Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many clinical service incidents were caused by estates and infrastructure failure in (a) all hospitals and (b) hospitals containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Will Quince
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on reducing the number of NHS cancer waiting time targets; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
In June 2018, the Prime Minister asked for a clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards to ensure they measure what matters most, both in optimising clinical outcomes and to patients. The review was led by Professor Steve Powis, with support from a Clinical Oversight Group, consisting of clinicians and patient group representatives. As part of the process the Department and NHS England also undertook extensive engagement with stakeholders; NHS England received responses from 46 organisations, including hospitals, Cancer Alliances and charities across the country. NHS England also consulted on these changes and responses overall supported the core proposals in the interim report, including the simplification and modernisation of standards.
On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards, rationalising them from 10 standards to three; more specifically, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients. The Department supports these changes and will amend the relevant statutory regulations in due course, as shared in the Written Ministerial Statement of my Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, HCWS1001, published on 4 September 2023.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department held discussions with (a) cancer charities and (b) clinicians on changes to NHS cancer waiting time targets.
Answered by Will Quince
In June 2018, the Prime Minister asked for a clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards to ensure they measure what matters most, both in optimising clinical outcomes and to patients. The review was led by Professor Steve Powis, with support from a Clinical Oversight Group, consisting of clinicians and patient group representatives. As part of the process the Department and NHS England also undertook extensive engagement with stakeholders; NHS England received responses from 46 organisations, including hospitals, Cancer Alliances and charities across the country. NHS England also consulted on these changes and responses overall supported the core proposals in the interim report, including the simplification and modernisation of standards.
On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards, rationalising them from 10 standards to three; more specifically, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients. The Department supports these changes and will amend the relevant statutory regulations in due course, as shared in the Written Ministerial Statement of my Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, HCWS1001, published on 4 September 2023.
Asked by: Lord Wharton of Yarm (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) improve care, and (2) strengthen clinical guidelines, for (a) individuals who are diagnosed with cardiomyopathy between the ages of 40 and 60, (b) individuals with cardiomyopathy aged 25 or under, and (c) family members of individuals living with cardiomyopathy.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS England Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national report for cardiology published in August 2021 made the case for delivering cardiac services via managed clinical networks to ensure care is organised around pathways rather than hospitals/sites. Recommendations made in the report are being implemented through GIRFT and NHS England’s Cardiac Transformation Programme. Cardiac networks have been established and the Cardiac Transformation Programme leads have regular reviews with all networks to monitor their progress
To improve diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, GIRFT and the Cardiac Transformation Programme have recommended an expansion of diagnostic capacity in echocardiography through the roll out of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs). Steps taken include rolling out up to 160 CDCs which will provide echocardiography services by March 2025. This will improve access to cardiac network pathways for onward referral for patients with suspected cardiomyopathy to an appropriate specialist clinic
NHS England is carrying out a comprehensive revision of the service specification for inherited cardiac conditions including cardiomyopathy, with completion expected before the end of 2023/24. Although not age specific, the revised specification will describe the standards of diagnosis, treatment and outcomes expected for patients and families with inherited cardiac conditions from recognised centres.
Asked by: Lord Wharton of Yarm (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) guidelines for cardiomyopathies.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS England Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national report for cardiology published in August 2021 made the case for delivering cardiac services via managed clinical networks to ensure care is organised around pathways rather than hospitals/sites. Recommendations made in the report are being implemented through GIRFT and NHS England’s Cardiac Transformation Programme. Cardiac networks have been established and the Cardiac Transformation Programme leads have regular reviews with all networks to monitor their progress
To improve diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, GIRFT and the Cardiac Transformation Programme have recommended an expansion of diagnostic capacity in echocardiography through the roll out of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs). Steps taken include rolling out up to 160 CDCs which will provide echocardiography services by March 2025. This will improve access to cardiac network pathways for onward referral for patients with suspected cardiomyopathy to an appropriate specialist clinic
NHS England is carrying out a comprehensive revision of the service specification for inherited cardiac conditions including cardiomyopathy, with completion expected before the end of 2023/24. Although not age specific, the revised specification will describe the standards of diagnosis, treatment and outcomes expected for patients and families with inherited cardiac conditions from recognised centres.
Asked by: Lord Wharton of Yarm (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to close the gap between the interval between diagnosis and care following a diagnosis of cardiomyopathies and the interval following a diagnosis of other cardiovascular conditions.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS England Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national report for cardiology published in August 2021 made the case for delivering cardiac services via managed clinical networks to ensure care is organised around pathways rather than hospitals/sites. Recommendations made in the report are being implemented through GIRFT and NHS England’s Cardiac Transformation Programme. Cardiac networks have been established and the Cardiac Transformation Programme leads have regular reviews with all networks to monitor their progress
To improve diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, GIRFT and the Cardiac Transformation Programme have recommended an expansion of diagnostic capacity in echocardiography through the roll out of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs). Steps taken include rolling out up to 160 CDCs which will provide echocardiography services by March 2025. This will improve access to cardiac network pathways for onward referral for patients with suspected cardiomyopathy to an appropriate specialist clinic
NHS England is carrying out a comprehensive revision of the service specification for inherited cardiac conditions including cardiomyopathy, with completion expected before the end of 2023/24. Although not age specific, the revised specification will describe the standards of diagnosis, treatment and outcomes expected for patients and families with inherited cardiac conditions from recognised centres.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 help ensure the adequacy of the (a) quality and (b) nutritional content of food in hospitals.
Answered by Will Quince
We know the importance of quality, nutritious hospital food to aid a patient’s recovery. All National Health Service trusts should ensure should healthy, nutritious food is on offer for patients and staff.
Following the publication of the Independent Review on Hospital Food in October 2020, NHS England are leading a three-year plan ‘Great Food, Good Health’ to implement the recommendations from the Review with the aim to improve hospital food.
In November 2022, NHS England published updated NHS Food and Drink Standards. These include eight mandatory standards that trusts are expected to implement, including a requirement to have a designated board director responsible for food (nutrition and safety). NHS England are considering the best way to measure the effectiveness of improvements as a result of those standards.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help support information-sharing on concerns about staff between (a) hospitals and (b) hospital departments.
Answered by Will Quince
National Health Service hospitals must comply with the NHS employment check standards, which set out the statutory and mandatory check requirements that employers must undertake as part of any recruitment, ongoing employment or redeployment within the NHS in England, including where staff move between hospitals. The standards are intended to support employers to ensure individuals are of sound character and have the appropriate qualifications, skills and competency to properly and safely perform the tasks required of them. These standards can be found at the following link:
In July 2018, the Government commissioned Tom Kark KC to write a report and make recommendations in relation to the fit and proper persons test. The Government accepted the majority of the recommendations and NHS England has developed and recently introduced the Fit and Proper Person Framework. These improvements will help to prevent unfit board members from moving between NHS organisations. To support information sharing on senior leaders, fields have been added to the Electronic Staff Record system to capture an ongoing record of annual Fit and Proper Person testing.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce new checks on healthcare staff that move between hospitals.
Answered by Will Quince
National Health Service hospitals must comply with ‘The NHS Employment Check Standards’ which set out the statutory and mandatory check requirements that employers must undertake as part of any recruitment, ongoing employment, or redeployment within the NHS in England, including where staff move between hospitals.
The standards are intended to support employers to ensure individuals are of sound character and have the appropriate qualifications, skills, and competency to properly and safely perform the tasks required of them. Where relevant to the role, this includes checking a person’s registration with the appropriate professional regulatory or licensing body to ensure they are fit and licensed to practice in their chosen profession. More information on these standards is available at the following link:
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 resolve medicine shortages affecting pharmacies.
Answered by Will Quince
Medicine shortages are an ongoing issue that the Department has been managing for many years. The production of medicines is complex and highly regulated, and materials and processes must meet rigorous safety and quality standards. Supply problems can arise for various reasons such as manufacturing issues, problems with raw ingredients and batch failures. The Department has well-established processes to manage and mitigate the small number of supply problems that may arise at any one time due to manufacturing or distribution issues.
There is a team within the Department which deals specifically with medicine supply issues arising both in the community and hospitals across the United Kingdom. It works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England and others operating in the supply chain, including suppliers and wholesalers, to help prevent shortages and expedite resupply where possible to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when they do arise. The team develop guidance which is shared with the National Health Service, including community pharmacies, advising on how to manage supply issues.