Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are giving GPs different advice about the provision of treatments and services to asylum-seekers as compared to provision for the general population.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Anyone in England can register and consult with a general practitioner without charge, including people seeking asylum. Asylum seekers are particularly vulnerable to potential health needs because of their experiences either before, during or after migration. Additional services may be locally commissioned by the National Health Service, including from general practice, to identify and manage such health needs. Information for healthcare professionals on meeting the health needs of migrants is available in the Migrant Health Guide, which is produced by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to require GPs to provide, without charge, letters confirming the residential addresses of asylum-seekers and refugees seeking to open a bank account.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is currently no plan to require general practitioners to provide letters confirming the residential addresses of asylum-seekers and refugees seeking to open a bank account. Asylum seekers and refugees are entitled to register for and receive general practice services in the same way as any other member of the general population. This is confirmed in a range of advice and guidance published by NHS England and the NHS more widely.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the trends in the past three years relating to the consumption levels of high fat, salt and sugar foods in the UK, particularly among (1) children and (2) vulnerable populations.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This assessment has not yet been published. Data on consumption of foods and their contribution to fat, saturated fat, salt and free sugars intakes are collected and reported via the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS). Data for 2019 to 2023 combined will be published as part of the next NDNS report, expected in Spring 2024. Data will be published by age group, including for children aged 1.5 to 3 years, 4 to 10 years, and 11 to 18 years. Analysis of food consumption by equivalised household income and Index of Multiple Deprivation will also be published.
Monitoring data for the government’s voluntary sugar reduction programme showed that, between 2015 and 2020, retailers and manufacturers achieved a -3.5% reduction in sales weighted average SWA sugar content per 100g. Overall sales of sugar from the categories included in the programme increased by 7.1% overall, with the largest increases at a category level seen in chocolate confectionary (+26.9%) and sweet spreads and sauces (+24.5%). In contrast, the total sugar sales from drinks subject to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) decreased by 34.3% between 2015 and 2020.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the delivery plan for recovering access to primary care published on 9 May, what steps they are taking to ensure that the training provided to pharmacists and pharmacy staff equips them with the necessary skills to prescribe antibiotics.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The delivery plan for recovering access to primary care will enable community pharmacies to supply prescription-only medicines for seven common conditions under Patient Group Directions (PGDs). PGDs are written instructions enabling certain health care professionals to supply or administer medicines to patients without a prescription. Any pharmacy offering this service will have to declare they are competent to deliver the service and pharmacists supplying medicines under PGDs must have undertaken the training set out in those specific PGDs.
Antimicrobial stewardship is a priority for the Government and NHS England. Action to embed antimicrobial stewardship principles in community pharmacy teams has formed part of the Pharmacy Quality Scheme in the National Health Service contractual arrangements.
The supply of antibiotics under the new service will be monitored by collecting and analysing data about the supply of medicines, including antibiotics, in the same way that data is collected on prescribing in general practice.
In addition, in May, the National Institute for Health and Care Research issued a research call for a robust wrap around evaluation of the Pharmacy First service to understand its impact, safety, cost effectiveness, acceptability and implications for antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the delivery plan for recovering access to primary care published on 9 May, what measures are in place to ensure proper monitoring and surveillance when community pharmacists prescribe antibiotics.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The delivery plan for recovering access to primary care will enable community pharmacies to supply prescription-only medicines for seven common conditions under Patient Group Directions (PGDs). PGDs are written instructions enabling certain health care professionals to supply or administer medicines to patients without a prescription. Any pharmacy offering this service will have to declare they are competent to deliver the service and pharmacists supplying medicines under PGDs must have undertaken the training set out in those specific PGDs.
Antimicrobial stewardship is a priority for the Government and NHS England. Action to embed antimicrobial stewardship principles in community pharmacy teams has formed part of the Pharmacy Quality Scheme in the National Health Service contractual arrangements.
The supply of antibiotics under the new service will be monitored by collecting and analysing data about the supply of medicines, including antibiotics, in the same way that data is collected on prescribing in general practice.
In addition, in May, the National Institute for Health and Care Research issued a research call for a robust wrap around evaluation of the Pharmacy First service to understand its impact, safety, cost effectiveness, acceptability and implications for antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding they have allocated to support initiatives aimed at (1) reducing the consumption of high fat, salt and sugar foods, and (2) improving the overall dietary habits of the population.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has allocated funding to support enforcement of current regulatory measures to reduce consumption of products high in fat, salt, or sugar, and improve dietary habits. This will include enforcement of promotions restrictions, mandatory calorie labelling in the out-of-home sector and restrictions on advertising of less healthy food (on television and online).
In March 2021, the Department committed to develop a new approach to health incentives that aims to support people to eat better and move more. The Better Health: Rewards pilot launched on 17 February 2023 to adults who live in Wolverhampton and includes a £3 million investment for rewards in Wolverhampton.
In addition, approximately £500,000 will be spent on promotion of healthy weaning and breastfeeding support and advice to parents. This is delivered through Start for Life which is the Department’s national communications programme, supporting families to better health.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the World Health Organization guideline on the use of non-sugar sweeteners, published on 15 May 2023, for dietary guidelines in England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. Policy officials have noted the report, its findings and the evidence used by World Health Organization (WHO) to inform their conclusions.
The United Kingdom’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition keeps a watching brief on the evidence around non-sugar sweeteners and health. The Government continues to recommend that the population’s average sugars intake should be reduced to no more than 5% of daily energy intake.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answers by the Minister for Primary Care and Public Health on 17 March and 24 April (HC163765, HC180118, and HC180748), what steps they are taking (1) domestically, and (2) internationally, to produce a “universally agreed definition of ultra-processed foods”.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) is currently carrying out a scoping review of the evidence on processed foods and health and aims to publish its initial assessment in July 2023. This will include evaluating existing classifications of processed foods, including ultra-processed foods and the NOVA classification. We are not aware of any plans to agree a definition internationally.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to limit the spread of extensively antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea (1) in the general population, (2) in vulnerable populations, and (3) among elderly populations.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The effectiveness of treatment for gonorrhoea continues to be threatened by the development of resistance to the last-line treatment, ceftriaxone. The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) Gonococcal Resistance to Antimicrobials Surveillance Programme (GRASP) includes a suite of testing and surveillance systems to detect and monitor antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae and potential treatment failures. GRASP reports annually on drug resistance in N. gonorrhoeae in England and Wales and has directly influenced changes in treatment guidelines on three occasions.
Additionally, all primary diagnostic laboratories test gonococcal isolates for susceptibility to ceftriaxone and refer suspected resistant isolates to the UKHSA national reference laboratory for confirmatory testing and follow-up in real-time. UKHSA has published guidance on managing cases of ceftriaxone-resistant gonorrhoea and performs a risk assessment for each case. If there is a risk of transmission within England, UKHSA instigates an Incident Response to contain spread.
This applies to all population groups, including vulnerable and elderly populations, as the approach to tackling antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea is universal across England.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to end the use of animals to test products including (1) vaccines, and (2) pharmaceutical products for bacterial contamination, and to use biochemical methods instead for these processes.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is committed to the principles of the three Rs: replacement, refinement and reduction, developed by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals (NC3Rs). This commitment extends to both the research undertaken at their laboratories at South Mimms, and through their interactions with stakeholders. Where Marketing Authorisation Holders propose to use animals in tests required for ensuring the safety of medicines, the MHRA requests that non-animal alternatives are investigated and adopted where appropriate for patient safety.
The MHRA is also contributor to a revision of the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for Biologicals and Vaccines under the leadership of the NC3Rs. These revisions propose that the WHO guidelines adopt the principles of the three Rs and include a general chapter on how regulators and Marketing Authorisation Holders can end the use of animal testing for biological medicines including pharmaceutical products for bacterial contamination and vaccines. These revised guidelines will be presented to the Autumn 2023 summit of the WHO for the consideration by committee and WHO members.