Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the level of availability of abiraterone on the NHS on the health of prostate cancer patients.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that provides evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically- and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance.
NICE has published guidance recommending abiraterone for the treatment of hormone-relapsed metastatic prostate cancer before chemotherapy is indicated and for the castration-resistant variant of that cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen. NHS England funds abiraterone for these indications of prostate cancer in line with NICE’s recommendations, making it routinely available for the treatment of eligible patients.
Abiraterone is not licensed for the treatment of non-metastatic prostate cancer and has therefore not been appraised by NICE for such use. NHS England is considering a clinical policy proposal for abiraterone as a treatment option for patients newly diagnosed with high risk, non-metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, or in whom prostate cancer has relapsed after at least 12 months without treatment. This specific policy proposal is due to be discussed later in November 2023 and if supported by a clinical panel it will progress to stakeholder testing by January 2024.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Section 2 of the Suicide Act 1961, how many times his Department has asked internet service providers to remove websites that encourage suicide in each of the last five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has not asked internet service providers to remove such websites in the last five years. However, we recognise the role of internet service providers in protecting people online. We are working with a range of organisations across the suicide prevention sector, and more widely, on this issue to enable better protection for individuals.
The Online Safety Act, which received royal assent on 26 October 2023, will tackle illegal and legal forms of self-harm and suicide content in several ways. All services in scope will need to proactively prevent all users from being exposed to priority illegal content, including content that encourages or assists suicide.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
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 March 2023 to Question 160180 on NHS Trusts: Databases, whether any of the Trusts that had (a) paused and (b) suspended pilots of Palantir Foundry have (i) resumed and (ii) restarted their pilots since 23 March 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
There are currently two main Foundry pilots delivering benefits to trusts, namely the Improving Elective Care Coordination for Patients (IECCP) Programme which supports trusts to effectively deliver care through the implementation of the Care Coordination Solution (CCS); and the Dynamic Discharge programme to support effective hospital discharge.
The table below shows those trusts that are listed as either pausing or suspending these pilots in March 2023 and gives the reason why for each:
Trust | IECCP solution | Dynamic Discharge solution |
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust |
| Paused due to upgrade of supporting systems within the Trust; due to restart once upgrades are complete. |
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust |
| Declined offer following discussions as existing system provided current capabilities. |
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust |
| Paused temporarily due to impact of strike action within Trust. |
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Trust chose to address internal process change before participating in a digital transformation programme. |
|
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust |
| Paused whilst work is completed to enable Dynamic Discharge module. |
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust |
| Paused due to operational pressures. |
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Foundation Trust | Trust chose to address internal process change before participating in a digital transformation programme. |
|
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust |
| Paused due to other programmes of work within their IT department. |
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust |
| Paused due to operational pressures, strike action and a recent EPR upgrade. |
Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital | Following discussions, it was agreed that the pilot products were not designed to address the Trust’s particular issues. |
|
University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust | The Trust made the decision not to participate in the programme based on lack of capacity of Trust resources to engage with the programme. |
|
Notes:
- East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust;
- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust;
- Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and
- University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust.
- Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust; and
- Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
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 March 2023 to Question 160180 on NHS Trusts: Databases, for what reason each NHS Trust paused or suspended pilots of Palantir Foundry.
Answered by Will Quince
There are currently two main Foundry pilots delivering benefits to trusts, namely the Improving Elective Care Coordination for Patients (IECCP) Programme which supports trusts to effectively deliver care through the implementation of the Care Coordination Solution (CCS); and the Dynamic Discharge programme to support effective hospital discharge.
The table below shows those trusts that are listed as either pausing or suspending these pilots in March 2023 and gives the reason why for each:
Trust | IECCP solution | Dynamic Discharge solution |
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust |
| Paused due to upgrade of supporting systems within the Trust; due to restart once upgrades are complete. |
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust |
| Declined offer following discussions as existing system provided current capabilities. |
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust |
| Paused temporarily due to impact of strike action within Trust. |
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Trust chose to address internal process change before participating in a digital transformation programme. |
|
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust |
| Paused whilst work is completed to enable Dynamic Discharge module. |
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust |
| Paused due to operational pressures. |
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Foundation Trust | Trust chose to address internal process change before participating in a digital transformation programme. |
|
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust |
| Paused due to other programmes of work within their IT department. |
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust |
| Paused due to operational pressures, strike action and a recent EPR upgrade. |
Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital | Following discussions, it was agreed that the pilot products were not designed to address the Trust’s particular issues. |
|
University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust | The Trust made the decision not to participate in the programme based on lack of capacity of Trust resources to engage with the programme. |
|
Notes:
- East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust;
- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust;
- Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and
- University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust.
- Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust; and
- Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money from the public purse has been spent on the faster data flows pilots of Palantir Foundry to date; and if he will provide a breakdown of (a) spending on individual trusts’ implementation costs and (b) payments made to (i) Palantir and (ii) consultants.
Answered by Will Quince
The spend-to-date on the Faster Flows programme is £0.51 million. There are no additional costs to implement within trusts as the programme uses their existing resources and digital infrastructures. £0.15 million has been paid to Palantir within the spend-to-date. There have been no payments to external consultants for this pilot as it has been possible to support this development using Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) teams within the National Health Service. The costs of the internal consultants within the CSU are £0.36 million.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS trusts have paused or suspended pilots of Palantir Foundry.
Answered by Will Quince
These National Health Service trusts have paused pilots of Palantir Foundry:
- Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
- East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust;
- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust;
- Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
- Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust;
- University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Foundation Trust;
- University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust; and
- University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
These NHS trusts have suspended pilots of Palantir Foundry:
- Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital; and
- University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the use of Foundry, a Palantir product, by NHS England as part of some of its pilots of the collection and dissemination of the Faster Data Flow Acute Data Set, how much money from the public purse has been spent on the elective care recovery pilots involving the use of Palantir Foundry to date; and if he will provide a breakdown of (a) spending on individual trusts’ implementation costs and (b) payments made to (i) Palantir and (ii) consultants.
Answered by Will Quince
The elective recovery programme aims to help trusts across England better plan, schedule and manage patients through the Elective pathway. The spend-to-date on the pilot is £20.2 million. This includes £11.2 million on implementation within individual trusts. The spend-to-date includes £1.2 million paid to Palantir to accelerate elective surgical waiting list validation, correctly prioritise patients awaiting treatment and improve theatre utilisation. This also includes £5.4 million to external consultants to help with the discovery stage, delivery, strategic direction, management and training within the programme. The remaining £2.4 million has been spent on internal consultant teams within the Commissioning Support Units.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish his Department's internal assessments of the performance of the pilots of Palantir Foundry at (a) Chelsea and Westminster, (b) the Royal Free London, (c) Barts Health and (d) Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trusts.
Answered by Will Quince
The Improving Elective Care Coordination for Patients Programme is one of the two main Foundry pilots. It supports trusts to effectively deliver care through care coordination.
The Chelsea and Westminster pilot has so far achieved these benefits:
- 79% of patients on waiting lists have been assessed for accuracy, leading to 27,200 patients being removed for example if they no longer need their procedure;
- 3,507 patients have been reprioritised to date;
- 3,279 theatre actions have been created to manage patients through the 6-4-2 process, a model to improve operating theatre productivity, safety, and patient experience;
- 4,372 booking requests have been completed;
- waiting lists for 392 consultants have been managed through care coordination;
- there has been a 55% reduction of bookings cancelled on the day due to missing Pre-Operative Assessment from, 2.89% to 1.29%; and
- patients with suspected cancer had their first appointment on average two days sooner.
The Royal Free London, Barts Health and Milton Keynes University Hospital Trusts pilots have not yet gone live.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what post-covid contracts are being negotiated by NHS England to manage health data as of 31 March 2022.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
As of 31 March 2022, NHS England is planning to tender for a Federated Data Platform (FDP), which will be a system of technologies and services implemented in the National Health Service in England. NHS England is currently in pre-market engagement to consider the scope and nature of this procurement with potential suppliers.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any negotiations are taking place between NHS England and Palantir for contracts to manage health data as of 31 March 2022.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
NHS England has an existing agreement with Palantir Technologies UK Ltd. Regular discussions on service delivery under that contract take place. As with all its procurement, NHS England procures contracts for management of health data under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 which may not require negotiation, such as where there may be call-off contracts from framework agreements.