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Written Question
Coronavirus: Contact Tracing
Thursday 21st January 2021

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of (1) pubs, (2) cafes, and (3) restaurants, which fail to record customer contact details for NHS Test and Trace.

Answered by Lord Bethell

Designated venues, including hospitality businesses, must collect contact details of staff, customers and visitors and provide a National Health Service QR code for individuals to check in to the venue using the COVID-19 app. Local health protection teams can ask the venue for these records where it is necessary, for example if the premises has been identified as the location of a potential outbreak. Venues must share the requested information as soon as possible to help identify people who may have been in contact with the virus and help minimise the onward spread. NHS Test and Trace does not collect this data unless it is necessary for contact tracing following an identified outbreak.

In a recent poll 76% of visitors to restaurants, cafes and pubs stated they were asked to provide their details or scan an NHS QR code on entry. We continue to engage with business and enforcement officials to work towards 100% compliance.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Ethnic Groups
Monday 11th May 2020

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the timetable for the review by the NHS and Public Health England on the impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minorities; and what data they will publish before that review is completed.

Answered by Lord Bethell

Public Health England (PHE) has been asked by the Chief Medical Officer to review the potential that some ethnic minority groups are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The findings of the Review will be published at the end of May.

NHS England publishes data of deaths broken down by ethnicity and PHE is planning to include data by ethnicity in its weekly COVID-19 surveillance report.


Written Question
Health Professions: Protective Clothing
Thursday 7th May 2020

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their guidelines on personal protective equipment for frontline medical staff are (1) based on expert medical advice and evidence or (2) also based on economic or other factors.

Answered by Lord Bethell

The guidance on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by health and social care workers is based on expert reviews and advice from the Department’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) as well as literature reviews by Health Protection Scotland. The guidance is updated regularly, in line with emerging evidence.

Public Health England has not undertaken an economic assessment of the PPE guidance.


Written Question
Ethnic Groups: Coronavirus
Thursday 7th May 2020

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they started to (1) collect, and (2) publish data relating to the ethnicity of those infected with COVID-19; and for what reasons this did not start at the beginning of the pandemic in the UK.

Answered by Lord Bethell

Data on those infected with COVID-19 are collected by Public Health England (PHE) for new diagnoses and hospitalised patients. Standard recording practice across laboratory systems requires recording of only minimal data (such as date of birth and name) as these records are not intended for disease surveillance purposes.

PHE has begun a rapid review to better understand how COVID-19 may be having an impact on different ethnic groups. As part of this review, PHE is matching thousands of laboratory records of COVID-19 cases to other health records to draw down accurate data on ethnicity, age, sex and geographical region. The first results will be published by the end of May.


Written Question
Immigrants: Detainees
Monday 4th May 2020

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals at immigration detention centres and other accommodation for asylum seekers have reported COVID-19 symptoms; how severe the symptoms have been in these cases; and what medical treatment has been provided.

Answered by Lord Bethell

There are currently no individuals within the immigration detention centre estate showing symptomatic signs of COVID-19. There have been three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the immigration detention centres since the outbreak began, none of whom were hospitalised. Information about the severity of these cases or what medical treatment has been provided is not centrally collected and neither is information on individuals in other accommodation for asylum seekers.


Written Question
Food: Hygiene
Thursday 6th February 2020

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to making the display of food hygiene ratings mandatory in England.

Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Food businesses covered by the scheme are provided with stickers showing their rating. Those in Wales and Northern Ireland are already required by law to display the stickers at their premises, while those in England are encouraged to do so.

The FSA has put together an evidence-based case for the necessary legislation which is expected to be submitted for ministerial consideration early this year.


Written Question
Food: Hygiene
Wednesday 31st July 2019

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of online food outlets that do not display their food hygiene ratings.

Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

For businesses offering online ordering of food, legislation requiring provision of the rating at the point of choice is expected to be introduced in Northern Ireland once the Assembly is back in operation and Wales are exploring the introduction of a similar legislative requirement.

The case for extending mandatory display to England is being finalised by the FSA for ministerial consideration and ultimately cross-Government approval. As increasing numbers of food businesses provide online ordering services for consumers, for England, provision of food hygiene ratings online will be considered in the case being finalised for ministers.

To date the FSA has not undertaken any research to assess the proportion of online food businesses that display ratings, but work is underway to develop methodology to monitor this.


Written Question
Food: Hygiene
Wednesday 31st July 2019

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to mandating the display of food hygiene ratings on online food delivery services.

Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Food businesses covered by the scheme are provided with stickers showing their rating. Those in Wales and Northern Ireland are already required by law to display the stickers at their premises, while those in England are encouraged to do so.

The case for extending mandatory display to England is being finalised by the FSA for ministerial consideration and ultimately cross-Government approval.

For businesses offering online ordering of food, legislation requiring provision of the rating at the point of choice is expected to be introduced in Northern Ireland once the Assembly is back in operation.

In Wales, the FSA and Welsh Government are working to address a FSA recommendation to the National Assembly for Wales to explore the introduction of a similar requirement for businesses in Wales that use online food ordering platforms. Proposals will be presented to Welsh Ministers in due course.

For England, provision of food hygiene ratings online will be considered in the case being finalised for ministers.