Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the merits of making prescriptions available for biologics for (a) severe asthma and (b) asthma that is difficult to control, available within secondary care.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Clinicians are responsible for making prescribing decisions for their patients, taking into account the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisals and guidance on management of asthma and the local commissioning decisions of their respective clinical commissioning groups.
Prescribing of biologics is co-ordinated through severe asthma centre multi-disciplinary team to ensure current treatments are optimised and all appropriate treatments are considered with use of biologics as part of the treatment review for each patient. The biologic prescribing pathway is one of the areas of focus for the NHS England Severe Asthma Accelerated Access Collaborative.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to restore severe asthma referrals to pre-covid-19 levels.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon MP) on 7 July to Question 13943.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support clinical choice in asthma treatment in the provision of biologic treatments, as recommended in the APPG report, entitled Improving Asthma Outcomes in the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There has been significant increase in the use of biologics in the last three years. The decision to start a biologic treatment for asthma is made by specialist severe asthma multi-disciplinary teams (MDT) based in severe asthma centres on clinical grounds. The MDT considers all aspects of the patients’ illness, efficacy of current treatments and other treatment options. Patients receiving biologics are closely monitored to ensure that they are receiving the right treatment to help manage their symptoms.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of (a) the efficacy of remote consultations for asthma treatment and (b) the effect remote consultations has had on outcomes for asthma patients.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No specific assessment has been made.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are plans for the NHS to put in place system incentives to reduce overreliance on SABA due to (a) environmental and (b) clinical concerns posed by such overreliance.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
NHS England and NHS Improvement are considering the feasibility of introducing system incentives to increase appropriate prescribing of inhaled corticosteroid inhalers and to improve the prescribing of short-acting beta-agonists inhalers. The aim will be to improve patient outcomes but also reduce carbon emissions.
An update to the General Practitioner Contract for 2020/21 to 2023/24 includes an improved Quality Outcome Framework asthma domain. This incorporates aspects of care positively associated with better patient outcomes and asthma control, including a review of inhaler technique and record of exacerbations.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans are in place to introduce NHS system incentives to reduce over-prescribing of oral corticosteroid for asthma and severe asthma.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
NHS England and NHS Improvement are considering the feasibility of introducing system incentives to increase appropriate prescribing of inhaled corticosteroid inhalers and to improve the prescribing of short-acting beta-agonists inhalers. The aim will be to improve patient outcomes but also reduce carbon emissions.
An update to the General Practitioner Contract for 2020/21 to 2023/24 includes an improved Quality Outcome Framework asthma domain. This incorporates aspects of care positively associated with better patient outcomes and asthma control, including a review of inhaler technique and record of exacerbations.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to make recurrent oral corticosteroid use a trigger for treatment reviews in asthma and other conditions.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
NHS England and NHS Improvement are considering the feasibility of introducing system incentives to increase appropriate prescribing of inhaled corticosteroid inhalers and to improve the prescribing of short-acting beta-agonists inhalers. The aim will be to improve patient outcomes but also reduce carbon emissions.
An update to the General Practitioner Contract for 2020/21 to 2023/24 includes an improved Quality Outcome Framework asthma domain. This incorporates aspects of care positively associated with better patient outcomes and asthma control, including a review of inhaler technique and record of exacerbations.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's timescale is for the publication of the joint asthma guideline from NICE/BTS/SIGN.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The British Thoracic Society, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have begun work to develop a joint guideline relating to asthma care. The recruitment process for the roles of guideline group co-chair and topic expert is underway, with the first scoping workshop due to take place on 6 August 2021. The likely publication date is 2023.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans are in place to focus on the contribution of positive patient outcomes to the healthcare carbon savings within the delivery plan of Greener NHS Strategy.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The National Health Service committed to achieving net zero for both direct and indirect emissions. ‘Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service’, published in October 2020, sets out how more sustainable models of care can not only improve patient outcomes, patient experience and care quality but also reduce carbon emissions.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the evidential basis for the inclusion of (a) curry sauces, (c) pastes and (c) condiments in the restrictions in the HFSS strategy.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The nutrient profiling model applies equally to all foods and non-alcoholic drinks; there is no category specific criteria. The possible implications of applying the nutrient profiling model from per 100g basis to per portion basis was considered as part of the 2007 review of the effectiveness of the nutrient profiling model. The independent review panel recommended to retain the 100g base to avoid unnecessary complexity as there are few United Kingdom dietary recommendations on portion sizes and inconsistent portion sizes used on food or drink packs.
My Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has not had any discussions with his counterpart in the Scottish Government on the exemption of curry sauces and pastes from the Scottish Government’s strategy on foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS).
In ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’, published in July, the Government confirmed its intention to restrict the promotion and advertising of HFSS foods. The consultations on these policies set out proposals for the definitions of HFSS products. We have listened carefully to the feedback and will be setting out final definitions for the products these policies apply to when we publish the responses to the consultations. We will do this as soon as possible.