Asked by: Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat - Esher and Walton)
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 potential merits of routine monitoring of infant head circumference after 8 weeks of age as a diagnostic tool for early identification of hydrocephalus.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is vitally important that babies are diagnosed as early as possible so treatment can be provided. Current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance recommends measuring the head circumference of babies in the first week, at approximately eight weeks, and at other times only if there are concerns. The baby’s general practitioner, or nominated primary care examiner, has responsibility for ensuring the six-to-eight-week newborn infant physical examination screen, where head size is measured, is completed for all registered babies. The Department is seeking advice from the NICE and the royal colleges on the value of a clinical review of the current guidelines surrounding infant head circumference.
The Healthy Child Programme sets out the requirements for health visiting services, including five mandated reviews, where the child’s health and development is assessed. This includes when the baby is 10 to 14 days old, and at six to eight weeks old, as well as additional contacts depending on need, providing an opportunity to identify any health or development concerns and to make appropriate referrals. The Department and the NHS National Disease Registration Service do not hold information on the proportion of infants diagnosed after eight weeks.
Asked by: Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of infants with hydrocephalus initially present symptoms after 8 weeks of age.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is vitally important that babies are diagnosed as early as possible so treatment can be provided. Current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance recommends measuring the head circumference of babies in the first week, at approximately eight weeks, and at other times only if there are concerns. The baby’s general practitioner, or nominated primary care examiner, has responsibility for ensuring the six-to-eight-week newborn infant physical examination screen, where head size is measured, is completed for all registered babies. The Department is seeking advice from the NICE and the royal colleges on the value of a clinical review of the current guidelines surrounding infant head circumference.
The Healthy Child Programme sets out the requirements for health visiting services, including five mandated reviews, where the child’s health and development is assessed. This includes when the baby is 10 to 14 days old, and at six to eight weeks old, as well as additional contacts depending on need, providing an opportunity to identify any health or development concerns and to make appropriate referrals. The Department and the NHS National Disease Registration Service do not hold information on the proportion of infants diagnosed after eight weeks.
Asked by: Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many community pharmacies have closed in (a) Surrey and (b) Esher and Walton constituency in each year since 2019.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since 2019, there have been a total of 39 pharmacy closures in Surrey, and four in the Esher and Walton Constituency. In Surrey, this has broken down as: seven closures in 2019; six in 2020; four in 2021; two in 2022; and 15 in 2023, with a further five having closed between January and 30 September 2024. In Esher and Walton, there were no closures between 2019 and 2022. Three closed in 2023, and one closed between January and 30 September 2024.
We are aware of the reduction in the number of pharmacies in recent years, and recognise that pharmacy closures can impact on local communities. Local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served, and must keep these assessments under review. Integrated care boards give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from the new contractors. Contractors can also apply to open a new pharmacy to offer benefits to patients that were not foreseen by the PNA.
Patients can also access the approximately 400 Distance Selling Pharmacies who must operate nationally and send medicines to patients’ home free of charge. In rural areas, dispensing doctors can also supply medicines.
Asked by: Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of community pharmacy closures on (a) local health provision and (b) patient outcomes in (i) England and (ii) Surrey.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since 2019, there have been a total of 39 pharmacy closures in Surrey, and four in the Esher and Walton Constituency. In Surrey, this has broken down as: seven closures in 2019; six in 2020; four in 2021; two in 2022; and 15 in 2023, with a further five having closed between January and 30 September 2024. In Esher and Walton, there were no closures between 2019 and 2022. Three closed in 2023, and one closed between January and 30 September 2024.
We are aware of the reduction in the number of pharmacies in recent years, and recognise that pharmacy closures can impact on local communities. Local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served, and must keep these assessments under review. Integrated care boards give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from the new contractors. Contractors can also apply to open a new pharmacy to offer benefits to patients that were not foreseen by the PNA.
Patients can also access the approximately 400 Distance Selling Pharmacies who must operate nationally and send medicines to patients’ home free of charge. In rural areas, dispensing doctors can also supply medicines.
Asked by: Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to improve the (a) performance of and (b) patient experience at the GP practices in the bottom 5% of the 2024 GP Patient Survey.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that general practices (GPs) are working hard to deliver for their patients, and are delivering more appointments than ever before, however we know that some patients are struggling to access the care they need, and GPs are struggling to deliver it.
The GP Contract requires NHS England to arrange an annual review of GP contractors’ performance against their contractual obligations. Integrated care boards also consider concerns or complaints raised by patients, and can take action where services are not meeting the needs of their local population.
Asked by: Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average GP practice patient list is; what the largest patient list was at a GP practice in 2023-4; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of GP list sizes on patient (a) experience and (b) outcomes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on patients registered at a general practice (GP) is published on a monthly basis, and is as follows for 2023/24: at the beginning of 2023/24, 1 April 2023, the largest practice had 106,308 patients, and the median average practice had 8,383 patients; and at the end of 2023/24, 1 April 2024, the largest practice had 98,469 patients, and the median average practice had 8,620 patients.
NHS England has overall responsibility for ensuring that there are sufficient primary medical services to meet the reasonable requirements of patients throughout the country. To do so, they will contract providers, such as GPs, to provide these services. GPs are required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs of the patients registered at their practice. This includes making their own workforce plans, and so there is no Government recommendation for how many patients a GP should have assigned.
We expect commissioners to act if services are not meeting the reasonable needs of their patients. Under GP Contract regulations, practices can apply to their commissioner to close their patient list to new registrations for a period of time for a number of reasons, including workload and staffing considerations.
This data is taken from the Patients Registered at a GP Practice data set, from NHS England Digital. It should be noted that practices can operate across multiple sites or use a digital first approach, which can account for a particularly large patient list. Further information on the data set is available at the following link:
Asked by: Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average per-patient funding for GP practices was in (a) England and (b) NHS Surrey Heartlands in 2023-4.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This data is published annually by NHS England in the NHS Payments to General Practice Report and will be available in due course.