Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the amount and proportion of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme disbursed for items other than the recruitment and employment of additional healthcare professionals in (a) London and (b) England in each year since that scheme's introduction.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) is designed to reimburse the salaries and on-costs of roles included in the Scheme. Under the 2019 contract agreement, NHS England and NHS Improvement contribute to the cost of the specific new clinical roles within Primary Care Networks (PCNs) over the period of the contract. Initially the funding provided 70% of ongoing salary costs plus on-costs for three roles - clinical pharmacists, physician associates and first-contact physiotherapists, with community paramedics recruited from 2021/22 and full funding for social prescribing link worker roles during the contract period.
Updated contracts for 2020/21 and 2021/2022 set out increases in the scale of the new roles. NHS England and NHS Improvement now reimburse 100% of salary and on-costs for range of additional roles and the number of staff funded under the scheme will increase to 26,000 by 2023/24. On average, each PCN will have approximately 20 full time equivalent staff by 2023/24 funded through the ARRS.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
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 merits of reviewing how to determine a GPs patient list size as safe when assessing and developing general practice policy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No recent assessment has been made. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) monitor general practitioner practices’ compliance with contractual requirements and any risks to patient safety and service provision. If a practice considers that it cannot safely take on any more patients, it may close its patient list, provided this is approved by the CCG.
NHS England and NHS Improvement provide guidance for commissioners and practices on managing patient lists in the ‘Primary Medical Care Policy and Guidance Manual’. The Manual is published annually and an update is currently being prepared for publication.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for the (a) conclusion and (b) sharing of conclusions with hon. Members of the review of leadership in health and social care being led by General Sir Gordon Messenger.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Health and Social Care Leadership Review, announced in October 2021, review remains on schedule to conclude in spring 2022 and is expected to be published thereafter.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical intervention policies are based on Body Mass Index.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The information requested is not collected centrally. We would expect clinical commissioning groups to base their policies on relevant National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines, published research and appropriate good practice.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of waiting times for a bed in hospital A&E wards on essential medical care for patients.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Hospital capacity data as of 22 February 2022 is not yet available. As of 13 February 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that in England, there were 5,705 National Health Service hospital beds available each day on average, with overall occupancy of 93.7%. Data on hospitals exceeding full capacity is not collected centrally. Hospitals regularly plan for activity surges and can flexibly increase the number of beds available to meet demand.
No estimate has been made on the average waiting time for a bed in hospital accident and emergency (A&E) wards or of the impact of essential medical care. NHS England and NHS Improvement monitors A&E waiting times and the impact on patients. Patients requiring admission to hospital will have essential medical treatment commenced during their A&E care.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the average waiting time for a bed in hospital A&E wards.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Hospital capacity data as of 22 February 2022 is not yet available. As of 13 February 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that in England, there were 5,705 National Health Service hospital beds available each day on average, with overall occupancy of 93.7%. Data on hospitals exceeding full capacity is not collected centrally. Hospitals regularly plan for activity surges and can flexibly increase the number of beds available to meet demand.
No estimate has been made on the average waiting time for a bed in hospital accident and emergency (A&E) wards or of the impact of essential medical care. NHS England and NHS Improvement monitors A&E waiting times and the impact on patients. Patients requiring admission to hospital will have essential medical treatment commenced during their A&E care.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of (a) hospital capacity limits as of 22 February 2022 and (b) how often hospitals exceed full capacity.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Hospital capacity data as of 22 February 2022 is not yet available. As of 13 February 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that in England, there were 5,705 National Health Service hospital beds available each day on average, with overall occupancy of 93.7%. Data on hospitals exceeding full capacity is not collected centrally. Hospitals regularly plan for activity surges and can flexibly increase the number of beds available to meet demand.
No estimate has been made on the average waiting time for a bed in hospital accident and emergency (A&E) wards or of the impact of essential medical care. NHS England and NHS Improvement monitors A&E waiting times and the impact on patients. Patients requiring admission to hospital will have essential medical treatment commenced during their A&E care.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of nurses in NHS hospitals in England are registered nurses.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
To work as a nurse in a National Health Service hospital in England, professionals must be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the two-monthly report on the status of the provisions of the Coronavirus Act 2020 published on 21 July 2021, what alternative measures the Department considered other than those contained under the Coronavirus Act 2020 to ensure that everyone was protected throughout the duration of the pandemic.
Answered by Maggie Throup
To develop the package of measures included in the Coronavirus Act 2020, the Government built on a draft emergency bill, originally developed for dealing with an influenza pandemic, in partnership with the devolved administrations. We are unable to provide information on alternative measures considered in preparation for the bill as this relates to the formulation and development of Government policy.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on the potential merits of enshrining the title of Nurse in law as a protected title, requiring an individual to be registered as a Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, to legally use that title.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The protection of a professional title is a key aspect of public protection. Protecting a title provides assurance to the public that someone using that title is competent and safe to practise. Although ‘registered nurse’ is a protected title, ‘nurse’ is not a protected title.
The Department has begun discussions with the professional regulators, including the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the Office of the Chief Nursing Officer for England, and the Royal College of Nursing to explore the issue of protected titles as part of the ongoing Government review of professional regulation. We will consider the protection of title offences relating to registered nurses, midwives and nursing associates when bringing forward reform of the NMC’s legal framework.