Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to establish new reciprocal healthcare agreements with non-EU countries.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Reciprocal healthcare arrangements (RHAs) cover emergency and medically necessary healthcare for United Kingdom nationals or residents on short-term visits. They benefit people with long term, pre-existing conditions, and along with insurance, offer all travellers greater peace of mind when travelling. We recognise the benefits associated with RHAs. We continually review options to update existing arrangements outside of the European Union, as well as the potential to develop new ones.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to introduce additional measures to (a) verify and (b) validate the medical qualifications of non-UK trained doctors working in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has no current plans to introduce additional measures to verify and validate the medical qualifications of non-United Kingdom trained doctors working in the National Health Service.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors practising in the UK. The GMC is independent of the Government and directly accountable to Parliament. The GMC sets and enforces the standards all doctors must adhere to and is responsible for ensuring that doctors have the necessary skills and knowledge to join the UK medical register. All doctors must register with the GMC and hold a license to practice in the UK.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will improve checks on declared medical qualifications for international employees in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently no plans for my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to improve checks on declared medical qualifications for international employees in the National Health Service. NHS trusts have robust recruitment policies and processes aligned to employment law and good human resource practice, as set out in the NHS Employment Check Standards. For doctors, this includes a requirement to check with the General Medical Council that individuals meet the necessary standards of competency, skill, and training required of the medical profession, and that there are no known issues which would affect their fitness or licence to practice.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help (a) raise awareness of the symptoms of brain aneurysms and (b) improve training for GPs to recognise those symptoms.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through neurosurgery networks, NHS England will engage with referring clinicians to ensure that patients receive appropriate assessments, diagnostics, and referral pathways to a neuroscience centre when required.
Moreover, the standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. The GMC has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for professional practice.
The training curricula for speciality trainees is set by the relevant Royal College, and has to meet the standards set by the GMC and be formally approved by them. The training curriculum for general practitioner specialty training is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners. Whilst curricula do not necessarily highlight specific conditions for doctors to be aware of, they instead emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.
General practitioners are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will put in place oversight of integrated care boards that frequently commission services from GP practices that regularly underperform in patient satisfaction surveys.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that despite the hard work of general practice teams, patients are still struggling to access care from general practitioners (GPs). We know that GPs are delivering record numbers of appointments, however, patient satisfaction has dropped nationally.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) must ensure that GP services meet the needs of the local population, and NHS England has a legal duty to annually assess the performance of each ICB and to publish a summary of its findings. The assessment must consider how well the ICB has discharged its functions, including the duty to improve the quality of services and the duty to make arrangements to involve patients, carers and the public in commissioning plans and decisions that affect them.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the UK National Screening Committee to conclude the prostate cancer screening evidence review it commissioned in November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) evidence review for prostate cancer screening is already underway and plans to report within the UK NSC’s three-year work plan.
The evidence review includes modelling the clinical cost effectiveness of several approaches to prostate cancer screening, including different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years old onwards and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher than average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve early detection of prostate cancer through screening.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended by the UK National Screening Committees (UK NSC). This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). A PSA-based screening programme could harm men as some of them would be diagnosed with a cancer that would not have caused them problems during their life. This would lead to additional tests and treatments which can also have harmful side effects.
The UK NSC is currently carrying out an evidence review for prostate cancer screening; this includes different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years of age onwards, and targeted screening programme aimed at groups of men identified as being at higher-than-average risk such as those with a family history, carriers of the BRCA2 gene and based on ethnicity.
In addition, we are working with Prostate Cancer UK to launch the TRANSFORM trial. The £42 million nationwide screening study will compare the most promising tests to look for prostate cancer in men that do not have any symptoms.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of neonatal nurses in (a) England and (b) Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin integrated care system.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is establishing over 550 new neonatal nurse posts across England, including in the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System (ICS), since publishing Implementing the Recommendations of the Neonatal Critical Care Transformation Review, which is available at the following link:
NHS England is working with trusts and regions to support their workforce growth plans. There were 53 neonatal nurses working in the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICS as of April 2024, which is nine more than in April 2023.
The Government recognises that there are serious issues within maternity and neonatal services, and is committed to learning from the findings of recent inquiries and investigations, such as those carried out at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, and the emerging lessons from the ongoing inquiry at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate supplies of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy medication.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has been working with suppliers to address current supply issues with pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT), including Creon, used in the treatment of cystic fibrosis and certain cancers, including pancreatic cancer. The supply issues are impacting countries throughout Europe, and have been caused by the limited availability of raw ingredients and manufacturing capacity constraints in producing the volumes needed to meet demand. The Department is continuing to work with all suppliers of PERT to help resolve the supply issues in the short and longer term. This includes asking that they expedite deliveries, source stock from other markets, and increase production.
We have issued comprehensive guidance to healthcare professionals about these supply issues, which provides advice on how to manage patients whilst there is disruption to supply. This guidance is being kept under review, and updates will be made as necessary. Serious Shortage Protocols are in place for Creon 10,000 and 25,000 capsules to limit prescriptions to one months’ supply, to allow demand management.
We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine supply issues can be. While we can’t always prevent supply issues from occurring, the Department has a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise, and to help mitigate risks to patients.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the early (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is delivering a range of interventions that are expected to improve early diagnosis and treatment for patients with suspected and diagnosed pancreatic cancer. For early diagnosis, this includes providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those patients at inherited high-risk, to identify lesions before they develop into cancer, and diagnose cancers sooner. New pathways are being created to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms that could be linked to a range of cancer types. General practice direct access to diagnostic tests is also being increased.
To improve the consistency of access to treatments, NHS England is funding an audit into pancreatic cancer which aims to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October 2022, and the first report is expected in October 2024.
NHS England’s Getting it Right First Time programme has also appointed a team of five specialist clinicians to lead a national review into services for pancreatic cancer patients in England. The workstream supports the delivery of the Optimal Care Pathway, a Pancreatic Cancer UK-led initiative which has brought together 300 health professionals and people affected to agree on how standards of diagnosis, treatment, and care of those patients with pancreatic cancer and their families can be improved, as well as gathering examples of good practice to share.