Written Assembly Questions tabled on 12 June 2014 for answer on 19 June 2014
R - Signifies the Member has declared an interest.
W - Signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.
(Self identifying Question no. shown in brackets)
Written Questions must be tabled at least five working days before they are to be answered. In practice, Ministers aim to answer within seven/eight days but are not bound to do so. Answers are published in the language in which they are provided, with a translation into English of responses provided in Welsh.
To ask the Minister for Education and Skills
Leighton Andrews (Rhondda): What is the Welsh Government’s policy on the establishment of private universities in Wales? (WAQ67236)
Answer received on 17 June 2014
The Minister for Education and Skills (Huw Lewis): The Government’s policy has not changed. The Higher Education (Wales) Bill, which was introduced into the Assembly in May, prevents institutions which do not have charitable status from applying to the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales for approval of a fee and access plan. Institutions in Wales will need to have an approved fee and access plan in place in order for their courses to be automatically designated for Welsh Government statutory student support. This policy will ensure that any financial advantage gained by institutions from the most generous elements of the Welsh Government student support package is invested in the public good. Private universities without charitable status will not be eligible for automatic student finance designation under these new arrangements.
Leighton Andrews (Rhondda): What processes are in place in Wales to enable organisations to be awarded the title ‘University’? (WAQ67237)
Answer received on 17 June 2014
Huw Lewis: Applications for University title in Wales are subject to a rigorous scrutiny process by the Quality Assurance Agency, the Advisory Committee on Degree Awarding Powers and the Welsh Government amongst others before approval is sought from the Privy Council.
To ask the Minister for Health and Social Services
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What action is the Minister’s department taking to improve a) awareness b) diagnosis and c) treatment of pancreatic cancer in Wales? (WAQ67225)
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What assessment has the Minister made of one-year and five-year survival rates for pancreatic cancer in Wales compared to the other parts of the UK? (WAQ67226)
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What assessment has the Minister made of the availability of information for patients newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in hospitals and GP surgeries across Wales? (WAQ67227)
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What contact has the Minister or his department had with third sector organisations to improve the awareness, diagnosis, treatment and care of pancreatic cancer in Wales? (WAQ67228)
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What action is the Minister currently taking to ensure GP practices have access to the latest technology used to diagnose pancreatic cancer? (WAQ67229)
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What action is the Minister taking to ensure that the medical training curriculum promotes early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer? (WAQ67230)
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What consideration has the Minister given to a review of pathways between primary and secondary care for the referral and investigation of pancreatic cancer? (WAQ67231)
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What action is the Minister taking to ensure that patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will be assigned a Clinical Nurse Specialist? (WAQ67232)
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What action is the Minister taking to ensure that treatments proven to show benefit to pancreatic cancer patients will be made available via the Welsh NHS as quickly as possible? (WAQ67233)
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What consideration has the Minister given to taking forward a pancreatic cancer specific symptom awareness campaign? (WAQ67234)
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that dieticians are always members of the pancreatic cancer Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) that review pancreatic cancer patients? (WAQ67235)
Answer received on 20 June 2014 (WAQ67225-35)
Minister for Health and Social Services (Mark Drakeford): All LHBs promote NICE Clinical Guidelines across primary and secondary care services. NICE Clinical Guideline ‘Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer’ recognises that diagnosis of pancreatic cancer on clinical grounds alone can be difficult, as the condition may initially present with a number of non specific symptoms. The Guidance encourages GPs to be alert to the possibility of a cancer diagnosis where there are unusual symptom patterns or where symptoms fail to resolve as expected.
Macmillan GP Advisors provide professional advice to GP practice teams and raise awareness of third sector resources to support patients and their families. GP practices are testing electronic tools to support more rapid diagnosis using information from patient’s records, including details about previous appointments, symptoms and family history, to calculate a patient’s risk of having cancer. This work focusses on the cancers that are more challenging to diagnose, including pancreatic disease.
GP practices have access to laboratory and ultrasound services and can seek specialist opinion when required. It is for Local Health Boards to ensure they have appropriate representation in MDT discussions.
The Together for Health -
Cancer Delivery Plan - A Delivery Plan up to 2016 for NHS Wales and its Partners, includes a specific action for Local Health Boards to assign a Key Worker to each person diagnosed with cancer and to introduce effective assessment and care planning. The key worker is often a clinical nurse specialist.
We have made no direct comparison of one-year and five-year survival rates for pancreatic cancer with other parts of the UK, however information on incidence and survival in Wales is available on the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU – Wales) website.
www.wcisu.wales.nhs.uk/home
At this point consideration has not been given to specific awareness campaigns for pancreatic cancer.