Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
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 (a) increase awareness of the (i) signs and (ii) risks of prostate cancer amongst at-risk groups and (b) ensure that national public awareness campaigns are tailored to underserved communities.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
NHS England takes steps to raise awareness of prostate cancer where there are opportunities to do so. For example, NHS England partners with Cancer Alliances, charities and local representatives to reach people through projects in the heart of their communities. Cancer Alliances have also been undertaking action to alert at-risk groups about prostate cancer. This is determined at a local level and so will vary depending on local needs and priorities.
Most NHS England campaigns aim to reach people aged 50 years and over and those from more deprived communities, where there is higher cancer incidence, as well as those more likely to experience health inequalities, such as those from Black and South Asian backgrounds. Campaign messages are shared across a range of channels used by people of all ages and demographics.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press notice entitled Biggest prostate cancer screening trial in decades to start in UK published on 19 November 2023, in which areas will the trial be carried out; and what steps her Department is taking to (a) ensure there is sufficient diagnostics capacity to deliver the additional screening in the trial areas in local areas to deliver increased screening and (b) encourage participation amongst (i) at-risk groups and (ii) black men.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR invests in the research delivery workforce, the facilities and capacity to support clinical trials. The NIHR Clinical Research Facilities and Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres support the delivery of early phase trials and the NIHR Clinical Research Network and Patient Recruitment Centres support delivery and participation in later phase clinical trials. The prostate cancer trial announced on 19 November will be run by Prostate Cancer UK with the Government contributing alongside others.
To maximise research participation, the NIHR provides the online platform ‘Be Part of Research’, which allows users to search for and register their interest in participating in the clinical trials of most interest and relevance to them. NIHR has also supported initiatives to increase diagnosis rates and participation in prostate cancer research by men from black and minority ethnic groups.
The recently announced TRANSFORM trial aims to save thousands of men each year by finding the best way to screen for prostate cancer. The trial will be United Kingdom-wide, although final decisions on specific locations are yet to be taken. Men will be invited to participate via their general practices. This study will also aim to address some of the inequalities that exist in prostate cancer diagnosis today by ensuring that one in 10 of the trial participants will be black men, who are three times overrepresented compared to the population of men aged 45 to 75 as based on 2021 census data.
The UK National Screening Committee will be reviewing the evidence that is published by this study. This will help to inform any future recommendation on creating a national screening programme for prostate cancer.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
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 tackle regional variation in (a) rates of early detection and (b) diagnostic waiting times for prostate cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer waiting times and treatment, including for prostate cancer is a priority for the Government as is increasing early cancer diagnosis, as this is a key contributor to reducing cancer health inequalities.
Early cancer diagnosis is one of the five clinical areas of focus in NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 approach to reducing health inequalities. Efforts are focused on the diagnosing 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028 as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.
To support this, NHS England introduced the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) which sets a target of maximum 28 day wait from urgent suspected general practitioner or screening referral to patients being told they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out. The FDS also intends to reduce unwarranted variation in England by understanding how long it is taking people to receive a diagnosis or ‘all clear’ for cancer. To achieve this target, NHS England has streamlined cancer pathways, including implementing a best-timed prostate cancer diagnostic pathway so that those suspected of prostate cancer receive a multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging scan first, which ensures only those men most at-risk undergo an invasive biopsy.
On 24 January 2023, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy to consider the six conditions, including cancer, that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England, including cancer. The Major Conditions Strategy will apply a geographical lens to each condition to address regional disparities in health outcomes, supporting the levelling up mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030. We published the Major Conditions Strategy Case for Change and Our Strategic Framework on 14 August 2023 which sets out our approach to making the choiover the next five years that will deliver the most value in facing the health challenges of today and of the decades ahead, including for cancer.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many consultant urologists there are in (a) Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, (b) NHS Cheshire and Merseyside and (c) England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) consultant urologists working in National Health Service trusts and core organisations within Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, and England, as of August 2023:
Body | FTE, August 2023 |
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | 11 |
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside | 50 |
England | 1,061 |
Source: NHS Digital Hospital and Community Health Service Workforce Statistics
Notes:
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the necessary proportion of full time equivalent general nurses who become full time equivalent specialist nurses after accreditation to meet NHS workforce need.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The information on the number and proportion of nurses who become specialist nurses after accreditation is not held centrally. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) sets the standards for education for the nursing profession. There is though no regulator required post registration educational preparation for most specialist nursing roles. An employer would be responsible for creating the number of specialist nursing posts they require, based on population need. It would be expected that an organisation would develop registered nurses into specialist roles, with support from regional funding. This funding enables the development of, for example, advanced practitioners and nurse prescribers.
The NMC do publish data on registered Specialist Community Public Health Practitioners who hold specific recordable qualifications. This will not include all postgraduate training and nurses may be employed in a range of settings inside and outside of the English National Health Service. The data is available at the following link:
https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/registration-statistics/
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan set out that the NHS would focus on expanding the number of clinicians, including nurses, who train to take up enhanced and advanced roles, and work as part of multidisciplinary teams that have the right skills to meet the changing needs of patients. Supporting clinicians to train as enhanced and advanced practitioners will also help to retain staff by offering a valuable career progression opportunity.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets the ambition of training at least 3,000 advanced practitioners in 2023/24 and 2024/25, and increasing the number in training further to 5,000 a year by 2028/29. By 2031/32, we expect that more than 6,300 clinicians will start training to become advanced practitioners each year.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of full time equivalent general nurses become full time equivalent specialist nurses after accreditation.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The information on the number and proportion of nurses who become specialist nurses after accreditation is not held centrally. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) sets the standards for education for the nursing profession. There is though no regulator required post registration educational preparation for most specialist nursing roles. An employer would be responsible for creating the number of specialist nursing posts they require, based on population need. It would be expected that an organisation would develop registered nurses into specialist roles, with support from regional funding. This funding enables the development of, for example, advanced practitioners and nurse prescribers.
