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Written Question
Carers
Tuesday 20th December 2022

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the progress of the Carers Action Plan 2018–20, published on 5 June 2018 and updated on 13 September 2018; and what plans they have to complete any outstanding actions.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

No recent assessment has been made. The Carers Action Plan concluded in December 2020 and there is no ongoing delivery plan.


Written Question
Carers: Unpaid Work
Wednesday 14th December 2022

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to identify unpaid carers, and (2) to share these data across (a) different Government departments, (b) the NHS, and (c) local government.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The People at the Heart of Care: Adult Social Care Reform White Paper addressed identifying unpaid carers through increasing the use of markers in National Health Service electronic health records by simplifying current approaches to data collection and registration.

On 17 October 2022, NHS England wrote to all general practitioner (GP) practices about the importance of identifying carers and advising how caring status should be recorded on patient records. Extraction of this data from GP systems will commence shortly. There are no current plans to share this data with other Government Departments and local government.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Vaccination
Wednesday 19th January 2022

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that those not registered with a GP are able to access COVID-19 vaccinations.

Answered by Lord Kamall

Individuals do not need to be registered with a general practitioner (GP) to use a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination site. Under the General Practice COVID-19 vaccination programme 2020/21 Enhanced Service Specification, GP practices are able to vaccinate unregistered patients when they are eligible.

Local systems have plans for full coverage of all health inclusion groups, which may include people not registered with a GP. The National Health Service and local partners will contact these patients to ensure they are offered appropriate support to receive the vaccine. We are also working with community leaders and partners on initiatives to encourage people to register with a GP.


Written Question
Health Services: Disadvantaged
Wednesday 29th December 2021

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to incorporate Inclusion Health populations within NHS England strategies.

Answered by Lord Kamall

NHS England’s vision for health inequalities is to ensure exceptional quality healthcare for all, through equitable access, excellent experience and optimal outcomes. NHS England’s Health Inequalities Quality Improvement Programme is committed to deliver this vision by:

- Ensuring inclusion health is embedded across all core programmes and system policies to enable the restoration of NHS services inclusively;

- Mitigating against ‘digital exclusion’;

- Improving the ability to identify need and monitor/measure health outcomes by ensuring datasets are complete and timely;

- Accelerating preventative programmes; and

- Strengthening leadership and accountability across integrated care systems and national, regional and place-based systems.

NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Core20PLUS5 is a national approach to support the reduction of health inequalities at both national and system level, including for inclusion health populations. In support of Core20PLUS5, integrated care systems will be required to develop inclusion health plans. These will highlight key national, regional and local priorities.


Written Question
Special Educational Needs
Thursday 21st October 2021

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Disabled Children’s Partnership Then There Was Silence, published on 10 September, which found that nearly three quarters of disabled children had seen their progress managing their condition regress during the pandemic.

Answered by Lord Kamall

As part of COVID-19 recovery planning, we are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health and care services for disabled children. Children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) who require additional provision will receive an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan assessment. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 make clear that local authorities must complete an EHC plan assessment within twenty weeks after the request is received unless exceptional circumstances apply. The Department for Education monitors local authority performance on EHC plan assessments to establish where there are long-standing delays and provide support.

The forthcoming Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for health and social care for future years. We have announced an additional £5.4 billion for the National Health Service to support the COVID-19 response over the next six months. This includes £2 billion to reduce waiting times for patients, including disabled children.

We welcome the findings of the five reports by the Disabled Children’s Partnership between February and September 2021 and we are considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled children and their families.


Written Question
Disability: Coronavirus
Thursday 21st October 2021

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to fund dedicated COVID-19 recovery policies for disabled children and young people and their families.

Answered by Lord Kamall

As part of COVID-19 recovery planning, we are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health and care services for disabled children. Children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) who require additional provision will receive an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan assessment. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 make clear that local authorities must complete an EHC plan assessment within twenty weeks after the request is received unless exceptional circumstances apply. The Department for Education monitors local authority performance on EHC plan assessments to establish where there are long-standing delays and provide support.

The forthcoming Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for health and social care for future years. We have announced an additional £5.4 billion for the National Health Service to support the COVID-19 response over the next six months. This includes £2 billion to reduce waiting times for patients, including disabled children.

We welcome the findings of the five reports by the Disabled Children’s Partnership between February and September 2021 and we are considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled children and their families.


Written Question
Children and Young People: Health Services and Social Services
Thursday 21st October 2021

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to tackle the backlog in health and social care assessments for disabled children and young people.

Answered by Lord Kamall

As part of COVID-19 recovery planning, we are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health and care services for disabled children. Children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) who require additional provision will receive an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan assessment. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 make clear that local authorities must complete an EHC plan assessment within twenty weeks after the request is received unless exceptional circumstances apply. The Department for Education monitors local authority performance on EHC plan assessments to establish where there are long-standing delays and provide support.

The forthcoming Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for health and social care for future years. We have announced an additional £5.4 billion for the National Health Service to support the COVID-19 response over the next six months. This includes £2 billion to reduce waiting times for patients, including disabled children.

We welcome the findings of the five reports by the Disabled Children’s Partnership between February and September 2021 and we are considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled children and their families.


Written Question
Vitamin D
Thursday 3rd June 2021

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 1 February (HL12508), what assessment they have made of the recommendation of the Irish Joint Committee on Health for people in that country to take a daily dose of Vitamin D at least two times higher than the dose recommended by Public Health England; and what steps they intend to take as a result.

Answered by Lord Bethell

Public Health England has not made a formal assessment.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Disease Control
Wednesday 31st March 2021

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the paper by the Public Health England Transmission Group PHE: Factors contributing to risk of SARS-CoV2 transmission in various settings, published on 26 November 2020, and in particular the finding that strengthened income relief could improve adherence to isolation guidelines.

Answered by Lord Bethell

The Government has assessed the need for financial support noted in the Public Health England’s paper and has implemented the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme to provide targeted support to individuals on low incomes who will lose income as a result of having to self-isolate. The Government has provided £70 million to local authorities to meet the costs of payments under the scheme, with a further £39 million being released at the end of February.

The Test and Trace Support Payment Scheme will continue into the summer and will be expanded to cover parents who are unable to work because they are caring for a child who is self-isolating. The Government keeps all elements of its COVID-19 response under review, including the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme. We will continue to work closely with the 314 unitary and district authorities in England to monitor the effectiveness of the scheme.


Written Question
Test and Trace Support Payment
Thursday 4th March 2021

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 19 November (HL9485), why parents of children who have to self-isolate because of contact with someone outside their household who has tested positive are not eligible for the Test and Trace Support Payment when they also have to self-isolate; and whether there are any plans to extend that payment to parents in that situation.

Answered by Lord Bethell

The Test and Trace Support Payment scheme is for people on low incomes who have been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace or the NHS COVID-19 app, either because they have tested positive or because they are a close contact of someone who has tested positive. We have worked closely with local authorities to monitor the effectiveness of the scheme and have listened to feedback from charities and support groups. We are now extending the scheme to the summer and are expanding eligibility to cover parents and guardians who have to take time off work to care for a child who is self-isolating.