Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not routinely collect or publish data on (a) the staffing of arm’s length bodies (ALBs) broken down by earnings band, or (b) what the Hon. Member describes as the ‘total unfunded public sector pension liability’. However, in most cases, the ALBs in question publish their own data on staffing, remuneration, and pension schemes in each body’s annual report and accounts, which are publicly available on GOV.UK.
The Hon. Member can also find details of staff numbers broken down by grade for each ALB, and their overall paybill, in the Workforce Management Information statistics published by the Department each month, the latest edition of which, for June 2026, are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dhsc-workforce-management-information
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many FTE equivalent staff in (a) their Department and (b) each Arm's Length Body it sponsors are dedicated to fulfilment of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED); what the (i) annual employment and (ii) total annual cost incurred is as a result of PSED and compliance with PSED for each of those bodies; what the outputs are from the work of PSED teams and personnel dedicated to PSED; and if they will publish an assessment of their Department's compliance with PSED.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The requested data is not centrally held by the Department, and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to monitor NHS Trusts' adherence to (a) General Medical Council and (b) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on patient records.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Each National Health Service trust is a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018, and therefore responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of their records. To assist trusts in fulfilling these responsibilities, a range of guidance and assurance is in place.
For example, NHS England publishes a Code of Practice on Records Management for all NHS trusts to follow. This covers all aspects of records management, including the accuracy and reliability of medical records. Each trust is responsible for following the principles and guidance set out in the code, which may include local measures, such as a record keeping audit, or monitoring the availability of records.
In addition, in line with the Code of Practice, NHS trusts are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate policies and procedures in place to manage their records. This will usually be a standalone records management policy, with associated procedures, such as how to destroy records.
Furthermore, NHS England’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) requires NHS trusts to understand legal and professional obligations for records management. The DSPT involves a periodic audit in which trusts have to demonstrate they are adhering to this requirement.
Regulators also set out professional standards for health and care professionals. For example, the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice requires doctors to make sure that formal records of their work, including patients' records, are clear, accurate, contemporaneous, and legible.
The Care Quality Commission has powers, under section 63(2)(b) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to access records held by the service that they are inspecting, where necessary, as part of their regulatory functions.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that NHS Trusts adhere to national guidelines on the (a) accuracy and (b) reliability of medical records.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Each National Health Service trust is a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018, and therefore responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of their records. To assist trusts in fulfilling these responsibilities, a range of guidance and assurance is in place.
For example, NHS England publishes a Code of Practice on Records Management for all NHS trusts to follow. This covers all aspects of records management, including the accuracy and reliability of medical records. Each trust is responsible for following the principles and guidance set out in the code, which may include local measures, such as a record keeping audit, or monitoring the availability of records.
In addition, in line with the Code of Practice, NHS trusts are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate policies and procedures in place to manage their records. This will usually be a standalone records management policy, with associated procedures, such as how to destroy records.
Furthermore, NHS England’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) requires NHS trusts to understand legal and professional obligations for records management. The DSPT involves a periodic audit in which trusts have to demonstrate they are adhering to this requirement.
Regulators also set out professional standards for health and care professionals. For example, the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice requires doctors to make sure that formal records of their work, including patients' records, are clear, accurate, contemporaneous, and legible.
The Care Quality Commission has powers, under section 63(2)(b) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to access records held by the service that they are inspecting, where necessary, as part of their regulatory functions.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) policies and (b) procedures are in place across NHS Trusts to ensure that medical records are (i) accurate and (ii) evidence-based.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Each National Health Service trust is a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018, and therefore responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of their records. To assist trusts in fulfilling these responsibilities, a range of guidance and assurance is in place.
For example, NHS England publishes a Code of Practice on Records Management for all NHS trusts to follow. This covers all aspects of records management, including the accuracy and reliability of medical records. Each trust is responsible for following the principles and guidance set out in the code, which may include local measures, such as a record keeping audit, or monitoring the availability of records.
