Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to issue guidance on hospital eye services partnering with local optometrists to deliver local care.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
In England, integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the planning and commissioning of services to meet local needs. This includes decisions on how to configure services and whether to commission enhanced eye care services from primary eye care providers, which could include glaucoma monitoring and pre- and post-operative cataract checks.
NHS England have commissioned a range of pathfinder projects to examine how the current eye care pathways could be improved, including by the greater use of primary eye care providers. The outcomes of these projects will inform future commissioning decisions by ICBs.
In addition, to support ICBs in this area we are working with the profession and NHS England to develop a standard service specification for minor and urgent eye care services. These services have the potential to remove demand from hospital services and provide care for minor conditions closer to home.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
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 increase the availability of non-invasive cancer treatment technologies in the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
The adoption of new treatments, including increasing the number of minimally invasive cancer treatments, into the National Health Service in England is generally the result of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance and commissioner decisions. Both NHS England and integrated care boards (ICBs) are required to put in place access for any treatment that carries a positive recommendation from the Technology Appraisal programme, operated by NICE.
Where treatments are approved by NICE through the Technology Appraisals programme, the NHS is required to make them available within agreed timescales, which vary by technology. Implementation of any NICE approvals will be supported by the service readiness assessment and the development of additional capacity where necessary.
The NHS continues to increase investment in minimally invasive cancer therapies and radiotherapy and chemotherapy services. Since April 2022, the responsibility for investing in new radiotherapy machines has sat with local systems. This is supported by the 2021 Spending Review, which set aside £12 billion in operational capital for the NHS from 2022 to 2025.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued guidance to NHS bodies in East Antrim constituency on the use of out-of-date cancer treatment machinery.
Answered by Will Quince
Health policy is largely devolved, and the Government therefore has not issued guidance to National Health Service bodies in Northern Ireland on the use of out-of-date cancer treatment machinery. However, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is keen to work together with the Devolved Governments to improve health and care policy, including cancer policy, across the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
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 implications for his polices of the amendments to World Health Organization's International Health Regulations; and when he plans to publish his response to those proposed amendments.
Answered by Will Quince
The negotiations taking place at the World Health Organization (WHO) on the proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) are Member State led and no text or amendments have been agreed yet. We anticipate negotiations to continue until the 76th WHO World Health Assembly in May 2024.
The United Kingdom continues to negotiate the text of the amendments to the IHR to ensure they deliver on our priorities and provide the tools to achieve improvements globally in key areas of health emergency preparedness, prevention, and response.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
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 potential merits of mapping the UK's immunological research capacity for pandemic preparedness.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Life Sciences Vision committed the Government to delivering a Vaccines Healthcare Mission which will build on the United Kingdom’s deep expertise in vaccines to strengthen the UK life sciences ecosystem, with a particular focus on new and novel technologies.
The Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre has been established to strengthen UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) work in vaccine discovery, development and evaluation, with the aim of strengthening preparedness for future pandemics and other high consequence infectious diseases.
Through UKHSA the Government works on an ongoing basis with academia and industry to understand capacity and capability needs for pandemic preparedness and wider health threats. The UKHSA’s strategic approach to pandemic preparedness includes understanding and regularly reviewing UKHSA’s research capacity.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
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 effect of the covid-19 outbreak on performance against NHS targets.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
National Health Service performance statistics are published one month in arrears for urgent and emergency care and two months in arrears for elective care. The latest published statistics for urgent and emergency care are for March 2020 and the latest published statistics for elective care are for February 2020. These periods do allow an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 at this time.
The latest NHS performance statistics can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using a Crown licence obtain the drug Orkambi at an affordable price.
Answered by Steve Brine
It is right that patients should have access to cost-effective, innovative medicines at a price that is affordable to the National Health Service. As explained in the adjournment debate on 4 February, the Government is clear Crown Use is not a quick or easy solution but it is important we consider all options.
