Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
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 support GP practices with the costs of recycling medical packaging.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Premises Costs Directions 2013 set out the reimbursement of certain costs, incurred by General Medical Services contractors, that can be claimed relating to their practice premises. This includes being able to claim reimbursement for clinical waste disposal. The costs of all other waste services are a general practice (GP) expense, covered by the payments GPs receive for delivery of services under their contracts. The Premises Costs Directions 2013 is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-general-medical-services-premises-costs-directions
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the efficacy of dental commissioning by Integrated Care Boards.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the delegation of its commissioning responsibilities to integrated care boards (ICB) from 1 April 2023, NHS England published the Operating Framework which sets out the accountabilities and responsibilities of NHS England and ICBs, and supports the requirements as laid out within the delegation agreement. This framework is intended to provide clarity on NHS England’s expectations on how ICBs will provide assurance to NHS England that they are exercising the delegated functions safely, effectively, and consistently within legislation regulations and statutory guidance. It will also set out the information that will be collected as part of the oversight of commissioning functions. This framework is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/operating-framework/
NHS England encourages ICBs to reflect regularly on their compliance status, rather than just through annual self-declaration. Both formal and informal touchpoints will exist through ordinary business, and assurance discussions between NHS England regional teams and ICBs are woven into these meetings. To support both ICBs and regional colleagues, NHS England has published a Primary care commissioning assurance framework, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/operating-framework/
In addition, Faster, simpler and fairer: our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry, which was published on 7 February 2024, sets out a number of ways in which we will support ICBs to improve dental commissioning. For example, NHS England will work with ICBs in 2024/25 to identify opportunities to support contractors to deliver additional capacity beyond their existing contractual requirements, up to 110%, and to permanently and unilaterally amend contracts which have consistently under-delivered to ensure the Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) can be released and delivered by other contract holders instead. We have started to publish monthly data on local National Health Service dental activity at the ICB level, including the proportion of UDAs being delivered in different places. We will publish new workforce data early this year to support ICBs with their commissioning function, including employment and working trends. We will also consider publishing data on community dental services, which provide care to the most vulnerable patients, and we will explore opportunities to link to other community data sets and help join-up of local services.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of NHS dental practices were in dispute with her Department about reconciling payments for NHS work on 30 January 2024; and what assessment she has made of the (a) clarity and (b) ease of the reconciliation process.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Year-end reconciliation is a national process carried out, in the most part, by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA), and commissioned by NHS England.
As of 31 January 2024, there were 38 unresolved queries from contract holders about their year-end outcome for 2022/23. This equates to 0.6% of the 6673 contracts within the NHS BSA responsibility to reconcile. There are a further proportion of contracts, 1,946, that remain within the remit of integrated care boards to reconcile, where data is not held centrally.
The process of year end reconciliation is a vital part of ensuring contract holders are held accountable for the activity they have been contracted to deliver, and to ensure taxpayers get value for money from the £3 billion National Health Service dentistry budget.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has plans to reform NHS dental contracts to incentivise dentists to carry out NHS work.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 7 February 2024 we published Our Plan to Recover and Reform NHS Dentistry. The plan will make dental services faster, simpler and fairer for patients and will fund around 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment.
The plan also sets out a number of actions to incentivise dentists to carry out National Health Service work. A new patient premium will support dentists to take on new patients, golden hello incentives will encourage dentists into under-served areas, and we will raise the minimum Units of Dental Activity rate to £28 this year, making NHS work more attractive and sustainable.
In addition to the changes to the contract which we made in 2022, we are developing further recommendations for dental contract reform to properly reflect the care needed by different patients and more fairly remunerate practices. We expect to develop options for consultation with the dental profession in advance of a further announcement later this year. Any changes would be phased in from 2025 onwards.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 social enterprises can meet the Agenda for Change pay award without impacting service quality.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working with NHS England to provide additional funding to eligible non-National Health Service organisations, including social enterprises, to help deliver the one-off payments of the Agenda for Change pay deal to eligible staff. Eligible organisations are those that have been negatively financially impacted by the pay deal, and whose staff are employed on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to ensure the long-term sustainability of the hospice sector.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While no specific assessment has been made recently of the equity of funding provided to hospices across England or the sustainability of the funding model for hospices, there are several steps that the Department is taking to ensure the equity and sustainability of funding for hospices.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for determining the level of National Health Service funded palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, locally, and they are responsible for ensuring that the services they commission meet the needs of their local population.
The majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by NHS staff and services. However, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. Charitable hospices provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide and, consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.
NHS England has developed of a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities and ensure that funding is distributed fairly based on prevalence.
At a national level, NHS England supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s hospice grant. It has confirmed that it will be renewing the grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million of grant funding for children’s hospices using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The Department recognises that one of the keys to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the hospice sector is to ensure that it can maintain a sufficient workforce. The Government have also provided additional funding to help deliver the one-off payments to eligible staff employed by non-NHS organisations, which employ their staff on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts. Organisations were able to apply for the funding and needed to show they had been negatively financially impacted by the pay deal, and that their staff are employed on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment her Department has made of the sustainability of the funding model for hospices in England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While no specific assessment has been made recently of the equity of funding provided to hospices across England or the sustainability of the funding model for hospices, there are several steps that the Department is taking to ensure the equity and sustainability of funding for hospices.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for determining the level of National Health Service funded palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, locally, and they are responsible for ensuring that the services they commission meet the needs of their local population.
The majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by NHS staff and services. However, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. Charitable hospices provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide and, consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.
NHS England has developed of a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities and ensure that funding is distributed fairly based on prevalence.
At a national level, NHS England supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s hospice grant. It has confirmed that it will be renewing the grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million of grant funding for children’s hospices using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The Department recognises that one of the keys to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the hospice sector is to ensure that it can maintain a sufficient workforce. The Government have also provided additional funding to help deliver the one-off payments to eligible staff employed by non-NHS organisations, which employ their staff on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts. Organisations were able to apply for the funding and needed to show they had been negatively financially impacted by the pay deal, and that their staff are employed on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment her Department has made of the equity of funding provided to hospices across England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While no specific assessment has been made recently of the equity of funding provided to hospices across England or the sustainability of the funding model for hospices, there are several steps that the Department is taking to ensure the equity and sustainability of funding for hospices.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for determining the level of National Health Service funded palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, locally, and they are responsible for ensuring that the services they commission meet the needs of their local population.
The majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by NHS staff and services. However, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. Charitable hospices provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide and, consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.
NHS England has developed of a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities and ensure that funding is distributed fairly based on prevalence.
At a national level, NHS England supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s hospice grant. It has confirmed that it will be renewing the grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million of grant funding for children’s hospices using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The Department recognises that one of the keys to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the hospice sector is to ensure that it can maintain a sufficient workforce. The Government have also provided additional funding to help deliver the one-off payments to eligible staff employed by non-NHS organisations, which employ their staff on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts. Organisations were able to apply for the funding and needed to show they had been negatively financially impacted by the pay deal, and that their staff are employed on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps her Department has taken to support hospices.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the Health and Care Act 2022, the Government added palliative care services to the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission, which will ensure a more consistent national approach and support commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care, including from hospices.
The majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by NHS staff and services. However, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at end of life and their families. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing services within the National Health Service. The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the ICB footprint. Charitable hospices provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide. Consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.
At a national level, NHS England supports children’s hospices through the Children and Young People’s hospice grant. It has confirmed that it will be renewing the grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million of grant funding for children’s hospices using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The Government has provided additional funding to help deliver the one-off payments to eligible staff employed by non-NHS organisations, which employ their staff on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts. Organisations, such as hospices, were able to apply for the funding if they were able to show they had been negatively financially impacted by the pay deal, and that their staff are employed on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
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 assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report by the APPG for Hospice and End of Life Care entitled Government funding for hospices, to be published in February 2024.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is already taking actions which will address many of the recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Group’s report. As part of the Health and Care Act 2022, the Government added palliative care services to the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission, which will ensure a more consistent national approach and support commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care.
The majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services. However, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at end of life and their families. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the ICB footprint. Charitable hospices provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide, and consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.
NHS England has commissioned the development of a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities and ensure that funding is distributed fairly based on prevalence.
In July 2022, NHS England published statutory guidance and service specifications for commissioners on palliative and end of life care, setting out the considerations for ICBs to meet their legal duties. The guidance makes specific reference to commissioners defining how their services will meet population needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Government have also provided additional funding to help deliver the one-off payments to eligible staff employed by non-NHS organisations, who employ their staff on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts. Organisations were able to apply for the funding and needed to show they had been negatively financially impacted by the pay deal, and that their staff are employed on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts.