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 HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the (a) effectiveness of the processes put in place by HMRC to register private schools for VAT and (b) adequacy of the time taken for those schools to receive a VAT number.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to supporting private schools to ensure that the VAT registration process is as smooth as possible for them, and to ensuring they have the necessary support in order to be able to correctly charge VAT and remit it to HMRC.
HMRC has put in place additional resource to process VAT registrations and, on 10 October, published bespoke guidance for schools, which can be found on GOV.UK. HMRC published initial guidance ahead of the Budget to maximise the amount of time schools had to prepare for this policy taking effect.
Currently more than 80% of VAT registration applications are being processed within 20 working days, exceeding HMRC’s published service standard of 80% within 40 working days
HMRC has also hosted online webinars to answer any queries that schools may have and can be contacted via a dedicated mailbox in the event of any technical queries about registering.
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 HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of private schools have been provided with a VAT number.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publishes data on the VAT population by sector on an annual basis. The latest statistics can be found here: Value Added Tax (VAT) annual statistics - GOV.UK
The point at which private schools need to register for VAT depends on their individual circumstances and fee schedules. A significant number were registered for VAT before the announcement that, from 1 January 2025, all education and boarding services provided by a private school or connected person will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20%.
HMRC is also supporting schools through the registration process via webinars, its helpline and a dedicated technical query mailbox which can be used by schools, their representative bodies and tax advisors.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of private schools have been provided with a VAT number.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publishes data on the VAT population by sector on an annual basis. The latest statistics can be found here: Value Added Tax (VAT) annual statistics - GOV.UK
The point at which private schools need to register for VAT depends on their individual circumstances and fee schedules. A significant number were registered for VAT before the announcement that, from 1 January 2025, all education and boarding services provided by a private school or connected person will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20%.
HMRC is also supporting schools through the registration process via webinars, its helpline and a dedicated technical query mailbox which can be used by schools, their representative bodies and tax advisors.
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 for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which companies have applied to operate a small modular reactor.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I understand the Right Honourable Member is asking about small modular reactor technology vendors down-selected to negotiate with Great British Nuclear as part of its ongoing competition. The vendors are: GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy International LLC; Holtec Britain Ltd; Rolls Royce SMR Ltd; and Westinghouse Electric Company UK Ltd. Final decisions will be taken in the spring.
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.