Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many referrals to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme were classified as ended by problem descriptor in each clinical commissioning group area in each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The number of referrals to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme who finished a course of treatment is reported by NHS Digital at clinical commissioning group (CCG) level and by problem descriptor in 2014/15 and 2015/16. For 2015/16, data on referrals received, entering treatment, and finishing a course of treatment by problem descriptor and CCG area are reported in Table 1. For 2014/15, referrals who finished a course of treatment reported by problem descriptor and CCG are in Table 2.
The number of referrals entering treatment (rather than those finishing treatment) reported by problem descriptor and CCG is available for 2013/14 in Table 3. The above tables are attached.
Data by CCG is not available prior to 2013/14 as CCGs replaced primary care trusts on 1 April 2013.
As 2016/17 has not yet completed there is no Annual Report. However monthly data can be found in the “Monthly Activity Data Files” which can be accessed via the links under “Monthly Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Dataset Reports” at:
http://content.digital.nhs.uk/iaptreports
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many referrals to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme started each type of therapy offered by the programme in each clinical commissioning group area in each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Data on the number of referrals to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme are published by NHS Digital. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) replaced primary care trusts on 1 April, 2013 and data related to this Parliamentary Question started to be reported by CCG from 2014/15.
The dataset does not report on referrals starting a type of therapy. It reports on the number of referrals finishing a course of treatment by type of therapy (this is the last therapy the service users received and does not mean that other therapies were not used earlier in the course of treatment). These data are only available at CCG level for 2014/15 and 2015/16.
In 2014/15 and 2015/16 the number of referrals who finished a course of treatment were reported by CCG and problem descriptor in Table 1 and Table 2 which are attached.
As 2016/17 has not yet completed there is no Annual Report. However monthly data can be found in the “Monthly Activity Data Files” which can be accessed via the links under “Monthly Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Dataset Reports” at:
http://content.digital.nhs.uk/iaptreports
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average number of treatment sessions received by clients of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme was by clinical commissioning group for (a) clients who completed treatment and (b) all referrals ended in each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Data on the average number of treatment sessions received by clients of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme who completed treatment was first reported in April 2015. These are available by clinical commissioning group in the monthly activity data files from April 2015 onwards, which can be downloaded from the links under ‘Monthly Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Dataset Reports’ at:
http://content.digital.nhs.uk/iaptreports
The average number of treatment sessions for all referrals, including those who did not complete treatment, is not reported.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the Government has made of its progress in implementing the commitment in the 2015 Spending Review to encourage long-term partnerships between the NHS and the private sector; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
We will continue to encourage long term partnerships between the National Health Service and the private sector in order to deliver responsive and innovative healthcare services while ensuring better value for taxpayers. It is right that these decisions are made locally by the NHS and not politicians. We are clear that patients should be able to access the best possible providers based on quality not the sector.
Commissioners can use a range of tools to secure services, including managing providers’ performance, extending and varying contracts, widening choice of qualified provider, and tendering. They will need to choose the right tools for different circumstances. Local conditions vary and there is no one-size-fits-all model for raising standards.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the Government has made of the progress in implementing the commitment in the NHS Five Year Forward View to increase patient choice over where and how patients receive care; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Mandate to NHS England, which sets the Government’s objectives for the provision of health services in England and any requirements for NHS England, includes an objective calling for the offer of meaningful choice in the National Health Service. This reflects the commitment in the Five Year Forward View. An assessment of the extent to which the Mandate objectives have been met is set out in my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s Annual Assessment of NHS England, which is published at the end of the financial year.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of how much additional surgical and diagnostic capacity independent sector healthcare organisations are able to make available to NHS patients over the remainder of 2016-17; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
No assessment has been made. Decisions about whether to use independent sector capacity are generally made at local level. Use of the independent sector will depend on a range of factors including the needs of individual local health systems, patient choice and availability of suitable independent sector capacity.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of reductions in pharmacy funding on the availability of essential medicines.
Answered by David Mowat
The Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered against the public sector equality duty, the family test and the relevant duties of my Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, under the National Health Service Act 2006.
Our assessments include consideration of the potential impacts on the adequate provision of NHS pharmaceutical services, including the dispensing of prescriptions and supply of medicines.
An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.
Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. We believe these efficiencies can be made within community pharmacy without compromising the quality of services or public access to them.
Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of potential reductions in the level of pharmacy funding on waiting times for NHS prescriptions.
Answered by David Mowat
The Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered against the public sector equality duty, the family test and the relevant duties of my Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, under the National Health Service Act 2006.
Our assessments include consideration of the potential impacts on the adequate provision of NHS pharmaceutical services, including the dispensing of prescriptions and supply of medicines.
An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.
Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. We believe these efficiencies can be made within community pharmacy without compromising the quality of services or public access to them.
Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the maximum distance recommended by NHS England is for people with severe asthma to travel to receive day-case treatment.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England commissions severe asthma services in line with national specifications to ensure that patient numbers are sufficient to support safe, quality service provision. It is revising the severe asthma service specification which is expected to be published later in 2016.
Nationally there are 27 trusts that have identified themselves as providing severe asthma services.
NHS England does not specify travel distances for patients attending treatment for severe asthma.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many specialist centres for asthma are recognised by NHS England.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England commissions severe asthma services in line with national specifications to ensure that patient numbers are sufficient to support safe, quality service provision. It is revising the severe asthma service specification which is expected to be published later in 2016.
Nationally there are 27 trusts that have identified themselves as providing severe asthma services.
NHS England does not specify travel distances for patients attending treatment for severe asthma.