Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the effect on mortality rates of the provisions of off-patent drugs outside their licensed indications in cases where research supports the use of those drugs.
Answered by George Freeman
We have no plans to make such an assessment as national prescribing data does not record the indication for which a drug has been prescribed.
The responsibility for prescribing rests with the doctor or prescriber, taking into account their patient’s needs and relevant clinical guidance. Good communication between practitioners and patients is essential and prescribers should always involve patients in decisions about the treatment proposed. When prescribing outside a drug’s licensed indications, practitioners should explain to their patients why they are proposing that course of action.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what further discussions his Department has had with (a) NHS England and (b) the Health and Social Care Information Centre on the inclusion of musculoskeletal conditions in the care.data programme.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The Department wrote to the Medical Director of Arthritis Research UK on 12 May 2014 (a copy is attached) saying NHS England would be willing to engage with them to look at the inclusion of musculoskeletal conditions in the care.data programme.
NHS England has had discussions with a range of stakeholders, including Arthritis Research UK, to establish a range of changes are needed to ensure that the dataset suits the needs of all. These changes include expanding the list of codes to cover a wider range of diagnoses, for example, rheumatoid arthritis, and linking to other datasets, not just to hospital data. The care.data programme board has agreed that a public consultation will be conducted after the end of the pathfinder stage. The purpose of this consultation will be to allow all stakeholders the opportunity to have their say about any expansion to the dataset in an open and transparent manner.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the level of uptake of care plans amongst people with arthritis; and what steps his Department plans to take to widen access to care planning.
Answered by Norman Lamb
On 8 January 2015, NHS England published the results from the latest GP Patient Survey. The survey provides information on over 880,000 patients’ overall experience of primary care services and their overall experience of accessing these services. The survey contains the questions, Do you have a written care plan?, and the following table provides the results from patients who identified themselves as having either arthritis or a long term joint problem or a long term back problem .
| Do you have a written care plan? | ||
Yes | No | Don’t Know | |
Of patients who have arthritis or a long-term joint problem | 5.6% | 90.8% | 3.6% |
Of patients who have a long-term back problem | 4.5% | 91.2% | 4.3% |
More information about the GP Survey can be found at the following link:
www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/2015/01/08/gp-patient-survey-2014/
The Government’s Mandate to NHS England makes clear that all patients with a long-term condition should be offered a personalised care plan. NHS England is developing resources to support practitioners and commissioners to introduce effective personalised care planning in their local areas, including the recently launched handbooks on personalised care and support planning, which can be found at the following link:
www.england.nhs.uk/resources/resources-for-ccgs/out-frwrk/dom-2/ltc-care/
NHS England is also working with GP practices to identify the 2% of their patient population most at risk of hospital admissions so care plans can be developed for them as the top priority.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with a musculoskeletal condition have a care plan.
Answered by Norman Lamb
On 8 January 2015, NHS England published the results from the latest GP Patient Survey. The survey provides information on over 880,000 patients’ overall experience of primary care services and their overall experience of accessing these services. The survey contains the questions, Do you have a written care plan?, and the following table provides the results from patients who identified themselves as having either arthritis or a long term joint problem or a long term back problem .
| Do you have a written care plan? | ||
Yes | No | Don’t Know | |
Of patients who have arthritis or a long-term joint problem | 5.6% | 90.8% | 3.6% |
Of patients who have a long-term back problem | 4.5% | 91.2% | 4.3% |
More information about the GP Survey can be found at the following link:
www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/2015/01/08/gp-patient-survey-2014/
The Government’s Mandate to NHS England makes clear that all patients with a long-term condition should be offered a personalised care plan. NHS England is developing resources to support practitioners and commissioners to introduce effective personalised care planning in their local areas, including the recently launched handbooks on personalised care and support planning, which can be found at the following link:
www.england.nhs.uk/resources/resources-for-ccgs/out-frwrk/dom-2/ltc-care/
NHS England is also working with GP practices to identify the 2% of their patient population most at risk of hospital admissions so care plans can be developed for them as the top priority.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which department or team within NHS England is responsible for the development and implementation of proposals for a national molecular diagnostic testing service in the NHS.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England’s Clinical and Scientific Policy and Strategy Team are responsible for policy relating to molecular diagnostics.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England plans to publish full details of the decisions it makes during the prioritisation exercise for new specialised services to be commissioned in 2015-16
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England is currently consulting on the principles and process by which it makes investment decisions in specialised services. The outcome of future investment decisions taken by NHS England will be published in accordance with the new process once it has been finalised. Views and comments on whether, when and how these decisions are published can be submitted as part of the current consultation.
The consultation can be found at:
https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/investing-in-specialised-commissioning
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will work in partnership with charitable organisations to increase awareness of stem cell donation among young people.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Since 2010 the Department has provided almost £16 million additional funding to improve the provision of cells in the United Kingdom. Bone marrow donors are recruited by NHS Blood and Transplant and the partner charity Anthony Nolan. Departmental funding has allowed these organisations money to recruit young male donors most likely to be suitable to donate bone marrow. Anthony Nolan recruit donors in a variety of ways including groups of university students or ‘Marrow Groups’ that encourage younger individuals to register.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will provide funding to support the delivery of more healthcare services from the Moorgreen Hospital site in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Dan Poulter
This is a matter for West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
We are advised that ownership of Moorgreen Hospital has been transferred to NHS Property Services and it is working with commissioners to plan for the site’s future use in line with the CCG’s commissioning proposals.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to provide early diagnosis and treatment for patients with Barrett's oesophagus.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Our Be Clear on Cancer campaigns aim to raise awareness of the possible symptoms of cancer and to prompt people with the relevant symptoms to present to their general practitioner (GP). Following a local pilot which ran from April to July 2012, we ran a regional Be Clear on Cancer pilot campaign in February and March 2014, raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of oesophago-gastric cancer in the North East and North Cumbria. This early diagnosis campaign also aimed to identify patients with Barrett's oesophagus, a precursor to oesophageal cancer.
The campaign included television, radio, press and outdoor advertising. The findings of this pilot will be evaluated by Public Health England (PHE), who works closely with the Department and NHS England to ensure that health care professionals are targeted with campaign information to encourage earlier diagnoses and referrals, before a decision is taken on whether to roll out the campaign nationally.
Alongside supporting PHE to increase symptom awareness amongst the general population, NHS England are also working to increase cancer symptom awareness amongst healthcare professionals, and to provide support to GPs in early diagnosis of cancer and pre-cancerous conditions. In 2013-14, NHS England made £2.3 million available to support improved symptom awareness and early diagnosis.