Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Government plans to publish the new carers strategy.
Answered by David Mowat
The Department expects to publish the new national strategy for carers in the spring. No publication date has yet been set.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients have had to wait longer than (a) two weeks, (b) five weeks, (c) 10 weeks and (d) 15 weeks between being assessed for hip replacement surgery and that surgery taking place.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Information is collected representing the time from decision to admit to treatment for knee and hip replacement surgery. The latest available data is for 2015-16 and is shown in the following table.
A count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) 1 with an eligible time waited from decision to admit to treatment for main2 or secondary3 procedure for hip and knee replacements (and revisions) with waiting times (in days) of two and five weeks (14 - 35 days), between five and 10 weeks (36 - 70 days), between 10 and 15 weeks (71 - 105 days) and longer than 15 weeks (106 days and over) in England for 2015-16
Time Waited (Days) | Hip operations (FAEs) | Knee operations (FAEs) |
2-5 weeks (14-35 days) | 8,826 | 9,341 |
5-10 weeks (36-70 days) | 17,893 | 19,672 |
10-15 weeks (71-105 days) | 16,220 | 18,992 |
15 weeks and over (106 days and over) | 20,941 | 27,169 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Digital, Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector
Notes
The total number of eligible admissions includes waiting list, booked admissions and planned (elective) admissions. A waiting list admission is one in which a patient has been admitted electively into hospital from a waiting list, having been given no date of admission at the time a decision to admit was made. Booked admissions are those in which the patient was admitted electively having been given a date at the time it was decided to admit. Planned admissions are usually part of a planned sequence of clinical care determined mainly on clinical criteria, which, for example, could require a series of events, perhaps taking place every three months, six months or annually. A FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.
The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures.
As well as the main procedure, there are up to 23 (11 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and three prior to 2002-03) secondary procedure fields in HES that show secondary procedures performed on the patient during the episode of care.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients have waited longer than (a) two weeks, (b) five weeks, (c) 10 weeks and (d) 15 weeks between an assessment for knee replacement surgery and for that surgery taking place.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Information is collected representing the time from decision to admit to treatment for knee and hip replacement surgery. The latest available data is for 2015-16 and is shown in the following table.
A count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) 1 with an eligible time waited from decision to admit to treatment for main2 or secondary3 procedure for hip and knee replacements (and revisions) with waiting times (in days) of two and five weeks (14 - 35 days), between five and 10 weeks (36 - 70 days), between 10 and 15 weeks (71 - 105 days) and longer than 15 weeks (106 days and over) in England for 2015-16
Time Waited (Days) | Hip operations (FAEs) | Knee operations (FAEs) |
2-5 weeks (14-35 days) | 8,826 | 9,341 |
5-10 weeks (36-70 days) | 17,893 | 19,672 |
10-15 weeks (71-105 days) | 16,220 | 18,992 |
15 weeks and over (106 days and over) | 20,941 | 27,169 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Digital, Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector
Notes
The total number of eligible admissions includes waiting list, booked admissions and planned (elective) admissions. A waiting list admission is one in which a patient has been admitted electively into hospital from a waiting list, having been given no date of admission at the time a decision to admit was made. Booked admissions are those in which the patient was admitted electively having been given a date at the time it was decided to admit. Planned admissions are usually part of a planned sequence of clinical care determined mainly on clinical criteria, which, for example, could require a series of events, perhaps taking place every three months, six months or annually. A FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.
The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures.
As well as the main procedure, there are up to 23 (11 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and three prior to 2002-03) secondary procedure fields in HES that show secondary procedures performed on the patient during the episode of care.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to reduce waiting times for orthopaedic operations in the last 12 months; and whether waiting times for such operations have reduced in the last 12 months.
Answered by Philip Dunne
NHS England publishes monthly data on referral to treatment waiting times to report performance against the right that patients have to start consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral for non-urgent conditions. These data show that average median waiting times for patients on a waiting list to start trauma and orthopaedic treatment in admitted patient or outpatient settings were 7.4 weeks at the end of December 2015 and 8.1 weeks at the end of December 2016.
