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 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: 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: 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: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any leadership and promotion schemes run by the Care Equality Commission are restricted to ethnic minorities and other protected characteristics.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has interpreted the question as referring to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as there is no public body called the ‘Care Equality Commission’.
The CQC operates a positive action development programme aimed at addressing barriers to career progression, aligning with the ambitions set out in the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, to support colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds and disabled colleagues.
Participation in the programme does not guarantee promotion, as all appointments are made through fair and open competition in accordance with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of Northern Ireland being the only part of the UK without routine access to abiraterone for men with non-metastatic prostate cancer on patient outcomes across the UK.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to hold discussions with the Northern Irish Department of Health or the Health and Social Care Board on abiraterone access in Northern Ireland. Decisions on the availability of medicines in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
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 potential implications for his policies of Northern Ireland being the only part of the UK unable to offer abiraterone routinely to eligible prostate cancer patients.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to hold discussions with the Northern Irish Department of Health or the Health and Social Care Board on abiraterone access in Northern Ireland. Decisions on the availability of medicines in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive.