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Written Question
Telemedicine: Voice over Internet Protocol
Friday 24th May 2024

Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda and Ogmore)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are telecare devices being sold that will no longer be fully operational after the Public Switched Telephone Network is switched off.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

It is a known risk that some analogue telecare devices may not be digitally compatible or perform as reliably on digital networks. In November 2021, the Technology Enabled Care Services Association (TSA), the industry and advisory body for technology enabled care in the UK, released a statement requesting service providers discontinue purchasing new analogue-only units. Where there is an ongoing requirement to communicate in analogue protocols, providers can procure ‘hybrid’ alarms that communicate in both analogue and digital protocols.

Despite this, some telecare suppliers are still selling analogue devices to private customers. Also, telecare service providers may be re-issuing analogue devices to new customers, given the devices’ typical lifespan of five to seven years, before replacing them with digital alarm devices at the end of their lifespan. Alongside the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Department of Health and Social Care is developing a Telecare National Action Plan which will set out actions that a range of stakeholders, including telecare suppliers and service providers, are expected to take to ensure the safety of telecare users in the switch to digital lines. This will include actions to help telecare providers to better understand and manage the risks associated with the use of analogue telecare devices and will be published in the coming months, following stakeholder feedback.

Written Question
Food: Advertising
Wednesday 1st May 2024

Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda and Ogmore)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2024 to Question 22526 on Food Advertising, what her planned timetable is for (a) publishing finalised guidance and (b) laying regulations before Parliament.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom

On 1 October 2025, the Government will introduce a United Kingdom-wide 9:00pm television watershed for the advertising of less healthy products, and a restriction of paid-for advertising of these products online. The Government has published and consulted on the draft secondary legislation needed to underpin this policy. The Government will publish its response to the consultation on the draft secondary legislation shortly, and set out the next steps in implementing the regulations.

Written Question
Telemedicine: Voice over Internet Protocol
Tuesday 30th April 2024

Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda and Ogmore)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to introduce legislation that will prohibit the sale of telecare devices that are incompatible with VoIP.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

The Government is committed to ensuring the safety of telecare users in the transition from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to digital phonelines. The Department has been engaging with the telecare industry to raise awareness of the PSTN migration, and to encourage telecare suppliers to offer digitally compatible telecare equipment. The Department is not currently pursuing legislative routes for prohibiting the sale of telecare devices that are incompatible with Voice over Internet Protocol.

Written Question
Food: Advertising
Tuesday 23rd April 2024

Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda and Ogmore)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to lay regulations under the Health and Care Act introducing further advertising restrictions on TV and online for less healthy food products.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom

On 1 October 2025, the Government will introduce a United Kingdom-wide 9:00pm television watershed for the advertising of less healthy products, and a restriction of paid-for advertising of these products online. The Government and regulators are working through the necessary steps to implement and enforce the regulations. These steps include consulting, finalising guidance, and laying regulations.

Written Question
Tinnitus
Wednesday 12th July 2023

Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda and Ogmore)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to (a) improve and (b) invest in services supporting people with tinnitus.

Answered by Will Quince

Commissioning of hearing services, including support for people with tinnitus, takes place at a local level based on the needs of the local population. We expect commissioners to follow relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, including the NICE guideline [NG155] Tinnitus: assessment and management.

In addition, the Action Plan on Hearing Loss (2015) sets out key objectives on hearing loss and related hearing conditions including tinnitus: prevention, early diagnosis, maximising independence, and enabling people to take part in everyday activities.

A large group of people with tinnitus will also benefit from reassurance and advice. Some people with distressing tinnitus may need to access a range of further specialist support through their local National Health Service hearing services that could include counselling, sound therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, which aims to retrain the way people respond to tinnitus.

Written Question
General Practitioners
Wednesday 16th November 2022

Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda and Ogmore)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many fully qualified full time equivalent GPs there were in England in each year since 2015.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)

The table below shows the number of fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs in England in each year since 2015.

Date

Fully Qualified GPs (FTE)

Doctors in GP Training Grade (FTE)

Total Doctors in General Practice (FTE)

September 2015

29,364

5,027

34,392

September 2016

29,474

5,732

35,206

September 2017

29,129

5,508

34,637

September 2018

28,489

5,880

34,369

September 2019

28,182

6,547

34,729

September 2020

27,939

7,454

35,393

September 2021

27,920

8,576

36,495

September 2022

27,556

9,470

37,026

Notes:

