Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to recruit more General Practitioners in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working with NHS England to increase the general practitioner (GP) workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.
We have increased the number of GP training places, and last year saw 4,032 trainee doctors accept a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.
The North Central London Training Hub administers local delivery of the NHS England General Practice Fellowship programme, which aims to support recruitment of newly qualified GPs into local general practices, including Hornsey Wood Green. The training hub also works with health and care partners locally to create portfolio roles to attract newly qualified GPs to take up salaried roles. These portfolio roles support wider population health needs identified within the borough.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of regulating NHS (a) physician and (b) anaesthesia associates through the Health and Care Professions Council.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The assessment of the appropriate regulatory body for physician associate (PA) and anaesthesia associate (AA) regulation was completed in 2019. On 7 February 2019, the Government published its response to the consultation on the Regulation of Medical Associate Professions in the United Kingdom, confirming its decision to introduce statutory regulation for PAs and AAs. Most respondents to the consultation were in favour of the General Medical Council (GMC) taking on regulation.
Following further work by the Department, on 18 July 2019, the Government announced that it would be asking the GMC to regulate both roles. No further assessments have been made of the potential merits of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) regulating PAs and AAs and there have been no recent discussions with the HCPC on this matter.
Regulation by the GMC will mean that the organisation will have responsibility and oversight of all three professions allowing them to take a holistic approach to the education, training, and standards of the roles. This will enable a more coherent and co-ordinated approach to regulation and, by making it easier for employers, patients, and the public to understand the relationship between these roles and doctors, help to embed them in the workforce.
On 13 December 2023, the Department laid draft legislation in both Houses and in the Scottish Parliament that will empower the GMC to commence regulation for the two roles by the end of 2024.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with the Health and Care Professions Council on the regulation of NHS (a) physician and (b) anaesthesia associates.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The assessment of the appropriate regulatory body for physician associate (PA) and anaesthesia associate (AA) regulation was completed in 2019. On 7 February 2019, the Government published its response to the consultation on the Regulation of Medical Associate Professions in the United Kingdom, confirming its decision to introduce statutory regulation for PAs and AAs. Most respondents to the consultation were in favour of the General Medical Council (GMC) taking on regulation.
Following further work by the Department, on 18 July 2019, the Government announced that it would be asking the GMC to regulate both roles. No further assessments have been made of the potential merits of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) regulating PAs and AAs and there have been no recent discussions with the HCPC on this matter.
Regulation by the GMC will mean that the organisation will have responsibility and oversight of all three professions allowing them to take a holistic approach to the education, training, and standards of the roles. This will enable a more coherent and co-ordinated approach to regulation and, by making it easier for employers, patients, and the public to understand the relationship between these roles and doctors, help to embed them in the workforce.
On 13 December 2023, the Department laid draft legislation in both Houses and in the Scottish Parliament that will empower the GMC to commence regulation for the two roles by the end of 2024.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to require physician associates working in the NHS to state their job title during telephone and in-person appointments.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, all healthcare professionals directly involved in a patient's care should introduce themselves and explain to their role to the patient.
Ahead of regulation by the General Medical Council (GMC), the Faculty of Physician Associates has issued guidance for Physician Associates (PAs), supervisors, employers, and organisations, which helps to provide a structured and standardised way of using the title. The GMC has also published interim standards for PAs in advance of regulation which make it clear that professionals should always introduce their role to patients and set out their responsibilities in the team.
In implementing the NHS Long term Workforce Plan, NHS England is working with the relevant professional colleges and regulators, to ensure the PA role is expanded safely and effectively. In addition, NHS England has produced patient-facing materials that have been shared widely with general practices to support patient awareness and understanding of the role.
