Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on outlining the clinical scope of the (a) role and (b) duties undertaken by (i) physician and (ii) anaesthesia associates.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 20 November 2024, the Government announced that it had commissioned an independent review of physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs), led by Professor Gillian Leng CBE. The review will consider the safety of the roles, and their contribution to multidisciplinary healthcare teams.
As set out in the published Terms of Reference, the review will be an end-to-end review of the PA and AA professions, covering selection and recruitment, training, day to day work, scope of practice, oversight, supervision, and professional regulation. The review will report in spring 2025.
NHS England has issued guidance on the deployment of PAs and AAs in the National Health Service, which describes the expectations of how organisations providing NHS care should deploy them, so that they can contribute to the delivery of safe and effective healthcare in a supportive environment. This guidance remains in place whilst the review is ongoing, and is available at the following link:
In the meantime, regulation with the General Medical Council has begun, and will help to ensure patient safety and professional accountability.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether legal costs associated with the case between the General Medical Council (GMC) and Anaesthetists United, regarding regulation of Physician and Anaesthesia Associates will be paid for by the Department of Health and Social Care or any other public body.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is funding the General Medical Council (GMC) to undertake the work required to introduce regulations for Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) and Physician Associates (PAs), to avoid doctors paying for this through their registrant fees.
A longstanding principle underpinning the introduction of statutory regulation for new professions is that all related-costs, including legal challenges to that work, should be funded by the Government, to avoid other professions cross-subsidising the work involved.
Once regulation of AAs and PAs becomes self-funding, the Government will cease funding the GMC.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2024 to Question 901299 on Long Covid: Health Services, what strategies he recently discussed with stakeholders to stimulate further research into treatments for long covid.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 17 October 2024, I co-chaired a roundtable of researchers and people with lived experience to discuss long COVID research. I highlighted the importance of research in supporting this community, as well as recognising the significant burden of disease. We also discussed next steps for long COVID research, including supporting implementation science and knowledge mobilisation to ensure results translate into policy and practice, supporting researchers and industry partners to deliver intervention studies for new and repurposed treatments, capitalising on synergies with research on other post-viral syndromes, and ensuring long COVID researchers are supported to apply for further funding.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with public health stakeholders on ventilation in publicly provided spaces to assess (a) transmission of airborne diseases and (b) air quality; and if he will take steps to provide (i) funding and (ii) logistical support to ensure the safe ventilation of publicly provided spaces.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Chief Medical Officer’s 2022 annual report on air pollution highlighted indoor air quality as a significant issue for public health. The Department engages both across Government and externally on air quality and health. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published guidance on the ventilation of indoor spaces to reduce the spread of respiratory infections, which is available at the following link:
The UKHSA also has a Cleaner Air Programme, which includes efforts to increase the evidence base and raise awareness of indoor air quality and its health impacts, especially in settings like homes, schools, and public places. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidance on indoor air quality in residential buildings which outlines steps that can be taken to mitigate health risks. These guidelines are available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng149
The funding of logistical support for public spaces is generally the responsibility of the authority that owns and operates those spaces.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the causes of community pharmacy closures since 2016; and what steps he is taking to support community pharmacies in (a) Waveney Valley constituency and (b) England
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. Previous plans did not go far enough and we are looking at what changes we can introduce. The Government has set out its ambition to expand the role of pharmacies and to better utilise the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists.
Departmental officials are working at pace to conclude the consultation on the community pharmacy contractual framework arrangements for 2024/25 as quickly as possible. We are unable to provide further details until the consultation with the Community Pharmacy England is concluded. The outcome will be published and communicated to all contractors at that time.
Pharmacies are private business and decisions to close are made for a range of reasons, as in any other provider market. The Department continues to monitor patient access to all pharmaceutical services closely. Despite pharmacy closures in recent years, access remains good and four in five people in England live within in a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy, and this proportion is higher in the most deprived areas. Patients can also choose to access medicines and services through any of the nearly 400 National Health Service online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver medicines free of charge to patients.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 16 September 2024 to Question HL786 on Pharmacy: Closures, what he plans to conclude the consultation with Community Pharmacy England on the national funding and contractual framework arrangements for 2024/25.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. Previous plans did not go far enough and we are looking at what changes we can introduce. The Government has set out its ambition to expand the role of pharmacies and to better utilise the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists.
Departmental officials are working at pace to conclude the consultation on the community pharmacy contractual framework arrangements for 2024/25 as quickly as possible. We are unable to provide further details until the consultation with the Community Pharmacy England is concluded. The outcome will be published and communicated to all contractors at that time.
Pharmacies are private business and decisions to close are made for a range of reasons, as in any other provider market. The Department continues to monitor patient access to all pharmaceutical services closely. Despite pharmacy closures in recent years, access remains good and four in five people in England live within in a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy, and this proportion is higher in the most deprived areas. Patients can also choose to access medicines and services through any of the nearly 400 National Health Service online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver medicines free of charge to patients.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the debate on the Draft Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order 2024, on Wednesday 17 January 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his Department's policies of the report by the Kings Fund entitled Royal College of Physicians Independent learning review following the Royal College of Physicians’ Extraordinary General Meeting 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Royal College of Physicians is an independent organisation, and they have responded to the review by The Kings Fund that they commissioned, with further information available at the following link:
The legislation to introduce statutory regulation for Physician Associates (PAs) and Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) was subject to debate in the Scottish Parliament and in both Houses of Parliament earlier this year. Regulation of PAs and AAs by the General Medical Council (GMC) will begin in December 2024. The GMC will set standards of practice, education, and training, and operate fitness-to-practice procedures to ensure that PAs and AAs can be held to account if serious concerns are raised.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with NHS leaders on (a) the adequacy of funding for existing provision and (b) support for a wider range of services at Hartismere hospital in Eye.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has regular conversations with senior National Health Service leaders. The Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board is responsible for commissioning services at the hospital, and I am advised that they are working with the property owner, NHS Property Services about the future service delivery requirements from the site on this particular issue.
It is the responsibility of the integrated care board to decide whether there is a need for a wider range of services at the hospital based on the needs of the local population. In terms of the adequacy of funding for existing provision, providers of NHS services can discuss with their commissioner appropriate levels of funding for the services they provide.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) improve access to hospital services in rural constituencies and (b) encourage cross-county border working in rural health services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department supports statutory integrated care systems (ICSs) in delivering National Health Services across England. ICSs are partnerships of organisations which come together to plan and deliver joined up health and care services, and to improve the lives of the people who live and work in their area. This includes considering access to hospitals in rural areas, and looking at opportunities for collaborative working across different administrative footprints, including local councils.
The organisations within an ICS include the NHS, local government, social care providers, charities, and other organisations working together to provide more joined up care for people, and to improve the outcomes for their populations.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dentistry for (a) children and (b) adults in Waveney Valley constituency; and what discussions he has had with stakeholders on the potential impact of publishing a timeframe to reform the dental contract on retention of NHS dentists.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dental Statistics - England 2023-24, published by the NHS Business Services Authority on 22 August 2024, is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324
The data for the NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, which includes the Waveney Valley constituency, shows that 36% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the previous 12 months, compared to 40% in England, and that 48% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months, compared to 56% in England.
To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, the Government will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists. We are continuing to work with the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to deliver our shared ambition to improve access to treatments for NHS dental patients.