Asked by: Baroness Young of Old Scone (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination programme will be centrally or locally coordinated.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The COVID-19 vaccination programme will continue to be centrally coordinated. Whilst it is expected that the programme will continue to be managed at national, regional and local levels, the National Health Service is working with providers, local authorities, voluntary and community sector leaders and communities on the delivery of COVID-19 vaccinations. This includes maximising uptake and coverage, ensuring flexibility to respond to local needs and promoting better understanding of the benefits of vaccination and public health prevention initiatives.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Old Scone (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people they expect will be encouraged to have a further COVID-19 booster vaccination in each age group by Spring 2023.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The Government continues to be guided by the advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) regarding the deployment of COVID-19 vaccinations across the UK. On 19 May 2022, the JCVI published interim advice on an autumn COVID-19 vaccination booster programme. The primary objective of the programme is to offer protection against severe COVID-19 disease, specifically hospitalisation and death.
The interim advice from the JCVI is that an additional COVID-19 booster vaccine should be offered in autumn 2022 to residents in a care home for older adults and staff; frontline health and social care workers; all those aged 65 years old and over; and adults aged 16-64 years old who are in a clinical risk group.
The JCVI continues to review the definitions of clinical risk groups and the need for any further COVID-19 vaccination of other patient groups. Further information on the number of people eligible for the autumn COVID-19 booster programme will be subject to the final advice from the JCVI, which is expected autumn 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Old Scone (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what priorities they have adopted for the COVID-19 vaccination programme from autumn 2022 to spring 2023.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The Government continues to be guided by the advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) regarding the deployment of COVID-19 vaccinations across the UK. On 19 May 2022, the JCVI published interim advice on an autumn COVID-19 vaccination booster programme. The primary objective of the programme is to offer protection against severe COVID-19 disease, specifically hospitalisation and death.
The interim advice from the JCVI is that an additional COVID-19 booster vaccine should be offered in autumn 2022 to residents in a care home for older adults and staff; frontline health and social care workers; all those aged 65 years old and over; and adults aged 16-64 years old who are in a clinical risk group.
The JCVI continues to review the definitions of clinical risk groups and the need for any further COVID-19 vaccination of other patient groups. Further information on the number of people eligible for the autumn COVID-19 booster programme will be subject to the final advice from the JCVI, which is expected autumn 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Old Scone (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to lift the embargo on sharing local COVID-19 vaccination uptake data (1) by priority group, and (2) by ethnic group, with primary care networks and clinical commissioning groups; and what assessment they have made of whether sharing this data would increase the effectiveness of local vaccination efforts.
Answered by Lord Bethell
There is no embargo on sharing local COVID-19 vaccination data. This data is published weekly online by NHS England and NHS Improvement.
We are also collecting and monitoring uptake data to drive and improve the national deployment plan, as well as sharing data to support local uptake action and decision-making.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Old Scone (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide as much detail as possible on (1) those who have refused COVID-19 vaccination, and (2) those who have not responded to invitations for COVID-19 vaccination, (a) to local public health directors and their staff, and (b) to local primary care networks and clinical commissioning groups; if they plan to provide such information, when they will do so; and what assessment they have made of the potential to use such information to undertake local COVID-19 tracing and vaccine promotion with these groups.
Answered by Lord Bethell
There are currently no specific plans to collect data on vaccination refusal or non-respondence. NHS England and NHS Improvement publish daily, weekly and monthly data on the progress of the vaccination programme across England.
At a local level, local authority directors of public health receive daily updates on vaccine uptake in their areas, by Middle Layer Super Output Area and key subgroups including by gender and ethnicity. Directors of Public Health are provided with this information to support local delivery approaches and improve uptake across all communities.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Old Scone (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide denominator information (1) by priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination, and (2) by ethnic group, to local public health directors and their staff; if they plan to provide such information, when they will do so; and what assessment they have made of the potential for such information to enable local conversations about how to improve uptake between local public health directors and those communities with poorer uptake of COVID-19 vaccination.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are committed to ensuring that local authorities and Directors of Public Health have the data they need to understand uptake in their local areas and tailor efforts to reach those who have not yet taken up the offer of a vaccine appointment.
Data on number of COVID-19 vaccinations given is being shared with Directors of Public Health at both a Middle Layer Super Output Area level and a lower tier local authority level. This includes both data by age cohort and ethnic group. Directors of Public Health also receive vaccination uptake and denominator information for age cohorts and priority groups, by ethnicity and deprivation index at sustainability transformation partnership and Lower Layer Super Output Area level. This provides information on vaccine uptake that enables local conversations about designing and improving operational delivery locally.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Old Scone (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the prevention Green Paper will be published; and whether preventing increasing disease burden among progressive conditions will be examined in the Green Paper.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Green Paper on Prevention will be published later this year. We are considering a number of policy options for the Prevention Green Paper and will be mindful of the burden of progressive conditions.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Old Scone (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what engagement activity they are planning for the prevention Green Paper; and when they expect such activity to begin.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
In the Prevention Vision document, Prevention is better than cure, we committed to publishing a Prevention Green Paper setting out Government plans on prevention in more detail. Planning for this Green Paper is now underway, and officials will be working with a range of external partners and other Government departments on the content. Full details will be available later this year, when the Green Paper is published.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Old Scone (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve secondary prevention for people with long-term conditions.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The National Health Service has a wide range of secondary prevention services aimed at detecting diseases early and either halting or slowing their progression. This includes many long-term conditions.
The focus on prevention including secondary prevention has been strengthened with the publication of Prevention is Better than Cure, the Government’s vision document in November 2018 and the publication of the NHS Long Term Plan in January 2019.
Prevention is Better than Cure, focuses on both preventing disease and supporting patients to manage conditions most effectively where they have arisen. A copy is attached. The Long Term Plan includes several new actions to help people with long-term conditions, with a particular focus on the communities and groups of people most affected by these problems.
Asked by: Baroness Young of Old Scone (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when initial findings are anticipated from the gastroenterology Getting It Right First Time workstream; and whether that workstream will make recommendations about inflammatory bowel disease services.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) gastroenterology pilot visits will begin in April 2019, to test the data packs. Once cleared, these data packs will be sent to all English trusts and visits to these trusts will commence in June 2019. While initial findings will start to become clear in autumn 2019, GIRFT does not release its recommendations until the publication of the National report, which, after feedback from key stakeholders including the British Society of Gastroenterology, is scheduled to be released in summer 2020.
GIRFT will be looking at all areas of gastroenterology, including areas relevant to patients with inflammatory bowel disease. However, it is too early to say what specific recommendations will be made in each area.