Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they provide to local authorities regarding the payment for travel time to carers travelling between clients; and whether local authorities are required to check if any external contractors they use to provide caring services are paying those costs.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government provides online guidance on the steps employers and others must take to comply with the National Minimum Wage, which states that the hours of work that count for minimum wage purposes include any time when a worker is travelling from one work assignment to another.
The Government is clear that local authorities should have regard to the cost of care when setting prices. This is set out in the statutory guidance to the Care Act 2014.
In 2016 the Department worked with local government, the care sector and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy to produce a guide to understanding providers’ costs and fair fees – this was published in January 2017. A copy of Working with care providers to understand costs: A guide for adult social care commissioners is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support is available to parents or adopters of children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Information on numbers of patients with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) receiving treatment on the National Health Service is not collected centrally.
The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines advise women who are pregnant or think they could become pregnant that the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all, to reduce risks to the baby to a minimum.
As part of the Maternity Transformation Programme, Public Health England (PHE) is leading work to provide prevention-focused leadership to support a reduction in the proportion of women drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Midwives and health visitors also have a role in providing clear, consistent advice and early identification and support. Additionally PHE’s Start4Life programme also provides online information on the impact of drinking alcohol during pregnancy, including the risk of FASD.
The Department for Education through the Adoption Support Fund has made funding available to local authorities to support adopted children with a range of specialist assessments and therapy to treat a variety of conditions. This includes FASD.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what information is provided to women to try to prevent foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Information on numbers of patients with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) receiving treatment on the National Health Service is not collected centrally.
The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines advise women who are pregnant or think they could become pregnant that the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all, to reduce risks to the baby to a minimum.
As part of the Maternity Transformation Programme, Public Health England (PHE) is leading work to provide prevention-focused leadership to support a reduction in the proportion of women drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Midwives and health visitors also have a role in providing clear, consistent advice and early identification and support. Additionally PHE’s Start4Life programme also provides online information on the impact of drinking alcohol during pregnancy, including the risk of FASD.
The Department for Education through the Adoption Support Fund has made funding available to local authorities to support adopted children with a range of specialist assessments and therapy to treat a variety of conditions. This includes FASD.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many patients with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders are receiving treatment on the NHS.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Information on numbers of patients with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) receiving treatment on the National Health Service is not collected centrally.
The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines advise women who are pregnant or think they could become pregnant that the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all, to reduce risks to the baby to a minimum.
As part of the Maternity Transformation Programme, Public Health England (PHE) is leading work to provide prevention-focused leadership to support a reduction in the proportion of women drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Midwives and health visitors also have a role in providing clear, consistent advice and early identification and support. Additionally PHE’s Start4Life programme also provides online information on the impact of drinking alcohol during pregnancy, including the risk of FASD.
The Department for Education through the Adoption Support Fund has made funding available to local authorities to support adopted children with a range of specialist assessments and therapy to treat a variety of conditions. This includes FASD.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of jury service on the availability of GPs; and whether the Department of Health has any plans to request that the Ministry of Justice exempt GPs from jury service from where there is a shortage of NHS provision.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
As independent contractors, it is for individual general practitioner (GP) practices to ensure their registered patients continue to have access to primary medical services where a GP is absent on jury service.
The Department has no plans to request an exemption from jury service for GPs.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the announcement by the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and King's Health Partners that they intend to create a new clinical academic facility for cardiovascular and respiratory services, whether they intend to review the proposal from NHS England to close the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust's congenital heart disease services.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
At its public meeting on 30 November 2017 and following its review of and public consultation on Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) services in England, the NHS England Board agreed to note the outline proposal presented by the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust for how full compliance against the standards might be achieved; to confirm that NHS England should work with the Royal Brompton and other potential partners on the full range of options for delivering a solution that could deliver full compliance with the standards and ensure the sustainability of other connected services; and to continue to commission level 1 CHD services from the Trust, conditional on the Trust demonstrating sufficient progress within required timescales.
The commissioning of CHD services in England is a matter for NHS England. The Government will continue to hold NHS England to account as it takes forward the recommendations of its review.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many operations treating congenital heart conditions were conducted by the Royal Brompton Hospital in London in each of the last three years for (1) adults, and (2) children; and which other hospitals in England and Wales conducted as many, or more, such operations during that period.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Royal Brompton Hospital conducted a total of 522 operations for congenital heart disease (CHD) conditions in 2015/16, comprising 390 operations for children and 132 operations for adults. In 2014/15, the Royal Brompton’s surgical activity comprised 512 operations for CHD conditions, which included 370 operations for children and 142 operations for adults. Surgical activity in 2013/14 at the Royal Brompton comprised 412 CHD operations for children and 125 CHD operations for adults, which gives a total of 537 CHD operations for that year.
The hospitals in England and Wales which conducted as many, or more, congenital heart disease operations for children and adults between 2013 and 2016 are Great Ormond Street Hospital, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Leeds Children’s Hospital, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, University College Hospital London, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when NHS England expects to make a final decision on its review into congenital heart disease services.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS England will make a decision on its proposals for changes to adult and children’s congenital heart services in England following a consultation which is now underway and which closes on 5 June 2017. It has worked, and will continue to work, with providers and other stakeholders to assess the impact of these proposals and will publish further information in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that local authorities will have funds available to meet the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission; and how funding will be linked to local levels of need.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government remains committed to introducing a cap on care costs and extension of means tested support, which will be implemented from April 2020.
The Spending Review 2015 set budgets for the next four years to 2019-20. The final year includes funding to cover the costs of local authorities preparing to implement the changes the following year. Decisions about the allocation of funding for these reforms will be confirmed nearer the time.
The Department will continue to develop the policy underpinning the cap on care costs in the run-up to a consultation on draft regulations and guidance in the summer of 2018. The Department will work closely with the sector to ensure that their views are taken into account as we plan for implementation.
In addition to the cap on care costs, the Dilnot commission recommended the introduction of national eligibility criteria and universal Deferred Payment Agreements, both of which have been implemented from April 2015.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission, when stakeholders, including local authorities, will be consulted on the implementation of the care cap; and what engagement mechanisms will be used.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government remains committed to introducing a cap on care costs and extension of means tested support, which will be implemented from April 2020.
The Spending Review 2015 set budgets for the next four years to 2019-20. The final year includes funding to cover the costs of local authorities preparing to implement the changes the following year. Decisions about the allocation of funding for these reforms will be confirmed nearer the time.
The Department will continue to develop the policy underpinning the cap on care costs in the run-up to a consultation on draft regulations and guidance in the summer of 2018. The Department will work closely with the sector to ensure that their views are taken into account as we plan for implementation.
In addition to the cap on care costs, the Dilnot commission recommended the introduction of national eligibility criteria and universal Deferred Payment Agreements, both of which have been implemented from April 2015.