Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which products are planned to be included in the scope of the proposed ban of TV advertising of products High in Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS); and whether only products of particular appeal to children are planned to be banned.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The current proposal is to use the categories originally put forward by Public Health England (PHE) as part of the calorie reduction programme, sugar reduction programme and the soft drinks industry levy overlaying this with the 2004/05 Nutrient Profiling Model. As outlined in our consultations, one of the key objectives of any further advertising restriction was to be targeted at the products of more concern to childhood obesity.
Officials are considering the final list put forward by PHE as well as views fed in as part of the consultation process to come to a final decision on what products are in scope and will publish our full response to the consultation shortly.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will change local authority public health team regulations to ensure that (a) public mental health no longer falls under the heading of miscellaneous and (b) there is parity of esteem between physical and mental health in the activity of such teams.
Answered by Jane Ellison
We accept entirely the centrality of mental health and wellbeing to public health and the need for parity of esteem across health services. While it is right for local authorities (LAs) to determine their own local priorities and account to their own electorates, the Department’s Public Health Outcomes Framework – which defines areas for improvement across the public health system, and to which LAs must have regard – includes a number of indicators that relate directly to mental health. Public Health England collects and publishes LA-level data for all these indicators and will continue to support and advise LAs on the evidence base for effective mental health interventions.
We have no plans to require LAs to report spending on public mental health. LAs’ public health functions cover a wide range of activity, and it is important for central government to limit its demands for information from local government to a minimum. LAs would also be unable to disaggregate their spending on, for example, a drug or alcohol misuse service in order to isolate a sum that could be attributed purely to the mental health aspect of the service.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions the Minister for Public Health has had with mental health charities on the importance of public mental health interventions.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Minister for Public Health has not held any recent discussions on this subject.
Promoting good mental health is a key strategic objective of Public Health England’s (PHE) public mental health programme, alongside preventing mental illness and improving the lives of those living with mental illness. PHE is working with the National Health Service, local authorities and other partners to help more people have good mental health, improve the physical health and wellbeing of those with mental illness, and ensure few people as possible suffer avoidable harm.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many intensive care unit beds there are per capita in the UK.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS Blood and Transplant launched a new United Kingdom-wide organ donation and transplantation strategy in July 2013. Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020 sets out the action necessary to increase organ donation and transplant rates building on the significant increase in donor and transplant rates since 2008. It is vital that all potential donors are identified and referred to the specialist donation team. The strategy recognises that commissioners should keep the demand for intensive care beds under review to ensure that intensive care capacity is not a barrier to donation.
There were 10.6 adult critical care, paediatric intensive care and neonatal intensive care beds per 100,000 population in England in May 2015. The numbers of such beds in the rest of the United Kingdom is a matter for the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the number of intensive care unit beds in the UK on the number of transplants that per capita the NHS can provide.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS Blood and Transplant launched a new United Kingdom-wide organ donation and transplantation strategy in July 2013. Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020 sets out the action necessary to increase organ donation and transplant rates building on the significant increase in donor and transplant rates since 2008. It is vital that all potential donors are identified and referred to the specialist donation team. The strategy recognises that commissioners should keep the demand for intensive care beds under review to ensure that intensive care capacity is not a barrier to donation.
There were 10.6 adult critical care, paediatric intensive care and neonatal intensive care beds per 100,000 population in England in May 2015. The numbers of such beds in the rest of the United Kingdom is a matter for the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2015 to Question 226346, when he expects negotiations with GlaxoSmithKline on the meningitis B vaccine to be concluded.
Answered by Jane Ellison
We are seeking to reach a positive conclusion to the negotiations with GlaxoSmithKline for supply of the meningococcal B (MenB) vaccine, Bexsero® at a cost-effective price, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, as soon as possible.
The Department has had a number of meetings with the manufacturer and is continuing to meet.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking with officials of his Department to expedite negotiations with GlaxoSmithKline on the meningitis B vaccine.
Answered by Jane Ellison
We are seeking to reach a positive conclusion to the negotiations with GlaxoSmithKline for supply of the meningococcal B (MenB) vaccine, Bexsero® at a cost-effective price, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, as soon as possible.
The Department has had a number of meetings with the manufacturer and is continuing to meet.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2014 to Question 217116, which clinical commissioning groups were consulted about the proposed changes to the commissioning of renal services; and in what form such consultation took place.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Consultation both with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and the wider public concerning the transfer of commissioning responsibility of Renal Dialysis from NHS England to CCGs is ongoing.
The Department has launched a public consultation which closes on 9 January 2015. The consultation considers how to transfer commissioning responsibility and what would need to happen to ensure a smooth transition and maintain both service standards and patient safety. All CCGs are invited to comment on the proposed changes.
Some clinical commissioners were consulted in their roles as part of the Task and Finish group, as referenced in my previous answer of 10 December, 217116.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2014 to Question 215404, which organisations and individuals were consulted by NHS England when it was developing its proposal to move commissioning of dialysis to clinical commissioning groups; and what the contents were of the submissions received in response to that consultation.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England put its proposals for transferring commissioning responsibility for renal dialysis services and morbid obesity surgery services from NHS England to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to the Prescribed Specialised Services Advisory Group in September 2014. These proposals were developed in partnership with the NHS Commissioning Assembly Task and Finish Group on Specialised Service commissioning. The Task and Finish Group is made of clinical commissioners from around the country.
The Task and Finish group was asked by NHS England to advise on development of proposals for enhancing specialised service commissioning in 2015-16, specifically proposals that would enable improved pathway integrity. NHS England presented the proposed direction of travel for specialised commissioning in 2015-16 to the chairs of Clinical Reference Groups earlier in the year.
NHS England has advised that they are in dialogue with key stakeholders about both the opportunities and challenges of transferring commissioning responsibility for renal services from NHS England to CCGs.
Asked by: Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients have not received homecare medicines and products on time for treatment of (a) cystic fibrosis, (b) HIV and (c) rheumatoid arthritis in the last year.
Answered by Norman Lamb
This information is not collected by the Department or NHS England.