Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to develop a national service framework or equivalent long-term strategy for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board is overseeing the development of a new series of service frameworks to accelerate progress in conditions where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.
Early priorities include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions with significant health and economic impacts for future waves of modern service frameworks.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with private contractors working in the NHS on trade union recognition for employees.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There have been no specific discussions on this matter. The terms and conditions in the standard National Health Service contract, used to contract with private contractors in England, recognises the need to engage with trade unions where they are present and as applicable for that contract. Otherwise, private contractors are like any other employer and need to comply with the existing rules on trade union recognition, as set out in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 early detection of kidney disease in primary care, particularly for patients with known risk factors such as autoimmune conditions, diabetes and hypertension.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence nationally and locally is available at the following link:
NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification states that the patient population in England with advanced kidney disease requiring renal replacement therapy is growing at a rate of 3% per annum. NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification is available at the following link:
To tackle this, NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease. NHS England has published a renal services transformation toolkit to support earlier identification of CKD and to strengthen management across the whole patient pathway.
Eight commissioned regional renal clinical networks are implementing this toolkit, in collaboration with providers, with a clear focus on improving early diagnosis, slowing disease progression, and reducing the number of patients reaching advanced stages of kidney disease. This work is supported nationally by the Renal Clinical Reference Group.
NHS England is also supporting the Department and key kidney organisations to identify further opportunities to enhance prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and long‑term outcomes for people living with kidney disease.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of renal services, including dialysis and transplantation services, to meet current and projected patient demand.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence nationally and locally is available at the following link:
NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification states that the patient population in England with advanced kidney disease requiring renal replacement therapy is growing at a rate of 3% per annum. NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification is available at the following link:
To tackle this, NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease. NHS England has published a renal services transformation toolkit to support earlier identification of CKD and to strengthen management across the whole patient pathway.
Eight commissioned regional renal clinical networks are implementing this toolkit, in collaboration with providers, with a clear focus on improving early diagnosis, slowing disease progression, and reducing the number of patients reaching advanced stages of kidney disease. This work is supported nationally by the Renal Clinical Reference Group.
NHS England is also supporting the Department and key kidney organisations to identify further opportunities to enhance prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and long‑term outcomes for people living with kidney disease.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in England over the last ten years; and what he expects the trends to be over the next decade.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence nationally and locally is available at the following link:
NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification states that the patient population in England with advanced kidney disease requiring renal replacement therapy is growing at a rate of 3% per annum. NHS England’s Renal Clinical Network Specification is available at the following link:
To tackle this, NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease. NHS England has published a renal services transformation toolkit to support earlier identification of CKD and to strengthen management across the whole patient pathway.
Eight commissioned regional renal clinical networks are implementing this toolkit, in collaboration with providers, with a clear focus on improving early diagnosis, slowing disease progression, and reducing the number of patients reaching advanced stages of kidney disease. This work is supported nationally by the Renal Clinical Reference Group.
NHS England is also supporting the Department and key kidney organisations to identify further opportunities to enhance prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and long‑term outcomes for people living with kidney disease.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with private contractors working in the NHS on paying staff the same rates as equivalent NHS staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There have been no specific discussions on this with private contractors working in the National Health Service.
Independent organisations commissioned by the NHS in England, such as general practices or social enterprises, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment, including the pay scales that they use. It is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve early detection and management of high blood pressure; and whether he plans to expand community-based screening initiatives.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The single greatest risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) is raised blood pressure and as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a modern service framework for CVD later this year. The framework will identify the best evidenced interventions, set clear quality standards, drive innovation in CVD prevention and management, and reduce unwarranted variation.
We have invested heavily in hypertension case-finding for those over 40 years old in community pharmacies. As part of the service, pharmacies have delivered nearly 4.2 million blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring checks since October 2021 and as of August 2024, 7,641 pharmacies were actively delivering the service.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held in this format in the Department’s accounts system and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospital trust chief executives have been appointed after being dismissed from other NHS hospital trusts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on the number of trust chief executives appointed after previous dismissal from another National Health Service trust.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support families who have experienced baby loss in Bristol Central constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both the North Bristol NHS Trust and the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust have dedicated maternity bereavement teams who provide support for families experiencing baby loss. This includes practical help with funeral arrangements, accessing financial support, and investigations, as well as ongoing emotional support, attending appointments, and supporting them when meeting and making memories with their baby.
Counselling or access to psychological support are available, and spiritual or religious support is provided by chaplaincy teams in collaboration with external religious leaders at the family's request. Support for families during subsequent pregnancy is also provided.
Local teams ensure all those experiencing early pregnancy loss are made aware of the resources available to them through partners and charities, many of whom they work with regularly, and will signpost families on to them where appropriate for ongoing support.