Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding is allocated to each region for support services for people with motor neurone disease.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Clinical commissioning groups and NHS England are responsible for delivering services for people with motor neurone disease, funded from their annual funding allocations. Information on funding for motor neurone related services is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with local businesses on the effect of mandatory displays of hygiene ratings on small, local and rural businesses.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has responsibility for the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. Currently it is voluntary for food businesses in England to display their hygiene rating. The FSA has been monitoring the impact of mandatory display of ratings at food outlets in Wales. The Government will consider this evidence carefully once it is available.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether it is planned that the Government's childhood obesity strategy will include measures restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods to children.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Our Childhood Obesity Strategy, which will be launched in the summer, will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will set out what more can be done by all.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether it is planned that the Government's childhood obesity strategy will include targets for industry to reduce levels of (a) fat and (b) salt in food and drink.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Our Childhood Obesity Strategy, which will be launched in the summer, will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will set out what more can be done by all.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) financial and (b) other support his Department provided for research into treating motor neurone disease in each of the last three years.
Answered by George Freeman
Spend by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in the Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health category ‘neurological’ has increased from £29.9 million in 2010/11 to £46.7 million in 2014/15 (the latest year for which data is available). There are no HRCS health sub-categories such as for motor neurone disease or other specific neurological conditions, and information on total annual NIHR spend on research into treating motor neurone disease is not held.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the earliest possible diagnosis of motor neurone disease.
Answered by Jane Ellison
On the 24 February 2016, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a new guideline on the assessment and management of motor neurone disease (MND). The guideline sets out the signs and symptoms of the disease and recommends that robust protocols and pathways are in place to inform healthcare professionals about MND and how it may present and to inform healthcare professionals in all settings about local referral arrangements. NICE is clear that patients suspected of having MND should be referred without delay. The guideline can be found at the following link:
To support general practitioners (GPs) to spot the potential symptoms of MND, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) and the MND Association have worked together to produce a ‘Red Flag Tool’ which sets out key signs of MND to help GPs to identify suspected cases and refer them promptly to a neurologist for appropriate investigation. The RCGP and the British Medical Journal have also both produced MND e-learning courses which together cover both signs and symptoms as well as disease management.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis will be made available on the NHS to people who have (a) been raped and (b) had underage sex.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England has recently announced that it would make available up to £2 million over two years to enable access for high risk individuals through early implementer test sites. NHS England will work with Public Health England and the Department to confirm the criteria for patient access and assessment of expressions of interest from local authority areas to confirm successful sites. The criteria which will be used to determine the locations of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) Test Sites have not yet been established.
PrEP is an intervention in advance of sexual exposure, and therefore is not relevant for rape victims who may require post exposure prophylaxis after clinical assessment. With regard to those having underage sex, eligibility for treatment through test sites will depend on the clinical assessment of risk undertaken.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the criteria are for a person to be eligible to receive HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis on the NHS.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England has recently announced that it would make available up to £2 million over two years to enable access for high risk individuals through early implementer test sites. NHS England will work with Public Health England and the Department to confirm the criteria for patient access and assessment of expressions of interest from local authority areas to confirm successful sites. The criteria which will be used to determine the locations of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) Test Sites have not yet been established.
PrEP is an intervention in advance of sexual exposure, and therefore is not relevant for rape victims who may require post exposure prophylaxis after clinical assessment. With regard to those having underage sex, eligibility for treatment through test sites will depend on the clinical assessment of risk undertaken.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the locations are of the pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV test sites; and what criteria were used to determine those locations.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England has recently announced that it would make available up to £2 million over two years to enable access for high risk individuals through early implementer test sites. NHS England will work with Public Health England and the Department to confirm the criteria for patient access and assessment of expressions of interest from local authority areas to confirm successful sites. The criteria which will be used to determine the locations of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) Test Sites have not yet been established.
PrEP is an intervention in advance of sexual exposure, and therefore is not relevant for rape victims who may require post exposure prophylaxis after clinical assessment. With regard to those having underage sex, eligibility for treatment through test sites will depend on the clinical assessment of risk undertaken.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the state of morale among junior doctors.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The most recent assessment of the state of morale among junior doctors was from engagement scores in the 2015 NHS Staff Survey published in February which showed a score for junior doctors of 3.85/5, up from 3.81/5 the previous year. On 11 February my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that a new national juniors’ contract will be introduced. He also announced a review into some wider and more deep-seated issues relating to junior doctors’ morale, wellbeing and quality of life, which will be led by Professor Dame Sue Bailey, the President of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
The Government and junior doctors want to do the same thing by improving patient care at weekends. A contract that is safer for patients as well as fair and reasonable for junior doctors is a step towards that.