Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the criteria for ambulance dispatch to ensure that suspected sepsis cases are prioritised; and if he will take steps to ensure that the NHS guidelines on (a) calling 999 and (b) going to A&E are strictly adhered to.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Calls to 999 are triaged to ensure the sickest patients get the fastest response. Suspected sepsis is generally allocated a Category 2 response. This category of response is for emergency incidents that require urgent assessment and rapid transportation.
The Government has committed to returning ambulance response time performance to the standards set out in the NHS Constitution. As a first step the Health Secretary has commissioned Lord Darzi to lead an independent investigation of National Health Service performance, which is due to report in September 2024. We will continue to support the public in accessing the NHS treatment and advice that best meets their needs.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) dental practices in South Leicestershire constituency and (b) the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board on (i) dental contract (A) reform and (B) value, (ii) units of dental activity rates and (iii) taking steps to increase access to dentistry.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning National Health Service dental services. Our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for patients, and will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments. The plan sets out a number of actions which will improve access for patients, by helping the sector to recover activity more quickly, address underlying issues, and set out the action needed for longer term reform of the system. This includes a new patient premium to support dentists in taking on new NHS patients, an uplift to the minimum Units of Dental Activity (UDA) rate, new dental vans to bring dental care to our most isolated communities, and the Golden Hello incentives to encourage dentists into under-served areas. We are also developing further recommendations for dental contract reform, and will consult with the sector before an announcement on this, later this year.
Data on the number and value of NHS contracts in the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB, and the number of UDAs commissioned and delivered, is available on the NHS Business Services Authority’s Open Data Portal, at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/access-our-data-products/open-data-portal-odp
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing the use of loyalty card points to buy baby formula.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Regulations relating to infant formula set robust nutritional and compositional standards which mean that all infant formula for sale in the United Kingdom are suitable for meeting the nutritional requirements of babies, regardless of price or brand. The regulations also restrict the inappropriate marketing and promotion of infant formula so as not to discourage breastfeeding, which evidence shows delivers the best health outcomes for babies and mothers.
The Department has published guidance on infant and follow-on formula and food for special medical purposes which advises businesses on the implementation of the regulations. Where loyalty or reward card schemes are being used to induce the sale of infant formula, this is prohibited under the regulations. Loyalty and reward card schemes vary between retailers, and it is for businesses to ensure that their activities are in compliance with the regulations. The guidance is available at the following link:
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has had recent discussions with (a) NHS England and (b) Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board on transitioning from a clinical commissioning group to an integrated care system; and if her Department will publish guidance on the lessons learned from this process for other integrated care systems and integrated care boards.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
NHS England led a transition programme to support the transfer from clinical commissioning groups to integrated care boards (ICBs). Throughout the process, there was careful joint planning and progress monitoring between NHS England and the Department. All 42 ICBs were legally established on 1 July 2022 with no significant transition issues reported.
There are no plans to publish additional guidance, however the Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research Policy Research Programme, has recently commissioned an independent research study to evaluate the implementation of the Health and Care Act 2022.
The study aims to understand the different ways that partners within Integrated Care Systems, namely ICBs, integrated care partnerships, and wider system partners) are coming together to design, commission and deliver services, fulfil their duties, and the potential impacts. All study outputs, including interim reports, will be published. An interim report is due in late 2024.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of his Department's progress towards achieving his Smokefree 2030 targets.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
In April, we announced a range of measures to help more people in England quit smoking. These include a new national swap to stop scheme to provide vapes to one million smokers, and a financial incentives scheme to help all pregnant smokers to quit. We are confident that these new measures, in addition to the actions we are already taking, will set us on course to achieve our Smokefree 2030 ambition, and we will monitor progress.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with (a) Cancer Research UK and (b) other relevant stakeholders on the Smokefree 2030 campaign.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Government consults widely with stakeholders on the Smokefree 2030 ambition. My officials regularly meet with organisations such as Cancer Research UK, as well as other relevant individuals and organisations.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of recent data published by the Office of National Statistics on excess deaths.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities works alongside the Office for National Statistics to understand excess deaths. A combination of factors has contributed to these excess deaths, including high flu prevalence, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
On 24 January 2023, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy and an interim report will be published in the summer. The strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. The strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England including, cancers, cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, mental ill health and musculoskeletal conditions.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department provides funding to local NHS organisations to redevelop old cottage hospitals.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department does not have specific funding set aside for the redevelopment of old cottage hospitals. The Department provides national funding to schemes that meet the conditions of specific national programmes and operational capital. This operational capital is set by NHS England at integrated care board (ICB) level and deals with the day-to-day capital needs of the National Health Service, including renewal and replacement of plant, Information Technology and equipment, minor building works, and investment to deliver core clinical strategies. Operational capital can be prioritised by ICBs in line with local plans and health strategies, including to redevelop old cottage hospitals if this is considered a local priority.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with Cancer Research UK on the 10-Year Cancer Plan.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Ministers and officials within the Department have regularly met with representatives of Cancer Research UK and other charities, with the previously announced 10-Year Cancer Plan being discussed on a number of occasions.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support research on a cure for pulmonary fibrosis.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In the last five years, the NIHR has funded 14 projects into pulmonary fibrosis with an award value of £12.7 million and supported the delivery of more than 300 studies via its infrastructure, including research on potential treatments.