Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for delivering 40,000 more NHS appointments per week.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Reducing elective waiting lists is a key part of getting the National Health Service back on its feet. Delivering 40,000 more NHS appointments per week is part of our commitment to get back to NHS standards, so that people can expect to wait no longer than 18 weeks for treatment. The next steps will be confirmed after the budget in October.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance he issues to (a) his Department, (b) NHS England, (c) arms length bodies and (a) NHS trusts on using public funds to subscribe to Stonewall.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not issued any specific guidance to the Department, NHS England, arms length bodies (ALBs) or NHS Trusts on using public funds to subscribe to Stonewall.
Guidance remains the same as set by the previous government.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make official documents shared with Alan Milburn available to (a) Privy Councillors on all sides of the House on Privy Council terms or (b) hon. Members.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As my rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out in the House, papers were shared with my rt. Hon. friend, Alan Milburn, on Privy Council terms. Nothing commercially sensitive was shared during these interactions. We have no plans to share such documentation with other Privy Councillors or hon. Members on Privy Council terms.
It is not unusual to share official documentation when appropriate based on the business need; for example with other Government Departments, NHS England, and other external experts.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues on questioning patients on (a) pregnancy and (b) risk of pregnancy before (i) scans and (ii) operations.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service trusts are directed to follow clinical National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance when ensuring the delivery of safe and effective healthcare and would refer to this prior to an operation.
Questions asked of patients prior to a scan will depend upon the imaging modality, with ultrasound offered routinely as a part of antenatal care. Similarly, low field strength MRI is safe to use in pregnancy.
Imaging using ionising radiation, for instance x-rays or computed tomography scans, should be used with more caution and should prompt questions about whether a woman is pregnant. Clinicians will assess risks of ionising radiation against the benefits for maternal health. The RCE-9 report provides advice on protection of pregnant women during diagnostic medical exposures to ionising radiation. NHS England also provides guidance to support clinical teams in breast screening services, to deliver safe clinical practice in compliance with the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposures) Regulations.
NHS guidance also advises women to inform their healthcare provider that they are pregnant prior to an x-ray.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has shared official documents classified as official sensitive or higher with any individuals, not including Alan Milburn, who do not have an official role within his Department.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As my rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out in the House, papers were shared with my rt. Hon. friend, Alan Milburn, on Privy Council terms. Nothing commercially sensitive was shared during these interactions. We have no plans to share such documentation with other Privy Councillors or hon. Members on Privy Council terms.
It is not unusual to share official documentation when appropriate based on the business need; for example with other Government Departments, NHS England, and other external experts.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has shared (a) official sensitive documents and (b) documents of a higher sensitivity classification with Alan Milburn.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As my rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out in the House, papers were shared with my rt. Hon. friend, Alan Milburn, on Privy Council terms. Nothing commercially sensitive was shared during these interactions. We have no plans to share such documentation with other Privy Councillors or hon. Members on Privy Council terms.
It is not unusual to share official documentation when appropriate based on the business need; for example with other Government Departments, NHS England, and other external experts.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults and (b) children are living with HIV in each (i) region, (ii) county and (iii) local authority area.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the information is not collected in the format requested, the following table shows the number of children in 2020, and the number of adults in 2022, living with diagnosed HIV infection in England, broken down by region:
| Children with HIV in 2020 | Adults with HIV in 2022 |
London | 76 | 37,267 |
East of England | 21 | 8,076 |
East Midlands | 16 | 5,777 |
West Midlands | 31 | 7,887 |
North East | 3 | 2,151 |
North West | 29 | 10,200 |
South East | 22 | 11,680 |
South West | 7 | 5,413 |
Yorkshire and Humber | 21 | 5,946 |
England | 226 | 94,397 |
Source: statistics are published by the UK Health Security Agency, and are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hiv-annual-data-tables
Note: children are counted as those under 15 years old and adults are counted as those 15 years old or over.
