Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients are registered with each GP in Faversham and Mid Kent Constituency; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of GPs per head of population.
Answered by Steve Brine
The number of patients registered to individual general practitioners (GPs) is not collected or held centrally. The number of patients registered in each GP practice in England is published monthly in NHS Digital’s ‘Patients Registered at a GP Practice’ publication. Practices are grouped according to their clinical commissioning group not parliamentary constituency.
Each general practice is required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs of their registered population. There is no recommendation for how many patients a GP should have, as the demand each patient places on their GP is different and can be affected by various factors, including rurality and patient demographics. The workforce required for each practice to meet patient needs also includes a range of health professionals in addition to GPs themselves, and the best skill mix is for practices to determine.
The average number of patients seen at each GP practice in the Faversham and Mid Kent constituency per day is not held centrally. The average number of appointments per day is only available nationally or for individual clinical commissioning groups.
General practices are independent contractors to the National Health Service and their contracts require them to provide essential and additional services at such times within core hours, as are appropriate to meet the reasonable needs of patients. Core hours for GP practices contracted under General Medical Services (GMS) contracts are defined as 8:00 – 18:30, Monday – Friday, excluding weekends and bank holidays. Core hours for locally negotiated Personal Medical Services and Alternative Provider Medical Services are set out in their contract but largely mirror GMS opening hours or longer.
It is for each practice to determine any appointments system which they feel best meets the needs of their patients. Also, it is for GP practices to organise the delivery of their services to meet the terms of their contracts and to meet quality and safety standards set by the Care Quality Commission. Contractually, GP practices should report any disruption in the delivery of their services which could compromise their ability to meet the needs of their patients. GP practices may seek support from their local commissioner, including agreement to close the practice list to new patients or temporary suspension of patient registrations.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
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 number of patients seen at each GP practice in the Faversham and Mid Kent constituency per day; and what guidance his Department provides on the safe number of patient contacts.
Answered by Steve Brine
The number of patients registered to individual general practitioners (GPs) is not collected or held centrally. The number of patients registered in each GP practice in England is published monthly in NHS Digital’s ‘Patients Registered at a GP Practice’ publication. Practices are grouped according to their clinical commissioning group not parliamentary constituency.
Each general practice is required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs of their registered population. There is no recommendation for how many patients a GP should have, as the demand each patient places on their GP is different and can be affected by various factors, including rurality and patient demographics. The workforce required for each practice to meet patient needs also includes a range of health professionals in addition to GPs themselves, and the best skill mix is for practices to determine.
The average number of patients seen at each GP practice in the Faversham and Mid Kent constituency per day is not held centrally. The average number of appointments per day is only available nationally or for individual clinical commissioning groups.
General practices are independent contractors to the National Health Service and their contracts require them to provide essential and additional services at such times within core hours, as are appropriate to meet the reasonable needs of patients. Core hours for GP practices contracted under General Medical Services (GMS) contracts are defined as 8:00 – 18:30, Monday – Friday, excluding weekends and bank holidays. Core hours for locally negotiated Personal Medical Services and Alternative Provider Medical Services are set out in their contract but largely mirror GMS opening hours or longer.
It is for each practice to determine any appointments system which they feel best meets the needs of their patients. Also, it is for GP practices to organise the delivery of their services to meet the terms of their contracts and to meet quality and safety standards set by the Care Quality Commission. Contractually, GP practices should report any disruption in the delivery of their services which could compromise their ability to meet the needs of their patients. GP practices may seek support from their local commissioner, including agreement to close the practice list to new patients or temporary suspension of patient registrations.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
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 potential merits of the recommendations made by the Committee on cost effectiveness methodology for immunisation programmes and procurement, published in February 2018.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department is currently considering its response to the Committee on Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurement (CEMIPP). The consultation on the CEMIPP report closed on 28 June 2018. The Department is currently considering its response to make sure that rules for immunisation are fair, transparent and justifiable.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to publish a response to the consultation the Cost effectiveness methodology for vaccination programmes, published on 26 February 2018.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department is currently considering its response to the Committee on Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurement (CEMIPP). The consultation on the CEMIPP report closed on 28 June 2018. The Department is currently considering its response to make sure that rules for immunisation are fair, transparent and justifiable.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question
What steps the Government is taking to tackle sexual harassment at work.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government strongly condemns sexual harassment in the workplace, and is committed to seeing it end.
We will consult this summer to ensure legal protections against workplace harassment are robust, and we are working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on a new code of practice to ensure that employers are clear on their responsibilities.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of noise levels on the M20 between Junctions 8-9.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The noise levels on this section of the M20 have been assessed as part of DEFRA’s Noise Action Plan. This identified 10 areas between M20 Junction 8-9 which required investigation because of the level of noise.
Action has been taken to mitigate noise at five out of the 10 areas with the installation of noise insulation. Highways England are working to address the remaining five areas, including trials to test options to reduce the noise generated by concrete road surfaces.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of accidents on the M20 between Junctions 8 and 9 in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Below are the accident figures for the number of reported accidents on the M20 Junctions 8-9 in each of the last 10 years
Number of reported road accidents on the M20 (Juncs: 8-9)1, 2007 to 2017 | |||||||
Year | Number of accidents | ||||||
2007 | 8 | ||||||
2008 | 12 | ||||||
2009 | 15 | ||||||
2010 | 6 | ||||||
2011 | 6 | ||||||
2012 | 10 | ||||||
2013 | 8 | ||||||
2014 | 5 | ||||||
2015 | 6 | ||||||
2016 | 11 | ||||||
2017 | 7 | ||||||
Source: DfT Stats19 | |||||||
1. Includes all the slip roads on and off at each of the junctions. | |||||||
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote the implementation of the suicide prevention frameworks developed by Health Education England and the Royal College of Psychiatrists National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Health Education England (HEE) published the suicide and self-harm prevention competency frameworks for children and young people, adults, and public health in October 2018. HEE is reviewing existing suicide training provision in relation to the competency frameworks, to inform the development of a compendium of training resource for the workforce and potential commissioning of future training.
HEE is hosting a roundtable event in 2019, which I will be attending, with a wide range of services including health, public health and other emergency services to map out their training needs in relation to the competency frameworks, and is working with MindEd to produce a children and young persons’ module that will build on and reference the competency framework in relation to suicide prevention.
HEE has also worked with the National Suicide Prevention Alliance to ensure that the competency framework is referenced on their website.
In addition, throughout 2019, members of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Delivery Group will explore how the Competency Frameworks can be used and promoted within their networks.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Mental Health Trusts have guidance and support to learn from deaths in the NHS.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
In March 2017, the National Quality Board published ‘National Guidance on Learning from Deaths’. The guidance sets out how National Health Service acute, mental health and community trusts should review, investigate and learn from the deaths of patients in their care, and gives particular emphasis to the deaths of individuals who had a learning disability or mental illness.
To supplement the national guidance, on 22 November 2018 the Royal College of Psychiatrists published guidance specifically for mental health trusts to ensure that opportunities are not missed when reviewing the deaths of patients who had a severe mental illness. The guidance, including a mortality review tool, was commissioned by NHS England and is a key output of the Government’s national Learning from Deaths programme. The guidance is available at the following link:
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that women and their partners are able to access the leaflets recently developed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists to provide evidence-based and expert advice on perinatal mental health services.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
NHS England has worked closely with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to promote these leaflets widely to organisations and services that work with families during the perinatal period.
The full content of the leaflets is available digitally to the public on the Royal College of Psychiatrists website. More information can be found at the following link:
Information on perinatal mental health is also available on the NHS website at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/mental-health-problems-pregnant/