Asked by: Baroness Stroud (Conservative - 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 23 April (HL14837) in which he said that the Department of Health and Social Care had made "no assessment" of the ability to screen for ectopic pregnancies via telemedicine abortion services, how they are ensuring that the clinical guidance set by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is sufficient to prevent ectopic pregnancies from going undiagnosed.
Answered by Lord Bethell
It is the role of clinical experts such as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to set clinical practice and ensure that it includes appropriate guidance on identification of ectopic pregnancies.
Asked by: Baroness Stroud (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ability to screen for ectopic pregnancies via telemedicine abortion services.
Answered by Lord Bethell
No assessment has been made. The Department does not set clinical practice. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has issued clinical guidelines Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection and abortion care: Information for healthcare professionals. A copy is attached. The guidance sets out that taking a history and a symptom-based approach, with an ultrasound if indicated, is consistent with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance on the diagnosis and management of ectopic pregnancy. The Royal College’s guidance includes a decision aid for clinicians to use to help determine if an ultra-sound scan is required.
Asked by: Baroness Stroud (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Care on 16 February (151601 and 150684), what consideration the Human Tissue Authority gave to the ethics of the home use of abortion pills, approved in March 2020; and what assessment that Authority has made of the impact of at home abortions on (a) sewage and (b) non-recyclable waste systems.
Answered by Lord Bethell
It is not within the Human Tissue Authority’s remit to consider the ethics of the home use of abortion pills or to make any assessment of the impact on sewage and non-recyclable waste systems.
Asked by: Baroness Stroud (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any national triage system has been put in place in hospitals for the upcoming winter period; if so, (1) what are the criteria of that system, (2) what guidance they have circulated to hospitals about that system, and (3) whether any such guidance states that all patients should be triaged based on care need rather than age.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The National Health Service has repeatedly instructed staff that no patient who could benefit from treatment should be denied it. Clinicians are focused on assessing the individual needs of patients and providing the care that will benefit them best.
When issuing guidance on restoration of non-COVID-19 health services, NHS England instructed providers to make full use of available capacity whilst protecting the most vulnerable. Furthermore, throughout the pandemic, public health measures have protected our most vulnerable patients. For example, we have ensured care home residents and staff are protected, including testing all residents and staff, ring-fencing £1.1 billion for infection control and making a further £4.6 billion available to councils to address pressures caused by the pandemic.