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709718

registered interest
date	09/03/2017
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Post-mortems
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to increase the number of pathologists available to conduct post-mortem examinations for coroners.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	67296
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2017 answer text <p>Responsibility for staffing levels rests with individual National Health Service trusts and their boards who are best placed to decide how many staff they need to provide a given service, taking into account skill mix and efficiency.</p><p> </p><p>Working with local providers, it is Health Education England’s responsibility to determine the appropriate numbers of students the NHS needs in training on an annual basis. Its latest Workforce Plan for England covering the period 2016/17 is available in this link:</p><p><a href="https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Workforce%20Plan%20for%20England%202016-17.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Workforce%20Plan%20for%20England%202016-17.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>The most recent NHS workforce statistics from NHS Digital for staff working in trusts and clinical commissioning groups shows that the full time equivalent number of doctors within the pathology specialty group is 4,125 representing an increase of more than 11% increase since May 2010.</p> answering member constituency Ludlow answering member printed Mr Philip Dunne grouped question UIN 67294 question first answered 17/03/2017 09:52:55 answering member 1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

709720

registered interest
date	09/03/2017
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Pathology: Staff
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 adequacy of the number of pathologists.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	67294
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2017 answer text <p>Responsibility for staffing levels rests with individual National Health Service trusts and their boards who are best placed to decide how many staff they need to provide a given service, taking into account skill mix and efficiency.</p><p> </p><p>Working with local providers, it is Health Education England’s responsibility to determine the appropriate numbers of students the NHS needs in training on an annual basis. Its latest Workforce Plan for England covering the period 2016/17 is available in this link:</p><p><a href="https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Workforce%20Plan%20for%20England%202016-17.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Workforce%20Plan%20for%20England%202016-17.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>The most recent NHS workforce statistics from NHS Digital for staff working in trusts and clinical commissioning groups shows that the full time equivalent number of doctors within the pathology specialty group is 4,125 representing an increase of more than 11% increase since May 2010.</p> answering member constituency Ludlow answering member printed Mr Philip Dunne grouped question UIN 67296 question first answered 17/03/2017 09:52:55 answering member 1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

709481

registered interest
date	08/03/2017
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	General Practitioners: Recruitment
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 implications for his policies of the 90 per cent fill rate for GP positions in England in 2016 as set out in Health Education England's General Practice ST1 recruitment figures; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	67157
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2017 answer text <p>The Government is committed to having an extra 5,000 doctors working in general practice by 2020/21. The Department is working with NHS England and Health Education England (HEE) to increase the number of general practitioner (GP) training places. In 2016, HEE recruited the highest ever number of GP trainees (3,019 out of 3,250) – 93% fill rate. In addition to increasing the number of trainees, we are taking forward a range of other measures to increase both recruitment and retention such as encouraging return to general practice, attracting medical students to become GP trainees, as well as a strengthened package of support to help GPs remain in clinical general practice.</p> answering member constituency Warrington South answering member printed David Mowat grouped question UIN 67158 question first answered 15/03/2017 15:58:35 answering member 4080 label Biography information for David Mowat
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

709482

registered interest
date	08/03/2017
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	General Practitioners: Recruitment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase recruitment of GPs.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	67158
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2017 answer text <p>The Government is committed to having an extra 5,000 doctors working in general practice by 2020/21. The Department is working with NHS England and Health Education England (HEE) to increase the number of general practitioner (GP) training places. In 2016, HEE recruited the highest ever number of GP trainees (3,019 out of 3,250) – 93% fill rate. In addition to increasing the number of trainees, we are taking forward a range of other measures to increase both recruitment and retention such as encouraging return to general practice, attracting medical students to become GP trainees, as well as a strengthened package of support to help GPs remain in clinical general practice.</p> answering member constituency Warrington South answering member printed David Mowat grouped question UIN 67157 question first answered 15/03/2017 15:58:35 answering member 4080 label Biography information for David Mowat
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

