Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 28 March to Question 19968 on Medicine: Training, if her Department will review the changes to the allocation process administered by the UK Foundation Programme with regard to the distances that medical students are requested to move for their placements.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The allocation process for the UK Foundation Programme this year was changed to a Preference Informed Allocation method. This new process saw applicants being given a computer-generated rank, and the removal of the requirement to sit the Situational Judgement Test. When confirming the move to the new system last year, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, set out that once implemented it would be kept under constant review to make sure it is working well for applicants.
All 9,702 eligible applicants for the 2024 foundation programme were allocated to a foundation school, with 75% of those applicants getting their first preference. This is an improvement on last year, when 8,655 applicants were placed, and 71% got their first preference. Because of this, new posts must be created, with appropriate experience for foundation doctors, and the correct level of supervision is required. Foundation schools and their local trusts are working hard to ensure that high quality training posts are available for all applicants. The foundation programme aims to give students as much notice as possible on their allocation to a foundation school, which is why allocations occur in early March.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 compatibility of the UK Foundation Programme timelines for allocating placements with the commitment that newly qualified staff will be given six weeks to relocate.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The allocation process for the UK Foundation Programme this year was changed to a Preference Informed Allocation method. This new process saw applicants being given a computer-generated rank, and the removal of the requirement to sit the Situational Judgement Test. When confirming the move to the new system last year, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, set out that once implemented it would be kept under constant review to make sure it is working well for applicants.
All 9,702 eligible applicants for the 2024 foundation programme were allocated to a foundation school, with 75% of those applicants getting their first preference. This is an improvement on last year, when 8,655 applicants were placed, and 71% got their first preference. Because of this, new posts must be created, with appropriate experience for foundation doctors, and the correct level of supervision is required. Foundation schools and their local trusts are working hard to ensure that high quality training posts are available for all applicants. The foundation programme aims to give students as much notice as possible on their allocation to a foundation school, which is why allocations occur in early March.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of whether the NHS workforce plan should be updated by NHS England to reflect the staffing needs of the eight new children and young people's gender services regional centres.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific formal assessment has been made. Gender medicine is a highly specialised field of medicine, and NHS England are actively working to recruit more staff for the new regional children and young people gender identity services. NHS England has also been working closely with other professional bodies to develop tailored training for these professionals. NHS England will commission the required professional training curriculum and competencies framework, not just for staff working in the new gender services, but also for clinicians working in secondary, primary, and community care. It is expected that this will also help to increase the support for children and young people, ensuring they receive a more holistic model of care.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 26 March 2024 to Question 19419 on Infant Mortality: Certification, what her planned timetable is for extending the scheme to pregnancy losses before 1 September 2018.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
On 22 February 2024, we launched the Baby Loss Certificate service, fulfilling our commitment in the Women’s Health Strategy. We recognise that some people will wish to obtain a certificate for a baby loss that happened in the past. It is currently open to pregnancy losses since 1 September 2018, and we will extend this to earlier losses as soon as we can.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled End-of-life care: improving 'do not attempt CPR' conversations for everyone, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recommendation that for advance care planning conversations the primary care electronic patient record needs to be (a) the single place for holding (i) end-of-life care plans and (ii) Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation records and (b) accessible across all health settings.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department will respond to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled End-of-life care: improving 'do not attempt CPR' conversations for everyone, in due course.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled End-of-life care: improving 'do not attempt CPR' conversations for everyone, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recommendation that NHS England should expand the number and type of staff who can formally support Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation conversations in multiple settings.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department will respond to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled End-of-life care: improving 'do not attempt CPR' conversations for everyone, in due course.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled End-of-life care: improving 'do not attempt CPR' conversations for everyone, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recommendation that accessible communication materials should be accessible in health settings to support staff and patients with end-of-life conversations.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department will respond to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled End-of-life care: improving 'do not attempt CPR' conversations for everyone, in due course.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled End-of-life care: improving 'do not attempt CPR' conversations for everyone, published on 14 March 2024, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recommendation that CPR training for all doctors and nurses should include scenario-based training on Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation conversations.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department will respond to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled End-of-life care: improving 'do not attempt CPR' conversations for everyone, in due course.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of pharmacies have closed in St Albans constituency since 2019.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 16 pharmacies on 31 December 2023 in St Albans constituency. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, three pharmacies closed in St Albans and no new pharmacies opened. However, access to pharmaceutical services remains good, with 89 percent of the population in St Albans living within a 20 minutes’ walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80 percent. Residents of St Albans can also access services from distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.
It is the role of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. ICBs have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of pharmacy closures on the quality of primary care in St Albans constituency since 2019.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 16 pharmacies on 31 December 2023 in St Albans constituency. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, three pharmacies closed in St Albans and no new pharmacies opened. However, access to pharmaceutical services remains good, with 89 percent of the population in St Albans living within a 20 minutes’ walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80 percent. Residents of St Albans can also access services from distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.
It is the role of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. ICBs have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.