The NMC do publish data on registered Specialist Community Public Health Practitioners who hold specific recordable qualifications. This will not include all postgraduate training and nurses may be employed in a range of settings inside and outside of the English National Health Service. The data is available at the following link:
https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/registration-statistics/
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan set out that the NHS would focus on expanding the number of clinicians, including nurses, who train to take up enhanced and advanced roles, and work as part of multidisciplinary teams that have the right skills to meet the changing needs of patients. Supporting clinicians to train as enhanced and advanced practitioners will also help to retain staff by offering a valuable career progression opportunity.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets the ambition of training at least 3,000 advanced practitioners in 2023/24 and 2024/25, and increasing the number in training further to 5,000 a year by 2028/29. By 2031/32, we expect that more than 6,300 clinicians will start training to become advanced practitioners each year.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
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 30 November to Question 3424 on Rheumatology: Consultants and Nurses, what (a) methodology and (b) criteria were used to determine the required increase in specialist training places to meet NHS demand for full time equivalent grade 1 paediatric and adult rheumatology consultants.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Over the last 30 years, the National Health Service has developed sophisticated modelling techniques to guide the allocation of resources against patient need. The current resource allocations methodology considers over 150 separate factors to determine population-weighted healthcare need for each NHS integrated care board.
This methodology is combined with NHS England’s, and previously Health Education England’s, demand forecasting model that utilises hospital episode statistics alongside Office for National Statistics population projections to understand future growth in demand for key hospital services in each region and is further adjusted based on regional deprivation.
This provides a robust method for understanding the distribution of future healthcare demand on the medical workforce, including paediatric and adult rheumatology consultants. The model provides a reliable and transparent methodology on which to base the distribution of trainee posts across regions which can be revisited if changes occur.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
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 30 November 2023 to Question 3424 on Rheumatology: Consultants and Nurses, how her Department determines the commensurate increase in specialist training places to meet NHS demands without an estimation of vacancies for Full Time Equivalent Grade 1 (a) adult and (b) paediatric rheumatology consultants.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Over the last 30 years, the National Health Service has developed sophisticated modelling techniques to guide the allocation of resources against patient need. The current resource allocations methodology considers over 150 separate factors to determine population-weighted healthcare need for each NHS integrated care board.
This methodology is combined with NHS England’s, and previously Health Education England’s, demand forecasting model that utilises hospital episode statistics alongside Office for National Statistics population projections to understand future growth in demand for key hospital services in each region and is further adjusted based on regional deprivation.
This provides a robust method for understanding the distribution of future healthcare demand on the medical workforce, including paediatric and adult rheumatology consultants. The model provides a reliable and transparent methodology on which to base the distribution of trainee posts across regions which can be revisited if changes occur.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has a plan to increase the number of (a) adult and (b) paediatric full time equivalent (i) fully qualified grade one rheumatology consultants and (ii) rheumatology specialist nurses in England over the next (A) 12 months, (B) five years and (C) 15 years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
No specific estimate has been made of adult or paediatric consultant rheumatologist vacancies. There are currently 1,153 full time equivalent doctors working in the specialty of rheumatology. This is 142 or 14% more than in 2019. In 2022/23 and 2023/24, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, increased the number of specialist rheumatology training posts by 12 and five respectively.
The Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) published on 30 June 2023 aims to double the number of medical school places in England, taking the total number of places to 10,000 by 2028/29 and 15,000 by 2031/32. The LTWP commits to an adequate growth in foundation placement capacity, as those taking up these new places begin to graduate, and a commensurate increase in specialty training places that meets the demands of the National Health Servuce in the future. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for rheumatologists and other medical specialties.
The LTWP also sets out an ambition to almost double the number of adult nursing training places, taking the total number of places to nearly 28,000 by 2028/29 and nearly 38,000 by 2031/32. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for nurses specialising in rheumatology.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of full time equivalent fully qualified grade one (a) adult rheumatology and (b) pediatric rheumatology consultant vacancies in England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
No specific estimate has been made of adult or paediatric consultant rheumatologist vacancies. There are currently 1,153 full time equivalent doctors working in the specialty of rheumatology. This is 142 or 14% more than in 2019. In 2022/23 and 2023/24, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, increased the number of specialist rheumatology training posts by 12 and five respectively.
The Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) published on 30 June 2023 aims to double the number of medical school places in England, taking the total number of places to 10,000 by 2028/29 and 15,000 by 2031/32. The LTWP commits to an adequate growth in foundation placement capacity, as those taking up these new places begin to graduate, and a commensurate increase in specialty training places that meets the demands of the National Health Servuce in the future. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for rheumatologists and other medical specialties.
The LTWP also sets out an ambition to almost double the number of adult nursing training places, taking the total number of places to nearly 28,000 by 2028/29 and nearly 38,000 by 2031/32. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for nurses specialising in rheumatology.