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 steps she is taking to ensure that integrated care boards take into account a) clinical, b) patient and c) provider experience when commissioning specialised services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England's delegation agreement with the integrated care boards (ICBs) requires each ICB to establish effective, safe, efficient, and economic arrangements for the commissioning of delegated specialised services, with particular reference to statutory obligations relating to health and care bodies, such as the triple aim.
The delegation agreement supports these responsibilities, including following all relevant legislation, guidance, and good practice. In commissioning delegation specialised services, ICBs must: consider how they can meet their legal duties to involve patients and the public in shaping the provision of services; work with local communities, under-represented groups, and those with protected characteristics; consider how they can address health inequalities; assist in the development of national standards, including service specifications and clinical commissioning policies; support the development of local clinical leadership and expertise in respect of specialised services; support specialised clinical networks and clinical reference groups, including participating in development and agreement of the annual plan for relevant clinical networks; and work with providers as commissioners of specialised services, including management of contracts and the annual contracting round, financial management, and working with providers on identification and management of any issues relating to quality of services.
Appropriate oversight and assurance arrangements are in place to assure the commissioning capability and capacity of ICBs, and so that NHS England, as the accountable commissioner, has the right mechanisms where support or intervention is needed, regardless of whether a service is retained by NHS England or falls within scope of delegated commissioning arrangements.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS England net zero supplier roadmap, for what reason NHS England’s (a) target date for reaching net zero emissions by 2045 and (b) scope to include reporting of global emissions differ from the requirements laid out in the guidance entitled Procurement Policy Note 06/21: Taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans in the procurement of major government contracts.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Health and Care Act 2022 compels the National Health Service to take action on climate and environmental issues, including by reducing its emissions. The NHS is committed to reducing its environmental impact, whilst delivering the best possible patient care and outcomes, as well as the best possible value for taxpayers.
The Climate Change Act 2008 requires all areas of the public sector to reduce their emissions, although the pace of change will differ between different segments of the public sector, depending on cost, feasibility, and innovation. The NHS in England has committed to reaching Net Zero by 2045. To achieve these goals, the NHS will require the support of its suppliers. In 2021, NHS England published the NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap, which sets out a series of milestones to support NHS suppliers in aligning with the NHS’s Net Zero ambitions. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/get-involved/suppliers/
The latest milestone, implemented from April 2024, sets out Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) requirements for NHS suppliers aligned to the Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/21. As set out in PPN 06/21, NHS suppliers’ CRPs need to cover, at a minimum, their emissions in the United Kingdom, and outline their commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2050.
NHS England launched the Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment in June 2023, which enables a two-way conversion with suppliers and the NHS. This online, voluntary self-assessment and reporting tool allows suppliers to understand how to align with the NHS Net Zero and sustainability ambitions. NHS England will continue to engage with regulators, suppliers, and industry bodies ahead of implementing future roadmap milestones, to inform policy development. Guidance setting out the detailed requirements of April 2027 will take into account suppliers’ feedback and readiness, and NHS England will aim to publish it well in advance of April 2027 to ensure suppliers have sufficient time to prepare.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Kingswood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) children, (b) women and (c) people affected by dental surgeries no longer providing NHS services in Kingswood constituency since 2022.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients across England. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance.
We are committed to evaluating the impacts of the measures included in our plan, and we will publish monthly data on progress once available. No estimates are currently available of the number of children, women, and people affected by dental surgeries no longer providing NHS services in the Kingswood constituency since 2022. Annual dental statistics, including the number of dentists offering NHS services since 2015, are available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics
Annual data on the number of NHS dental contracts commissioned since 2015/16 is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/dental-data/nhs-payments-dentists
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions her Department has had with Elysium Healthcare on continuing its contract following the inquest into the death of Liam McGenity.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has had no such discussions with Elysium Healthcare, individual National Health Service commissioning organisations hold contracts with NHS and non-NHS providers for specified services, as part of their commissioning function. NHS England has advised that NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) contracts with Elysium Healthcare under spot purchase agreements, which means that a contract is only ongoing for the duration of an individual patient’s placement.
The ICB continues to work with St Mary's Hospital in Warrington, part of the Elysium Healthcare Group. Quality visits have taken place at the St Mary’s Hospital estate, alongside visits by the NHS England Specialised Commissioning team, and Care Quality Commission (CQC) visits. All contracts with non-NHS providers are subject to NHS contract quality reviews, in addition to the regulatory regime of the CQC.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment with NHS England of the impact of companies being unable to comply with the NHS England requirement for suppliers to commit globally by 2027 to achieve net zero by 2045 on NHS (a) supply and (b) services.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2021, NHS England published the NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap, which sets out a series of milestones to support National Health Service suppliers to align with the NHS’s net zero ambitions. The 2027 requirement for suppliers to publicly report targets, emissions, and publish a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) for global emissions aligned to the NHS net zero target, will build on milestones implemented in 2023 and 2024.
The milestone of 1 April 2023 required that suppliers bidding for any new contracts above £5 million per annum publish a CRP for their UK Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and a subset of scope 3 emissions as a minimum. This requirement was proportionately extended to all new procurements from April 2024, with a full CRP required for new procurements above £5 million per annum, and new frameworks operated by in-scope organisations. A Net Zero Commitment is required for procurements of lower value, as set out in the above-mentioned guidance.
NHS England has proactively engaged with suppliers since the launch of the NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap, and continues to engage with regulators, suppliers, and industry bodies, ahead of implementing future roadmap milestones, such as the April 2027 milestone. NHS England’s engagement approach has included regular supplier forums with trade bodies, external webinars, and horizon scanning of both the global and the United Kingdom’s regulatory and reporting landscapes.
NHS England launched the Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment in June 2023, which enables a two-way conversation with suppliers and the NHS. This online voluntary, self-assessment and reporting tool allows suppliers to understand how to align with the NHS net zero and sustainability ambitions. After completing the assessment, suppliers receive a sustainability maturity score, valid for 12 months, against NHS priorities, and which signposts their current position and pathway to progress.
The April 2027 milestone is anticipated to build on the approach set out in the published guidance on implementing the April 2023 and April 2024 NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap requirements, which includes consideration of the relevant and proportionate application of the policy within procurements.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on ensuring compliance by NHS suppliers with NHS England’s target for all suppliers to publicly report targets, emissions and publish a Carbon Reduction Plan for global emissions aligned to the NHS net zero target, for all of their Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2027.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2021, NHS England published the NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap, which sets out a series of milestones to support National Health Service suppliers to align with the NHS’s net zero ambitions. The 2027 requirement for suppliers to publicly report targets, emissions, and publish a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) for global emissions aligned to the NHS net zero target, will build on milestones implemented in 2023 and 2024.
The milestone of 1 April 2023 required that suppliers bidding for any new contracts above £5 million per annum publish a CRP for their UK Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and a subset of scope 3 emissions as a minimum. This requirement was proportionately extended to all new procurements from April 2024, with a full CRP required for new procurements above £5 million per annum, and new frameworks operated by in-scope organisations. A Net Zero Commitment is required for procurements of lower value, as set out in the above-mentioned guidance.
NHS England has proactively engaged with suppliers since the launch of the NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap, and continues to engage with regulators, suppliers, and industry bodies, ahead of implementing future roadmap milestones, such as the April 2027 milestone. NHS England’s engagement approach has included regular supplier forums with trade bodies, external webinars, and horizon scanning of both the global and the United Kingdom’s regulatory and reporting landscapes.
NHS England launched the Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment in June 2023, which enables a two-way conversation with suppliers and the NHS. This online voluntary, self-assessment and reporting tool allows suppliers to understand how to align with the NHS net zero and sustainability ambitions. After completing the assessment, suppliers receive a sustainability maturity score, valid for 12 months, against NHS priorities, and which signposts their current position and pathway to progress.
The April 2027 milestone is anticipated to build on the approach set out in the published guidance on implementing the April 2023 and April 2024 NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap requirements, which includes consideration of the relevant and proportionate application of the policy within procurements.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual cost to her Department is of contracts with Elysium Healthcare (a) nationally and (b) in Cheshire.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not and has not held any contracts with Elysium Healthcare. Contracts with Elysium Healthcare are held with local National Health Service bodies, for instance NHS trusts.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21490 on Prosthetics, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of updating the stock of prosthetic limbs available.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Supply Chain framework for prosthetic componentry will be subject to its next routine procurement exercise in the autumn of 2024, with contracts awarded to commence on 1 April 2025. This does not preclude devices currently not on the framework from being prescribed by prosthetic centres as they are able to order directly from the manufacturer, and report via the exceptions log managed by NHS Supply Chain.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's press release entitled One-off payments of up to £3,000 for over 27,000 health workers, published on 25 March 2024, what steps her Department is taking to ensure parity between clinical and recently insourced nonclinical staff for those payments.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The non-consolidated payments agreed as part of the Agenda for Change pay deal covered staff directly employed by National Health Service organisations, such as staff on permanent and fixed term contracts, as set out in Annex 1 of the handbook on Agenda for Change terms as of 31 March 2023. Those who joined the NHS after 31 March 2023 were ineligible for the award, regardless of profession. The recent funding agreed did not change individuals’ eligibility, and the scope of the pay award remains the same.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
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 help ensure parity between (a) clinical and (b) recently insourced nonclinical staff in the one-off covid bonus payment.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The non-consolidated payments, agreed as part of the Agenda for Change pay deal, covered staff directly employed by National Health Service organisations, for instance staff on permanent and fixed term contracts, as set out in Annex 1 of the handbook on Agenda for Change terms as of 31 March 2023. Those who joined the NHS after 31 March 2023 were ineligible for the award, regardless of their profession.