The introduction of regulation by the GMC will provide a standardised framework of governance and assurance for the clinical practice and professional conduct of PAs and make it easier for employers, patients, and the public to understand the relationship between this role and that of doctors.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 impact of regulating (a) anaesthesia and (b) physician associates through the General Medical Council on public perception of those roles.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The assessment of the appropriate regulatory body for physician associate (PA) and anaesthesia associate (AA) regulation was completed in 2019. On 7 February 2019, the Government published its response to the consultation on the Regulation of Medical Associate Professions in the United Kingdom, confirming its decision to introduce statutory regulation for PAs and AAs. Most respondents to the consultation were in favour of the General Medical Council (GMC) taking on regulation.
Following further work by the Department, on 18 July 2019, the Government announced that it would be asking the GMC to regulate both roles. No further assessments have been made of the potential merits of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) regulating PAs and AAs and there have been no recent discussions with the HCPC on this matter.
Regulation by the GMC will mean that the organisation will have responsibility and oversight of all three professions allowing them to take a holistic approach to the education, training, and standards of the roles. This will enable a more coherent and co-ordinated approach to regulation and, by making it easier for employers, patients, and the public to understand the relationship between these roles and doctors, help to embed them in the workforce.
On 13 December 2023, the Department laid draft legislation in both Houses and in the Scottish Parliament that will empower the GMC to commence regulation for the two roles by the end of 2024.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Major conditions strategy: case for change and our strategic framework published on 21 August 2023, what steps she is taking to ensure NHS non-clinical staff employed through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme have awareness of the six major health conditions in the strategy.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Major Conditions Strategy will focus on tackling the six major conditions groups – cancers, mental ill-health, cardiovascular disease (including stroke and diabetes), dementia, chronic respiratory diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders – that account for around 60% of ill-health and early death in England.
General practices are self-employed contractors to the National Health Service and it is largely up to employers to determine how best to staff their Primary Care Networks or GPs to best meet the needs of their population. The demands each patient places on their GPs are different and can be affected by many different factors, including rurality and patient demographics.
Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role, and for investing in the future of their staff through providing continuing professional development funding.
As part of the Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, published in May 2023, we will invest in care navigation training to help teams direct patients to the right person.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Major conditions strategy: case for change and our strategic framework published on 14 August 2023, what plans her Department has to align NHS Health Checks with the six major health conditions listed.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A review of the NHS Health Check programme published in 2021 recommended that following delivery of a digital NHS Health Check, consideration should be given to expanding the NHS Health Check to cover other conditions such as musculoskeletal and mental ill-health. We are investing almost £17 million in the development of an innovative new national digital NHS Health Check and once this is rolled out from next spring, we will consider the coverage of the programme and the case for including menopause and conditions highlighted in the Major Conditions Strategy: case for change and our strategic framework.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 21 April 2023 to Question 180599 on Orthopaedics: Out of Area Treatment, what plans her Department has to support patients who are ineligible for (a) NHS non-emergency transport and (b) the NHS Travel Costs scheme.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) and non-emergency patient transport services (NEPTS) are kept under review by the National Health Service to ensure simplified and streamlined access. The NHS continues to run these schemes in place to support eligible patients with their travel costs.
The most recent NEPTS review from August 2021 is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/urgent-emergency-care/improving-ambulance-services/nepts-review/
The most recent eligibility criteria from 31 May 2022 are available at the following link:
The NEPTS Review also identified the important role the HTCS has in supporting patients on low incomes to access NHS treatment. More information on the HTCS is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/healthcare-travel-costs-scheme-htcs/
The Department has no plans in place at present to look at further schemes.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 26 January 2023 to Question 128715 on Health: Disadvantages, what plans she has to expand the Major Conditions Strategy to address ethnic and gender disparities.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the policy development process, the Major Conditions Strategy will consider the full range of health disparities that may be experienced by different groups, including ethnic and gender disparities.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish a national vaccination strategy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Development of a vaccine strategy remains under review given the evolving understanding from the COVID-19 vaccination programme, the existing seasonal flu and the 12 national immunisation programmes.