Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many excess winter deaths there were in each month from November 2023 to February 2024.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 19th February is attached.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for biometric residence permits were delayed as a result of technical issues in each month since January 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
At the point a decision is made to grant permission to remain, a BRP is automatically requested by the caseworking system and data is sent to the DVLA for the BRP to be produced. Any automatic requests that become “stuck” when sent to DVLA are targeted and proactive reporting is being developed to identify such cases earlier.
During 2023, DVLA produced 99.6% of BRPs within 24 hours of this automatic request process and 100% within 48 hours.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason Master of Pharmacy courses are not included in the NHS Learning Support Fund.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Learning Support Fund (LSF) is available broadly to those courses which were eligible for the NHS Bursary prior to the 2017 reforms, and therefore, subjects such as pharmacy are outside of the scope of the LSF arrangements. There are no immediate plans to make changes to the LSF scheme design.
The Government keeps the funding arrangements for all healthcare students under close review. At all times the Government must strike a balance between the level of support students receive, and the need to make best use of public funds to deliver value for money.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will include Masters of Pharmacy courses in the NHS Learning Support Fund.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Learning Support Fund (LSF) is available broadly to those courses which were eligible for the NHS Bursary prior to the 2017 reforms, and therefore, subjects such as pharmacy are outside of the scope of the LSF arrangements. There are no immediate plans to make changes to the LSF scheme design.
The Government keeps the funding arrangements for all healthcare students under close review. At all times the Government must strike a balance between the level of support students receive, and the need to make best use of public funds to deliver value for money.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
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 increase access to FibroScan testing for liver fibrosis through Community Diagnostic Centres.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently plans for 12 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to offer FibroScan testing, of which six are operational. A further six CDCs plan to offer this service by the end of March 2024.
The CDC core diagnostic tests offer is based on the recommendations in the Sir Mike Richards Review, and decisions on what tests are offered outside of the core requirements of CDCs is taken at a local level based on need.
The Government is working with the National Health Service to support earlier diagnosis of liver disease and identifying patients at risk. This includes plans for upgrading laboratory digital capabilities as part of the £2.3 billion diagnostics transformation programme, to ensure that labs across the country have the capability to offer Intelligent Liver Function Tests, that can effectively and quickly identify patients at high risk of advanced fibrosis.
The Government is also working with the NHS to deliver and consider the result from the pilot of the community liver health check programme, which is due to deliver 22,000 FibroScans per year to communities at particular risk of liver disease. From June 2022 to September 2023, over 26,500 FibroScans were delivered through the pilots, and 8% of people scanned have already been enrolled into liver surveillance programmes. The programme is being delivered across 19 areas by Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Networks to FibroScan patients at high risk of cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis, utilising 40 FibroScan machines.
NHS England is reviewing existing liver diagnosis pathways as part of its wider diagnostic transformation work, to determine what the best approach should be to identify patients at an earlier stage of liver disease, through a liver pathway starting in primary care and involving pathology labs and CDCs. This will include a combination of blood tests and FibroScans.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
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 help improve the diagnosis of liver disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently plans for 12 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to offer FibroScan testing, of which six are operational. A further six CDCs plan to offer this service by the end of March 2024.
The CDC core diagnostic tests offer is based on the recommendations in the Sir Mike Richards Review, and decisions on what tests are offered outside of the core requirements of CDCs is taken at a local level based on need.
The Government is working with the National Health Service to support earlier diagnosis of liver disease and identifying patients at risk. This includes plans for upgrading laboratory digital capabilities as part of the £2.3 billion diagnostics transformation programme, to ensure that labs across the country have the capability to offer Intelligent Liver Function Tests, that can effectively and quickly identify patients at high risk of advanced fibrosis.
The Government is also working with the NHS to deliver and consider the result from the pilot of the community liver health check programme, which is due to deliver 22,000 FibroScans per year to communities at particular risk of liver disease. From June 2022 to September 2023, over 26,500 FibroScans were delivered through the pilots, and 8% of people scanned have already been enrolled into liver surveillance programmes. The programme is being delivered across 19 areas by Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Networks to FibroScan patients at high risk of cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis, utilising 40 FibroScan machines.
NHS England is reviewing existing liver diagnosis pathways as part of its wider diagnostic transformation work, to determine what the best approach should be to identify patients at an earlier stage of liver disease, through a liver pathway starting in primary care and involving pathology labs and CDCs. This will include a combination of blood tests and FibroScans.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will undertake a review of the adequacy of funding for continuing healthcare.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have no plans at this time to assess the efficacy of the NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) process or to review funding for CHC. The Government continues to work with our partners, including NHS England who are responsible for oversight of CHC delivery, to deliver CHC policy effectively.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of households that are (a) affected by the two-child limit and (b) living in poverty.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest available statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of 2 children are published here: Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants: statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of 2 children, April 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
National statistics on the number and percentage of people in poverty, including regional-level data, is published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. This can be found here. The most recent figures state that in the year 2021/22 there were 11.4 million people living in a household below the absolute poverty threshold after housing costs. This represents a decrease of 1.7 million people since 2009/10.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of ending the Household Support Fund on low-income households.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No such assessment has been made.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of instructing the General Medical Council to regulate (a) physician and (b) anaesthesia associates on the quality of care.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Introducing statutory regulation for these roles will enhance patient safety. Regulation will provide a standardised framework of governance and assurance for clinical practice and professional conduct, to enable anaesthesia associates (AAs) and physician associates (Pas) to make a greater contribution to patient care.
The assessment of the appropriate regulatory body for PA and AA regulation was completed in 2019 following a public consultation. Most respondents to the consultation were in favour of the General Medical Council (GMC) taking on regulation.
Regulation by the GMC will mean that the organisation will have responsibility and oversight of doctors, AAs and PAs, allowing them to take a holistic approach to the education, training and standards of all three roles. This will enable a more coherent and co-ordinated approach to regulation and, by making it easier for employers, patients, and the public to understand the relationship between these roles and doctors, help to embed them in the workforce.