Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the Care Quality Commission about discharging its obligations under section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to update the health and social care sectors on how frequently it will assess the providers it regulates.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) was planning to publish information about their expectations of the frequency of future assessments in July 2024. Due to the timing of the review into the operational effectiveness of the CQC led by Dr Penny Dash, the CQC did not share this information as planned.
The interim findings of Dr Dash’s review, as well as the full and final report published on 15 October 2024, made clear recommendations on how the CQC needs to change its regulatory approach. The CQC has committed to making those changes.
The CQC will publish an update on how frequently it will be carrying out its future assessments in due course, in consultation with stakeholders and others, as outlined by Section 46 (7) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State at the Department for Health and Social Care on 7 October (HC4240), what guidance (1) the Department for Health and Social Care, and (2) NHS England, have given to NHS trusts and its arms-length bodies on reducing external spending on equality, diversity, and inclusion programmes.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance was published on 14 May 2024, and required all Departments and arm's length bodies to set controls on all equality, diversity, and inclusion related expenditure. No further guidance was issued by the Department to National Health Service trusts.
NHS England has not published written guidance to NHS trusts and arm’s length bodies on reducing external spending on equality, diversity, and inclusion programmes.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many abortion clinics run by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, MSI Reproductive Choices and the National Unplanned Pregnancy Advisory Service have (1) never been inspected by the Care Quality Commission, or (2) not been inspected by it since 30 September 2021.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of abortion clinics which have never been inspected by the Care Quality Commission, as well as the number of clinics which have not been inspected since 30 September 2021:
Name of provider | Have never been inspected | No inspection since 30 September 2021 |
British Pregnancy Advisory Service | 1 | 6 |
MSI Reproductive Choices | 4 | 5 |
National Unplanned Pregnancy Advisory Service | 4 | 3 |
Source: Care Quality Commission.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether equality, diversity and inclusion spending in the NHS provides value for money in relation to patients' health needs; and whether they plan to initiate a review into that spending.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service provides a service that is available for all, and good equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) principles ensure that everyone can access healthcare.
NHS England does not routinely collect data on EDI spend across the NHS. NHS England does not have plans to initiate a review into EDI spending, and the Department does not plan to initiate a review into this spending.
Embedding inclusive leadership and promoting equal opportunities and fairness is part of the NHS Constitution, the Equality Act 2010 and is one of the recommendations of the Messenger Review. Implementing EDI principles is the personal responsibility of every member of staff in the NHS.
EDI roles are wide-ranging and help the NHS meet its legal duties set out for public bodies in the Equality Act 2010, through the public sector equality duty and the principles that guide the NHS Constitution.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the policy of (1) the Department of Health and Social Care, and (2) NHS England, on payments for Stonewall membership for NHS trusts, including the Workplace Equality Index gold award; and what assessment they have made of whether those policies are compatible with Government policy following the Cass Review.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England do not have national policies relating to Stonewall membership for National Health Service trusts, and support NHS trusts in defining the appropriate policies to support equality, diversity, and inclusion, to align with the Government's Health Mission and priorities. As a consequence, there have been no assessments following the Cass Review.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many abortion clinics run by (1) the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, (2) MSI Reproductive Choices, and (3) National Unplanned Pregnancy Advisory Service, have (a) never been inspected by the Care Quality Commission, and (b) not been inspected in the past three years.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of abortion clinics which have never been inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as well as the number of clinics which have not been inspected in the past three years:
Name of provider | Have never been inspected | Have not been inspected in the past three years |
British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) | 0 | 6 |
MSI Reproductive Choices | 3 | 6 |
National Unplanned Pregnancy Advisory Service (NUPAS) | 4 | 2 |
Source: Care Quality Commission
There are four NUPAS clinics that do not have any rating. This is because these were registered in the last 12 months.
There are three MSI Reproductive Choices clinics that do not have a rating. Two of these clinics do not have a rating because they were registered in the last 12 months. One of these clinics was registered nearly two years ago but has not yet had an inspection. This is because the transition to the Single Assessment Framework (SAF) has delayed inspection in some cases.