  • Data includes estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid staff records.
  • Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) refers to the proportion of full time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. 1 would indicate they work a full set of hours (37.5), 0.5 that they worked half time.
  • In GPs in Training Grade contracts 1 FTE = 40 hours and in this table these FTEs have been converted to the standard wMDS measure of 1 FTE = 37.5 hours for consistency.
  • Figures shown do not include staff working in Prisons, Army Bases, Educational Establishments, Specialist Care Centres including Drug Rehabilitation Centres, Walk-In Centres and other alternative settings outside of traditional general practice such as urgent treatment centres and minor injury units.
  • Figures from the first three collections (September 2015, March 2016 and September 2016) should be treated with caution as the data submission rates from practices were appreciably lower than for subsequent reporting periods. This means that the reported figures for the early years of the collection may be lower than the true picture. In September 2015, which was the first extract from the new Workforce Minimum Data Set, only three of four Health Education England regions submitted data. Consequently, September 2015 figures should be treated with additional caution.
  • From June 2018 onwards, the data source for doctors in GP Training Grade (foundation and specialty registrar trainees on placements in General Practice) changed to the HEE Trainee Information System (TIS). To ensure comparability across the national time series, data from both old and new sources was used to calculate estimates for previously uncounted doctors in GP Training Grade back to September 2015. Prior to TIS, the sources for the GP registrar data were the main General Practice Workforce data collection and an additional extract of medical trainees delivering primary care services who were paid through ESR. In doctors in GP Training Grade contracts 1 FTE = 40 hours, however to ensure consistency in this table these FTEs have been converted to the standard wMDS measure of 1 FTE = 37.5 hours.
Written Question
Cancer: Waiting Lists
Thursday 10th November 2022

Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda and Ogmore)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department plans to take to reduce waiting times for cancer treatment.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will recover and expand elective services over the next three years, including cancer services. The plan states the ambition that the number of people waiting more than 62 days to start treatment following suspected cancer will return to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023. We have allocated more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available in 2021/2022 to increase elective activity, including cancer services.

Written Question
Cancer: Radiotherapy
Thursday 3rd November 2022

Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda and Ogmore)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans she has to improve access to radiotherapy for patients waiting for cancer treatment.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Since 2016, NHS England has invested over £160m in radiotherapy equipment, resulting in around 100 ageing linear accelerators being replaced or upgraded and meaning that every part of the NHS in England has local access to advanced and innovative radiotherapy techniques and treatments like Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy, for which the list of commissioned clinical indications continues to expand driven by evidence of benefit.

Written Question
General Practitioners
Thursday 20th October 2022

Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda and Ogmore)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent General Practitioners were working in the NHS in England in (a) 2016 and (b) 2022.

Answered by Will Quince

The following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) doctors in general practice as at March 2022 and March 2016.

March 2022

35,988

March 2016

34,744

Notes:

  1. Figures contain estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid records.
  2. It is not recommended that comparisons be made between quarterly or monthly figures due to the unknown effect of seasonality on workforce numbers. Therefore, the latest comparable data available is March 2022.
  3. FTE refers to the proportion of full time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. 1 would indicate they work a full set of hours (37.5), 0.5 that they worked half time. In GPs in Training Grade contracts 1 FTE = 40 hours and in this table these FTEs have been converted to the standard wMDS measure of 1 FTE = 37.5 hours for consistency.
  4. Figures shown do not include staff working in prisons, army bases, educational establishments, specialist care centres including drug rehabilitation centres, walk-in centres and other alternative settings outside of traditional general practice such as urgent treatment centres and minor injury units.
  5. Figures from the March 2016 should be treated with caution as the data submission rates from practices were appreciably lower than for subsequent reporting periods. This means that the reported figures for the early years of the collection may be lower.
Written Question
General Practitioners
Tuesday 18th October 2022

Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda and Ogmore)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full time equivalent doctors have (a) entered and (b) left General Practice in England in each of the last three years.

Answered by Will Quince

The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) qualified permanent general practitioners (GPs), excluding GPs in training grades and locums, who have left and joined practice in each year from from March 2019 to March 2022.

FTE leavers

FTE joiners

March 2021 to March 2022

2,137

2,285

March 2020 to March 2021

1,937

2,341

March 2019 to March 2020

2,227

2,171

Notes:

  1. Figures do not contain estimates for practices which did not provide fully valid records.
  2. It is not recommended that comparisons be made between quarterly or monthly figures due to the unknown effect of seasonality on workforce numbers. Therefore, the latest comparable data available is March 2022.
  3. Figures shown do not include GPs working in prisons, army bases, educational establishments, specialist care centres including drug rehabilitation centres, walk-in centres and other alternative settings outside of traditional general practice such as urgent treatment centres and minor injury units.
  4. FTE refers to the proportion of full time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. ‘1’ would indicate they work a full set of hours (37.5), 0.5 that they worked half time.
  5. Data shows GPs who joined and/or left the cohort workforce between the beginning and end of each specified time period.
  6. Due to data quality, a GP recorded as a leaver in these figures may have left one practice and joined another practice with poor data completion. In instances such as this, a GP will be incorrectly recorded as a leaver due to the identifying information no longer being present in the dataset. Conversely, a GP could appear in the practice cohort as a joiner but may have joined from a practice with poor data completion rather than being a new addition to the GP workforce.