Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) companies and (b) subsidiaries trading under (i) E-Harley Healthcare Services Ltd and (ii) Harley Street Health Online Ltd been subject to rulings by the Care Quality Commission.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) can bring prosecutions and civil enforcement action against providers. The CQC has not brought any criminal prosecutions against E-Harley Healthcare Services Ltd and Harley Street Health Online Ltd. All prosecutions are published on the CQC website, and are available at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/how-we-do-our-job/prosecutions
The CQC can also bring civil enforcement action against a provider, which includes warning notices. In September 2021, the CQC urgently suspended registration of Harley Street Healthcare Ltd for breaches of Regulation 17 (Good Governance) of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) Newington Road Surgery limited, (b) Lockwood Surgery prime health ltd, (c) Fieldhead health limited, (d) Mid Dorset primary healthcare limited, (e) Fieldhead property ltd, (f) Fieldhead medical services ltd, (g) Lockwood property ltd, (h) Gamaq Lockwood limited, (i) Gamaq Nook limited, (j) Viaduct care network limited, (k) Greenwood PCN limited and (l) Blue PCN limited have been subject to rulings by the Care Quality Commission.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) can bring prosecutions against providers. The CQC has not brought any criminal prosecutions against any of the providers referred to in the Hon. Member’s question. All prosecutions are published on the CQC website, and are available at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/how-we-do-our-job/prosecutions
The CQC can also bring civil enforcement action against providers, which includes warning notices. The CQC issued Newington Road Surgery Limited with two warning notices in June 2019, for breaches of Regulations 13 (Safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment) and Regulation 17 (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
The CQC also issued two further warning notices to this provider in March 2022 for breaches of Regulations 12 (Safe care and treatment) and Regulation 17 (Good governance).
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NAO report Investigation into supply chain finance in the NHS, HC 734, published on 29 October 2021, what the costs have been to NHS Trusts which used the Earnd of switching to alternative salary advancement initiatives.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
As detailed in the National Audit Office (NAO) report, of the seven National Health Service trusts reported on by the NAO as having used the EARND scheme, two were reported as having lost money totalling £21,429. NHS England was not aware of any other NHS trusts losing money through the EARND scheme.
The identities of the seven NHS trusts were anonymised in the NAO report and therefore it is not possible to provide information on the costs to these trusts of using alternative salary advance schemes since the date of the report.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any NHS suffered a financial shortfall from the Earnd scheme following the failure of Greensill Capital.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
As detailed in the National Audit Office (NAO) report, of the seven National Health Service trusts reported on by the NAO as having used the EARND scheme, two were reported as having lost money totalling £21,429. NHS England was not aware of any other NHS trusts losing money through the EARND scheme.
The identities of the seven NHS trusts were anonymised in the NAO report and therefore it is not possible to provide information on the costs to these trusts of using alternative salary advance schemes since the date of the report.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2023 to Question 184346 on Protective Clothing: Contracts and with reference to the National Audit Office report entitled Investigation into the management of PPE contracts published 30 Mar 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's findings that not all due diligence checks on companies not were completed before contracts were awarded for personal protective equipment procurement.
Answered by Will Quince
The 2022 National Audit Office (NAO) refers to an ‘eight stage due diligence process’, a term used by the NAO to describe a structured process of checks and due diligence on potential suppliers of personal protective equipment (PPE) which formalised the checks quickly put in place by the cross-Government PPE procurement cell and which evolved in March and April 2020. The final step was the introduction of a central clearance board on 4 May 2020 to perform checks previously performed by the Department’s Accounting Officer to add an extra level of assurance that the deal met our requirements. From the start all suppliers were evaluated by officials on financial standing, technical compliance and ability to perform the contract.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many due diligence checks on companies not were completed before contracts were awarded for personal protective equipment procurement.
Answered by Will Quince
All offers of personal protective equipment submitted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic went through a structured, documented due diligence process before a contract was awarded by the Department.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 120948 on Unispace Global: Contracts, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential tax implications of the novation of the contracts from a limited company to a limited liability partnership.
Answered by Will Quince
Legal advice was not sought by the Department on the change in legal structure of the counterparties to the contracts nor of the potential tax implications of the novation of the contracts as this did not affect the terms of the contracts, including the payments to be made by the Department or the supply of products to the Department.
Under the change of structure, Unispace Global Ltd was acquired by Unispace Health Products LLP, which changed its name to Sante Global LLP shortly afterwards. A novation agreement was entered into to change the counterparty to the contracts, where the new counterparty agreed to perform all of the present and future obligations of the contracts.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 120948 on Unispace Global: Contracts, whether his Department sought legal advice on the potential implications of novating a contract from a limited company to a limited liability partnership.
Answered by Will Quince
Legal advice was not sought by the Department on the change in legal structure of the counterparties to the contracts nor of the potential tax implications of the novation of the contracts as this did not affect the terms of the contracts, including the payments to be made by the Department or the supply of products to the Department.
Under the change of structure, Unispace Global Ltd was acquired by Unispace Health Products LLP, which changed its name to Sante Global LLP shortly afterwards. A novation agreement was entered into to change the counterparty to the contracts, where the new counterparty agreed to perform all of the present and future obligations of the contracts.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 120948 on Unispace Global: Contracts, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the reasons cited for the novation of PPE contracts from Unispace Global Ltd to Sante Global LLP.
Answered by Will Quince
Legal advice was not sought by the Department on the change in legal structure of the counterparties to the contracts nor of the potential tax implications of the novation of the contracts as this did not affect the terms of the contracts, including the payments to be made by the Department or the supply of products to the Department.
Under the change of structure, Unispace Global Ltd was acquired by Unispace Health Products LLP, which changed its name to Sante Global LLP shortly afterwards. A novation agreement was entered into to change the counterparty to the contracts, where the new counterparty agreed to perform all of the present and future obligations of the contracts.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 120948 on Unispace Global: Contracts, whether the settlement reached in July 2021 required Sante Global LLP to deliver on the obligations in the original Unispace Global contract; whether any of the obligations in the original contract were waived as part of the new settlement; and what proportion of the original contractual obligations have now been met.
Answered by Will Quince
I must begin by correcting the record regarding the date of the settlement. An agreement resolving the dispute was signed in July 2022, whereas the earlier Parliamentary response refers to a settlement having been reached in July 2021. I have made arrangements for the record to be corrected in Hansard.
I can confirm that the obligations to deliver product have been fully met, with the last delivery of replacement products having been received on 17 October 2022.