care Guidance
	tabling member	2509 label Biography information for Lord Smith of Leigh

421239

	registered interest
	date	14/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	NHS: Working Hours
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the comments of the President of the Royal College of Physicians, reported on 14 October, that their plan for a seven-day NHS will require more doctors, more funding, and increased provision of services currently provided by hospitals during the working week.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
	uin	HL2610
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2015 answer text <p>The Government is investing £10 billion in the NHS Five Year Forward View which includes developing a framework for how seven day services can be delivered sustainably and affordably, where this makes a clinical difference to outcomes.</p><br /><p>Implementing seven day services will involve different approaches in different areas, not least because current levels of service provision at weekends currently vary between hospitals. All areas will implement in the way that makes sense for them, minimising additional costs and maximising opportunities for using existing resources better.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p>It will be for local providers and their Local Education and Training Boards to develop workforce plans for delivering seven day services in hospitals which will make the best use of staff skills and expertise. There may be additional staff needed, including doctors, and the Department is working with NHS England and Health Education England to make sure we have the workforce we need, including looking at new working patterns and roles such as physician associates.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p>In order to provide safe, high-quality urgent and emergency care services seven days a week, NHS England recommended that hospitals prioritise implementation of four of the 10 clinical standards agreed by their ‘NHS Services, Seven Days a Week’ Forum. These ensure that patients who have urgent and emergency hospital care needs will have access to the same level of consultant assessment and review, diagnostic tests and consultant-led interventions seven days a week. The Government will ensure that by March 2017 a quarter of the population will have access to care that meets these standards and, by March 2020, there will be complete coverage for the whole of England. This means that hospitals will have to increase their provision of services in key specialties at the weekend if they are not currently meeting these standards.</p><br /><p>Although we are prioritising the standards which will have the biggest impact on improving patient care at weekends, we expect all hospitals to work towards embedding all ten clinical standards by 2020.</p> answering member printed Lord Prior of Brampton grouped question UIN HL2611 question first answered 23/10/2015 10:55:48 answering member 127 label Biography information for Lord Prior of Brampton
	tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

421240

	registered interest
	date	14/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	NHS: Working Hours
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number and cost of extra doctors, nurses, therapists and diagnostic staff required for seven-day working in the NHS.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
	uin	HL2611
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2015 answer text <p>The Government is investing £10 billion in the NHS Five Year Forward View which includes developing a framework for how seven day services can be delivered sustainably and affordably, where this makes a clinical difference to outcomes.</p><br /><p>Implementing seven day services will involve different approaches in different areas, not least because current levels of service provision at weekends currently vary between hospitals. All areas will implement in the way that makes sense for them, minimising additional costs and maximising opportunities for using existing resources better.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p>It will be for local providers and their Local Education and Training Boards to develop workforce plans for delivering seven day services in hospitals which will make the best use of staff skills and expertise. There may be additional staff needed, including doctors, and the Department is working with NHS England and Health Education England to make sure we have the workforce we need, including looking at new working patterns and roles such as physician associates.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p>In order to provide safe, high-quality urgent and emergency care services seven days a week, NHS England recommended that hospitals prioritise implementation of four of the 10 clinical standards agreed by their ‘NHS Services, Seven Days a Week’ Forum. These ensure that patients who have urgent and emergency hospital care needs will have access to the same level of consultant assessment and review, diagnostic tests and consultant-led interventions seven days a week. The Government will ensure that by March 2017 a quarter of the population will have access to care that meets these standards and, by March 2020, there will be complete coverage for the whole of England. This means that hospitals will have to increase their provision of services in key specialties at the weekend if they are not currently meeting these standards.</p><br /><p>Although we are prioritising the standards which will have the biggest impact on improving patient care at weekends, we expect all hospitals to work towards embedding all ten clinical standards by 2020.</p> answering member printed Lord Prior of Brampton grouped question UIN HL2610 question first answered 23/10/2015 10:55:49 answering member 127 label Biography information for Lord Prior of Brampton
	tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

421721

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Respiratory System: Diseases
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will roll out a national breathlessness campaign to follow the pilots in the North and East of England.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	12166
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2015 answer text <p>The regional pilot of the breathlessness campaign was carried out in the East of England 2 February – 1 March 2015. The evaluation of the campaign is ongoing.</p><br /> answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison question first answered 23/10/2015 13:05:37 answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

421722

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Home Care Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that carers are able to give each patient an appropriate amount of time on visits.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	12117
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2015 answer text <p>In most cases, very short visits from care workers are incompatible with high quality care. However, short visits may be appropriate in certain circumstances. For instance, checking medication has been taken.</p><br /><p>Local authorities are responsible for the commissioning of services, not the Government but both Government and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) agree that inappropriately short home care visits are unacceptable.The Care Act sends a clear message that commissioning services without properly considering the impact on people’s wellbeing is unacceptable.</p><br /><p>In September 2015, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidelines on homecare which state that homecare visits should not normally be less than 30 minutes long. The Department published statutory guidance to the Care Act which directs local authorities when commissioning to consider national standards including NICE guidelines.</p><br /><p>Further, the Department worked with ADASS and the Local Government Association (LGA) to produce a framework of standards, ‘Commissioning for Better Outcomes’ which explicitly states that inappropriate use of short visits is not compatible with best practice. The framework is designed to support local authorities to improve their commissioning practices using self-assessment and peer challenge through the LGA’s programme of sector-led improvement.</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 23/10/2015 13:23:58 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

421723

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Social Services: Training
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department intends to establish or encourage national training schemes for care providers to ensure consistency in care provision across the sector.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	12118
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2015 answer text <p>The introduction of the Care Certificate, a recommendation of the Cavendish Review, will help to improve the consistency of training in the sector. As of 1 April 2015, all new social care support workers and healthcare assistants are expected to attain the new Care Certificate within their first twelve weeks of employment.</p><br /><p>The Department funds Skills for Care, the partner in the sector skills council for social care, to produce a range of resources for workers to develop the knowledge to support people who use the services. This includes the apprenticeships programme which is important in growing a consistently skilled workforce providing high quality care for the future.</p> answering member constituency Ipswich answering member printed Ben Gummer question first answered 23/10/2015 13:14:05 answering member 3988 label Biography information for Ben Gummer
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

422668

	registered interest
	date	20/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Junior Doctors: Working Hours
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on patients' safety of removing working hours safeguards from junior doctors' contract.
	tabling member constituency	Bethnal Green and Bow
	tabling member printed	Rushanara Ali
	uin	12709
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2015 answer text <p>My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made clear his strong commitment to ensuring safe working in the National Health Service to support his ambition for the NHS to become the safest health care system in the world.</p><br /><p>This includes guaranteeing that a new contract for junior doctors will not impose longer hours and that contractual safeguards will be strengthened - so that some junior doctors work less. For example:</p><br /><p>- No junior doctor will be contractually required to work more than an average of 48 hours a week;</p><p>- The provisions of the Working Time Regulations will continue to apply, and even those who choose to opt-out (legally allowing them to work longer) will be limited to an average of 56 hours a week;</p><p>- Maximum of 72 hours in any week (lower than the current 91 possible under legislation;</p><p>- No shift rostered to exceed 13 hours;</p><p>- No more than five long shifts consecutively (long=more than 10 hours);</p><p>- No more than four night shifts consecutively (where at least three hours fall between 11pm and 6am; and</p><p>- No more than seven consecutive on-call periods.</p><p>To further support safety, a system of agreed work scheduling and reviews will be introduced which will give junior doctorsa contractual right to report exceptions where his or her day-to-day work varies from the work schedule. This includes concerns about hours spent in work (including rest breaks), or the agreed working pattern (including time made available for educational opportunities).</p><br /><p>The contract will require the employer to assess any issues as they arise, and make timely adjustments through a ‘work schedule review’. In exceptional approved circumstances, doctors would be compensated for hours worked outside their work schedule.</p><p><strong></strong></p> answering member constituency Ipswich answering member printed Ben Gummer question first answered 23/10/2015 13:27:51 answering member 3988 label Biography information for Ben Gummer
	tabling member	4138 label Biography information for Rushanara Ali

422669

	registered interest
	date	20/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Junior Doctors: Conditions of Employment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of junior doctors who may leave the UK to work abroad as a result of the introduction of a new contract by the Government.
	tabling member constituency	Bethnal Green and Bow
	tabling member printed	Rushanara Ali
	uin	12710
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2015 answer text <p>Many junior doctors spend a period of time working abroad before returning to complete their training in the National Health Service. This is something that can bring benefits back to the NHS. A final contract offer has not yet been made to junior doctors, but there will be no provisions designed to provide reason to increase the numbers of junior doctors working abroad.</p><br /><p>The proposals for contract reform are about introducing a more professional and fairer contract for junior doctors that supports patient care, and supports doctors through their training. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State, in his letter of 8 October to Dr Johann Malawana, Chair of the junior doctors Committee of the British Medical Association (BMA), set out a series of cast iron guarantees for Junior Doctors about the reforms. The letter outlined his ambition to reduce, not increase, the number of hours junior doctors work, and committed to stronger safeguards to protect doctors and patients.</p><br /><p>It also guaranteed that no savings will be made from the contract and that average pay will be maintained, and outlined how the Department wants Health Education England and the Royal Colleges to work with the BMA and NHS Employers to look at how the training experience can be improved.</p><br /> answering member constituency Ipswich answering member printed Ben Gummer question first answered 23/10/2015 13:02:09 answering member 3988 label Biography information for Ben Gummer
	tabling member	4138 label Biography information for Rushanara Ali