In addition, in line with the Code of Practice, NHS trusts are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate policies and procedures in place to manage their records. This will usually be a standalone records management policy, with associated procedures, such as how to destroy records.
Furthermore, NHS England’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) requires NHS trusts to understand legal and professional obligations for records management. The DSPT involves a periodic audit in which trusts have to demonstrate they are adhering to this requirement.
Regulators also set out professional standards for health and care professionals. For example, the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice requires doctors to make sure that formal records of their work, including patients' records, are clear, accurate, contemporaneous, and legible.
The Care Quality Commission has powers, under section 63(2)(b) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to access records held by the service that they are inspecting, where necessary, as part of their regulatory functions.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for ophthalmology patients following referral.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We are taking action to recover elective services, including for patients waiting for National Health Service ophthalmology services by working towards the targets set out in the Elective Recovery Plan and providing the NHS with record levels of staffing and funding.
We are working together with NHS England to increase diagnostic capacity as quickly as possible including the continued rollout of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) in 2023. The Government has also confirmed it is now on track to meet its target to open up to 160 CDCs by March 2025, and expects to achieve this a year early in March 2024. This includes an established CDC at Whitehouse Health Centre, to which general practitioners in Bedfordshire may be able to refer patients for key diagnostic checks, tests, and scans, including ophthalmology. The funding will also be used to increase capacity for imaging and improving digital diagnostics.
We are also transforming the way the NHS provides elective care by increasing activity through dedicated and protected surgical hubs, focusing on providing high volume low complexity surgery, such as ophthalmology. There are currently 95 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England as of 16 November 2023. These surgical hubs will help separate elective care facilities from urgent and emergency care. An additional £1.5 billion of capital funding has been approved to support the expansion of existing surgical hub sites as well as the creation of more hubs in all regions.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve survival rates for people with pulmonary fibrosis.
Answered by Will Quince
Patients with pulmonary fibrosis are cared for by National Health Service regional specialist interstitial lung disease (ILD) services. These are commissioned by NHS England.
To be referred to a specialist service, patients need to be identified in primary and secondary care. Early and accurate diagnosis is a priority for NHS England, and the work to improve this area of clinical care is underway, which should have an impact on reducing delayed diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis.
NHS England is responsible for the commissioning of services for ILD and funds the cost of anti-fibrotic treatments to treat this disease. Access to these treatments has recently been expanded to patients with non-idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis following the publication of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisal ‘Nintedanib for treating progressive fibrosing interstitial lung diseases’ in November 2021.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce regional variation in the dementia diagnosis rate.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network has been commissioned by NHS England to develop a resource to support investigation of the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates. The aim of this work is to provide context for variation and enable targeted investigation and provision of support at a local level to enhance diagnosis rates. The tool has been released and is available via the NHS Futures Collaboration platform.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the level of awareness of motor neurone disease patients of their right to a carer's assessment; and if he will take steps to (a) identify and (b) help tackle barriers to securing a carer's assessment.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department has no plans to make an assessment of the level of awareness of motor neurone disease patients of their right to a carers’ assessment. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake a Carer’s Assessment for any unpaid carer who appears to have a need for support and to meet their eligible needs on request from the carer.
The Health and Care Act 2022 includes provisions for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to assess the performance of local authorities’ delivery of their adult social care duties as set out in part one of the Care Act 2014, including local authorities’ responsibilities to undertake an assessment of a carer's needs of support. CQC's duties will commence from April 2023.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
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 whether the needs of patients with fibromyalgia are being met by the NHS.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
No assessment has been made. The majority of patients with fibromyalgia can be cared for in primary care settings. To support healthcare professionals and commissioners in meeting the needs of patients, there is National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance available on the diagnosis and management of chronic pain conditions, including fibromyalgia.
The Fibromyalgia Association UK has also worked with healthcare professionals to develop a guidance for health professionals.