Under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, the CQC must update the health and social care sectors as to how frequently they will assess the providers they regulate. The CQC plans to publish an interim statement in August 2024 about how frequently they plan to assess each type of service.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis they have undertaken in either of the last two Parliaments of the fiscal implications for the National Health Service and the wider economy of any liberalisation of end-of-life care and assisted dying.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the fiscal implications for the National Health Service, or the wider economy, of any liberalisation of end of life care and assisted dying.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative and end of life care services that meet the needs of their local populations. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications for adults, and children and young people.
Assisted dying is an extremely sensitive issue with deeply held views on both sides of the debate. A vote on any change to the law of England and Wales in this area is a matter for Parliament to decide. It is reasonable to have a discussion on what is an important topic, and it is right that we locate that question within a broader context of how we care for people at the end of their lives. Should the law on assisting dying change, the Government would work with stakeholders to ensure that safeguards were in place, and that the law is enforced in the way that Parliament intended.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 15 May (HL4224), how they reconcile the answer with that given by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 23 November 2023 (HC527), which precluded the ability of a medical practitioner to form a "good faith" opinion through a telemedicine consultation alone that the patient's gestation was below 10 weeks, and therefore to dispense early medical abortion pills for use by the patient at home.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The response of 23 November 2023 does not preclude the ability of a medical practitioner to form a good faith opinion, through a telemedicine consultation alone, that the patient's gestation was below 10 weeks. This opinion can be formed either during a teleconsultation, or an in-person appointment.
Pregnancy duration can be assessed from the first day of the last menstrual period (LMP). Advice from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is clear that most women can determine the duration of their pregnancy with reasonable accuracy by LMP alone.
However, if there is any uncertainty about the gestation of the pregnancy, the medical practitioner would ask the woman to attend an in-person appointment to enable them to form an opinion that the pregnancy will not have exceeded 10 weeks at the time the first abortion pill is taken. If she does not attend in-person when requested, the terminating practitioner would not be able to form an opinion in good faith that the pregnancy is below 10 weeks gestation, and therefore would not be able to prescribe abortion pills for home use.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 9 May (HL4286), whether they have issued guidance to telemedicine providers about complying with the prohibition of termination of pregnancy at gestations over 10 weeks outside a National Health Service facility or an approved place; and if not, why.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
No specific guidance has been issued, however, all abortion providers are aware that termination of pregnancy in England and Wales can only be provided within the legal framework laid down in the Abortion Act 1967.
The legal framework for home use of early medical abortion pills is set out in the Department’s guidance, Abortion: procedures for the approval of independent sector places for termination of pregnancy (abortion) in England. This guidance applies to independent sector abortion clinics and states that the Abortion Act 1967 allows women having an abortion during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, specifically up to nine weeks and six days gestation, to take one or both medicines for an early medical abortion at home. It also highlights that women having an early medical abortion at home should be given information on the implications, health and otherwise, of taking the abortion medicine beyond the legal limit of nine weeks and six days gestation.
In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline on abortion care, to which all abortion providers are expected to have due regard, highlights that women who are having a medical abortion and will be taking the first pill, mifepristone, up to and including nine weeks six days gestation, can be offered the option of expulsion at home.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address complication rates identified in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities statistics published 23 November 2023 (1) for women under 20 in home and clinical settings, and (2) for those who had abortions after more than ten weeks gestation in a clinical setting.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department’s comparison of statistics on abortion complications in England, using data from the Abortion Notification System, compared to data on hospital admissions for abortion complications from Hospital Episode Statistics for the years 2017 to 2021, found that women under 20 years old had the lowest complication rates of any age group.
Abortion continues to be a very safe procedure for which major complications are rare at all gestations. However, it is known that the risk of complications increases at higher gestations. The Department works closely with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, and abortion providers to ensure that abortions are provided safely, in accordance with the legal framework set by the Abortion Act 1967.
It is a legal requirement under the 1967 Abortion Act that the Chief Medical Officer must be notified of all abortions within 14 days of the procedure. The Department provides the HSA4 abortion notification form for this purpose. HSA4 forms record known complications, up until the time of the patient’s discharge from the abortion service.
To consider the completeness of abortion complications data submitted via abortion notifications, the Department committed to publishing a one-time analysis comparing data from the Department’s Abortion Notification System and the Hospital Episode Statistics. This was published in November 2023. The Department is inviting views on abortion statistics for England and Wales, including the future publication of abortion complications data, via an online user engagement survey and via email. We welcome responses from abortion providers and all interested parties on this matter.