Health Services: Prisons
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) for the 12 prisons contractually managed by the private sector in England and Wales, who is providing health services; when were the contracts signed; for how long they run; how much they cost; and how they are performing against the contract provision; [177199]
(2) who commissions health services for each of the 12 prisons contractually managed by the private sector in England and Wales. [177210]
Norman Lamb: As of November 2013, there are 12 privately managed prisons in England, with health care commissioned and provided under private finance initiative (PFI) contracts in seven prisons. NHS England has commissioned prison health care since 1 April 2013 and commissions health care in the five other privately managed prisons. Health care commissioning at HMP Parc is also provided under a PFI contract and is the responsibility of the Welsh Government.
Many current health care contracts across the prison estate were established prior to NHS England acquiring commissioning responsibility. NHS England is retendering contracts as they come up for renewal. Providers are therefore subject to change from April 2014.
We are advised by the National Offender Management Service that the current cost of health care within PFI contracts is not identifiable, since it is included in the contracted prison place daily price for each PFI contract. However, information is available about total health care spending in each of the privately managed prisons in the most recently completed financial year and this is shown in the table.
Information about contract performance in PFI-contracted prisons or privately managed prisons where NHS England commissions health care is not collected centrally by the Department or by NHS England.
The available information about health care in each of the privately managed prisons in England is shown in the following table.
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Health Visitors
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Sure Start health visitors there were in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013. [177277]
Dr Poulter: The total number of health visitors1 in England in each of these years is shown in the following table:
| August each year | Health visitors (full-time equivalent) |
| 1 The figures refer to the Health and Social Care Information Centre's collection of numbers of ‘qualified health visitors’ rather than ‘Sure Start health visitors’. For the purposes of reporting health visitor work force expansion, the terms ‘health visitor’ and ‘Sure Start health visitor’ are one and the same. 2 Until December 2012, health visitor work force data were published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre as part of the Hospital and Community Health Services work force publication. They were based on use of the electronic staff record (ESR) and thus did not include health visitors employed in organisations such as local authorities and social enterprises that do not usually use the ESR. A new health visitor minimum data set was published from December 2012, which includes health visitors employed by organisations not using the ESR. This supports the Government's commitment to recruit 4,200 more health visitors by April 2015 and better reflects the true health visiting work force. | |
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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with health boards about the benefits of hypnotherapy to address irritable bowel syndrome. [176958]
Norman Lamb: Ministers have had no discussions with health boards about the benefits of hypnotherapy to address irritable bowel syndrome.
Mental Illness
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2013, Official Report, column 327W, on stress, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions in reducing stress, anxiety and depression in patients with (a) cancer and (b) heart disease. [176785]
Norman Lamb: The Department is aware of the impact that stress can have on illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. We know that access to psychological services at the point of diagnosis can support patients by meeting their emotional as well as physical needs.
The Department has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has evaluated their effectiveness and recommends the use of mindfulness-based therapies as a psychological intervention for the prevention of relapse in its guideline “Depression: the treatment and management of depression in adults”, which is available at the following web address:
www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/12329/45888/45888.pdf
Muscular Dystrophy: North West
Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with specialised commissioners in the North West to set up a North West neuromuscular delivery network with neuromuscular co-ordinator support; and if he will make a statement. [176985]
Norman Lamb: There have been no ministerial discussions on this matter.
NHS England is responsible for the commissioning of specialised services, improving both the quality and consistency of specialised care. These new national commissioning arrangements will significantly enhance equity of access and outcomes for patients across the country.
NHS: Drugs
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to align the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approval process and the NHS England commissioning development process for medicines and diagnostic technologies to ensure patients have quicker access to new medicines; [176450]
(2) whether there is a time limit for the uptake of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved diagnostic technologies. [176490]
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Norman Lamb: In the great majority of cases, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes draft or final technology appraisal guidance on significant new drugs within a few months of their launch. National health service commissioners are legally required by regulations to fund those treatments recommended by NICE in its technology appraisal guidance.
The report Innovation Health and Wealth: Accelerating adoption and diffusion in the NHS, published in December 2011, identified the need to reduce variation and strengthen compliance of uptake of treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisals. As part of its implementation of Innovation Health and Wealth, NHS England is working with a wide range of stakeholders through the NICE Implementation Collaborative to promote the uptake of NICE guidance. NHS England and the Health and Social Care Information Centre also publish quarterly updates to the Innovation Scorecard, which provides information to the NHS, industry, patients and the public on uptake of NICE-recommended treatments. The latest iteration is at:
www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB11832
NHS England also issued commissioning policy guidance to the NHS in April 2013 on the implementation and funding of NICE technology appraisal recommendations which is available at:
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-05.pdf
There is no statutory funding requirement for diagnostics recommended by NICE in its diagnostics guidance, nor is there any time limit for the uptake of such technologies. NHS organisations are expected to take NICE's guidance into account in making funding decisions for individual medical diagnostic technologies.
NHS: Redundancy Pay
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 8 November 2013, Official Report, column 381W, on NHS: redundancy pay, if he will publish those figures for 2008-09 and 2009-10 which were collected on a different basis. [176783]
Dr Poulter: The cost of national health service staff redundancy payments in 2008-09 and 2009-10 are set out in the following table.
| Termination benefits redundancy1 | |
| NHS | £0002 |
| 1 The figures include primary care trusts, strategic health authorities and NHS trusts but not foundation trusts. 2 Source—NHS (England) Summarised Accounts 2008-09 and 2009-10. | |
Pay Television
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether offices of (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies have access to Sky Sports or an equivalent premium sports television service; and what the cost to the public purse is in each case. [176432]
Dr Poulter:
Neither the Department nor Public Health England nor the Medicines and Healthcare products
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Regulatory Agency have access to Sky Sports or an equivalent premium sports television service.
School Milk
Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with suppliers for the nursery milk scheme on setting a cap on the price of milk bought for use by that scheme. [176453]
Dr Poulter: Setting a cap on the price of milk bought for use in the Nursery Milk Scheme is one of the four options outlined in the Government's consultation ‘Next Steps for Nursery Milk’ published in June 2012. Stakeholders invited to respond to the consultation included milk suppliers, and many did so before the consultation closed in October 2012. As part of stakeholder engagement departmental officials also met with several suppliers and umbrella organisations representing milk suppliers.
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of eligible children received milk through the Nursery Milk Scheme in the 10 (a) most and (b) least deprived local authorities in Great Britain. [177131]
Dr Poulter: The specific information requested is not available. However, nationally, it is estimated that about 60% of all under-fives in eligible child care settings are claiming free milk under the Nursery Milk Scheme.
The Government remain committed to maintaining free nursery milk as a universal benefit for all under-fives in nursery and child care settings, as stated within the June 2012 consultation document about modernising the Nursery Milk Scheme.
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of changes to his Nursery Milk Scheme on vulnerable children. [177132]
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Dr Poulter: The Department's consultation on modernisation of the Nursery Milk Scheme, entitled ‘Next steps for Nursery milk’ was published in June 2012. A copy has already been placed in the Library. This was accompanied by an equalities impact assessment that considered the impact of any change to the scheme upon children with disabilities, and on those providing child care and educational services to these children.
“none of the options for change will impact on disability issues for childcare providers or producers, suppliers, distributors and retailers of milk”.
The equalities impact assessment also contains a commitment to ensure that if a direct supply option is chosen then the Department will ensure, through the procurement process, that any third parties contracted to directly supply milk to child care providers fully comply with the equality duty.
A copy of the equalities impact assessment ‘Equality Analysis—Next Steps for Nursery Milk’ has been placed in the Library. It is also available at:
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182328/Equality_Analysis_-_Next_Steps_for_Nursery_Milk.pdf
Social Services
Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of social care budget changes on attendances at accident and emergency departments. [901281]
Norman Lamb: Joining up health and social care services is a key priority for this Government. The national health service will provide £900 million this year and £1.1 billion next year to support social care services with a health benefit and promote joint working, and in 2015-16 we will introduce a £3.8 billion pooled budget for health and social care.
The number of bed days lost because of delays attributable to social care was nearly 50,000 lower in 2012-13 than in 2011-12.