Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
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 timeframe GPs have to authorise repeat prescriptions.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no set timeframe for which general practitioners (GPs) must authorise repeat prescriptions. However, GPs should ensure that their patients know when to request the next batch of their repeat prescriptions, to allow sufficient time for it to be authorised and dispensed.
Under the GP Contract, practices in England are able to transfer any clinically appropriate patients onto Electronic Repeat Dispensing if they are already receiving, or have agreed to receive electronic prescriptions. This means, for patients who regularly receive the same medicine, GPs can issue up to 12 months’ worth of regular prescriptions without the patient needing to visit their GP. Instead, the prescription can be sent straight to their pharmacist for dispensing.
GPs are also required to offer patients the ability to order repeat prescriptions for drugs, medicines, and appliances online.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
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 adequacy of the uptake of breast cancer screening in (a) London and (b) the North East London Health and Care Partnership.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Uptake of breast screening declined during the pandemic but is now increasing although London uptake levels remains below England levels. The national acceptable level for coverage in the NHS Breast Screening Programme is 70%.
The following table shows the 2022/23 coverage by local authority in the North East London Health and Care Partnership, with an average coverage of 50.8%:
Local authority | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
Barking and Dagenham | 59.9 | 61.0 |
Hackney and City of London | 54.9 | 47.5 |
Havering | 73.4 | 73.7 |
Newham | 53.0 | 47.9 |
Redbridge | 58.8 | 58.9 |
Tower Hamlets | 52.2 | 46.1 |
Waltham Forest | 60.3 | 58.2 |
London | 55.5 | 55.9 |
England | 65.3 | 66.4 |
Source: Breast screening annual statistics, NHS England
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times have neonatal units in the North East London Health & Care Partnership reached capacity since 1 May 2022.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold this data centrally. NHS England is investing £45 million to increase neonatal cot capacity. This investment has started to improve cot capacity in London, and will continue to do so by March 2025.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of trends in vacancy rates for midwives in (a) England, (b) London and (c) the North East London Health and Care Partnership.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific recent assessment has been made. The Government will continue to work with the National Health Service as it delivers its three-year maternity and neonatal plan to grow the maternity workforce, develop a culture of safety, and ensure women receive safe, compassionate care. NHS England is boosting the midwifery workforce through undergraduate training, apprenticeships, postgraduate conversion, and return to midwifery programmes. Theme two of the Three Year Delivery Plan covers growing, retaining, and supporting our workforce. This includes establishing a retention midwife in every unit to co-ordinate recruitment and retainment activities for their own units.