Asked by: Beth Winter (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 any modelling his Department has (a) conducted or (b) received for the 2022 pay review round on the impact on staff retention at different pay offers.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has not conducted or received any specific modelling for the 2022/2023 pay review round on the impact on staff retention. The Government has asked the independent Pay Review Bodies (PRBs) to make a recommendation on pay for all National Health Service staff not in multi-year deals.
As part of this process, the Department provided written evidence to the PRBs including information on the recruitment, retention and motivation of NHS staff. In formulating the recommendations, the PRBs also consider evidence from a range of stakeholders, including NHS system partners, and trade unions. The Government will consider the PRBs recommendations when received.
Asked by: Beth Winter (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 any modelling on the annual reduction of vacancies in full-time equivalent workforce vacancies over each of the next five years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department has not produced any modelling on the annual reduction of vacancies in each of the next five years.
Asked by: Beth Winter (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 the number of full-time equivalent workforce vacancies by NHS trust in the most recent reporting period.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have no current plans to do so.
Asked by: Beth Winter (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 the number of full-time equivalent workforce vacancies in the NHS in each year since 2010.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
National Health Service workforce vacancy statistics are published quarterly at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-vacancies-survey
This information includes the NHS Vacancies Survey, which pre-dates the NHS Vacancy Statistics series, which collected data from 2005 to 31 March 2010. Following the discontinuation of the Survey, data on vacancies between 2010 and 2015 is not held centrally. As the data collected in each survey is based on different methodologies, the data is not comparable.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 reduce diagnosis times for endometriosis.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
A call for evidence was launched to inform the priorities, content and actions of the Women’s Health Strategy which included questions on gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis. We are currently analysing the responses and we aim to publish the Women’s Health Strategy later this year.
The National Institute of Health Research hosted research to explore the experience of women who present with endometriosis-like symptoms in primary care. The results will inform our understanding of delays in diagnosis.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people affected by the contaminated blood scandal live in (a) Cynon Valley, (b) Rhonda Cynon Taf and (c) Wales.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Department does not hold data on either those affected in Wales nor beneficiaries of the Welsh support scheme. Since 2017, the support schemes have been devolved, in this case to the Welsh Infected Blood Support Scheme.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon 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 risk of loss to the public purse as a result of fraud during the procurement of personal protective equipment; and what plans he has put in place to mitigate that risk.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Fraud is a hidden crime and the Government takes fraud against the public sector seriously.
The Department and NHS Counter Fraud Authority are working closely with partners, as part of the Government’s COVID-19 Counter-Fraud Response, to identify fraud risks and implement measures to reduce the impact and harm of fraud.
Fraud Risk Assessments are being conducted to highlight high-risk areas for fraud, including procurement and inform the Department’s COVID-19 Post Event Assurance Action Plan. These robust measures aim to test, assess and enhance mitigations to prevent fraud losses.
It is accepted across Government that there will be a lead time for frauds, around COVID
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pieces of personal protective equipment sourced from (a) the UK and (b) overseas during the covid-19 outbreak have been deemed to be (i) faulty and (ii) otherwise unfit for use.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The safety of health, care of all frontline staff is the paramount consideration. All personal protective equipment (PPE) procured from abroad that arrives at the Daventry warehouse is checked. If it is not CE marked then documents are sent to the United Kingdom regulators, the Health and Safety Executive and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, who agree to its release as the Market Surveillance Authorities for PPE and medical devices.
Products are only released into the supply chain if the documents show the product is fit for its intended use. Anytime the Department or the National Health Service are alerted to any potential issues with PPE which has been distributed or is in stock, appropriate action is taken to ensure the immediate safety of frontline health and care staff, and to resolve the issues in question.
All PPE sourced from the UK must undergo essential checks to ensure they meet the safety and quality required and we are offering support and advice to all groups that contact us to ensure their products are safe and effective. These specifications for PPE are published online and can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many contracts to source personal protective equipment from (a) the UK and (b) overseas have been awarded to companies with no previous commercial relationship with the public sector.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Guidance on how contracting authorities should respond to COVID-19 was published on 18 March at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0120-responding-to-covid-19
Authorities are allowed to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015.
Over 1,000 contracts have been awarded to suppliers for COVID-19 related work, the majority through a direct award. There is no single consideration such as previous experience or where a company is based as to whether a supplier is added to the supply chain. The supplier will be evaluated by Departmental officials on their financial standing, compliance with minimum product specifications and ability to perform the contract. Contracts include clauses for contract management to assess performance and value for money throughout the lifetime of the contract.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many contracts to supply personal protective equipment have been awarded to companies with no experience in supplying it.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Guidance on how contracting authorities should respond to COVID-19 was published on 18 March at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0120-responding-to-covid-19
Authorities are allowed to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015.
Over 1,000 contracts have been awarded to suppliers for COVID-19 related work, the majority through a direct award. There is no single consideration such as previous experience or where a company is based as to whether a supplier is added to the supply chain. The supplier will be evaluated by Departmental officials on their financial standing, compliance with minimum product specifications and ability to perform the contract. Contracts include clauses for contract management to assess performance and value for money throughout the lifetime of the contract.