Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance her Department issues NHS trusts on establishing commissioning structures for Health Technology Assessments; and whether trusts have discretion to adopt different processes.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Ministers have not met with Greater Manchester NHS Board about the statutory commissioning of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended medicines. Similarly I am informed that NHS England is not aware of any such discussions.
The National Health Service in England is legally required to make funding available for treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies guidance, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance. This requirement is reflected in the NHS Constitution as a right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE for use in the NHS, if their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate.
The NHS Standard Contract is mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners for all contracts for healthcare services other than primary care. The 2024/25 standard contract states that, where any service involves or may involve the prescribing of medicines, the provider must ensure that its formulary reflects all relevant positive NICE technology appraisals. NICE’s guideline on developing and updating local formularies states that when a NICE technology appraisal recommends a medicine, it should be adopted into the local formulary automatically if clinically appropriate and relevant to the services provided by the organisation, and that this process should take place within three months.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions NHS England have had with Greater Manchester NHS on their statutory responsibilities to commission NICE approved medicines.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Ministers have not met with Greater Manchester NHS Board about the statutory commissioning of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended medicines. Similarly I am informed that NHS England is not aware of any such discussions.
The National Health Service in England is legally required to make funding available for treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies guidance, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance. This requirement is reflected in the NHS Constitution as a right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE for use in the NHS, if their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate.
The NHS Standard Contract is mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners for all contracts for healthcare services other than primary care. The 2024/25 standard contract states that, where any service involves or may involve the prescribing of medicines, the provider must ensure that its formulary reflects all relevant positive NICE technology appraisals. NICE’s guideline on developing and updating local formularies states that when a NICE technology appraisal recommends a medicine, it should be adopted into the local formulary automatically if clinically appropriate and relevant to the services provided by the organisation, and that this process should take place within three months.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she last met with Greater Manchester NHS Board to discuss the statutory commissioning of NICE approved medicines.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Ministers have not met with Greater Manchester NHS Board about the statutory commissioning of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended medicines. Similarly I am informed that NHS England is not aware of any such discussions.
The National Health Service in England is legally required to make funding available for treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies guidance, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance. This requirement is reflected in the NHS Constitution as a right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE for use in the NHS, if their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate.
The NHS Standard Contract is mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners for all contracts for healthcare services other than primary care. The 2024/25 standard contract states that, where any service involves or may involve the prescribing of medicines, the provider must ensure that its formulary reflects all relevant positive NICE technology appraisals. NICE’s guideline on developing and updating local formularies states that when a NICE technology appraisal recommends a medicine, it should be adopted into the local formulary automatically if clinically appropriate and relevant to the services provided by the organisation, and that this process should take place within three months.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what information her Department holds on how many people have accessed a personal insolvency solution while the Insolvency Service has been conducting its Review of the personal insolvency framework.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The number of people entering a formal personal insolvency solution since the commencement of the personal insolvency review at the beginning of July 2022 until 28 February 2023 was 74,124.
The Insolvency Service publishes official statistics each month on the number of people entering a personal insolvency solution. The latest insolvency statistics can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/monthly-insolvency-statistics-february-2023.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when the Government plans to publish its response to the consultation entitled Call for evidence: reviewing the personal insolvency landscape.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The call for evidence on the review of the personal insolvency closed on 23 October 2022. The Government is currently analysing the significant number of responses and feedback received and will publish its response in due course.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of insomnia on the likelihood of people not being in employment or training.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
No assessment has been made. However, the Government has funded an extension of the Midlands’ Mental Health and Productivity Pilot, which is trialling interventions, including one with a focus on insomnia, to support and improve employee mental health and wellbeing, to support employees to remain in work. The final evaluation will be available by Spring 2024.
In addition, a range of Government initiatives are supporting disabled people, and people with health conditions, including insomnia, to start, stay, and succeed in, work. These include:
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the impact of insomnia on UK productivity.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
We have no plans to make an assessment of the impact on insomnia on UK productivity.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the NHS of treating patients with insomnia.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
No assessment has been made by the Department or NHS England of the annual cost to the National Health Service for treating patients with insomnia.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
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 improve health outcomes for people with insomnia.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
Through ‘Advancing Our Health: Prevention in the 2020s’, the Government committed to review the evidence on sleep and health. That review has been undertaken, and the outcomes will be published in due course.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for the publication of next steps following the consultation entitled Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s, published on 22 July 2019.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
We have no current plans to publish a summary of the responses to the consultation ‘Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s’ and there are no plans to publish next steps.