Asked by: Lord Harris of Haringey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements are in place to ensure that the obligations under regulation 15A of the National Health Service (Personal Medical Services Agreements) Regulations 2004, as amended, to establish and maintain a Patient Participation Group are being met.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS England is responsible for the assessment of general medical practices compliance with contractual requirements.
NHS England operates an annual practice declaration to support its local teams assess contractual compliance. The annual declaration was amended this year to include key areas of enquiry in relation to the new responsibilities to establish and maintain a Patient Participation Group.
The NHS (Personal Medical Services Agreements) Regulations contain steps which NHS England may take where a practice does not comply with the terms of the agreement. These include issuing a remedial notice and, if no action is taken as a result of this notice, a breach of contract notice which could result in NHS England withholding money, due under the agreement, or terminating the agreement.
NHS England does not currently hold information nationally on the use of contractual sanctions. NHS England is developing its reporting systems to identify the number of breach notices issued periodically and to identify common themes associated with contractual non-compliance.
Asked by: Lord Harris of Haringey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of GP surgeries that are failing to meet their obligations under regulation 15A of the National Health Service (Personal Medical Services Agreements) Regulations 2004, as amended, to establish and maintain a Patient Participation Group.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS England is responsible for the assessment of general medical practices compliance with contractual requirements.
NHS England operates an annual practice declaration to support its local teams assess contractual compliance. The annual declaration was amended this year to include key areas of enquiry in relation to the new responsibilities to establish and maintain a Patient Participation Group.
The NHS (Personal Medical Services Agreements) Regulations contain steps which NHS England may take where a practice does not comply with the terms of the agreement. These include issuing a remedial notice and, if no action is taken as a result of this notice, a breach of contract notice which could result in NHS England withholding money, due under the agreement, or terminating the agreement.
NHS England does not currently hold information nationally on the use of contractual sanctions. NHS England is developing its reporting systems to identify the number of breach notices issued periodically and to identify common themes associated with contractual non-compliance.
Asked by: Lord Harris of Haringey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the latest figures available for the number of people conveyed to Accident and Emergency departments by police officers.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
This information is not collected centrally. There is an ongoing national dialogue between the ambulance and police services to understand the nature of demand better and to develop a comprehensive and cross-service solution. Locally, services are putting in joint procedures to also address the issue.
Asked by: Lord Harris of Haringey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of calls relating to an immediately life-threatening situation received an emergency response from the London Ambulance Service within eight minutes in each London Borough area in the last three months; and what was the proportion that received an ambulance vehicle capable of transporting the patient safely within 19 minutes of the request for transport being made.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The information in the attached tables has been provided by the NHS Trust Development Authority and shows performance data for the London Ambulance Service from February 2015 to April 2015, detailing the response times within eight minutes and 19 minutes for each London borough.
Asked by: Lord Harris of Haringey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the currently projected deficit in 2015–16 and savings targets they are expected to meet in 2015–16 for each NHS Trust in London.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The information requested is not available centrally.
We understand that the National Health Service trust financial plans for 2015-16 are in the process of being finalised in accordance with national planning timetables. It is the responsibility of each NHS trust Board to agree a financial plan for 2015-16, including the level of financial efficiency required to support delivery of the overall financial plan.
Asked by: Lord Harris of Haringey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each NHS Trust in London, how much of the deficit from 2014–15 was carried forward into 2015–16.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
National Health Service trusts do not carry forward deficits from one year to the next. A surplus or deficit is simply the difference between income received and expenditure incurred during that year.
Asked by: Lord Harris of Haringey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of calls relating to an immediately life threatening situation received an emergency response from the London Ambulance Service within eight minutes in each of the last three months in each London Borough area; and what proportion of requests for transport was responded to with an ambulance vehicle capable of transporting the patient safely within 19 minutes of such a request being made.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The information in the attached tables shows performance data for the London Ambulance Service from October 2014 to December 2014, detailing the response times within eight minutes and 19 minute for each London borough.
Asked by: Lord Harris of Haringey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funding they have provided towards the costs of Sexual Assault Referral Centres, and what funding will be provided in 2015–16.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Sexual assault services are a public health function commissioned under section 7A (S7A) of the National Health Service Act 2006. They are commissioned as part of NHS England’s health and justice arrangements because of the alignment with the criminal justice system.
Funding of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) in 2013-14, was based on the previous year’s NHS investment from primary care trusts, which was £8.98 million. This was uplifted in 2014-15 to £16.5 million. The funding for 2015-16 is currently being agreed.
Other investors in SARC services include police forces, Police and Crime Commissioners, local authorities and the Home Office.