Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
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 30 July 2024 to Question 1398 on Down Syndrome Act 2022, what recent progress his Department has made on producing statutory guidance under the Down Syndrome Act 2022; and whether he plans to publish that guidance before the end of the year.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Officials are taking forward, as a priority, development of the Down Syndrome guidance, as required under the Down Syndrome Act 2022. Engagement with relevant stakeholders, including people with Down syndrome and organisations that work in support of people with Down syndrome, people with other genetic conditions, and a learning disability, or both, is taking place to inform the guidance. Most recently, a roundtable on improving life outcomes for people with Down syndrome was held on 26 November 2024.
We expect to publish the draft guidance for public consultation as soon as possible in the new year.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
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 encourage (a) the NHS, (b) Daiichi Sankyo, and (c) AstraZeneca to reach a commercial agreement that makes Enhertu available on the NHS in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are taken by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the basis of an evaluation of a treatment’s costs and benefits. These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is important that they are made independently and on the basis of the available evidence.
We know the NICE’s decision to not recommend Enhertu for use in the treatment of HER-2 low metastatic and unresectable breast cancer, has come as a blow to many women and their families. We understand that the NICE and NHS England have already sought to apply as much flexibility as they can in their considerations of Enhertu for HER2-low breast cancer and have made it clear to the companies that their pricing of the drug remains the main obstacle to access.
The Government wants to see a deal reached to make Enhertu available. The NICE and NHS England remain open to considering an improved offer from the companies through the rapid review process, and we strongly encourage the companies to come back to the table.
The NICE does recommend Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) in advanced breast cancer for treating HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic breast cancer after one or more anti-HER 2 treatments.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the National Screening Committee will next review the potential merits of screening for prostate cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) evidence review for prostate cancer screening is already underway, and plans to report within the UK NSC’s three-year work plan.
The evidence review includes modelling the clinical cost effectiveness of several approaches to prostate cancer screening, including different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years of age onwards and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher than average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent guidance his Department has issued on safe staffing limits for nurses qualified in intensive neonatal care in a high-risk neonatal unit.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England recently completed an update to the Neonatal Critical Care service specification. Service specifications set national standards which all commissioned providers of Neonatal Critical Care services are required to meet. The updated specification for Neonatal Critical Care outlines nurse staffing requirements for the three different levels of neonatal care, including high-risk neonatal intensive care services. The specification requires neonatal units to meet the British Association of Perinatal Medicine’s (BAPM) standards in relation to safe staffing limits for registered nurses with a neonatal Qualification in Specialty. The service specification is available at the following link:
Furthermore, the BAPM standards are available at the following link:
https://www.bapm.org/resources/service-and-quality-standards-for-provision-of-neonatal-care-in-the-uk
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional funding NHS trusts receive per cot for high-risk neonatal units.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All neonatal units receive funding depending on the number of days that care is provided, as well as the type of care provided. Specific prices for a ‘cot day’ of neonatal care activity are agreed between local commissioners and National Health Service providers.
From the most recent National Cost Collection for the NHS, in 2022/23, the average national unit cost for neonatal intensive care was £1,879 per bed day. The average national unit cost for neonatal intensive care, special care without an external carer, was £976 per bed day.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional funding NHS trusts receive per cot for low-risk neonatal units.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All neonatal units receive funding depending on the number of days that care is provided, as well as the type of care provided. Specific prices for a ‘cot day’ of neonatal care activity are agreed between local commissioners and National Health Service providers.
From the most recent National Cost Collection for the NHS, in 2022/23, the average national unit cost for neonatal intensive care was £1,879 per bed day. The average national unit cost for neonatal intensive care, special care without an external carer, was £976 per bed day.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the infant mortality rate was in intensive neonatal care units in each year between 2010 and 2023; and if he will hold discussions with his counterpart in the Welsh Government on providing comparative data for Wales.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Reporting of neonatal mortality in neonatal care units is conducted through audit programmes. Data is published by the National Neonatal Audit Programme (NNAP), with the figures for January 2017 to June 2024 available at the following link:
https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/nnap-data-dashboard#view-the-dashboard
In addition, Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) also report neonatal mortality in neonatal care units, with the figures for 2017 to 2022 available at the following link:
https://timms.le.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk-perinatal-mortality/surveillance/
The NNAP covers England, Wales, and in more recent years, Scotland, and reports the proportion of very preterm babies, those born at 24 to 31 weeks completed gestation, who are admitted to a neonatal unit and die before discharge home, or 44 weeks post-menstrual age, whichever occurs sooner. It does not, therefore, report on babies born before 24 weeks or after 31 weeks, or babies not admitted to a neonatal unit.
The MBRRACE report covers the United Kingdom and captures mortality rates up to 28 days after birth, broken down by the level of neonatal care provided by the trust or health board where the birth occurred.
These data sources only give a partial view of infant mortality in England. All infant deaths, both neonatal and post-neonatal, in England and Wales are reported by the Office for National Statistics, and are available at the following link:
Department officials meet with Welsh authorities on a regular basis to discuss a range of maternity and neonatal-related issues.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
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 nurses are qualified in intensive neonatal care and work in high-risk neonatal units.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Of the 3,898 registered nursing staff working in Neonatal Intensive Care Units, 2,251 have a qualification in specialty (QIS) for neonatal care. QIS-trained nurses are constantly supporting and directly supervising non-QIS-trained nurses in the day-to-day care of babies within low to high-risk neonatal units.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS trusts receive funding for high-risk neonatal services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently 43 Neonatal Intensive Care units in England providing care to high-risk babies.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many newborns died at the Countess of Chester hospital's maternity unit in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015, (d) 2016, (e) 2017 and (f) 2018, broken down by month.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
This information is not held in the format requested.
The number of neonatal deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital is available publicly at the following link:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/neonatal_deaths_and_fois#incoming-1255362
Additionally, data published by the Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) programme can be filtered by Trust, including the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Data published by MBRRACE-UK which shows the neonatal mortality rate for the Countess of Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for the years 2013 to 2018 can be found at the following link:
https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk/reports/perinatal-mortality-surveillance