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 constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

167513

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Sleeping Pills
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received on the prescription of zolpidem.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	216755
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2014 answer text <p>In the 6 month period, June 2014 to November 2014, the Department received no written representations concerning the prescribing of zolpidem (Stilnoct).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Norfolk answering member printed George Freeman question first answered 05/12/2014 12:50:25 answering member 4020 label Biography information for George Freeman
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

167516

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Organs: Donors
	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 ensure that donated organs are suitable for transplant.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	216752
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2014 answer text <p>Potential donors are screened for a number of infections, such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C, Syphilis, Cytomegalovirus and Human T-cell lymphotropic virus. In addition, organs are routinely evaluated prior to retrieval, during retrieval and before implantation by both the retrieval team and the transplantation clinical team.</p><p> </p><p>Trained Specialist Nurses in Organ Donation review the donor’s clinical notes and contact the general practitioner or relevant health professional to obtain the medical history. In order to build an accurate background of the donor’s social and medical history, the Specialist Nurse approaches the family to gather information about the potential donor’s lifestyle choices, travel history and other factors that may impact on whether or not a donor’s organs are appropriate for transplantation, using a standard form to ensure that all relevant history is captured. The decision whether or not to accept an organ for a patient is ultimately made by the transplant surgeon, using their clinical expertise and the information collected to carefully weigh up the risks.</p><p> </p><p>In line with guidance, the transplant team discuss with the potential recipient any known risks associated with the organ which could affect its function in the short and long term before obtaining consent for its use.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison question first answered 05/12/2014 13:07:31 answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

167482

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Farms: Waste Disposal
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that green waste disposed on farmland does not contain plastic bags and other non-biodegradable material.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	216750
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2014 answer text <p>The Environment Agency regulates the recovery and disposal of green waste on farmland through a system of environmental permits or registered exemptions issued under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. The permit stipulates the types and quantities of waste that may be handled and imposes other conditions in order to protect human health and the environment.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Quality Protocols, supported by Publicly Available Standards such as those for compost (PAS 100) and the digestate from anaerobic digestion (PAS 110) are also in place. If these standards are met, the output is considered to be completely recycled and is no longer subject to waste management controls. These specifications allow only ‘source-segregated biodegradable’ inputs and this includes biodegradable garden and kitchen wastes collected from households. PAS 100 specifications include stringent limits on physical contaminants - such as metal, plastic and glass - that can be present in the finished composts.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Cornwall answering member printed Dan Rogerson question first answered 05/12/2014 13:58:52 answering member 1504 label Biography information for Dan Rogerson
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

167515

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Cancer
	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 help GPs diagnose cancer at an early stage.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	216751
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2014 answer text <p><em>Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer </em>(January 2011) is backed by an additional £750 million over the four year Spending Review period including over £450 million to achieve early diagnosis. The earlier diagnosis money is designed to support improved direct general practitioner (GP) access to four key diagnostic tests to support the diagnosis of brain tumours, bowel, lung, and ovarian cancers; and increased testing and treatment costs in secondary care. GPs are able to access these tests directly in cases where the two-week urgent referral pathway is not appropriate but a patient’s symptoms require further investigation. The intention is that more people presenting with relevant symptoms will be tested and at an earlier stage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In 2012, the Department published ‘Direct access to diagnostic tests for cancer: best practice referral pathways for general practitioners’ to provide criteria for accessing these diagnostic tests.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The earlier diagnosis money also supports centrally led Be Clear on Cancer (BCOC) symptom awareness campaigns to raise the public’s awareness of cancer symptoms and encourage people with persistent symptoms to go to the doctor. Since 2011 the Department and Public Health England (since 2013) in partnership with NHS England (including NHS Improving Quality) and other stakeholders have run national BCOC campaigns for bladder and kidney, bowel, breast and lung cancers; regional campaigns for ovarian, oesophagogastric cancers, and local pilot campaigns to raise awareness of four symptoms of unexplained bleeding, lump, pain, and weight loss; and awareness of skin and prostate cancers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As part of the BCOC campaign process, the Department, Public Health England, and NHS England have worked with Cancer Research UK and other partners to develop briefing sheets to support GPs and other healthcare professionals during the campaigns.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>More generally, to increase awareness of cancer amongst GPs, the Department supported British Medical Journal (BMJ) Learning to develop and launch an on-line learning tool for GPs in 2012. The tool offers accredited professional development and includes four modules - tackling late diagnosis; risk assessment tools; cancer pathway and the role of primary care; and diagnosing osteosarcoma and brain tumours in children with an additional section on communication skills. The tool can be accessed at:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="http://learning.bmj.com/learning/home.html" target="_blank">http://learning.bmj.com/learning/home.html</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In 2013, Macmillan Cancer Support, partly funded by the Department, piloted an electronic cancer decision support (CDS) tool for GPs to use in their routine practice. It is designed to help GPs recognise the symptoms of cancer and identify patients that they might not otherwise refer urgently for suspected cancer. The CDS covers lung, colorectal, oesophagogastric, ovarian and pancreatic cancers and a new symptom checker for melanoma. Following the pilot, Macmillan Cancer Support is able to offer the tool to GPs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition to this, since 2005, the Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has supported GPs to identify patients with the symptoms of suspected cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE is in the process of updating this guidance to ensure that it reflects the latest evidence and the anticipated publication date for the revised guidelines is May 2015.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Battersea answering member printed Jane Ellison question first answered 05/12/2014 13:06:18 answering member 3918 label Biography information for Jane Ellison
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

167481

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bees
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the bee disease foulbrood.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	216754
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2014 answer text <p>The Healthy Bee Plan sets out the Government’s approach to tackling our highest risks to bee health, which includes foulbrood. It is published at <a href="http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?sectionid=41" target="_blank">http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?sectionid=41</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The National Bee Unit has an extensive risk-based surveillance programme in place to check for bee pests and diseases, including American and European foulbrood. The programme targets apiaries that are at a higher risk of disease. Both American foulbrood and European foulbrood are notifiable. Where a case of European foulbrood is identified, the colony is destroyed or treated. For American foulbrood, the colony is destroyed and the hive boxes are sterilised. After treatment, beekeepers are not allowed to move bees from their apiary until a Bee Inspector has visited and confirmed the apiary is free of foulbrood.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government is working with beekeeping associations to deliver guidance, advice and training on American foulbrood and European foulbrood prevention measures (such as biosecurity and barrier management), good husbandry and disease recognition. We are also working with professional bee farmers to establish an accreditation scheme which allows beekeepers with the appropriate training and practices to take greater responsibility for identification and control of foulbrood in their hives.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>One of the projects funded under the Insect Pollinators Initiative developed modelling systems for managing bee disease by studying the epidemiology of European foulbrood. The final report for this project was recently submitted. Defra has previously funded research on European foulbrood, including the shook swarm method for managing European foulbrood. Final reports are available for these projects.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Cornwall answering member printed Dan Rogerson question first answered 05/12/2014 14:00:31 answering member 1504 label Biography information for Dan Rogerson
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

167446

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Armed Forces: Females
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that women soldiers are trained for front-line service.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	216753
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/12/2014 answer text <p>Women in the Armed Forces already serve on the front line, having taken on an increasingly broad range of roles since the early 1990s.</p><p>As the hon. Member will be aware, a review into the possibility of women serving in ground close combat roles is in progress.</p> answering member constituency Rayleigh and Wickford answering member printed Mr Mark Francois question first answered 09/12/2014 17:27:31 answering member 1444 label Biography information for Mr Mark Francois
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon