Asked by: Lord Mawhinney (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 October (HL Deb, col 1787), how much resource has been taken out of acute hospitals since the inception of the five-year forward view on mental health; and of this how much has been transferred to (1) mental health care, (2) community care, and (3) primary care.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
All trusts will see an increase in overall funding, as we are supporting the National Health Service’s own plan by investing an additional £10 billion in real terms over the six years since the Five Year Forward View was published, including a £3.8 billion real terms increase this year alone. Official data on trusts’ exact income levels will not be known until the end of the financial year.
Asked by: Lord Mawhinney (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is (1) their policy, or (2) the policy of NHS England, that primary care centres should be amalgamated into larger units.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
As part of the New Care Models Programme, NHS England is supporting local health and care commissioners and providers to come together to improve the health and care they provide. This includes the development of population-based care models known as integrated Primary and Acute Care Systems and Multispecialty Community Providers (MCPs). Where and how to develop new care models are decisions taken by local partnerships, in response to local conditions. The Programme is not directing or requiring the amalgamation of primary care centres.
There are 14 MCP vanguards, with a single organisation accountable for joined-up General Practitioner (GP) and community services and some specialist care, mental health services, and social care for a defined population. The building blocks of a MCP are the ‘care hubs’ of integrated teams. Each typically serves a community of around 30,000-50,000 people. These hubs are the practical, operational level of any model of accountable care provision. The wider the scope of services included in the MCP, the more hubs you may need to connect together to create sufficient scale. All 14 MCP vanguards now serve a minimum population of around 100,000.
The majority of GP practices are already working in practice groups or federations. This provides opportunities to expand services, stabilise practice income and work at scale, which has benefits for patients, practices and the wider system. These include economies of scale, quality improvement, workforce development, enhanced care and new services, resilience and system partnerships.
A new voluntary MCP contract will be introduced from April 2017, to integrate general practice services with community services and wider healthcare services. Measures from the GP Access Fund and vanguard sites that are currently piloting this approach, will be learned from to support mainstreaming of proven service improvements across all practices, and funding will be provided for local collaborations to support practices to implement new ways of working.
Asked by: Lord Mawhinney (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their intention to amalgamate local primary care centres into larger units; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
As part of the New Care Models Programme, NHS England is supporting local health and care commissioners and providers to come together to improve the health and care they provide. This includes the development of population-based care models known as integrated Primary and Acute Care Systems and Multispecialty Community Providers (MCPs). Where and how to develop new care models are decisions taken by local partnerships, in response to local conditions. The Programme is not directing or requiring the amalgamation of primary care centres.
There are 14 MCP vanguards, with a single organisation accountable for joined-up General Practitioner (GP) and community services and some specialist care, mental health services, and social care for a defined population. The building blocks of a MCP are the ‘care hubs’ of integrated teams. Each typically serves a community of around 30,000-50,000 people. These hubs are the practical, operational level of any model of accountable care provision. The wider the scope of services included in the MCP, the more hubs you may need to connect together to create sufficient scale. All 14 MCP vanguards now serve a minimum population of around 100,000.
The majority of GP practices are already working in practice groups or federations. This provides opportunities to expand services, stabilise practice income and work at scale, which has benefits for patients, practices and the wider system. These include economies of scale, quality improvement, workforce development, enhanced care and new services, resilience and system partnerships.
A new voluntary MCP contract will be introduced from April 2017, to integrate general practice services with community services and wider healthcare services. Measures from the GP Access Fund and vanguard sites that are currently piloting this approach, will be learned from to support mainstreaming of proven service improvements across all practices, and funding will be provided for local collaborations to support practices to implement new ways of working.
Asked by: Lord Mawhinney (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the NHS has the authority to require the amalgamation of local primary care centres; and if so, what is the extent of its powers.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
As part of the New Care Models Programme, NHS England is supporting local health and care commissioners and providers to come together to improve the health and care they provide. This includes the development of population-based care models known as integrated Primary and Acute Care Systems and Multispecialty Community Providers (MCPs). Where and how to develop new care models are decisions taken by local partnerships, in response to local conditions. The Programme is not directing or requiring the amalgamation of primary care centres.
There are 14 MCP vanguards, with a single organisation accountable for joined-up General Practitioner (GP) and community services and some specialist care, mental health services, and social care for a defined population. The building blocks of a MCP are the ‘care hubs’ of integrated teams. Each typically serves a community of around 30,000-50,000 people. These hubs are the practical, operational level of any model of accountable care provision. The wider the scope of services included in the MCP, the more hubs you may need to connect together to create sufficient scale. All 14 MCP vanguards now serve a minimum population of around 100,000.
The majority of GP practices are already working in practice groups or federations. This provides opportunities to expand services, stabilise practice income and work at scale, which has benefits for patients, practices and the wider system. These include economies of scale, quality improvement, workforce development, enhanced care and new services, resilience and system partnerships.
A new voluntary MCP contract will be introduced from April 2017, to integrate general practice services with community services and wider healthcare services. Measures from the GP Access Fund and vanguard sites that are currently piloting this approach, will be learned from to support mainstreaming of proven service improvements across all practices, and funding will be provided for local collaborations to support practices to implement new ways of working.
Asked by: Lord Mawhinney (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to amalgamate primary care centres into larger units covering approximately 30,000 patients.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
As part of the New Care Models Programme, NHS England is supporting local health and care commissioners and providers to come together to improve the health and care they provide. This includes the development of population-based care models known as integrated Primary and Acute Care Systems and Multispecialty Community Providers (MCPs). Where and how to develop new care models are decisions taken by local partnerships, in response to local conditions. The Programme is not directing or requiring the amalgamation of primary care centres.
There are 14 MCP vanguards, with a single organisation accountable for joined-up General Practitioner (GP) and community services and some specialist care, mental health services, and social care for a defined population. The building blocks of a MCP are the ‘care hubs’ of integrated teams. Each typically serves a community of around 30,000-50,000 people. These hubs are the practical, operational level of any model of accountable care provision. The wider the scope of services included in the MCP, the more hubs you may need to connect together to create sufficient scale. All 14 MCP vanguards now serve a minimum population of around 100,000.
The majority of GP practices are already working in practice groups or federations. This provides opportunities to expand services, stabilise practice income and work at scale, which has benefits for patients, practices and the wider system. These include economies of scale, quality improvement, workforce development, enhanced care and new services, resilience and system partnerships.
A new voluntary MCP contract will be introduced from April 2017, to integrate general practice services with community services and wider healthcare services. Measures from the GP Access Fund and vanguard sites that are currently piloting this approach, will be learned from to support mainstreaming of proven service improvements across all practices, and funding will be provided for local collaborations to support practices to implement new ways of working.
Asked by: Lord Mawhinney (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial resources they transferred to local authorities in 2015–16 which were designated to be spent on personal social services care; and what is their estimate of how much was spent on the provision of such services.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Central government does not determine the level of resources spent by local authorities on adult social care. Each local authority will budget for what it expects to require in order to deliver the services required for their population, drawing on funding from local taxes, unhypothecated central government grant and income from fees and charges.
However recognising the pressures on local authorities, the Spending Review 2015 announced that for the rest of the current Parliament, local authorities responsible for adult social care (“ASC authorities”) would be allowed an additional 2 percent on their current council tax referendum threshold to be used entirely for adult social care. 144 of 152 eligible authorities made use of this precept in 2015-16, raising £382 million for social care.
My department publishes data (attached) from local authorities on their spending on all services. Provisional data for 2015-16 suggests that local authorities spent a net figure of £14.4 billion on adult social care in 2015-16.
Asked by: Lord Mawhinney (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial resources they transferred to local authorities in 2015–16 which were designated to be spent on the provision of public health services; and what is their estimate of how much was spent on the provision of such services.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The public health grant is provided to give local authorities the funding needed to discharge their public heath responsibilities. The total allocation for 2015-16 was £2.80 billion. All details of this grant and the allocations which were made can be found at - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ring-fenced-public-health-grants-to-local-authorities-2013-14-and-2014-15.
Asked by: Lord Mawhinney (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they envisage any form of public consultation before they decide their negotiating position, once Article 50 has been invoked, on those relationships with Ireland that fall outside EU competence.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The Department for Exiting the EU will be conducting the UK’s negotiations to leave the European Union in support of the Prime Minister. We will be working closely with Parliament, devolved administrations, and a wide range of other interested parties.
Our relationship with Ireland is unique and we have already engaged extensively with Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach met in London on 26 July and the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU visited both Belfast and Dublin in early September to engage with government and business stakeholders.
We look forward to working closely with the Irish Government and other key stakeholders as we develop our approach, and to make the most of the opportunities for both countries.
Asked by: Lord Mawhinney (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many provider NHS trusts achieved an improvement in operating efficiency of four per cent or more without aggravating their debt position in the last financial year.
Answered by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
There is no nationally agreed metric for operating efficiency. However, an annual efficiency requirement is built into the tariff uplift calculation that is used by commissioners in their contract negotiation with providers. In 2015-16 this efficiency requirement was 3.5% over 2014-15. Therefore, we can assume that organisations are delivering this efficiency if they improve their financial position based on these efficiency adjusted prices.
In February 2016, the Department published Lord Carter's Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals: Unwarranted variations report, a review of efficiency in hospitals which provided details of how operational savings can be achieved. A copy of the report is attached. This programme, along with additional funding provided by the government, will help reduce deficits in this year and bring the sector back into financial balance in future years.
The National Health Service will receive additional funding of £10 billion per year by the end of the current Spending Review period, with £3.8 billion provided in 2016-17 alone. From this £3.8 billion, we have created a £2.1 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund that will help providers move to a sustainable financial footing.
NHS Improvement’s 2016-17 quarter 1 performance report confirmed that things are improving in this year, with lower levels of deficit, fewer trusts reporting a deficit and savings on agency staff.
Asked by: Lord Mawhinney (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what timeframe is envisaged by the ministerial use of the word "shortly" when Parliament seeks to determine when a decision will be (1) taken, and (2) announced, on a new runway at an airport in the South of England.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government remains fully committed to delivering the important infrastructure projects it has set out, including delivering runway capacity on the timetable set out by Sir Howard Davies.
In the coming weeks the Government will carefully consider all of the evidence and should be in a position to announce a preferred scheme in the autumn.