709483

registered interest
date	08/03/2017
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	General Practitioners: Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what change there will be in GP education budgets in each Health Education England region between 2016-17 and 2017-18.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	67159
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2017 answer text <p>The Department is working closely with Health Education England to agree its budget for 2017-18. Beyond the need to reduce running costs and seek greater efficiency from education support costs, no decisions have been taken on the levels of funding that will be available for any given programme.</p> answering member constituency Warrington South answering member printed David Mowat question first answered 15/03/2017 15:53:35 answering member 4080 label Biography information for David Mowat
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

707680

registered interest
date	03/03/2017
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Health Services and Social Services: Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the Government plans to spend on health and social care apprenticeships in each of the next five years.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	66470
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/03/2017 answer text <p>The new Apprenticeship Levy comes into operation in April 2017 and is set at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s pay bill. Apprenticeship Levy contributions by National Health Service organisations are estimated as £200 million in 2017-18 and will change over the next five years as the NHS pay bill changes. Estimates are not available for social care.</p><p> </p><p>Apprentices are employed and individual employers will decide which apprentices to employ to meet their workforce needs. The Department does not centrally collect the plans of how many apprentices each individual employer intends to recruit by the end of 2020.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is working with a range of partner organisations, including Health Education England, NHS Improvement, Skills for Health and Skills for Care to ensure NHS and social care providers have access to the apprentice standards they need to develop their own workforce and to make full use of the apprentice levy.</p> answering member constituency Ludlow answering member printed Mr Philip Dunne question first answered 13/03/2017 17:22:44 answering member 1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

707685

registered interest
date	03/03/2017
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Drugs: Misuse
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 effect of the abstinence based approach for the treatment of drug addiction on levels of deaths from drug misuse.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	66453
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2017 answer text <p>The provision of both harm reduction and abstinence based interventions is essential to any drug treatment system. Each local authority is responsible for ensuring there is a full range of drug treatment services available in their area to meet the needs of their local population.</p><p> </p><p>During the recent Public Health England led inquiry into the rise in drug-related deaths, analysis of the treatment population did not establish a direct relationship between a policy focus on abstinence and drug-related deaths.</p> answering member constituency Oxford West and Abingdon answering member printed Nicola Blackwood question first answered 09/03/2017 09:49:53 answering member 4019 label Biography information for Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

685537

registered interest
date	06/02/2017
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Health Services: Directors
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in how many instances the Care Quality Commission has asked service providers to instigate fit and proper persons requirement (FPPR) investigations for each year since the FPPR came into force; and how many of those FPPR investigations resulted in a director being discharged from duty.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	63183
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2017 answer text <p>The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England.</p><p> </p><p>The CQC has provided the following information:</p><p> </p><p>The following actions have been taken in relation to Regulation 5 Fit and Proper Persons Requirement:</p><p> </p><p>- CQC management reviews enable the CQC to reach a decision about the next course of action to take in response to a trigger for review, for example when we identify concerns around non-compliance with the regulations during an inspection, at the point of registration, or when we receive a safeguarding alert or concern. As at 8 February 2017 there have been 38 Adult Social Care (ASC), 14 Hospital, 5 Primary Medical Services and 37 Registration management reviews held regarding regulation 5.</p><p> </p><p>There have been 28 enforcement actions under this regulation:</p><p> </p><p>- 21 have been triggered by an enquiry, 16 of which were during the registration process.</p><p> </p><p>- Seven were triggered by an inspection, four at ASC locations and three at Hospital locations.</p><p> </p><p>- In seven cases registration was refused. In five cases registration was cancelled and in a further eight cases the providers were registered with agreed actions. The remainder included recommended fixed penalty notices, urgent and non-urgent imposition of conditions and warning notices.</p> answering member constituency Ludlow answering member printed Mr Philip Dunne question first answered 13/02/2017 11:07:36 answering member 1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

