Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the steps taken by organisations to support carers to increase agile working practices.
Answered by David Mowat
In 2016, the Department carried out an extensive call for evidence, including a roundtable event with employers, to inform the development of a new Carers Strategy. As part of this exercise, the Department reviewed many examples of employers which have implemented workplace policies to support employees with caring responsibilities, and the growing evidence base on the benefits to businesses and carers of flexible working arrangements.
Earlier this month, the Department for Work and Pensions published Fuller Working Lives: A Partnership Approach, which sets out a range of ongoing partnership work with employers to support working carers aged over 50 and to continue to grow the evidence base in this area.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions the Government has had with NHS England on ensuring that the mandate to NHS England for 2017-18 reflects the Government's plans to improve support for carers through its forthcoming Carers Strategy.
Answered by David Mowat
The Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2016-17 set a clear expectation that carers should routinely be identified by services and given access to information and advice about the support available.
The Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2017-18 is currently being developed in consultation with NHS England and Healthwatch England, and will be published in due course.
Discussions are ongoing between the Government and NHS England to develop a range of actions to further support carers through the forthcoming Carers Strategy.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the implications of a reduction in the number of healthcare professionals trained to fit intra-uterine methods of contraception on women's access to contraception.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
No such assessment has been made. Since 2013, local authorities have been mandated to commission open access contraceptive services, including intra-uterine methods that meet the needs of their local populations. Data published by NHS Digital on 19 October 2016 showed that the number of women fitted with intra-uterine methods in sexual and reproductive health services increased slightly from 2014/15 (121,900) to 2015/16 (123,500) and by 79% compared to 10 years ago.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many pharmacies are now clustered.
Answered by David Mowat
We know that 40% of pharmacies are in clusters of three or more meaning that two-fifths of pharmacies are within 10 minutes’ walk of two or more other pharmacies.
But we also know that in many places there are far more than this. For example, on Loughborough Road in Leicester there are 12 pharmacies, all within 10 minutes’ walk of each other. Similarly on Clodeshall Road in Birmingham, there are 11 pharmacies within 10 minutes’ walk. There are many more examples of clusters of pharmacies throughout England, with one cluster in London of 18 pharmacies within 10 minutes of each other. The median average pharmacy currently receives £220,000 per year in National Health Service funding. This includes a fixed payment of £25,000 per year for almost all pharmacies, regardless of their size or quality. This represents an inefficient allocation of NHS funds.