The manufacturer, Vertex, needs to agree the very generous offer that has been made so that patients who need Orkambi are able to access it on the NHS. This is in the best interests of patients.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of health and social care services for disabled children.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The commissioning of health and social care services is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups and local authorities respectively. Local commissioners are best placed to assess the needs of the local population, and commission accordingly. While waiting times for accessing some individual services for children are reported, there is no overall waiting time measure for access to services for disabled children.
Information is collected on wheelchair services; the latest published data for quarter four 2017/18 shows 82% of children whose episode of care was closed in that period received their equipment in 18 weeks or less. NHS England is working with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to understand what is contributing to waits above 18 weeks, and consider what actions will help to reduce these.
In 2014, the Government introduced a new statutory framework requiring local authorities and CCGs to commission jointly services for children with special educational needs and disability, across health, social care and education. Since 2014, £327 million has been given to local areas to support implementation of these new arrangements, in addition to the high needs budget for placements for pupils with complex special educational needs which is £6 billion this year – the highest it has ever been. Every local area’s arrangements are being inspected jointly by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, in addition to their role inspecting providers.
The 2015 Spending Review made available more than £200 billion until 2020 for councils to deliver services to local communities, including for provision of social care services for disabled children. The Government is conducting a review of the relative needs and resources of local authorities that will develop a robust, up-to-date approach to distributing funding across all local authorities in England at Local Government Finance Settlements, including for children’s services.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
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 trends in the level of waiting times for disabled children to access health and social care services in each of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The commissioning of health and social care services is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups and local authorities respectively. Local commissioners are best placed to assess the needs of the local population, and commission accordingly. While waiting times for accessing some individual services for children are reported, there is no overall waiting time measure for access to services for disabled children.
Information is collected on wheelchair services; the latest published data for quarter four 2017/18 shows 82% of children whose episode of care was closed in that period received their equipment in 18 weeks or less. NHS England is working with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to understand what is contributing to waits above 18 weeks, and consider what actions will help to reduce these.
In 2014, the Government introduced a new statutory framework requiring local authorities and CCGs to commission jointly services for children with special educational needs and disability, across health, social care and education. Since 2014, £327 million has been given to local areas to support implementation of these new arrangements, in addition to the high needs budget for placements for pupils with complex special educational needs which is £6 billion this year – the highest it has ever been. Every local area’s arrangements are being inspected jointly by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, in addition to their role inspecting providers.
The 2015 Spending Review made available more than £200 billion until 2020 for councils to deliver services to local communities, including for provision of social care services for disabled children. The Government is conducting a review of the relative needs and resources of local authorities that will develop a robust, up-to-date approach to distributing funding across all local authorities in England at Local Government Finance Settlements, including for children’s services.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of the level of funding allocated to the provision of (a) equipment and (b) treatment for disabled children.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The commissioning of health and social care services is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups and local authorities respectively. Local commissioners are best placed to assess the needs of the local population, and commission accordingly. While waiting times for accessing some individual services for children are reported, there is no overall waiting time measure for access to services for disabled children.
Information is collected on wheelchair services; the latest published data for quarter four 2017/18 shows 82% of children whose episode of care was closed in that period received their equipment in 18 weeks or less. NHS England is working with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to understand what is contributing to waits above 18 weeks, and consider what actions will help to reduce these.
In 2014, the Government introduced a new statutory framework requiring local authorities and CCGs to commission jointly services for children with special educational needs and disability, across health, social care and education. Since 2014, £327 million has been given to local areas to support implementation of these new arrangements, in addition to the high needs budget for placements for pupils with complex special educational needs which is £6 billion this year – the highest it has ever been. Every local area’s arrangements are being inspected jointly by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, in addition to their role inspecting providers.
The 2015 Spending Review made available more than £200 billion until 2020 for councils to deliver services to local communities, including for provision of social care services for disabled children. The Government is conducting a review of the relative needs and resources of local authorities that will develop a robust, up-to-date approach to distributing funding across all local authorities in England at Local Government Finance Settlements, including for children’s services.