Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
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 impact of average ambulance response times in 2022 on (a) stroke survival rates, (b) rates of permanent disability following a stroke and (c) timely access to mechanical thrombectomy for stroke patients.
Answered by Will Quince
Category 2 calls are ‘emergency’ calls, including serious time-sensitive incidents such as strokes and heart attacks.
There is evidence that mechanical thrombectomy performed within six hours of the onset of symptoms can reduce brain damage and prevent or limit long-term disability. NHS England has allocated an additional £150 million for ambulance services in 2022/23, supporting improvements to response times through additional call handler recruitment, retention and other funding requirements.
NHS England is implementing video triage in ambulances for stroke patients. This provides a video consultation from home or in an ambulance with a hospital-based stroke clinician to advise paramedics on the appropriate action for the patient, such as thrombectomy or the relevant hospital for treatment.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure hospitals offer 24/7 access to interventional radiology services.
Answered by Will Quince
In England, 34 National Health Service acute trusts currently provide 24 hours a day, seven days a week access to interventional radiology (IR) services. Where necessary, patients are diverted to trusts which deliver these services. National IR services are supported by an imaging network, which will develop alongside services as provision increases.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 20 December 2021 to Question 89536 on Mechanical Thrombectomy, how many of the 150 whole time equivalent interventional neuroradiologists required to deliver resilient and sustainable thrombectomy services have been recruited since 20 December 2021.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much capital investment funding has been allocated to expanding mechanical thrombectomy services in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Radiologists’ Clinical radiology census report 2021, what assessment he has made of the conclusion that 55 per cent of clinical directors reported that they do not have enough interventional radiologists to deliver safe and effective patient care.
Answered by Will Quince
No specific assessment has been made. Individual employers are responsible for ensuring the appropriate staff are available and trained to undertake their duties. There has been an increase of 63% in entry points in clinical radiology specialty training places from 2016 to 2021. In addition, through the Spending Review there has been an increase in funding for ST6 year for interventional radiologists for 20 places in 2021/22 and 2022/23.
As of July 2022, there were 5,040 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the National Health Service in England in the sub-specialism of clinical radiology. This is an increase of 5.7% since July 2021 and 55.4% since July 2010 and includes doctors in training grades, specialists and doctors on other contracts. The consultant clinical radiologist workforce has increased by 4.3% since July 2021 and 53.7% since July 2010. Health Education England is implementing the priorities identified in the cancer workforce plan phase 1 and is investing an additional £50 million in 2022/23 to expand the cancer and diagnostics workforce, including postgraduate medical training of cancer-related medical professions, such as interventional radiologists.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
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 28 per cent shortfall of interventional radiology consultants as identified in the Royal College of Radiologists’ clinical radiology workforce census 2021.
Answered by Will Quince
No specific assessment has been made. Individual employers are responsible for ensuring the appropriate staff are available and trained to undertake their duties. There has been an increase of 63% in entry points in clinical radiology specialty training places from 2016 to 2021. In addition, through the Spending Review there has been an increase in funding for ST6 year for interventional radiologists for 20 places in 2021/22 and 2022/23.
As of July 2022, there were 5,040 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the National Health Service in England in the sub-specialism of clinical radiology. This is an increase of 5.7% since July 2021 and 55.4% since July 2010 and includes doctors in training grades, specialists and doctors on other contracts. The consultant clinical radiologist workforce has increased by 4.3% since July 2021 and 53.7% since July 2010. Health Education England is implementing the priorities identified in the cancer workforce plan phase 1 and is investing an additional £50 million in 2022/23 to expand the cancer and diagnostics workforce, including postgraduate medical training of cancer-related medical professions, such as interventional radiologists.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Defence to support and resettle at-risk judges from Afghanistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, over 21,000 people have already been brought from Afghanistan to the UK, including judges and legal professionals. We continue to work with likeminded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan to support safe passage for eligible Afghans.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to make it easier for people in receipt of benefits to train as HGV drivers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government has taken 32 specific measures to deal with the shortage of HGV drivers. These include the Large Goods Vehicle Driver apprenticeship standard with a funding band of £7,000 and the Urban Driver apprenticeship with a funding band of £5,000. The Government has also extended its £3,000 incentive payment for every apprentice a business hires to 31 January 2022.
The Department for Education is investing £34 million in skills bootcamps to train just over 11,000 more people to become HGV drivers. An additional 1,000 people are expected to be trained through the Government’s adult education budget.
The Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus are supporting an HGV driver training pilot scheme. Jobcentre Plus is also able to make Flexible Support Fund grants available to those who are unemployed or are in receipt of Universal Credit. It can be used to help those that hold an HGV licence but need to renew their Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC).
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support people affected by a rise in insurance premiums as a result of living in buildings with unsafe cladding.
Answered by Michael Gove - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
We are working with the insurance industry to address the challenges experienced by leaseholders facing increasing building insurance costs.
Ministers continue to press insurers to take a proportionate approach to pricing insurance.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding the Government has provided to thrombectomy since the adoption of the NHS Long Term Plan.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The total investment in thrombectomy since 2017/18 will be £57.8 million by the end of 2021/22.