Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a strategy document on steps to improve the responsiveness of NHS England to complaints; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
NHS England is taking a range of actions to ensure that complaints made to it as a commissioner of a range of NHS services are timely and of a good quality.
NHS England has published a Complaints Policy which sets out how they manage, respond to and learn from complaints, and also a Quality Framework, which is based on the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report ‘My Expectations’.
NHS England has also recently introduced a peer review process to monitor compliance with the Complaints Policy and Quality Framework. Key Performance Indicators relating to acknowledgment and response have been developed and are monitored and reported on a monthly basis.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of hospital beds there are per one thousand of the population in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The information is not available in the format requested.
NHS England publishes quarterly data on hospital bed availability and occupancy. This can be found at:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/bed-availability-and-occupancy/
Health is a devolved matter which means the devolved administrations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland determine their own methods for capturing and publishing data on their number of hospital beds.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ban vaginal mesh operations.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has considered all evidence available to them, both here in the United Kingdom and worldwide, and their view is that both the evidence and the greater proportion of the clinical community supports the use of these devices as part of an appropriate treatment pathway.
The NHS England mesh oversight group’s final report, published in July 2017, recommended that surgical mesh should not be routinely offered as the first surgical intervention when treating prolapse which is in alignment with the recommendations of the Scottish Independent Review.
The report also sets out a number of actions which improve the support available for women who have suffered with complications including being able to be referred to 18 trusts in England that have the specialist multidisciplinary teams and experience to assess complications and offer the highest quality support.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to tackle illegal genital and other cosmetic surgery practices.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 makes female genital mutilation (FGM) a criminal offence, but sets out the medical circumstances in which surgical operations on the labia majora, labia minora or clitoris are permitted. These circumstances are where the operations are carried out by an approved person (such as a medical professional) and are necessary for a woman or girl's physical or mental health or for purposes connected with labour or child birth. Enforcement of the criminal law is a matter for the police.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Ethics Committee has published a paper on ethical considerations in relation to female genital cosmetic surgery (FGCS), which refers to the distinction between this type of surgery and FGM. It states that “All surgeons who undertake FGCS must take appropriate measures to ensure compliance with the FGM Act”.
In April 2016, the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) published Professional Standards for Cosmetic Surgery for clinicians working in the cosmetic field. It also launched a patient information hub in June 2016 and has set in place a minimum dataset to assist the collection and collation of data related to cosmetic surgical activity. The General Medical Council (GMC) published new guidance for doctors performing cosmetic procedures which came into effect from 1 June 2016. The Care Quality Commission has also developed a new inspection framework which will take account of the new RCS and GMC requirements.
Health Education England (HEE) published qualification requirements for practitioners performing non-surgical cosmetic procedures in 2016. A Joint Council of Cosmetic Practitioners has recently been established that will look to build on the work of HEE by developing qualification requirements to deliver non-surgical cosmetic procedures, and aim to improve the standards and safety of the cosmetic industry. In addition, NHS Choices is contributing information and advice on cosmetic interventions for the public.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to bring forward legislative proposals related to the Law Commission's final report and draft Bill on the regulation of health and social care professionals, published in April 2014.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Government remains committed to reforming professional regulation in line with the written ministerial statement published on 17 December 2015 (HCWS417). Following extensive stakeholder engagement over the summer we intend to consult shortly on our priorities for reform, taking account of, and moving beyond, the Law Commission’s work.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the General Medical Council guidance for doctors providing cosmetic surgery which came into force in June 2016.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Department has not made an assessment of the General Medical Council’s guidance for doctors offering cosmetic interventions that came into effect on 1 June 2016.
The Department welcomes this guidance which is designed to promote safe, patient-centred care and sets out what is expected from doctors offering cosmetic procedures both surgical and non-surgical.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to publish the findings of its consultation on the expansion of Care Quality Commission ratings to include independent healthcare providers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Department plans to publish the response to the consultation early in the New Year.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of pharmacy services in central London outside working hours.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England is responsible for commissioning NHS services from community pharmacies taking account of the local pharmaceutical needs assessment that is published by the Health and Wellbeing Board for each area. The pharmaceutical needs assessments reflect all NHS pharmaceutical services including hours of opening. 99% of the population can get to a pharmacy within 20 minutes by car and 96% by walking or using public transport and access is greater in areas of highest deprivation Across London there are 1,851 community pharmacies. Of these, 255 are open 70 hours or more, including 103 open for 100 hours a week. In Westminster alone there are six 100 hour pharmacies.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of implementation of safe staffing guidance in the NHS.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on safe staffing for nursing in adult inpatient wards in acute hospitals was published in July 2014 and guidance on safe midwifery staffing for maternity settings was published in February 2015.
The NICE safe staffing guidance is part of our overall approach to safe staffing which is intended to help make the National Health Service the safest healthcare system in the world and its effectiveness will need to be assessed as part of that ambition in the longer term. Many front-line professionals and NHS organisations have found the guidance a helpful support to their decision-making.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons he has not implemented the recommendation of Sir Robert Francis that the development of safe staffing guidance should be undertaken by NICE rather than NHS England.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Following Sir Robert Francis’ report on Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, the Government has worked with a number of organisations in the National Health Service to ensure that the best evidence and guidance about safe staffing is available to NHS providers and commissioners. The work undertaken by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has provided an important foundation for the further work now to be led from within NHS England. This work will bring together the focus on safe staffing with the development of new models of care, as set out in the Five Year Forward View.
This approach will help us to build the evidence for what safe staffing looks like in a range of settings. No one size fits all and so the work will take an adaptive approach to setting staffing levels as the NHS continues to innovate and develop new models of care.