Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for requiring Integrated Care Systems to record the number of catheter associated urinary tract infections acquired by patients while in (1) hospital, and (2) community care facilities.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The UK Health Security Agency undertakes surveillance of bloodstream infections in hospital and community care facilities. This includes information on the infection source through National Health Service acute trusts, which will be part of integrated care systems, reporting infection cases. If a urinary source is identified, further information is requested around urinary catheterisation.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there are adequate supplies of oxygen for all hospital patients with respiratory conditions.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Oxygen resilience is primarily achieved through sufficient production capacity within the United Kingdom. Current National Health Service use of oxygen is approximately 320 metric tonnes of oxygen per day, while total UK oxygen production capacity is approximately 1,650 metric tonnes of oxygen per day.
We have worked with gas providers, which has led to an increase in capacity within the cylinder supply chain and improved supply chain timing. In addition, the National Medical Devices Reserve includes over 2,500 oxygen concentrators and a range of ancillary oxygen equipment for deployment to meet a range of supply contingencies.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to build a resilient supply of oxygen for patients with (1) serious respiratory conditions, and (2) asthma, in (a) hospitals, (b) their homes, or (c) care homes.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Oxygen resilience is primarily achieved through sufficient production capacity within the United Kingdom. Current National Health Service use of oxygen is approximately 320 metric tonnes of oxygen per day, while total UK oxygen production capacity is approximately 1,650 metric tonnes of oxygen per day.
We have worked with gas providers, which has led to an increase in capacity within the cylinder supply chain and improved supply chain timing. In addition, the National Medical Devices Reserve includes over 2,500 oxygen concentrators and a range of ancillary oxygen equipment for deployment to meet a range of supply contingencies.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to tackle the backlogs in (1) respiratory care, (2) respiratory diagnosis, and (3) referrals for urgent care for people with lung conditions.
Answered by Lord Kamall
NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI) has worked with local leaders to update its plans and priorities, including for respiratory services, with a renewed focus on continuing the recovery of non-COVID care and tackling long waits.
The priorities in recovery of services includes tackling the COVID backlog for non-urgent treatment such as eliminating waits of two years or more, stopping the increase in one year plus waits, and stabilising total waiting lists.
£1.5 billion is being made available to help local teams increase their capacity and invest in other proven measures to achieve these goals.
There has been no official assessment made on the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on waiting times for respiratory diagnostic appointments. However, the NHS is determined to tackle backlogs and is taking steps to restore services and improve waiting times as a priority, including services for respiratory patients. This year, we are providing a record amount of funding to the NHS, which includes £2 billion to help tackle the backlog that built up during the pandemic. We have also committed £8 billion over the next three years to step up elective activity and transform elective services.
Elective waiting lists, which include those with respiratory symptoms, are managed at system as well as trust level. Digital solutions are available to ensure the most clinically urgent patients are managed first, which will help improve waiting times.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of catheter associated urinary tract infections acquired by patients while in hospital.
Answered by Lord Kamall
NHS England is currently developing a national manual for infection prevention. This will outline standard precautions to prevent all infections, including those caused by invasive devices such as urinary catheters. This will build on the current infection control measures.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to replace the NHS Safety Thermometer with an equivalent system to track patient safety in NHS hospitals and community care facilities.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England and Improvement have no plans to replace the NHS Safety Thermometer system.
The data generated from the Safety Thermometer has been shown to be not fit for current purposes and alternative data is available from other existing sources.
For patient safety areas like falls prevention, pressure ulcer prevention, venous thromboembolism and catheter associated urinary tract infections, there is a well-established National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance or equivalent guidelines providing the best evidence on how to reduce harm. Such guidance is supported by a range of national audits and improvement capacity building, including support for measurement for improvement and new sources of patient safety data provided by Model Health Systems.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for granting fast-track visas for carers in order to relieve the shortage of workers caring for disabled people in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The introduction of the Health and Care visa in August 2020 made it quicker and cheaper for regulated health and care professionals – including Senior Care Workers - and their dependents to secure their visa.
In July, we commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the impact of ending free movement on the adult social care sector. The MAC have issued a call for evidence with stakeholders and we look forward to receiving their report in April 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions, if any, they have had with the (1) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and (2) NHS England, about the ambition of the NICE Methods Review; and whether the ambition of the review meets the targets of the Life Sciences Vision.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Officials have discussed the ambition of the methods review with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England and NHS Improvement. We are supportive of NICE’s proposals, which are consistent with the expectations set out in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access, agreed with industry. NICE’s review of its methods and processes will ensure it retains global leadership in the evaluation and appraisal of new medicines and technologies. As reflected in the Life Sciences Vision, this will support our ambition to promote the United Kingdom as the best place in the world to develop, trial, launch and adopt innovative new medicines.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the contribution the proposed changes to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Methods will make towards improving patient access to medicines.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Department supports the proposals in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) review of its methods and processes. The proposals are consistent with the expectations for the review in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access, agreed with industry. NICE’s review will ensure it retains global leadership in the evaluation and appraisal of new medicines and technologies which will promote the United Kingdom as the best place in the world to develop, trial, launch and adopt innovative new medicines, improving patient access. While it is too early to comment on the final changes to NICE’s methods and processes, NICE is reviewing the responses to its latest consultation and expects to publish the final programme manual in early 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the changes proposed in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's Methods Review will help deliver on their ambition for the UK to be a global life sciences hub.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Department supports the proposals in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) review of its methods and processes. The proposals are consistent with the expectations for the review in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access, agreed with industry. NICE’s review will ensure it retains global leadership in the evaluation and appraisal of new medicines and technologies which will promote the United Kingdom as the best place in the world to develop, trial, launch and adopt innovative new medicines, improving patient access. While it is too early to comment on the final changes to NICE’s methods and processes, NICE is reviewing the responses to its latest consultation and expects to publish the final programme manual in early 2022.