Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what data they collect on the performance of homecare medicines services.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on which medicines can be delivered by a homecare medicines service are made by National Health Service trusts.
NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit (CMU) procures medicines on behalf of the four national framework agreements for the provision of homecare medicines services which it manages. As part of the contractual process, a nationally agreed set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) form part of the contractual terms which homecare providers report against. The data set used is attached.
The CMU manages performance through robust contract management, in the form of regular contract review meetings where KPIs are reviewed. Contract review meetings include members of the stakeholder group, including representatives from the NHS trusts.
As part of continued quality assurance and governance processes, all homecare providers are assessed against the same KPIs through the NHS supplier engagement group, which is a subgroup of the National Homecare Medicines Committee.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government which medicines can be delivered by homecare medicines services.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on which medicines can be delivered by a homecare medicines service are made by National Health Service trusts.
NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit (CMU) procures medicines on behalf of the four national framework agreements for the provision of homecare medicines services which it manages. As part of the contractual process, a nationally agreed set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) form part of the contractual terms which homecare providers report against. The data set used is attached.
The CMU manages performance through robust contract management, in the form of regular contract review meetings where KPIs are reviewed. Contract review meetings include members of the stakeholder group, including representatives from the NHS trusts.
As part of continued quality assurance and governance processes, all homecare providers are assessed against the same KPIs through the NHS supplier engagement group, which is a subgroup of the National Homecare Medicines Committee.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their reason for replacing the Union Jack flag flying above His Majesty's Treasury with a flag to celebrate Gay Pride.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Following instruction from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (the government department responsible for informing other departments regarding flag flying protocol), for the assigned period the flag in recognition of Pride month was flown over 100 Parliament Street. This is the official and principal address and entrance for the following Departments:
HM Revenue and Customs
Department of Culture, Media and Sport
Department of Science, Innovation and Technology
The Union Flag was flown during the same period at 1 Horse Guards Road, the official and principal address and entrance for the following Departments:
HM Treasury
UK Export Finance
Northern Ireland Office
Cabinet Office
This has been confirmed with the operatives who manage the flags process for designated flying days.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK welcomes the establishment of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) as a positive step towards accountability. We look forward to reviewing the results of an ICPA needs analysis which will help the international community to understand any support required. We will consider UK involvement when this has issued.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the standard terms and conditions of homecare medicines service contracts, including the sanctions available for a failure to perform to the contract terms.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care (Will Quince MP) has ministerial responsibility for the Homecare Medicine Delivery Service.
The National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC) regional lead members and NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit use and reference the Royal Pharmaceutical Society standards for homecare medicines service which are embedded into all framework agreement service specifications for the providers of this service.
In 2014 the Royal Pharmaceutical Society published the Handbook for Homecare Services in England to aid implementation of these standards. This identified examples of good practice and included Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for standards contained in Appendix 10 of the Handbook. A copy of the Handbook and Appendix 10 is attached.
The NHMC holds regular meetings with all homecare providers focused on KPIs. When the KPIs from individual contracts or reports from National Health Service hospitals indicate that service levels are not to the high standard expected, the NHMC can enact an Escalation Process under which the affected provider must engage with each NHS organisation and provide a summary of the issues, mitigations and expected timescales for recovery.
Information is not held by the Department or NHS England on the time taken by medical staff on resolving problems or delays concerning home care medicines services.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many medical staff, including nurses, doctors, physios and pharmacists, spend part of their week resolving problems or delays with homecare medicines services.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care (Will Quince MP) has ministerial responsibility for the Homecare Medicine Delivery Service.
The National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC) regional lead members and NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit use and reference the Royal Pharmaceutical Society standards for homecare medicines service which are embedded into all framework agreement service specifications for the providers of this service.
In 2014 the Royal Pharmaceutical Society published the Handbook for Homecare Services in England to aid implementation of these standards. This identified examples of good practice and included Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for standards contained in Appendix 10 of the Handbook. A copy of the Handbook and Appendix 10 is attached.
The NHMC holds regular meetings with all homecare providers focused on KPIs. When the KPIs from individual contracts or reports from National Health Service hospitals indicate that service levels are not to the high standard expected, the NHMC can enact an Escalation Process under which the affected provider must engage with each NHS organisation and provide a summary of the issues, mitigations and expected timescales for recovery.
Information is not held by the Department or NHS England on the time taken by medical staff on resolving problems or delays concerning home care medicines services.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government which minister is in charge of the prescription, supply and distribution of medicines supplied and delivered by homecare medicines services.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care (Will Quince MP) has ministerial responsibility for the Homecare Medicine Delivery Service.
The National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC) regional lead members and NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit use and reference the Royal Pharmaceutical Society standards for homecare medicines service which are embedded into all framework agreement service specifications for the providers of this service.
In 2014 the Royal Pharmaceutical Society published the Handbook for Homecare Services in England to aid implementation of these standards. This identified examples of good practice and included Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for standards contained in Appendix 10 of the Handbook. A copy of the Handbook and Appendix 10 is attached.
The NHMC holds regular meetings with all homecare providers focused on KPIs. When the KPIs from individual contracts or reports from National Health Service hospitals indicate that service levels are not to the high standard expected, the NHMC can enact an Escalation Process under which the affected provider must engage with each NHS organisation and provide a summary of the issues, mitigations and expected timescales for recovery.
Information is not held by the Department or NHS England on the time taken by medical staff on resolving problems or delays concerning home care medicines services.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports of recent deaths in Cambridge caused by an e-bike battery catching fire, what steps they will take to ban the importation of e-bike and e-scooter batteries which do not have the UL2271 battery certification.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) was notified of this incident by the National Fire Chiefs Council. OPSS are liaising with Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service and Trading Standards to provide support and to obtain details regarding the product to enable a follow up investigation to take place.
UK law requires that all consumer products must be safe before being placed on the UK market. Where products are identified that do not meet the UK’s product safety requirements, OPSS works with local Trading Standards to quickly remove them from the market.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care on 21 June, whether any staff employed in the Gender Identity Development Service of the Tavistock Clinic will be employed in any capacity in the new centres being opened from April 2024 to treat children presenting with apparent gender dysphoria.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information requested is not held centrally. It is the responsibility of the trusts providing the new services to undertake staff recruitment. The new services are building multi-disciplinary teams of specialists to provide care to the children and young people referred to these services.
The new services will be delivered in line with the NHS England’s new interim service specification, which reflects the new clinical model set out by Dr Cass. As such, any staff that move from the Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust will be fully signed up to this approach. An oversight group will ensure any training delivered to staff is in line with the new clinical approach.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that a teacher in Rye College in East Sussex called a year 8 pupil "despicable" and "homophobic" because she allegedly said that a person who identified as a cat was ill; and what action, if any, they plan to take in response to this matter.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The safety and wellbeing of students is our top priority. The department is clear that teachers should not teach contested views as fact, and it is important that parents and carers are reassured their children are not being influenced by the personal views of those teaching them.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has asked the Regional Director to look into the matter further to establish the full details of the case and whether the school requires any additional support. It is right that these issues are thoroughly looked at and the requisite action is taken, and we understand that Ofsted is considering its response.