Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 increase the efficiency of supplying medication at hospital discharge to ensure faster discharge.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England recognise the need for patients who are ready to go home to be discharged as quick as possible, both for their benefit and to improve the efficiency of hospitals. Information on the average wait time for hospital patients to be provided with medication at the point of discharge is not held centrally by NHS England, and it is the responsibility of individual trusts to monitor discharge and medication efficiency. To support hospitals on improving processes, guidance has been published, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/urgent-emergency-care/improving-hospital-discharge/
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average wait time is for hospital patients to be provided with medications at discharge.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England recognise the need for patients who are ready to go home to be discharged as quick as possible, both for their benefit and to improve the efficiency of hospitals. Information on the average wait time for hospital patients to be provided with medication at the point of discharge is not held centrally by NHS England, and it is the responsibility of individual trusts to monitor discharge and medication efficiency. To support hospitals on improving processes, guidance has been published, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/urgent-emergency-care/improving-hospital-discharge/
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 18 November 2024 to Question 12696 on Primodos: Research, when the minutes and outcome of the November Commission on Human Medicines discussion will be published.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), together with the wider Government, have committed to reviewing any new scientific evidence which comes to light.
The new publication by Danielsson et al has been reviewed by the MHRA and advice has been sought from the Government’s independent advisory body, the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM), who have provided their independent expert advice on our assessment of whether the findings of the latest publication justify a further review. The MHRA will consider the recommendations given by the CHM before deciding whether any further action is warranted.
The minutes of the November CHM meeting will be made publicly available through the GOV.UK website at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues to hospitals on visiting times for friends and family.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Contact with family and friends is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of residents in care homes and people in hospital. We have worked with NHS England and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to develop the policy options to strengthen the expectation for care providers and hospitals in England to allow visiting. This included introducing secondary legislation to amend CQC regulations. Further information on CQC regulations, specifically Regulation 9A: Visiting and accompanying in care homes, hospitals and hospices, is available at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-providers/regulations/regulation-9a-visiting-and-accompanying
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 21 November 2024 to Question 13772 on Cardiovascular Diseases: Emergency Calls, if he will provide this data for the period between March 2015 and March 2021; and what assessment he has made of potential impact of the (a) ageing population and (b) number of patients with multiple comorbidities on trends in the number of category one incidents.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on ambulance service demand is published by NHS England, including, as of April 2018, the monthly total number of cardiac arrests responded to by ambulance services. The following table shows the total number of cardiac arrests each month from April 2018 to June 2024:
Month | Total cardiac arrests |
April 2018 | 6,345 |
May 2018 | 6,587 |
June 2018 | 6,005 |
July 2018 | 6,792 |
August 2018 | 6,136 |
September 2018 | 5,887 |
October 2018 | 6,761 |
November 2018 | 6,623 |
December 2018 | 7,225 |
January 2019 | 7,670 |
February 2019 | 6,522 |
March 2019 | 6,642 |
April 2019 | 6,345 |
May 2019 | 6,037 |
June 2019 | 5,724 |
July 2019 | 6,373 |
August 2019 | 6,100 |
September 2019 | 6,135 |
October 2019 | 6,783 |
November 2019 | 7,152 |
December 2019 | 8,737 |
January 2020 | 8,145 |
February 2020 | 7,008 |
March 2020 | 8,607 |
April 2020 | 10,208 |
May 2020 | 7,639 |
June 2020 | 6,838 |
July 2020 | 6,748 |
August 2020 | 7,168 |
September 2020 | 6,889 |
October 2020 | 7,727 |
November 2020 | 7,684 |
December 2020 | 9,259 |
January 2021 | 10,724 |
February 2021 | 7,699 |
March 2021 | 7,473 |
Source: the data is published by NHS England, and is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/
The increasing aging population and complexity that comes with more patients with multiple comorbidities may be reflected in the trend of rising in category 1 incidents.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 18 November 2024 to Question 13773 on the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, how much his Department spent on legal fees defending against appeals.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between 1 November 2021 and 1 December 2024, the total spent by the NHS Business Services Authority on behalf of the Department on legal fees to defend against appeals within the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme was £50,608.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 18 November 2024 to Question 13773 on the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, how many claims have waited over a year for a decision; and what support his Department provides to claimants.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 1 December 2024, 1,107 claims have been waiting over a year for a resolution. All claims are managed on a case-by-case basis and there are several factors that may impact processing times. This includes time spent awaiting medical records from healthcare providers, or appropriate legal identification documentation, or awaiting consent from claimants for access to their medical records
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 18 November 2024 to Question 13773 on the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, how many people were (a) assessed and (b) successful in each of those financial years; and what the (i) mean, (ii) median and (iii) range of awards was.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the financial year (FY) 2022/23, 1,298 applications were assessed, and 72 applications were successful. In the FY 2023/24, 3,806 applications were assessed, and 99 applications were successful. In the FY 2024/25, 4,664 applications have been assessed, and 27 applications have been successful.
We are unable to disclose the specific number of applications that were successful in the 2021/22 FY, as that number is fewer than or equal to five, and could lead to individuals being identified. For the FYs 2022/23 to 2024/25, the mean average number of successful applications is 66, the median average is 72, and the range is 72. The mean average, median average, and range do not include numbers for the 2021/22 FY, as including this information could lead to individuals being identified. The payment amount for successful claims is fixed at £120,000.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to section 4.2 of NHS key statistics: England, HC 07281, published on 25 October 2024, (a) what assessment he has made of the causes of the increase in life threatening ambulance calls since Spring 2021 and (b) what percentage of the calls each month were cardiac related.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The rise in category 1 incidents reflects an increase in the proportion of patients’ ambulance services that have been determined to require an immediate face-to-face response. This may reflect a long-term trend of rising pressures on the health services from an increasing aging population, and complexity that comes with more patients with multiple comorbidities. Information on increases in ambulance service demand is published by NHS England. The total number of cardiac arrests that ambulance services responded to is published by month, however this information does not include other cardiac incidents, for example heart attack or angina, and the information is not disaggregated by incident category. The following table shows the total number of cardiac arrests each month from March 2021 to June 2024:
Month | Total cardiac arrests |
March 2021 | 7,473 |
April 2021 | 6,982 |
May 2021 | 7,085 |
June 2021 | 6,944 |
July 2021 | 7,592 |
August 2021 | 7,135 |
September 2021 | 7,442 |
October 2021 | 8,307 |
November 2021 | 8,483 |
December 2021 | 9,227 |
January 2021 | 8,936 |
February 2021 | 7,466 |
March 2021 | 8,216 |
April 2022 | 8,043 |
May 2022 | 7,781 |
June 2022 | 7,407 |
July 2022 | 7,959 |
August 2022 | 7,408 |
September 2022 | 7,349 |
October 2022 | 8,118 |
November 2022 | 8,440 |
December 2022 | 11,988 |
January 2022 | 9,832 |
February 2022 | 7,682 |
March 2022 | 8,599 |
April 2023 | 8,049 |
May 2023 | 7,298 |
June 2023 | 6,921 |
July 2023 | 6,611 |
August 2023 | 6,753 |
September 2023 | 6,668 |
October 2023 | 7,941 |
November 2023 | 8,259 |
December 2023 | 9,554 |
January 2024 | 9,471 |
February 2024 | 8,045 |
March 2024 | 8,309 |
May 2024 | 7,544 |
June 2024 | 7,344 |
Source: The data is published by NHS England, and is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
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 1 November 2024 to Question 9445 on Department of Health and Social Care: Public Appointments, what interests Alan Milburn has declared since being appointed as a Lead Non-Executive Board Member.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The usual process of declarations of interest and agreement of appropriate mitigations for non-executive board member (NEBM) appointments was carried out, overseen by the Permanent Secretary. He is content that the process has been carried out, that appropriate declarations have been made, and that appropriate mitigations for any conflicts arising have been put in place. NEBMs are contracted to work for two to three days a month and therefore it is not unusual for them to hold multiple other positions and interests. Their declarations of interest are published each year in the Register of Interests in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, and will also be published on GOV.UK website as per the new guidance on NEBM declarations of interest, that will be published soon. These declarations will be published at the earliest opportunity.