Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Palantir will have (a) exclusive and (b) other access to NHS patients’ DNA data as part of its contracts with the Government.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No data relating to patients’ DNA is included in the datasets processed in the NHS Federated Data Platform provided by a consortium led by Palantir. Faculty had no access to patient DNA data as part of any contract with the Department of Health and Social Care or NHS England.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Faculty will have access to NHS patient DNA data through Government contracts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No data relating to patients’ DNA is included in the datasets processed in the NHS Federated Data Platform provided by a consortium led by Palantir. Faculty had no access to patient DNA data as part of any contract with the Department of Health and Social Care or NHS England.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many contracts (a) the NHS and (b) her Department has with companies owned by Frank Hester.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the value is of her Department's contracts with companies owned by Frank Hester.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money her Department paid to companies owned by Frank Hester in each of the last four years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of uptake for breast cancer screenings amongst ethnic minority women.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The national breast screening programme does not currently have the capability to routinely cross reference patient’s ethnicity data with uptake data. NHS England has started work to improve its data collection capabilities as part of the development of the new screening IT system, through the Digital Transformation of Screening programme. This will support the collection of population-level data on protected characteristics such as ethnicity, to support services in improving uptake.
More widely, NHS England has developed a national plan to improve uptake, including interventions to address inequalities and screening barriers. This includes ensuring appointments are as convenient as possible, and efforts are focused on areas and groups with low uptake.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure the Major Conditions Strategy improves breast cancer outcomes for ethnic minority women.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Reducing inequalities and improving breast cancer outcomes for ethnic minority women, including black women, is a priority for the Government. To support this work, NHS England has commissioned six new cancer clinical audits, which will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatments and outcomes for patients, including metastatic breast cancer. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October 2022, and the first outcomes are expected in September 2024.
NHS England is also leading a programme of work to tackle healthcare inequalities centred around five clear priorities, which are set out in operational planning guidance for the health system. The Core20PLUS5 approach for adults has been rolled out as an NHS England framework to focus action on reducing inequalities on issues within the National Health Services’ direct influence, which are major contributors to inequalities in life expectancy through major conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and others, or Long-Term Plan priorities where stark inequalities are evident, such as maternity or severe mental illness.
The key actions for systems as highlighted in NHS England’s planning guidance for 2024/25 is to continue to deliver against the five strategic priorities for tackling health inequalities. Additionally, by the end of June 2024, NHS England aims to publish joined-up action plans to address health inequalities, and implement the Core20PLUS5 approach.
Improving earlier diagnosis of cancers, including breast cancer, is also a priority for the Government. The NHS has an ambition to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028, which will help tens of thousands of people live for longer. Additionally, the new cancer standards developed and supported by cancer doctors and implemented in October 2023, will ensure patients are diagnosed faster, and that treatment starts earlier. In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced that it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years, to support the delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer, which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity.
Whilst the Major Conditions Strategy does not seek to describe everything that is being done, or could be done, to meet the challenges of individual conditions in silo, it instead focuses on the changes likely to make the most difference across the six groups of major conditions, including cancer.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve breast cancer outcomes amongst Black women.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Reducing inequalities and improving breast cancer outcomes for ethnic minority women, including black women, is a priority for the Government. To support this work, NHS England has commissioned six new cancer clinical audits, which will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatments and outcomes for patients, including metastatic breast cancer. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October 2022, and the first outcomes are expected in September 2024.
NHS England is also leading a programme of work to tackle healthcare inequalities centred around five clear priorities, which are set out in operational planning guidance for the health system. The Core20PLUS5 approach for adults has been rolled out as an NHS England framework to focus action on reducing inequalities on issues within the National Health Services’ direct influence, which are major contributors to inequalities in life expectancy through major conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and others, or Long-Term Plan priorities where stark inequalities are evident, such as maternity or severe mental illness.
The key actions for systems as highlighted in NHS England’s planning guidance for 2024/25 is to continue to deliver against the five strategic priorities for tackling health inequalities. Additionally, by the end of June 2024, NHS England aims to publish joined-up action plans to address health inequalities, and implement the Core20PLUS5 approach.
Improving earlier diagnosis of cancers, including breast cancer, is also a priority for the Government. The NHS has an ambition to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028, which will help tens of thousands of people live for longer. Additionally, the new cancer standards developed and supported by cancer doctors and implemented in October 2023, will ensure patients are diagnosed faster, and that treatment starts earlier. In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced that it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years, to support the delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer, which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity.
Whilst the Major Conditions Strategy does not seek to describe everything that is being done, or could be done, to meet the challenges of individual conditions in silo, it instead focuses on the changes likely to make the most difference across the six groups of major conditions, including cancer.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance her Department issues on the (a) adoption by and (b) use in the NHS of System One computer software.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Decisions on the procurement, adoption, and use of SystmOne are made locally as part of standard procurement procedures, which adhere to compliant procurement guidelines. No additional guidance has been provided by the Department on the adoption or usage of SystmOne in the National Health Service.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS plans to expand the use of System One computer software.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The procurement of electronic patient record systems is conducted at an integrated care board or trust level, following specific procurement criteria. Consequently, decisions regarding software adoption and expansion will be made by National Health Service trusts. All procurement activity for patient record systems is conducted in compliance with regulations, which means that the outcome of future procurements cannot be known at this point.