Maintaining waiting time performance is a key objective in the Government’s Mandate to NHS England for 2016-17. Both NHS England and NHS Improvement are providing support and challenge to National Health Service commissioners and providers to reduce waiting times for hospital treatment.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the NHS budget was spent on commissioning private providers in each of the last five years.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The requested information is supplied in the following table:
| 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 |
| £ million | £ million | £ million | £ million | £ million |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total commissioner spend on independent sector | 5,320 | 5,669 | 6,467 | 8,067 | 8,722 |
Total National Health Service revenue expenditure | 100,266 | 102,570 | 106,495 | 110,554 | 114,730 |
Spend on independent sector as a percentage of total NHS revenue spend | 5.3% | 5.5% | 6.1% | 7.3% | 7.6% |
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nursing students who will apply for student finance for courses starting in January 2017.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Under the existing NHS Bursary scheme which eligible pre-registration healthcare students can access for courses that start before 1 August 2017, the NHS Business Services Authority estimate the number of nursing students applying for funding for courses starting in January 2017 will be in the range of 1,300 to 1,350.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the average travel distance to GP services for patients in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Redcar and Cleveland, (d) Middlesbrough and (e) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency.
Answered by David Mowat
Information on average travel distance to general practice services for patients is not collected by the Department or by NHS England.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of particle pollutants on children's health and development in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The independent expert advisory Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) published a statement on the evidence linking air pollution to effects on children’s health in 2008. This acknowledged the conclusions of a report by the World Health Organization (2005) of effects on children’s health, including development of lung function, but also noted that the evidence for some effects was from areas where levels of air pollutants were higher than those found in the United Kingdom.
In 2010 COMEAP published a statement on the evidence linking air pollution with childhood asthma. The evidence confirmed that exposure to ambient concentrations of air pollutants is associated with an increase in exacerbations of asthma in those who already have the condition. The evidence for air pollution causing new cases of asthma is less clear. However, COMEAP concluded that it is possible that air pollution plays a part in the induction of asthma in some individuals who live near busy roads, particularly roads carrying high numbers of heavy goods vehicles.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to target the recruitment of new GPs to practices with high levels of clinical need and deprivation.
Answered by Philip Dunne
NHS England, Health Education England (HEE), the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners (GPs) have been working together to support recruitment in areas to which it has traditionally been hard to recruit to.
NHS England is offering £20,000 bursaries to attract over 100 GP trainees to work in areas of the country where GP training places have been unfilled for a number of years. The offer is open to GP trainees committed to working for three years in one of the locations. The initiative is designed to relieve pressure on some of the GP practices in England currently facing the most severe recruitment challenge.
The GP Forward View complements the 10 point plan that was introduced in January 2015. A £10 million investment was announced by NHS England from the infrastructure fund to kick start a new plan to expand the general practice workforce. The money is being used to recruit new GPs, retain those that are thinking of leaving the profession, encourage doctors to return to general practice and to develop a multi-professional workforce. HEE is responsible for five areas of the 10 Point Plan:
- Promoting General Practice;
- Improve Breadth of Training;
- Training Hubs;
- New Ways of Working (which includes the Primary Care Workforce Commission); and
- Easy Return to Practice.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ask the Foods Standards Agency to review the licence granted for BHM Food Group Ltd to operate an abattoir in Boosbeck.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
BHM Food Group Ltd are no longer approved to operate as a slaughterhouse. They remain conditionally approved as a cutting plant and minced meat establishment. A third and final approval assessment will be conducted by 11 November 2016 to check their compliance against all relevant requirements of food law. If they have not met all these requirements their application for full approval will be refused.
The Food Standards Agency is aware of concerns raised by local residents regarding the environmental impact of a slaughterhouse sited within the village of Boosbeck. However, the Agency is not the competent authority for environmental hygiene matters which inform planning consent. Both of these roles (Environmental Health and Planning) are fulfilled by the local authority.