Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

100977

	registered interest
	date	27/10/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	NHS: Drugs
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards exist to ensure that the pricing of "specials" drugs prescribed within the National Health Service is consistent and non-discriminatory, including when prescribed by general practitioners.
	tabling member printed	Lord Lester of Herne Hill
	uin	HL2433
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/11/2014 answer text <p>The Drug Tariff sets out what National Health Service dispensing contractors will be paid for the products supplied as part of providing pharmaceutical services and the fees for providing those services in primary care.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The current arrangements in the Drug Tariff for paying for specials were introduced in 2011. The Drug Tariff sets the price that the NHS pays to dispensing contractors for dispensing some of the most popular specials. Setting a reimbursement price encourages dispensing contractors to obtain best value for the NHS while also ensuring patients received the medicines they need, when they need them. The products listed and their reimbursement prices are agreed with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and reviewed regularly. However, due to the number of specials that can potentially be prescribed, it is not possible to list a reimbursement price for all available specials.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Where the reimbursement price of a product has not been set, dispensing contractors are paid according to how the product is sourced. Where a dispensing contractor buys the product from a specials manufacturer or an importer, they must claim the invoice price of the pack size used to dispense the product minus any discounts or rebates received.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>NHS England is responsible for commissioning pharmaceutical services in primary care and it is for NHS England to consider whether dispensing contractors have acted appropriately. In addition, the General Pharmaceutical Council is responsible for regulating the pharmacy professions should there be any concerns of professional misconduct.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Many hospital pharmacies manufacture their own specials on the premises. Any procurement of unlicensed medicines via framework agreements for the use of NHS secondary care establishments in England is undertaken through tenders governed by the Public Contracts Regulations (2006), as amended, which require the procurement to be conducted in a transparent and equitable manner.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 10/11/2014 14:29:40 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	2037 label Biography information for Lord Lester of Herne Hill

101009

	registered interest
	date	27/10/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	General Practitioners: Pay
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the announcement by NHS England that general practitioners are to be paid an additional £55 for diagnosing dementia in patients, what other complaints or illnesses diagnosed by general practitioners are already rewarded by payments additional to their salaries; and whether they will review the system of additional payments of this sort.
	tabling member printed	Lord Stoddart of Swindon
	uin	HL2465
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>General Practitioner (GP) income is made up of global sum payments for carrying out essential and additional services under the contract. Practices may also receive further payments for specific services including:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>- enhanced services – those that require an enhanced level of service provision above what is required under the core contract. The additional payment for diagnosing dementia falls within this category; and</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>- the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) - a voluntary incentive scheme that provides payment to GP practices for how well they care for patients based on performance against a number of agreed indicators.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Specifically on diagnosis, a number of QOF indicators are concerned with the establishment of disease registers. In order to receive payment GPs are required to ensure diagnosis levels consistent with those expected for their population for the following conditions:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>- atrial fibrillation;</p><p> </p><p>- coronary heart disease;</p><p> </p><p>- heart failure;</p><p> </p><p>- hypertension;</p><p> </p><p>- peripheral arterial disease;</p><p> </p><p>- stroke and trans-ischaemic attack;</p><p> </p><p>- diabetes mellitus;</p><p> </p><p>- hypothyroidism;</p><p> </p><p>- asthma;</p><p> </p><p>- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;</p><p> </p><p>- dementia;</p><p> </p><p>- depression;</p><p> </p><p>- schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and other psychoses and other patients on lithium therapy;</p><p> </p><p>- cancer;</p><p> </p><p>- chronic kidney disease;</p><p> </p><p>- epilepsy;</p><p> </p><p>- osteoporosis;</p><p> </p><p>- rheumatoid arthritis; and</p><p> </p><p>- obesity.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Each year NHS Employers, on behalf of NHS England, negotiates the new GP contract with the General Practitioners Council of the British Medical Association. This includes discussion of changes to the Enhanced Services and QOF.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 05/11/2014 12:10:48 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	950 label Biography information for Lord Stoddart of Swindon

100923

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Accident and Emergency Departments
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children under the age of five were taken by their parents to accident and emergency departments for treatment in 2012 and 2013.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Manzoor
	uin	HL2391
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>This information is not available in the format requested.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>In the following table, we have provided information concerning the number of accident and emergency attendances<sup>1</sup> (excluding planned attendances) for children aged under five by arrival mode, 2012-13 to 2013-14<sup>2</sup> (provisional data)<sup>3</sup>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Please be aware that data for 2013-14 is provisional and is therefore, subject to change.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Arrival mode</p></td><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>2013-14 (provisional)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Brought in by ambulance (including helicopter/air ambulance)</p></td><td><p>220,277</p></td><td><p>223,571</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Other</p></td><td><p>1,572,518</p></td><td><p>1,511,042</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Not known</p></td><td><p>21,296</p></td><td><p>36,840</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>1,814,091</p></td><td><p>1,771,453</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector</p><p> </p><p><em>Source:</em> Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre<sup>4 </sup></p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p><em>Notes:</em></p><p> </p><p>1. HES is not the official source of total A&amp;E activity, this is the NHS England situation reports collection:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>However, HES permits further analysis of A&amp;E activity as there are a range of data items by which HES can be analysed.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>2. HES figures are available from 2007-08 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage and changes in National Health Service practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>3. The data is provisional and may be incomplete or contain errors for which no adjustments have yet been made. Counts produced from provisional data are likely to be lower than those generated for the same period in the final dataset. This shortfall will be most pronounced in the final month of the latest period, i.e. November from the (month 9) April to November extract. It is also probable that clinical data are not complete, which may in particular affect the last two months of any given period. There may also be errors due to coding inconsistencies that have not yet been investigated and corrected.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>4. Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. Health and Social Care Information Centre liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 30/10/2014 12:00:01 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	4289 label Biography information for Baroness Manzoor

100924

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2014
	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	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to raise awareness of bronchiolitis among parents with very young children.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Manzoor
	uin	HL2392
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>Bronchiolitis is a common lower respiratory tract infection that most commonly affects babies and young children under a year old. Most cases are mild and improve without specific treatment within about two weeks, although some children have severe symptoms and need treatment in hospital.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Information for parents on bronchiolitis, including the symptoms, causes and potential treatments for the condition, is provided by the NHS Choices website at the following link:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bronchiolitis/Pages/Introduction.aspx</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, the British Lung Foundation has produced a free leaflet on bronchiolitis in babies for parents:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>www.blf.org.uk/Publication/Detail/Bronchiolitis-and-your-baby</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>and for clinicians the Clinical Knowledge Summary Service run by National Institute for Health &amp; Care Excellence contains easily accessible information about the usual causes of acute chest signs in children and their management:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>http://cks.nice.org.uk/cough-acute-with-chest-signs-in-children</p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 30/10/2014 16:24:09 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	4289 label Biography information for Baroness Manzoor

100925

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Accident and Emergency Departments
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to locate health visitors in accident and emergency departments.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Manzoor
	uin	HL2393
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Department knows that some parts of the National Health Service are under pressure at the moment. Health Visitors and other health professionals have the potential to play a strong role in reducing the burden on emergency departments. We welcome proposals on innovative ways to achieve this.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>NHS England has advised that while health visiting services are currently provided in many community locations including children’s centres, community clinics and local general practitioner surgeries, NHS England is carrying out work to look at how health visitors, in response to local need, can support other frontline services and provide more support and advice to parents on caring for their children.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>For example, London and Midland and East Regions are looking at opportunities which will simultaneously enhance the health visiting service provision and support a reduction in accident and emergency attendance and waiting times over the winter period.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In both regions the services offered will fall within the professional scope of Health Visitors and are designed to support families receive the most appropriate care. In addition, health visitors in accident and emergency departments can support delivery of the high impact areas: particularly managing minor illness, preventing accidents and also support maternal mental health, early attachment, and transition to parenthood and breastfeeding.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>These ideas have been shared with the other regions.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 05/11/2014 12:09:46 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	4289 label Biography information for Baroness Manzoor

