Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether patients removed from NHS waiting lists are informed by trusts of their removal and the reason for it.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Validation is a clinically supported process and forms a long-standing part of trusts’ routine management of their waiting lists. Effective communication between patients and their healthcare teams is a key part of the process, and patients should always be kept well-informed about their care management.
As part of the administrative process for validation, trusts should contact patients after 12 weeks of waiting, providing them with the opportunity to update on their current status. This will allow patients to confirm if they have been treated elsewhere, their symptoms have resolved or they otherwise no longer require an appointment, all of which would result in them being removed from the list. If a clinical decision has been taken to discharge a patient, the patient and referrer are expected to be notified by the trust, including the reason.
There is published national guidance from NHS England to support National Health Service trusts to deliver effective validation and to make best use of clinical time. NHS England also has a published national standard for outpatient clinic letters, including discharge letters, which allows clinical information to be recorded, exchanged, and accessed consistently across care settings.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 support Integrated Care Board’s in providing community ear wax removal services to the public.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning local National Health Services, including ear wax removal services, and in doing so must consider how best to improve population health and achieve best value for money.
ICBs take account of relevant guidance on ear wax removal produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng98/chapter/Recommendations
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 improve access to ear wax removal services in Stockton West constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning local National Health Services, including ear wax removal services, and in doing so must consider how best to improve population health and achieve best value for money.
ICBs take account of relevant guidance on ear wax removal produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng98/chapter/Recommendations
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many planned inpatient admissions expressed as a total number and as a percentage of all inpatient admissions were a) cancelled by hospitals and NHS authorities, b) cancelled by patients and c) cancelled because patients did not attend in each of the last three years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Appointments cancelled by hospitals or other National Health Service authorities do not appear in statistics as completed appointments. For admitted patients, the Department does not hold data on the cause of cancellations or where patients did not attend their operation.
Data on the number of last-minute cancelled operations is published by NHS England. Last minute means on the day the patient was due to arrive, after the patient has arrived in hospital or on the day of the operation or surgery. It does not include cancelled operations before the day of the operation. Data is available by year and quarter and includes the number of cancellations and the percentage these represent of total elective admissions. This is available at the following link, within the ‘Time Series’ report:
For outpatient appointments, data on cancellations and patients that did not attend their appointment is published by NHS England. Data is available by year and includes the number of cancellations, whether these were hospital or patient cancellations, and the percentage these represent of total elective admissions. This is available on the following link, within "Hospital Outpatient Activity, 2024-25: Report Tables":
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many planned outpatient admissions expressed as a total number and as a percentage of all outpatient admissions were a) cancelled by hospitals and NHS authorities, b) cancelled by patients and c) cancelled because patients did not attend in each of the last three years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Appointments cancelled by hospitals or other National Health Service authorities do not appear in statistics as completed appointments. For admitted patients, the Department does not hold data on the cause of cancellations or where patients did not attend their operation.
Data on the number of last-minute cancelled operations is published by NHS England. Last minute means on the day the patient was due to arrive, after the patient has arrived in hospital or on the day of the operation or surgery. It does not include cancelled operations before the day of the operation. Data is available by year and quarter and includes the number of cancellations and the percentage these represent of total elective admissions. This is available at the following link, within the ‘Time Series’ report:
For outpatient appointments, data on cancellations and patients that did not attend their appointment is published by NHS England. Data is available by year and includes the number of cancellations, whether these were hospital or patient cancellations, and the percentage these represent of total elective admissions. This is available on the following link, within "Hospital Outpatient Activity, 2024-25: Report Tables":
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether appointments cancelled by hospitals or other NHS authorities appear in statistics as completed appointments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Appointments cancelled by hospitals or other National Health Service authorities do not appear in statistics as completed appointments. For admitted patients, the Department does not hold data on the cause of cancellations or where patients did not attend their operation.
Data on the number of last-minute cancelled operations is published by NHS England. Last minute means on the day the patient was due to arrive, after the patient has arrived in hospital or on the day of the operation or surgery. It does not include cancelled operations before the day of the operation. Data is available by year and quarter and includes the number of cancellations and the percentage these represent of total elective admissions. This is available at the following link, within the ‘Time Series’ report:
For outpatient appointments, data on cancellations and patients that did not attend their appointment is published by NHS England. Data is available by year and includes the number of cancellations, whether these were hospital or patient cancellations, and the percentage these represent of total elective admissions. This is available on the following link, within "Hospital Outpatient Activity, 2024-25: Report Tables":
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 kidney disease in primary care, particularly for patients with known risk factors such as autoimmune conditions, diabetes and hypertension.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence nationally and locally is available at the following link:
NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification states that the patient population in England with advanced kidney disease requiring renal replacement therapy is growing at a rate of 3% per annum. NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification is available at the following link:
To tackle this, NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease. NHS England has published a renal services transformation toolkit to support earlier identification of CKD and to strengthen management across the whole patient pathway.
Eight commissioned regional renal clinical networks are implementing this toolkit, in collaboration with providers, with a clear focus on improving early diagnosis, slowing disease progression, and reducing the number of patients reaching advanced stages of kidney disease. This work is supported nationally by the Renal Clinical Reference Group.
NHS England is also supporting the Department and key kidney organisations to identify further opportunities to enhance prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and long‑term outcomes for people living with kidney disease.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 adequacy of the capacity of renal services, including dialysis and transplantation services, to meet current and projected patient demand.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence nationally and locally is available at the following link:
NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification states that the patient population in England with advanced kidney disease requiring renal replacement therapy is growing at a rate of 3% per annum. NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification is available at the following link:
To tackle this, NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease. NHS England has published a renal services transformation toolkit to support earlier identification of CKD and to strengthen management across the whole patient pathway.
Eight commissioned regional renal clinical networks are implementing this toolkit, in collaboration with providers, with a clear focus on improving early diagnosis, slowing disease progression, and reducing the number of patients reaching advanced stages of kidney disease. This work is supported nationally by the Renal Clinical Reference Group.
NHS England is also supporting the Department and key kidney organisations to identify further opportunities to enhance prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and long‑term outcomes for people living with kidney disease.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 trends in the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in England over the last ten years; and what he expects the trends to be over the next decade.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence nationally and locally is available at the following link:
NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification states that the patient population in England with advanced kidney disease requiring renal replacement therapy is growing at a rate of 3% per annum. NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification is available at the following link:
To tackle this, NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease. NHS England has published a renal services transformation toolkit to support earlier identification of CKD and to strengthen management across the whole patient pathway.
Eight commissioned regional renal clinical networks are implementing this toolkit, in collaboration with providers, with a clear focus on improving early diagnosis, slowing disease progression, and reducing the number of patients reaching advanced stages of kidney disease. This work is supported nationally by the Renal Clinical Reference Group.
NHS England is also supporting the Department and key kidney organisations to identify further opportunities to enhance prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and long‑term outcomes for people living with kidney disease.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to develop a national service framework or equivalent long-term strategy for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board is overseeing the development of a new series of service frameworks to accelerate progress in conditions where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.
Early priorities include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions with significant health and economic impacts for future waves of modern service frameworks.