Asked by: Baroness Howells of St Davids (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Movement for an Adoption Apology campaign, whether they have any plans to make a public apology to the mothers whose children were taken away from them between the 1950s and 1980s.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government has a great deal of sympathy for those women and children who were affected by the pressures to give children up for adoption. Their accumulated experiences clearly show them to be victims of the prevailing moral and social behaviour of their time. Governments have subsequently done much to resolve these social ills in the past.
Asked by: Baroness Howells of St Davids (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the treatment of prisoners with mental health conditions, and in particular to increase the number of staff available to escort them to treatment.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS England’s national specifications for prison health services are improving standards of mental health services across all prisons in England. Clear commissioning models, focusing on outcomes specific to custodial settings for improving mental health, include improving the provision of support for common mental health conditions within the prison, earlier identification of prisoners who require transfer to secure hospitals and effective communication and planning with secure hospitals to enable safe transfer.
NHS England is working closely with the National Offender Management Service to consider the demand for escorts and identify options for improvement.
Asked by: Baroness Howells of St Davids (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the work of the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group is communicated to the public.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
NHS England has advised that discussion at executive level has taken place. A consultation will be launched early in the new year on how NHS England carries out its considerations on the commissioning of new treatments and interventions as part of a prioritisation process. Once the proposals have been consulted on and a final decision has been published regarding the NHS England operations and decision making process to be used, the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) will operate under these terms.
NHS England has advised that the work of CPAG has been communicated through various public meetings and presentations. Current terms of reference are on the NHS England website. Any CPAG recommendations which are approved by the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group are published on the NHS England website. A newsletter is also circulated to patient groups and relevant networks.
Asked by: Baroness Howells of St Davids (Labour - 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 the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group operates in a transparent manner.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
NHS England has advised that discussion at executive level has taken place. A consultation will be launched early in the new year on how NHS England carries out its considerations on the commissioning of new treatments and interventions as part of a prioritisation process. Once the proposals have been consulted on and a final decision has been published regarding the NHS England operations and decision making process to be used, the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) will operate under these terms.
NHS England has advised that the work of CPAG has been communicated through various public meetings and presentations. Current terms of reference are on the NHS England website. Any CPAG recommendations which are approved by the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group are published on the NHS England website. A newsletter is also circulated to patient groups and relevant networks.
Asked by: Baroness Howells of St Davids (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how NHS England's decision regarding the draft clinical commissioning policy for Duodopa will be communicated to (1) the public, (2) patient organisations, and (3) healthcare professionals.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
NHS England has advised that its Clinical Priorities Advisory Group recommended that Levodopa-Carbidopa intestinal gel (Duodopa) for advanced Parkinson’s disease should not be routinely commissioned by NHS England at this time. NHS England’s Directly Commissioned Services Committee endorsed this recommendation in June 2014 and agreed that this technology should be considered further through NHS England’s prioritisation process. The decisions of the committee were communicated via a stakeholder newsletter which is accessible both via direct mail, and through the NHS England website.
Further work has been completed on NHS England’s draft clinical commissioning policy and this is now included in the prioritisation process alongside other new treatments for consideration for 2015-16.
The decision-making framework for NHS England’s prioritisation process was discussed at its Board meeting on 17 December 2014. The Board agreed the high level principles of the framework and NHS England plans to launch a public consultation about the principles and approach to decision-making from January 2015. Members of the public, patient organisations and healthcare professionals will be able to feed their comments in via this route.
NHS England continues to keep the range of services and treatments available to patients under review as new evidence and expert guidance becomes available.
Asked by: Baroness Howells of St Davids (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect NHS England to take a decision regarding the draft clinical commissioning policy for Duodopa.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
NHS England has advised that its Clinical Priorities Advisory Group recommended that Levodopa-Carbidopa intestinal gel (Duodopa) for advanced Parkinson’s disease should not be routinely commissioned by NHS England at this time. NHS England’s Directly Commissioned Services Committee endorsed this recommendation in June 2014 and agreed that this technology should be considered further through NHS England’s prioritisation process. The decisions of the committee were communicated via a stakeholder newsletter which is accessible both via direct mail, and through the NHS England website.
Further work has been completed on NHS England’s draft clinical commissioning policy and this is now included in the prioritisation process alongside other new treatments for consideration for 2015-16.
The decision-making framework for NHS England’s prioritisation process was discussed at its Board meeting on 17 December 2014. The Board agreed the high level principles of the framework and NHS England plans to launch a public consultation about the principles and approach to decision-making from January 2015. Members of the public, patient organisations and healthcare professionals will be able to feed their comments in via this route.
NHS England continues to keep the range of services and treatments available to patients under review as new evidence and expert guidance becomes available.