Asked by: Paul Uppal (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patient safety incidents have occurred in England in each year since 2000.
Answered by Dan Poulter
We do not hold information on the number of patient safety incidents that have occurred in England in each year since 2000. Patient Safety Incidents occurring in the National Health Service are reported to the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) whose primary purpose is to enable learning from patient safety incidents. The NRLS was established in late 2003 as a largely voluntary scheme for reporting patient safety incidents, and therefore it does not provide the definitive number of patient safety incidents occurring in the NHS. However, from 1 April 2010 it became mandatory for all providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (including all NHS trusts and foundation trusts) in England to report all serious patient safety incidents to the Care Quality Commission. To avoid duplication of reporting, providers of NHS services are encouraged to report all incidents resulting in death or severe harm to the NRLS which then reports them to the Care Quality Commission.
At present, more than 100,000 patient safety incidents (including those resulting in no harm) are reported to the NRLS each month. However, these data are collated on a quarterly, rather than monthly basis. Detailed breakdowns on incidents reported are published twice-yearly and can be accessed via the following link:
http://www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/resources/collections/quarterly-data-summaries/
The most recent spreadsheet providing quarterly data for the number of patient safety incidents reported to the NRLS from October 2003 to June 2014 is attached.
The NRLS is a dynamic reporting system, and the number of incidents recorded as occurring at any point in time may increase as a greater proportion of incidents are reported. Experience in other industries has shown that as an organisation’s reporting culture matures, staff become more likely to report incidents.
Asked by: Paul Uppal (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS Trusts on (a) increasing the number of hospitals that are able to collect umbilical cord blood for transport and (b) promoting the donation of umbilical cord blood for transplant.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS Blood and Transport (NHSBT) manages the NHS Cord Blood Bank and provides specialist services related to the provision of stem cells which can turn into blood cells for the treatment of blood cancers. This service is an integral part of the Anthony Nolan and NHS Stem Cell Registry. NHSBT is also responsible for raising awareness of these issues, in collaboration with its delivery partners. NHSBT has informed the Department that it has no plans to open new collection centres at present.
Asked by: Paul Uppal (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Revenue and Customs has taken to improve online customer service in the last 12 months.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) published its Digital Strategy in December 2012 to deliver a transparent tax system enabled by customer-focused digital services which are straightforward and convenient to use.
HMRC have subsequently begun to transform its products and services as part of the Government’s digital by default agenda.
HMRC is doing this through the development of Digital Exemplar services such as for Self Assessment and Pay As You Earn and recently the Tax Credits online renewal service which enabled more than 400,000 customers to renew their tax credits online this year.
Asked by: Paul Uppal (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of endometriosis.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Information on endometriosis is readily available to healthcare professionals and the public. Both the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and NHS Choices have published information for the public on the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis. Further information can be found on the RCOG website:
www.rcog.org.uk/womens-health/clinical-guidance/endometriosis-what-you-need-know
and NHS Choices website:
www.nhs.uk/conditions/Endometriosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx
To support women with endometriosis all obstetricians and gynaecologists have been trained in the diagnosis, investigation and management of the condition, which is specifically listed as a topic in the core curriculum for obstetrics and gynaecology. The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology has published clinical guidelines on the management of women with endometriosis to assist clinicians.
In addition, NHS England has developed a service specification for severe endometriosis under the specialised commissioning area of complex gynaecology. NHS England expects all units providing a service to women with severe endometriosis to provide care which meets the standards laid out in a specification which can be found on their website:
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/e10-comp-gynae-endom-0414.pdf
Asked by: Paul Uppal (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to help women suffering from endometriosis.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Information on endometriosis is readily available to healthcare professionals and the public. Both the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and NHS Choices have published information for the public on the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis. Further information can be found on the RCOG website:
www.rcog.org.uk/womens-health/clinical-guidance/endometriosis-what-you-need-know
and NHS Choices website:
www.nhs.uk/conditions/Endometriosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx
To support women with endometriosis all obstetricians and gynaecologists have been trained in the diagnosis, investigation and management of the condition, which is specifically listed as a topic in the core curriculum for obstetrics and gynaecology. The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology has published clinical guidelines on the management of women with endometriosis to assist clinicians.
In addition, NHS England has developed a service specification for severe endometriosis under the specialised commissioning area of complex gynaecology. NHS England expects all units providing a service to women with severe endometriosis to provide care which meets the standards laid out in a specification which can be found on their website:
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/e10-comp-gynae-endom-0414.pdf
Asked by: Paul Uppal (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Iranian counterpart about the destruction of an historically important Bahá'í cemetery in Shiraz.
Answered by Hugh Robertson
I was deeply concerned to learn of the destruction of a Baha'i cemetery in Shiraz, where approximately 950 Baha'is are buried. On 14 May 2014, I made a statement on this issue, calling for Iran to abide by its international commitments to ensure all Iranians are free to practice their religion without fear of persecution. This includes protection of religious sites.
Asked by: Paul Uppal (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on the applicability of the end-of-life criteria to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's appraisal of abiraterone acetate for the treatment of metastatic hormone relapsed prostate cancer not previously treated with chemotherapy.
Answered by Norman Lamb
Since January 2013, the Department has received four questions from hon. Members, including his own, regarding the applicability of end-of-life criteria in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's appraisal of abiraterone (Zytiga) for the treatment of metastatic hormone relapsed prostate cancer not previously treated with chemotherapy.
In addition, we have received one letter from an hon. Member regarding this particular appraisal more generally.
Asked by: Paul Uppal (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what figures he holds on the life expectancy of men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government's Mandate to NHS England sets out an ambition to make England one of the most successful countries in Europe at preventing premature deaths from all cancers, including prostate cancer.
Cancer indicators in the NHS Outcomes Framework and the Public Health Outcomes Framework will help NHS England to assess progress in improving cancer survival and mortality for men with prostate cancer.
Data related to men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer is not collected to permit the calculation of a reliable figure for average life expectancy.
However, Cancer Research UK has estimated that men with advanced, incurable prostate cancer treated in trials or under drug access schemes at the Royal Marsden Hospital survived on average 41 months, compared to between 13 and 16 months 10 years ago.
Asked by: Paul Uppal (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local authority pension funds to become signatories to the Stewardship Code.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Each local authority that administers a pension fund is already subject to statutory guidance that states that it should recognise the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code and ensure that the Code is adopted by their fund managers, investment consultants and advisers. The guidance also states that the authority should include a statement of its policy on responsible ownership in its statement of the principles governing its investment decisions and report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of the policy. Sixteen of the eighty nine local government pension funds in England and Wales are themselves signatories to the Stewardship Code as asset owners.
Asked by: Paul Uppal (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local authority pension funds to become active owners or stewards of their assets as defined in the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Each local authority that administers a pension fund is already subject to statutory guidance that states that it should recognise the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code and ensure that the Code is adopted by their fund managers, investment consultants and advisers. The guidance also states that the authority should include a statement of its policy on responsible ownership in its statement of the principles governing its investment decisions and report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of the policy. Sixteen of the eighty nine local government pension funds in England and Wales are themselves signatories to the Stewardship Code as asset owners.