here - United Kingdom Parliament

895W
Written Answers
1 DECEMBER 2010
Written Answers
896W
Mr Simon Burns: For those staff transferring from
primary care trusts to general practitioner (GP)
commissioning consortiums, transfers will be covered
by either the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of
Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) and/or the Cabinet
Office Staff Transfers in the Public Sector Statement of
Practice which provides terms that are overall no less
favourable than if TUPE was applied.
Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health
(1) which reserve powers will be retained by his Department
following the transfer of commissioning from primary
care trusts to GP consortia; [26525]
(2) what powers his Department will have to take
action in respect of a GP consortium becoming
financially unsustainable after the implementation of
his proposals for practice-based commissioning. [26532]
Mr Simon Burns: General practitioner (GP)
commissioning consortia will be authorised and held to
account by the NHS Commissioning Board. The NHS
Commissioning Board will have powers to intervene in
the event that a consortium is failing to manage their
finances effectively or deliver acceptable outcomes for
their patients.
The Secretary of State for Health will remain accountable
for the health service with powers to set the legislative
framework within which the NHS Commissioning Board
and GP consortia will operate but will not have powers
to intervene in relation to individual consortia. Further
details will be set out in the Government’s forthcoming
response to the consultation on the White Paper “Equity
and Excellence: Liberating the NHS”.
Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for
Health what estimate he has made of the likely average
amount of time per week GPs will allocate to running
GP consortia as a result of his proposals to transfer
commissioning from primary care trusts to GPs.
[26531]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department has not made an
estimate of the likely average amount of time per week
general practitioners (GPs) will allocate to running GP
consortia.
A fundamental principle of the new commissioning
arrangements will be that every GP practice will be a
member of a consortium and contribute to its goals.
However, our proposed model will mean that not all
GPs have to be actively involved in every aspect of
commissioning. Their predominant focus will continue
to be on providing high quality primary care to their
patients. It is likely to be a smaller group of primary
care practitioners who will lead the consortium and
play an active role in the clinical design of local services.
Consortia are likely to carry out a number of
commissioning activities themselves. In other cases,
consortia may choose to act collectively, adopting a
lead commissioner arrangement. They may also choose
to buy in support from external organisations, including
local authorities and private and voluntary sector bodies,
which might include analytical activity to profile and
stratify healthcare needs, support for procurement of
services, and contract monitoring.
Haemophilia
Mr Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health
(1) whether the NHS took steps to advise haemophiliacs
that plasma pool samples from factor VIII and IX
products produced by the NHS for their use had been
tested for pathogens; and if he will make a statement;
[26354]
(2) whether he plans to release further information
held by his Department on the potential pathogenic
side effects on haemophiliacs of factor VIII and IX
products produced by the NHS for their use; and if he
will make a statement. [26411]
Anne Milton: It was and still is the responsibility of
individual clinicians to advise their patients of the risks
associated with their treatment. In addition, knowledge
of both HIV and hepatitis C emerged gradually, over a
period of time in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
All of the relevant Government papers that are available
from the period before 1985, when heat treatment for
such products was introduced, are on the Department’s
website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/FreedomOfInformation/
Freedomofinformationpublicationschemefeedback/
FOIreleases/DH_076693
Given the level of public interest in this matter, the
Government are ready to release any more relevant
documents should any come to light.
Help is at Hand
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health
(1) what estimate he has made of the number of copies
of his Department’s leaflet entitled Help is at Hand
distributed by (a) primary care trusts, (b) police forces
and (c) local authorities in each of the last four years;
and if he will make a statement; [26842]
(2) what steps he has taken to ensure that his
Department’s publication Help is at Hand is received
by those whom it is intended to assist; and if he will
make a statement. [26850]
Paul Burstow: Help is at Hand is a resource pack to
support people bereaved by suicide or other sudden or
traumatic deaths, which was launched in 2006. We have
not collected data in the format requested by the hon.
Member. However, data provided by the Department’s
publications orderline, PROLOG, were analysed to show
the number of copies of each edition of the resource
pack supplied to public institutions and private individuals
between 12 September 2006 and 31 December 2009.
The total number of packs distributed over this time
period was 44,765.
To ensure effective promotion and dissemination of
this bereavement pack we undertook a full and
comprehensive evaluation of this resource. This evaluation
is now complete and will be published before the end of
December. Once we have published this evaluation we
will consider how best to ensure it is available to all of
those who need it.
Support for those bereaved by suicide is a priority for
the new suicide prevention strategy currently being
developed and due for publication in the new year.