Departmental Ministers, on behalf of the Secretary of State, take decisions on the final referral of topics to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal and highly specialised technology work programmes on the basis of advice from the Department’s officials. The advice summarises the outcome of a topic selection process that is overseen by NICE and includes consideration of topics against published criteria by a group comprising representatives from the Department, NHS England and NICE and informed by public consultation.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is directed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to conduct or commission research into organ donation and transplantation and into the uses, or development, of stem cells and tissues.

NHSBT’s Research, Innovation and Novel Technologies Advisory Group monitors research programmes that require access to donated human material where consent has been given for research. Members of the group include leading researchers who cover all aspects of transplantation. The group also has representation from the British Transplantation Society.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), funded by the Department, also has an important role. The NIHR Biomedical Research Centre has a research theme on Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine which aims to improve outcomes in solid organ transplantation and the use of clinical advances to support the development of cell based therapies. The NIHR Innovation Observatory is a national medical horizon scanning facility which identifies technologies up to 10 years from being publicly available.

Patient safety is paramount in our exit negotiations and maintaining continuity of supply of medical products is a key part of ensuring patients continue to receive the safe high-quality care they need on day one of the exit from the European Union exit and thereafter.

The Department is working closely with cross Government agencies to ensure that there is no disruption to the supply of medical products following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, regardless of the terms of the withdrawal.

This includes enhancing existing supply chain resilience, scoping out alternative sources of supply and providing means to access critical medical devices at short notice. Warehousing requirements for centrally held stock of medical devices for the National Health Service is continuously reviewed against demand patterns and forecasts which incorporate consideration of external factors, such as exiting the EU, and is integral to contingency planning. Medicines suppliers will be taking a similar approach to their stocks.

Patient safety is paramount in our exit negotiations and maintaining continuity of supply of medical products is a key part of ensuring patients continue to receive the safe high-quality care they need on day one of the exit from the European Union exit and thereafter.

The Department is working closely with cross Government agencies to ensure that there is no disruption to the supply of medical products following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, regardless of the terms of the withdrawal.

This includes enhancing existing supply chain resilience, scoping out alternative sources of supply and providing means to access critical medical devices at short notice. Warehousing requirements for centrally held stock of medical devices for the National Health Service is continuously reviewed against demand patterns and forecasts which incorporate consideration of external factors, such as exiting the EU, and is integral to contingency planning. Medicines suppliers will be taking a similar approach to their stocks.

The Government is committed to the safe and effective regulation of medical devices in the United Kingdom; we continue to strengthen safety while ensuring patients and the public have fast access to new, innovative devices.

The new EU Devices Regulations entered into force in May 2017. The EU Regulation on Medical Devices 2017/745 will be fully applied from May 2020, during the implementation period agreed with the European Union, and would therefore apply under the terms of the time-limited implementation period.

Under our responsibilities as a Member State, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency continues to work to implement the new Regulations and has met all relevant milestones set out in the legislation.

We have made no such assessments. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and has not yet published final guidance on the diagnosis and management of abdominal aortic aneurysm. NICE has recently consulted on its draft guideline and will take the comments it has received in response to the consultation fully into account in finalising its recommendations.

We have made no such assessments. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and has not yet published final guidance on the diagnosis and management of abdominal aortic aneurysm. NICE has recently consulted on its draft guideline and will take the comments it has received in response to the consultation fully into account in finalising its recommendations.

No such assessment has been made.

How trusts schedule surgical procedures is for local determination but national guidance and support is available from NHS England and NHS Improvement to support trusts to meet maximum waiting times standards. Clinical priority is the main determinant of when patients should be treated followed by the chronological order of when they were added to the waiting list.

The Government recognises the challenges faced by people of working age with care needs. We are committed to ensuring that people with disabilities and complex conditions can live healthy, independent lives, and participate fully in society.

The Government has committed to publishing a Green Paper, by summer 2018, setting out proposals for reform of adult social care. This Green Paper will focus on care for older people, but many of the issues and questions about the sustainability of the care system will be relevant to adults of all ages. Once the Green Paper is published, it will be subject to a full public consultation.

To ensure that issues specific to working-age adults with care needs are considered in their own right, the Government will take forward a parallel programme of work which is being led jointly by the Department of Health and the Department for Communities and Local Government, which will focus on this group. This work will also be overseen by the Inter-Ministerial Group to ensure alignment with the Green Paper.

As part of our initial engagement, a round table meeting with key stakeholders on issues facing working age adults with care needs is expected to take place in the new year. It would be jointly chaired by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Care and Mental Health (Jackie Doyle-Price) and the Minister for Local Government (Marcus Jones).

My Lords, the Government value the contribution of all European Union staff working across the NHS and social care systems immensely. We have set out a clear pathway to permanent residency for these EU citizens. According to the latest NHS digital data, there are now more non-UK EU doctors working in the NHS than ever before, with almost 500 more since 30 June 2016.

My Lords, the Government are committed to making sure that 70,000 more children and young people each year will receive evidence-based mental health treatment by 2020-21. Since publishing Future in Mind, the Government have made an additional £1.4 billion available to improve children’s mental health. Key mechanisms for delivery are local transformation plans, which cover the full spectrum of mental health, and the upcoming children and young people’s mental health Green Paper, which will contain proposals for further improving access to services.

We have introduced a new waiting time standard for treatment of children and young people with eating disorders, setting an expectation that by 2020, 95% of those referred will start treatment within one week if the case is urgent and four weeks if the case is non-urgent.

National data on the number of young people receiving treatment within this timeframe in England shows that over 73% of patients started urgent treatment within one week in Quarter 1 2017-18 (206 out of 281 patients started treatment within one week) and nearly 78.9% of patients started routine treatment within four weeks in Quarter 1 2017-18 (1,067 out of 1,355 patients started treatment within four weeks).

This is positive initial progress some three years before the 95% level of the standard comes into force.

We are also currently exceeding the waiting time standard for Early Intervention in Psychosis, with nearly 75% of patients starting treatment within two weeks in July 2017.

The upcoming children and young people’s mental health Green Paper, which will be published by the end of the year, will include plans to improve timely access to specialist mental health services for those children and young people who need it most.

To date, 280 schools have received training during June, July and September (262 secondaries and 18 primaries) with a total of 401 people trained. We anticipate that over 1,000 schools will receive training by the end of 2017.

My Lords, the Government agree with Professor Baker’s statement that,

“we need a model of care that is fit for the 21st century and the population as it is now”.

That is why we are backing the NHS’s own plans for transformation with an extra £8 billion a year in real terms by 2020-21 and an extra £2 billion over the next three years for social care.

My Lords, responsibility for implementing the NICE guidelines lies with local NHS commissioners and providers. NHS England has commissioned the charity Together for Short Lives to assess whether local provision follows these guidelines. The results will be shared to help spread best practice and address common challenges. These actions form part of the Government’s commitment to ensure that everyone at or approaching the end of life has good-quality, compassionate and joined-up care in a setting of their choice.