100926

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Nursing and Midwifery Council
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that the Nursing and Midwifery Council reduces the number of cases that have been awaiting investigation for more than two years.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Manzoor
	uin	HL2394
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is an independent body and responsible for matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties, including pursuing Fitness to Practise (FtP) investigations against its registrants. Statistical information about NMC FtP cases is not routinely collected or held centrally. However, the NMC advises that as at 30 September 2014, it was dealing with 4271 FtP cases, of these 231 cases were aged over 24 months. This compares with 320 such cases as at 8 October 2013.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>On 13 October 2014, the Government laid a draft Section 60 Order in Parliament to amend the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001, the governing legislative framework of the NMC. This Order contains a number of proposed amendments that subject to approval will give the NMC powers that will help it to carry out its FtP regulatory function more effectively and reduce the time it takes the NMC to deal with FtP cases.<em> </em></p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 30/10/2014 16:24:46 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	4289 label Biography information for Baroness Manzoor

100939

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Health and Social Care Act 2012
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Earl Howe on 22 October (HL Deb, col 631), what has been the cost of the reforms introduced under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 in (1) 2012, and (2) 2013; and what are the anticipated costs in (3) 2014, and (4) 2015.
	tabling member printed	Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe
	uin	HL2407
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The cost of the reforms have been recorded by financial year as follows:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>2010-11 £199 million</p><p> </p><p>2011-12 £264 million</p><p> </p><p>2012-13 £633 million</p><p> </p><p>2013-14 £220 million</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We anticipate the future costs will be below £180 million and within the £1.5 billion as announced in my Written Ministerial Statement of 23 July 2014, columns WS135-136. The majority of the remaining anticipated costs are expected to be incurred in 2014-15.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>These costs have been more than covered by the savings arising from the Health and Social Care Act, which up to 31 March 2014, were approximately £4.9 billion.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 05/11/2014 12:08:50 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	3335 label Biography information for Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe

100620

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	NHS
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the Secretary of State for Health has discharged his duty to report on the treatment of National Health Service health care providers as specified in section 8 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
	uin	HL2351
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2014 answer text <p>The Secretary of State commissioned Monitor to lead a Fair Playing Field Review into the equal treatment of providers of National Health Service services. The Review published its final Report in March 2013. Since publication, Monitor has established a high level implementation group, of which the Department is a member, to take forward the Review’s recommendations.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>As part of its annual assurance processes the Department seeks confirmation from all its Directors General that they and our Arm’s Length Bodies have taken the duty into consideration, as outlined in Section 8 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 31/10/2014 13:18:46 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

100623

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	NHS: Cost Effectiveness
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the "Nicholson Challenge" still operates within the National Health Service; if so, what efficiency savings have been identified to date; and, if not, why not.
	tabling member printed	Lord Sharkey
	uin	HL2354
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>The 2010 Spending Review protected health funding in real terms. However, in order to continue to meet rising demands while improving services, it was estimated that up to £20 billion of efficiency savings would be required over the four years from 2011-12 to 2014-15.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The National Health Service response to this challenge was organised through the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) initiative, also known colloquially as the ‘Nicholson challenge’ after Sir David Nicholson, who was Chief Executive of the NHS at the time that QIPP originated.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The NHS is on track to deliver up to £20 billion efficiency savings, having reported around £15 billion of efficiencies in the first three years, all of which will be reinvested into frontline care.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe question first answered 30/10/2014 12:11:13 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	4196 label Biography information for Lord Sharkey

100642

	registered interest
	date	23/10/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have undertaken an impact assessment of the potential impacts on the National Health Service of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership which is being negotiated between the European Union and the United States.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Manzoor
	uin	HL2373
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will not affect the way the United Kingdom Government runs the National Health Service. It has been made clear by negotiators from both the United States and the European Union that it is up to the UK alone to decide how the NHS is run and any assertion that TTIP will undermine the Government’s control of the NHS is a red herring.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The TTIP could offer great benefits to British business and for British jobs. Greater consistency in existing and new regulatory requirements would make it easier for companies - especially small and medium enterprises - to access markets and, for patients, potentially help to increase access to new medicines and medical devices.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Earl Howe grouped question UIN HL2374 HL2375 question first answered 29/10/2014 12:27:46 answering member 2000 label Biography information for Earl Howe
	tabling member	4289 label Biography information for Baroness Manzoor