Government Response May. 28 2024
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: PAC recommendation: NHS Supply Chain should set out how, and by when, it will get the NHS to use NHS
Correspondence Apr. 17 2024
Committee: Health and Social Care Committee (Department: Department of Health and Social Care)Found: Director General Finance on Public Accounts Committee hearing relating to DHSC contracting for PPE 27.03.24
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent on the NHS frontline digitisation programme in the 2022-23 financial year; and what assessment she has made of the impact of that expenditure.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2022/23, the Frontline Digitisation programme provided £393 million of capital funding and £45.29 million of revenue funding directly to 159 NHS secondary care provider trusts.
The funding is closely monitored throughout the year by the Frontline Digitisation programme’s finance team. The programme’s engagement and assurance teams also monitor progress and delivery throughout the year.
Correspondence Apr. 15 2024
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: Correspondence from Andy Brittain, Director General Finance, Department of Health and Social Care, re
Jul. 22 2011
Source Page: Letter dated 22/07/2011 from Nigel Hards, Chairman, to Lord Mawhinney regarding Peterborough Hospital. 2 p.Found: Lord Mawhinney to ask Her Majesty™ s Government what was the percentage figure in the NHS Affordability
Mentions:
1: Swinney, John (SNP - Perthshire North) Earlier this year, the Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office, Rebecca - Speech Link
2: Swinney, John (SNP - Perthshire North) From tourism to finance and technology to food and drink exports, we will work to create growth and jobs - Speech Link
3: Ross, Douglas (Con - Highlands and Islands) One in seven Scots are on an NHS waiting list. - Speech Link
4: Baillie, Jackie (Lab - Dumbarton) would have seen the NHS £1 billion a year better off today. - Speech Link
5: Swinney, John (SNP - Perthshire North) We have to try to activate additional sources of finance. - Speech Link
Laid - 7 Mar 2024 In Force 1 Apr 2024
This Order designates specified central government bodies in relation to named government departments for the purpose of those departments’ supply estimates and resource accounts.
Found: Treasury have consulted, where they think it appropriate, the Scottish Ministers, the Department for Finance
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the cost to (a) integrated care boards and (b) NHS England of commissioning specialised services in the (i) 2022-23 and (ii) 2023-24 financial years.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The total spend on commissioning specialised services was £22.7 billion in 2022/23 and £25 billion in 2023/24. As formal delegation of specialised services to integrated care boards (ICBs) begins from 1 April 2024, all spend on commissioning these services in previous years has been the responsibility of NHS England, and not the ICBs. For 2024/25, NHS England is delegating £5.3 billion of commissioning resource to ICBs in the three regions, where delegation will begin from April 2024. This figure excludes high-cost drugs and devices spend.
The nine joint committee arrangements arose from a robust process, which included a readiness assessment, the Pre-Delegation Assessment Framework, made between the ICBs and NHS England regional teams, followed by a National Moderation Panel, and final decision taken by the NHS England Board. The NHS England Board papers for February 2023, December 2023, and March 2024 are available, respectively, at the following links:
The process concluded that a transitional year of joint commissioning would offer the most secure and stable transition towards delegation. There is a comprehensive programme structure in place to support the ICBs in the four regions that are working towards delegation in April 2025, to support them in being ready to take on the responsibilities. NHS England is continuing to work alongside ICBs to ensure that delegation agreements are in place, including ensuring appropriate collaborative arrangements are developed to support ICB commissioning of specialised services. These arrangements will be monitored by NHS England through its assurance processes for specialised services.
A webinar series for commissioning staff, including colleagues in ICBs, was delivered in 2023 across different aspects of specialised services, and there are additional webinars planned in 2024. There has been, and will continue to be, local engagement between regional commissioning teams and ICB teams, as the future operating model is co-developed. A suite of support materials has been shared with teams and continues to be updated. As examples, these include: Commissioning Change Management Business Rules; Finance and Accounting Standard Operating Procedure; and the Contracting Standard Operating Procedure.
NHS England develops services specification and clinical policies through its Clinical Reference Groups. There are 250 published service specifications which include clinical pathway, quality, and other relevant standards, which are specific to the clinical service. Regional commissioning teams, overseen by the statutory joint committees, are responsible for implementing the specifications in their commissioning of services, along with assessing compliance against national standards. NHS England has developed Specialised Services Quality Dashboards alongside service specifications, which provide additional data to monitor the quality of services.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the nine statutory joint committees formed between integrated care boards and NHS England regions on specialised commissioning.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The total spend on commissioning specialised services was £22.7 billion in 2022/23 and £25 billion in 2023/24. As formal delegation of specialised services to integrated care boards (ICBs) begins from 1 April 2024, all spend on commissioning these services in previous years has been the responsibility of NHS England, and not the ICBs. For 2024/25, NHS England is delegating £5.3 billion of commissioning resource to ICBs in the three regions, where delegation will begin from April 2024. This figure excludes high-cost drugs and devices spend.
The nine joint committee arrangements arose from a robust process, which included a readiness assessment, the Pre-Delegation Assessment Framework, made between the ICBs and NHS England regional teams, followed by a National Moderation Panel, and final decision taken by the NHS England Board. The NHS England Board papers for February 2023, December 2023, and March 2024 are available, respectively, at the following links:
The process concluded that a transitional year of joint commissioning would offer the most secure and stable transition towards delegation. There is a comprehensive programme structure in place to support the ICBs in the four regions that are working towards delegation in April 2025, to support them in being ready to take on the responsibilities. NHS England is continuing to work alongside ICBs to ensure that delegation agreements are in place, including ensuring appropriate collaborative arrangements are developed to support ICB commissioning of specialised services. These arrangements will be monitored by NHS England through its assurance processes for specialised services.
A webinar series for commissioning staff, including colleagues in ICBs, was delivered in 2023 across different aspects of specialised services, and there are additional webinars planned in 2024. There has been, and will continue to be, local engagement between regional commissioning teams and ICB teams, as the future operating model is co-developed. A suite of support materials has been shared with teams and continues to be updated. As examples, these include: Commissioning Change Management Business Rules; Finance and Accounting Standard Operating Procedure; and the Contracting Standard Operating Procedure.
NHS England develops services specification and clinical policies through its Clinical Reference Groups. There are 250 published service specifications which include clinical pathway, quality, and other relevant standards, which are specific to the clinical service. Regional commissioning teams, overseen by the statutory joint committees, are responsible for implementing the specifications in their commissioning of services, along with assessing compliance against national standards. NHS England has developed Specialised Services Quality Dashboards alongside service specifications, which provide additional data to monitor the quality of services.
Asked by: Sweeney, Paul (Scottish Labour - Glasgow)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how the in-year profiling of spend, outlined in the letter from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 21 November 2023, will impact levels of delayed discharge across the NHS, particularly in mental health specialties.
Answered by Todd, Maree - Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport
The vast majority of spending on mental health is delivered through NHS board budgets – and this is not directly affected by the Budget reprioritisation. Between the Scottish Government and NHS boards we expect spending on Mental Health to be well in excess of £1.3 billion in financial year 2023-24.
Historically Scotland has a relatively high number of mental health beds per 100,000 of the population and lower levels of bed occupancy (compared to the rest of the UK). However, we are aware of recent pressures on the availability of psychiatric beds, exacerbated by the continuing impact of seasonal illness and COVID-19 on staff capacity in both inpatient and community settings.
Officials have developed a support and engagement plan across mental health services. This will include routine engagement with NHS Boards, alongside access to professional advice and tailored support for those NHS Boards with the highest levels of delayed discharge.
We remain fully committed to delivering the Coming Home recommendations, and to support public bodies to reduce inappropriate hospital stays and out-of-area placements experienced by people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.