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1715969

registered interest
date	07/05/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Radiotherapy: Waiting Lists
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of cancer patients currently waiting more than 31 days for radiotherapy treatment.
tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
uin	HL4423
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>According to the latest data, of those 10,328 cancer patients referred for first or subsequent treatment for radiotherapy in March 2024, 89.7% were treated within 31 days. The proportion of patients waiting more than 31 days for radiotherapy treatment in March 2024 was therefore 10.3%. This has decreased by 4.5% since January 2024.</p><p>We are aware of regional disparities in wait times for cancer treatment through NHS England’s data, and are considering the findings made by the Royal College of Radiologists. Tackling inequalities in outcomes, experience, and access of cancer diagnostics, including regional disparities, is a key focus of the Government. NHS England has commissioned six new cancer clinical audits in breast cancer, both primary and metastatic, as well as ovarian, pancreatic, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and kidney cancer. These will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatments and outcomes for patients. The first outcomes of these audits are expected in September 2024.</p><p>The Department is working closely with NHS England to make sure we have the right workforce with the right skills up and down the country. In 2023/24, NHS England invested an additional £50 million to increase the number of cancer and diagnostic specialists.</p><p>The Government is also backing the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places. The plan sets out an aim to double the number of medical school places in England to 15,000 places a year by 2031/32, and to work towards this expansion by increasing places by a third, to 10,000 a year, by 2028/29.</p><p>We are building our cancer workforce. In January 2024 there were over 35,200 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in the cancer workforce, an increase of over 13,300, or 60.7% since January 2010. Regarding clinical oncology specifically, as of January 2024, there are currently over 1,600 FTE doctors working in the speciality of clinical oncology in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 30, or 2.2%, more than last year, over 300, or 27.7%, more than 2019, and over 600, 66.5%, more than in 2010. This includes over 900 FTE consultants. This is over 40, or 5.1%, more than last year, over 100, 22.0%, more than in 2019, and over 400, 80.2%, more than in 2010.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham grouped question UIN HL4424 HL4425 question first answered 13/05/2024 11:23:46 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

1715970

registered interest
date	07/05/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Cancer: North East
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of findings from the Royal College of Radiologists, published in May, showing a regional disparity in wait times for cancer treatment in 2023, with 11 per cent of patients in England waiting more than 31 days for treatment after the decision to treat had been confirmed, compared to 19 per cent of patients in the North East and Yorkshire.
tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
uin	HL4424
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>According to the latest data, of those 10,328 cancer patients referred for first or subsequent treatment for radiotherapy in March 2024, 89.7% were treated within 31 days. The proportion of patients waiting more than 31 days for radiotherapy treatment in March 2024 was therefore 10.3%. This has decreased by 4.5% since January 2024.</p><p>We are aware of regional disparities in wait times for cancer treatment through NHS England’s data, and are considering the findings made by the Royal College of Radiologists. Tackling inequalities in outcomes, experience, and access of cancer diagnostics, including regional disparities, is a key focus of the Government. NHS England has commissioned six new cancer clinical audits in breast cancer, both primary and metastatic, as well as ovarian, pancreatic, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and kidney cancer. These will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatments and outcomes for patients. The first outcomes of these audits are expected in September 2024.</p><p>The Department is working closely with NHS England to make sure we have the right workforce with the right skills up and down the country. In 2023/24, NHS England invested an additional £50 million to increase the number of cancer and diagnostic specialists.</p><p>The Government is also backing the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places. The plan sets out an aim to double the number of medical school places in England to 15,000 places a year by 2031/32, and to work towards this expansion by increasing places by a third, to 10,000 a year, by 2028/29.</p><p>We are building our cancer workforce. In January 2024 there were over 35,200 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in the cancer workforce, an increase of over 13,300, or 60.7% since January 2010. Regarding clinical oncology specifically, as of January 2024, there are currently over 1,600 FTE doctors working in the speciality of clinical oncology in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 30, or 2.2%, more than last year, over 300, or 27.7%, more than 2019, and over 600, 66.5%, more than in 2010. This includes over 900 FTE consultants. This is over 40, or 5.1%, more than last year, over 100, 22.0%, more than in 2019, and over 400, 80.2%, more than in 2010.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham grouped question UIN HL4423 HL4425 question first answered 13/05/2024 11:23:46 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

1715971

registered interest
date	07/05/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Radiotherapy: Staff
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the 15 per cent shortfall in clinical oncologists, as estimated in the Royal College of Radiologists workforce census, does not impact the operational performance of radiotherapy services.
tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
uin	HL4425
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>According to the latest data, of those 10,328 cancer patients referred for first or subsequent treatment for radiotherapy in March 2024, 89.7% were treated within 31 days. The proportion of patients waiting more than 31 days for radiotherapy treatment in March 2024 was therefore 10.3%. This has decreased by 4.5% since January 2024.</p><p>We are aware of regional disparities in wait times for cancer treatment through NHS England’s data, and are considering the findings made by the Royal College of Radiologists. Tackling inequalities in outcomes, experience, and access of cancer diagnostics, including regional disparities, is a key focus of the Government. NHS England has commissioned six new cancer clinical audits in breast cancer, both primary and metastatic, as well as ovarian, pancreatic, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and kidney cancer. These will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatments and outcomes for patients. The first outcomes of these audits are expected in September 2024.</p><p>The Department is working closely with NHS England to make sure we have the right workforce with the right skills up and down the country. In 2023/24, NHS England invested an additional £50 million to increase the number of cancer and diagnostic specialists.</p><p>The Government is also backing the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places. The plan sets out an aim to double the number of medical school places in England to 15,000 places a year by 2031/32, and to work towards this expansion by increasing places by a third, to 10,000 a year, by 2028/29.</p><p>We are building our cancer workforce. In January 2024 there were over 35,200 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in the cancer workforce, an increase of over 13,300, or 60.7% since January 2010. Regarding clinical oncology specifically, as of January 2024, there are currently over 1,600 FTE doctors working in the speciality of clinical oncology in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 30, or 2.2%, more than last year, over 300, or 27.7%, more than 2019, and over 600, 66.5%, more than in 2010. This includes over 900 FTE consultants. This is over 40, or 5.1%, more than last year, over 100, 22.0%, more than in 2019, and over 400, 80.2%, more than in 2010.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham grouped question UIN HL4423 HL4424 question first answered 13/05/2024 11:23:46 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

1715975

registered interest
date	07/05/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Social Services: Reform
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish their Social Care regulatory reform programme and what new protected professional medical titles they are considering introducing.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL4374
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>There are no plans to publish a social care regulatory reform programme. However, the Government has consulted on its proposed approach to modernising the legislation of the professional health and care regulators. As part of this work, we will consider whether to make any changes to the medical titles protected in law. Any proposals will be subject to statutory consultation, and the affirmative parliamentary process.</p><p>The Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order 2024 was made on 13 March 2024, and will bring Aanaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates into regulation by the General Medical Council (GMC), under a reformed regulatory framework. We are currently working on the next phase of reform, which includes introducing a new regulatory framework for medical practitioners. The future GMC order relating to the medical profession will be drafted and published for consultation in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham question first answered 13/05/2024 11:24:26 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1715717

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Health Services: Private Sector
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what clinical regulation measures are in place to ensure that care and treatments provided by private medical insurers are the most appropriate for a specific patient.
tabling member printed	Baroness Merron
uin	HL4346
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>Private medical insurers do not provide care or treatment. However, they do purchase services from independent sector providers who are responsible for delivering healthcare. All providers of healthcare undertaking regulated activities, as defined in Schedule 1 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, are regulated by the Care Quality Commission, and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality, while the health and care regulators are responsible for regulating health and care professionals.</p><p>Regulations 9 and 12 of the 2014 regulations set out the importance of person-centred care, and safe care and treatment. These regulations have the intention of ensuring that people using a service have care or treatment that is personalised specifically for them, preventing people from receiving unsafe care and treatment, and thereby precluding avoidable harm or risk of harm.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham question first answered 09/05/2024 16:40:38 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	347 label Biography information for Baroness Merron

1715424

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Rare Diseases: Drugs
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to have any discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence about employing additional flexibility for rare condition medicines to take into consideration the implications of having a small population and potentially more expensive medicines.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL4280
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2024 answer text <p>The Department regularly meets with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues including access to and availability of medicines. NICE’s methods and processes for health technology evaluation have been proven to be suitable for medicines for rare diseases where companies price their products responsibly, and NICE introduced a number of changes to its methods and processes in 2022 that ensure that its processes are appropriate to the evaluation of emerging new technologies.</p><p>NICE also operates a highly specialised technologies programme for the evaluation of a small number of medicines for the treatment of very rare diseases. As of 31 March 2024, NICE has recommended 88% of medicines licensed for the treatment of rare diseases for some or all of the eligible patient population, which is comparable to NICE’s approval rate for all medicines.</p><p>The Innovative Medicines Fund, building on the success of the Cancer Drugs Fund, provides a mechanism for consistent and transparent managed access process for companies offering promising non-cancer medicines at a responsible price. The Fund has already provided early access for National Health Service patients to several innovative new treatments, including for patients with rare diseases such as graft-versus-host disease and Wolman disease.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham grouped question UIN HL4223 question first answered 08/05/2024 15:04:32 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

1715426

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Rare Diseases
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to have any discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about continuing to work with the rare condition community to improve engagement and involvement in decision-making from small organisations.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL4282
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>Department officials regularly meet with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues. Taking into account the advice and experience of people using services, as well as their carers or advocates, alongside that of health and social care professionals, commissioners, providers, and the public, is a central principle that guides the NICE’s work.</p><p>The NICE is committed to working with people who use health and social care services, their families, carers, and the public, as well as with voluntary and community sector organisations, and all of the NICE’s guidance is developed using a process that takes into account the opinions and views of the people who will be affected by them, to ensure their needs and priorities are reflected. The NICE gathers these perspectives through the membership of its committees, and through public consultations at various stages of guidance development. Stakeholders also have an opportunity to comment on the potential impact of the NICE’s guidance on health inequalities.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham question first answered 09/05/2024 11:30:09 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

1715430

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Abortion: Telemedicine
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have issued to medical practitioners dispensing telemedicine abortion pharmaceuticals to patients who are more than ten weeks pregnant.
tabling member printed	Lord Jackson of Peterborough
uin	HL4286
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>Whilst no specific guidance has been issued, the 1967 Abortion Act is clear that treatment for termination of pregnancy at gestations over 10 weeks can only be performed in a National Health Service facility or a place approved for this purpose by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham question first answered 09/05/2024 11:42:03 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	1551 label Biography information for Lord Jackson of Peterborough

1715432

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Social Media: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with social media companies about protecting the mental health of under-16s, especially girls, using their platforms.
tabling member printed	Lord Lebedev
uin	HL4292
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>The Department met with TikTok and Meta in December 2022 and January 2023, to discuss the mental health of children and young people, including girls who are under 16 years old.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham question first answered 09/05/2024 11:30:23 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	4900 label Biography information for Lord Lebedev

1715441

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	HIV Infection: Plastic Surgery
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of individuals contracting HIV from contaminated blood in unregulated cosmetic procedures.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
uin	HL4302
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>No assessment has been made of the risk of individuals contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from contaminated blood in unregulated cosmetic procedures. The Government is developing a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England. This will make it an offence for an individual to carry out non-surgical cosmetic procedures without a licence, and will require people who offer procedures to be suitably trained and qualified, hold appropriate indemnity cover, and operate from premises which meet the scheme’s standards of hygiene, infection control, and cleanliness.</p><p>Following a public consultation on the scope of the scheme in 2023, the Department is working closely with stakeholders to develop detailed proposals for the licensing scheme. The scheme will complement existing legislative safeguards for certain skin piercing activities and other treatments, such as ear piercing, tattooing, acupuncture, and electrolysis. The Local Government Act 2003 and Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 give local authorities the power to register practitioners and premises, and to make and enforce byelaws. Where adopted, these byelaws protect the public by setting standards for the cleanliness and hygiene of premises, practitioners, and equipment, thereby reducing the risk of the transmission of blood-borne viruses such as HIV and hepatitis B and C.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham question first answered 09/05/2024 11:31:33 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans