Asked by: Baroness Cumberlege (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Evans of Rainow on 20 March (HL Deb col 1529), what is the source of their data for saying that six percent of GP services could be provided by pharmacies; and what is the evidence base for those data.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The source of the data that 6% of general practitioner (GP) services could be provided by pharmacies, as referenced by Lord Evans of Rainow on 20 March, is the report Making Time in General Practice, published by the Primary Care Foundation and NHS Alliance in October 2015. This research found that 5.5% of GP appointments were potentially avoidable by being directed instead to self-care/pharmacy. These findings were referenced in the later report General Practice Forward View, published by NHS England in April 2016. In this report the figure was rounded to 6%.
Copies of both reports are attached.
Asked by: Baroness Cumberlege (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the standards set out in NHS service specifications for rare and complex diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, are adhered to; and to what extent these represent a statutory expectation of care that patients should expect to receive at a minimum.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Cumberlege (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Bethell on 8 June 2021 (HL Deb cols 1219–20), what improvements they have made to the process for patients opting out of their medical data being used for research and planning; and how each patient can see where data about them are used.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
Whilst no recent changes have been made to the patient opt-out process, we are considering further engagement with the public, patients, service users, staff and stakeholders. This will include raising awareness of the opt-out system, with the aim of making the process simpler and more transparent and how tools such as a transparency statement could help patients understand how their data is used. We will provide further details in the data strategy for health and social care, due for publication in spring 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Cumberlege (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Bethell on 8 June 2021 (HL Deb, col 1319–20), what improvements they have made to the process for patients opting out of their health data being used for research and planning; and how each patient can see where data about them is used.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
In July 2021, we committed that the General Practice Data for Planning and Research programme will not access patient data until the following criteria has been met:
- the ability to delete data if patients choose to opt-out of sharing their data with NHS Digital, even if this is after their data has been uploaded;
- the backlog of opt-outs has been fully cleared;
- a trusted research environment has been developed and implemented by NHS Digital; and
- patients have been made more aware of the scheme through a campaign of engagement and communication.
NHS Digital is redesigning the programme with input from stakeholders to take account of these commitments and professional, public and stakeholder feedback. Data collection will begin when the National Data Guardian, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association are satisfied with the proposed arrangements. As part of our data strategy, we will engage on how the opt-out system works in practice, with the aim of making the process simpler and more transparent.
Patients can view how data is used through NHS Digital’s data release register. This shows monthly information on who data has been shared with, which data has been shared and for what specific purpose.
Asked by: Baroness Cumberlege (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review First do No Harm, published on 8 July 2020, what negotiations have taken place between the Department of Health and Social Care and Her Majesty’s Treasury about redress for those who have suffered harm from (1) Primodos, (2) sodium valproate, and (3) pelvic mesh.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department engaged with HM Treasury on redress prior to cross-Government approval of the response to the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review.
Asked by: Baroness Cumberlege (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have registered an opt-out with their GP practice to prevent the sharing of personal data outside of their GP practice except for their own care as at 5 July; and how many people have registered an opt-out covering the broader health and care system, that is the National Data opt-out, as at 5 July.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Data on how many people have registered such an opt-out is not held centrally. NHS Digital reports that the current number of registered national data opt-outs is 3,066,543.
Asked by: Baroness Cumberlege (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage greater uptake of home haemodialysis, in line with the NICE Guidelines, COVID-19 rapid guidelines: dialysis service delivery, published on 20 March 2020.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England and NHS Improvement are undertaking a national Renal Transformation Programme starting later in 2021. As part of this, ways to incentivise home dialysis will be considered, which may include use of tariffs or other commissioning levers.
Asked by: Baroness Cumberlege (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions, if any, they have had with the NHS about updating the National Tariff Payment for dialysis to encourage greater uptake of home haemodialysis therapies.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England and NHS Improvement are undertaking a national Renal Transformation Programme starting later in 2021. As part of this, ways to incentivise home dialysis will be considered, which may include use of tariffs or other commissioning levers.
Asked by: Baroness Cumberlege (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will undertake a review to assess the benefits of home haemodialysis compared to in-centre dialysis for supporting dialysis patients safely to shield from COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England and NHS Improvement have advised that there are currently no plans to undertake such a review. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence COVID-19 rapid guideline: dialysis service delivery, sets out guidance for clinicians to maximise the safety of patients on dialysis during the pandemic, both at home and in dialysis units. It contains recommendations for providers to continue and maintain current home dialysis provision where possible and to consider the possibility of increasing provision for new incident patients. A copy of the guideline is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Cumberlege (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how England compares with other European countries in (1) one, (2) five, and (3) 10-year survival rates for patients diagnosed with metastatic kidney cancer.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
No formal assessment has been made.
Although cancer survival rates are at a record high and continue to improve, we know that we have to strive to be better. The independent Cancer Taskforce report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A strategy for England 2015-2020, published in July last year, recommends improvements across the cancer patient pathway. A copy of the report is attached.
NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to deliver the Cancer Taskforce’s recommendations. An implementation plan, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: Taking the strategy forward, was published on 12 May 2016 and we hope to see great progress as it is delivered. A copy of the implementation plan is attached.