Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will meet the Visual Impairment Charity Sector Partnership to discuss the RNIB's report entitled The eye care support pathway, published in November 2023.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department welcomes the publication of the Royal National Institute of Blind People's Eye Care Support Pathway. NHS England contributed to its development and is looking to embed the pathway in the eyecare transformation programme. Furthermore, NHS England has offered to support the dissemination of the pathway to eyecare commissioners and providers.
I will be scheduling meetings with a range of eye care stakeholders over the coming weeks and months and am looking forward to discussing this with relevant stakeholders.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions officials in her Department have had with NHS England on the potential merits of endorsing the Royal National Institute of Blind People's eye care support pathway.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department welcomes the publication of the Royal National Institute of Blind People's Eye Care Support Pathway. NHS England contributed to its development and is looking to embed the pathway in the eyecare transformation programme. Furthermore, NHS England has offered to support the dissemination of the pathway to eyecare commissioners and providers.
I will be scheduling meetings with a range of eye care stakeholders over the coming weeks and months and am looking forward to discussing this with relevant stakeholders.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve the accuracy of NHS (a) forecasts and (b) planning.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the beginning of every financial year, NHS England set out their clear expectations in operational planning guidance. Integrated care systems (ICS) use this guidance to produce their detailed plans for the year ahead, and agree those plans with NHS England, who will then hold them to account for delivering them. As part of in-year monitoring and reporting forecasts will be revised where necessary.
On financial planning and forecasting, the Department in turn holds NHS England to account through regular senior official and ministerial meetings. We have taken steps to improve the level of transparency and detail of financial information from NHS England to provide appropriate scrutiny to ensure taut and realistic forecasts are provided to HM Treasury. We also review NHS England operational performance. For example, this year we have set up an Elective Oversight Board to improve our assurance over elective activity plans and forecasts.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the report by General Sir Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda Pollard entitled Health and social care review: leadership for a collaborative and inclusive future, published on 8 June 2022.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The report made seven recommendations, which were accepted by the Government.
NHS England is leading on implementation of all seven recommendations. Progress has been made on all the recommendations, working in partnership with Skills for Care for those that apply to the social care workforce. An update on each of the recommendations can be found below:
Recommendation 1 – A new national induction scheme for staff of all grades who join health and social care will be launched in April 2024.
Recommendation 2 - Underpinning all the recommendations is the commitment in the review to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) through the NHS England EDI Improvement Plan which was launched in June 2023.
Recommendation 3 – A management and leadership framework is currently being developed for consultation and extensive testing by March 2024. It comprises a management code, professional standards and management competencies at five levels, from entry level to executive manager.
Recommendation 4 - A new standardised Board Appraisal Framework will be delivered by Summer 2024, aligned to the Leadership Competency Framework in fulfilment of the Kark Review. The development of a simplified appraisal for all NHS staff is underway and is expected in 2024/25.
Recommendations 5 – NHS England is working in close partnership with integrated care boards (ICBs) and providers in regions, to convene regional talent pools which support the development of talent pipelines towards board level roles. NHS England Executive director and Aspiring CEO programmes will further help support the development of people with high potential towards first time executive roles. The Aspiring CEO Programme will recruit its next cohort in Spring 2024.
Recommendation 6 – NHS England has launched a new induction day for Non-Executive Directors and Chairs. This ran for the first time nationally in October, with 15 modules of supporting information available from March 2024.
Recommendation 7 – NHS England will be implementing monthly talent meetings between Regional Directors to look ahead towards forthcoming Chair and CEO vacancies and appointment processes. This will help identify potential talent across regions and support succession planning for challenged parts of the system. A first national very senior manager (VSM) pay framework is being developed and will include allowances for enhanced pay at VSM level for moving to challenged or very challenged organisations. Good practice support for senior leaders is due to start early next year for delivery in 2024/5, which includes sharing what has been proven to work when moving to challenged roles or organisations.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had recent discussions with (a) charities and (b) advocacy groups representing people with eating disorders on its guidance on NHS treatment for those conditions.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have not had any recent discussions with charities or advocacy groups regarding eating disorders.
Ministerial meetings with external stakeholders are published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reduced funding for specialist GP clinics for gynaecological services on those services in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Health policy is largely devolved, and health services in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. The Department of Health and Social Care has therefore not made any specific assessment of the provision of gynaecological services, including in general practice, in Northern Ireland.
Ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published quarterly on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with stakeholders on the provision of gynaecological services in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Health policy is largely devolved, and health services in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. The Department of Health and Social Care has therefore not made any specific assessment of the provision of gynaecological services, including in general practice, in Northern Ireland.
Ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published quarterly on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on multi-agency working to support vulnerable adults.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Departmental ministers have regular discussions and board meetings with Home Office ministers on a range of issues. Recent discussions with the Home Office concerning multi-agency working to support vulnerable adults include meetings on asylum accommodation, reduction of deaths in custody, prevention of violence against women and girls, and mental health and policing.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Ministers in his Department have met with representatives of the General Dental Council in the last 12 months.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Ministers have met with representatives of the General Dental Council in the last 12 months. Ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has sought meetings with (a) professional societies and (b) charities on education and training on coeliac disease in the past year.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has not sought any meetings with professional societies and charities on education and training on coeliac disease in the past year.