In addition, the following table shows the number of adults living with diagnosed HIV infection in England, broken down by local authority, in 2022:
Local authority | Adults living with diagnosed HIV |
Barking and Dagenham | 786 |
Barnet | 856 |
Barnsley | 281 |
Bath and North East Somerset | 151 |
Bedford | 302 |
Bexley | 502 |
Birmingham | 2,262 |
Blackburn with Darwen | 114 |
Blackpool | 449 |
Bolton | 422 |
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 782 |
Bracknell Forest | 144 |
Bradford | 561 |
Brent | 1,174 |
Brighton and Hove | 1,760 |
Bristol | 928 |
Bromley | 570 |
Buckinghamshire UA | 578 |
Bury | 271 |
Calderdale | 208 |
Cambridgeshire | 711 |
Camden | 1,505 |
Central Bedfordshire | 306 |
Cheshire East | 333 |
Cheshire West and Chester | 334 |
City of London | 87 |
Cornwall | 379 |
County Durham | 329 |
Coventry | 913 |
Croydon | 1,640 |
Cumberland | 129 |
Darlington | 84 |
Derby | 472 |
Derbyshire | 523 |
Devon | 525 |
Doncaster | 321 |
Dorset | 251 |
Dudley | 350 |
Ealing | 970 |
East Riding of Yorkshire | 156 |
East Sussex | 810 |
Enfield | 1,028 |
Essex | 1,457 |
Gateshead | 190 |
Gloucestershire | 535 |
Greenwich | 1,338 |
Hackney | 1,506 |
Halton | 91 |
Hammersmith and Fulham | 1,160 |
Hampshire | 1,175 |
Haringey | 1,426 |
Harrow | 464 |
Hartlepool | 65 |
Havering | 382 |
Herefordshire | 125 |
Hertfordshire | 1,500 |
Hillingdon | 565 |
Hounslow | 818 |
Isle of Wight | 79 |
Isles of Scilly | |
Islington | 1,379 |
Kensington and Chelsea | 1,149 |
Kent | 1,608 |
Kingston upon Hull | 256 |
Kingston upon Thames | 266 |
Kirklees | 466 |
Knowsley | 135 |
Lambeth | 3,367 |
Lancashire | 872 |
Leeds | 1,544 |
Leicester | 1,011 |
Leicestershire | 542 |
Lewisham | 1,853 |
Lincolnshire | 560 |
Liverpool | 835 |
Luton | 626 |
Manchester | 2,446 |
Medway | 379 |
Merton | 674 |
Middlesbrough | 172 |
Milton Keynes | 667 |
Newcastle upon Tyne | 460 |
Newham | 1,595 |
Norfolk | 835 |
North East Lincolnshire | 96 |
North Lincolnshire | 108 |
North Northamptonshire | 497 |
North Somerset | 159 |
North Tyneside | 163 |
North Yorkshire UA | 362 |
Northumberland | 162 |
Nottingham | 841 |
Nottinghamshire | 624 |
Oldham | 290 |
Oxfordshire | 501 |
Peterborough | 356 |
Plymouth | 313 |
Portsmouth | 376 |
Reading | 400 |
Redbridge | 612 |
Redcar and Cleveland | 64 |
Richmond upon Thames | 315 |
Rochdale | 316 |
Rotherham | 267 |
Rutland | 29 |
Salford | 914 |
Sandwell | 651 |
Sefton | 261 |
Sheffield | 843 |
Shropshire | 212 |
Slough | 356 |
Solihull | 141 |
Somerset UA | 374 |
South Gloucestershire | 249 |
South Tyneside | 85 |
Southampton | 506 |
Southend-on-Sea | 371 |
Southwark | 2,880 |
St. Helens | 148 |
Staffordshire | 602 |
Stockport | 297 |
Stockton-on-Tees | 167 |
Stoke-on-Trent | 411 |
Suffolk | 655 |
Sunderland | 210 |
Surrey | 1,382 |
Sutton | 357 |
Swindon | 280 |
Tameside | 340 |
Telford and Wrekin | 182 |
Thurrock | 290 |
Torbay | 190 |
Tower Hamlets | 1,854 |
Trafford | 331 |
Wakefield | 349 |
Walsall | 454 |
Waltham Forest | 926 |
Wandsworth | 1,426 |
Warrington | 174 |
Warwickshire | 550 |
West Berkshire | 109 |
West Northamptonshire | 678 |
West Sussex | 1,183 |
Westminster | 1,837 |
Westmorland and Furness | 93 |
Wigan | 325 |
Wiltshire | 297 |
Windsor and Maidenhead | 182 |
Wirral | 280 |
Wokingham | 152 |
Wolverhampton | 648 |
Worcestershire | 386 |
York | 128 |
England | 94,397 |
Source: statistics are published by the UK Health Security Agency, and are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hiv-annual-data-tables
While the number of adults living with diagnosed HIV infection by local authority is available, the information on children is not held in the format requested. However, the number of children living with diagnosed HIV infection has reduced from 1,489 in 2013, to 225 in 2020. This is due to the success of antenatal screening, which has prevented vertical transmission of HIV, combined with the success of HIV treatment. HIV treatment has enabled those born with HIV to live into adulthood.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an estimate of the (a) capital cost of doubling the number of MRI and CT scanners and (b) running costs of incentives to work additional hours.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working with NHS England to cost a range of investments needed to return the National Health Service to meeting the elective and cancer waiting time standards, including doubling magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.
The use of out of hours and weekend capacity remains at the discretion and autonomy of individual providers and systems, to choose the approach most suitable for their local context, where it is a cost-effective and sustainable means of delivery.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 delivering the Women's Health Strategy.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we build a National Health Service fit for the future. We are considering how to take forward the Women’s Health Strategy for England.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 introduce a redress scheme for women affected by (a) vaginal mesh and (b) sodium valporate.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Hughes Report, and will respond as soon as possible.