685539

registered interest
date	06/02/2017
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Paula Vasco-Knight
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons the Care Quality Commission closed its fit and proper persons requirement process on Paula Vasco-Knight, then Chief Executive of South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	63192
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2017 answer text <p>The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has advised that in October 2015 the CQC received information of concern regarding the appointment of Paula Vasco-Knight as Acting Chief Executive at St George’s University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. These concerns related to Paula Vasco-Knight’s conduct whilst she was Chief Executive at South Devon Foundation Trust. The CQC followed this up directly with the trust to review whether they had followed appropriate recruitment processes and carried out robust checks to determine Paula Vasco-Knight’s fitness prior to her employment.</p><p> </p><p>Based on the extensive evidence supplied by the trust and information provided separately from the Nursing and Midwifery Council the CQC concluded that the trust had not breached the fit and proper persons regulation at that time in relation to that appointment. The CQC informed the trust of this decision in February 2016 but reserved the right to reopen the case in light of any further information received. At the time of this decision, neither CQC nor the trust was aware of the fraud charges.</p><p> </p><p>In April 2016 CQC received new information that led it to re-open the case. In early May 2016 both CQC and St George’s became aware for the first time of the criminal investigation and fraud charges being brought against Paula Vasco-Knight. The CQC were subsequently asked by NHS Protect to put the case on hold pending their criminal investigation. St George’s University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust suspended Paula Vasco-Knight at this time. These are matters of public record.</p> answering member constituency Ludlow answering member printed Mr Philip Dunne question first answered 13/02/2017 15:48:49 answering member 1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

685546

registered interest
date	06/02/2017
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Health Services: Directors
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, by what metrics the effectiveness of Regulation 5: Fit and proper persons: directors is measured; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	63175
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2017 answer text <p>Regulation 5 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, The Fit and Proper Persons Requirement (FPPR) for Directors came into effect for National Health Service bodies on 27 November 2014 and was extended to cover all providers regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 1 April 2015.</p><p> </p><p>The regulations include a requirement that they must be reviewed every five years, beginning five years after 1 April 2015. As yet the Department has not undertaken a review of regulation 5. Any such review would be completed with input from the CQC.</p><p> </p><p>The CQC has advised that it is the provider’s responsibility to ensure that all directors appointed are fit and proper for their role. The CQC’s responsibility is to check whether providers have the right systems and processes in place to assure themselves of fitness.</p><p> </p><p>The CQC has not yet conducted a thorough assessment of the regulations’ effectiveness. However, in the first years of implementation, the CQC has received feedback on how the regulation is applied, often driven by an assumption that it is CQC’s role to assess fitness directly rather than to assess providers’ systems and processes.</p><p> </p><p>In response to this feedback, the CQC has considered whether its current approach is in line with what can be reasonably expected of the CQC within the current regulations. The CQC has therefore begun a programme of work to improve its internal systems and processes for handling referrals under FPPR. There are three areas of CQC’s guidance and processes that it is strengthening:</p><p> </p><p>- Passing on all details of FPPR concerns raised with the CQC to providers</p><p>Presently the CQC does not pass on all concerns raised with it to providers to ask for an explanation. Instead the CQC assesses whether there are concerns that a reasonable employer should be expected to investigate and if the CQC does not think there is a substantive concern it does not pass the material on. When the CQC does share concerns, it initially summarises the information and will later send on the full material if requested.</p><p> </p><p>CQC’s intention is to change both of these steps so providers are notified of all concerns and receive all of the information immediately. The CQC will set out more clearly the type of investigation it expects providers to undertake, following notification.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>- Interpretation of “serious mismanagement”</p><p> </p><p>CQC believes there would be benefit in developing a clearer understanding of what type of behaviour constitutes ‘serious management’. The CQC has prepared some draft guidance that characterises serious mismanagement and will shortly be publishing this for consultation. The CQC will develop the finalised draft into internal and external guidance as to how it interprets and applies this element of the regulation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>- The way CQC manages and records information regarding FPPR</p><p> </p><p>It is recognised internally that CQC needs to improve the data available to itself about CQC’s application of FPPR. The CQC is developing an approach to better enable it to track the volume of FPPR concerns shared with CQC by sector and the actions that result from these.</p><p> </p><p>The CQC aims that, by undertaking the programme of improvements described above, CQC will be better placed to monitor the effectiveness of Regulation 5: Fit and Proper Persons in future.</p> answering member constituency Ludlow answering member printed Mr Philip Dunne question first answered 13/02/2017 11:04:40 answering member 1542 label Biography information for Philip Dunne
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston