Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the conclusions the Therapeutic Taskforce’s expert group on prophylaxis made after assessing the evidence of the benefits and risks of probiotic supplementation for covid-19 patients.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department established the COVID-19 Prophylaxis Oversight Group (POG) in July 2020, to guide development of pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19 infection. The POG has not yet undertaken a review of these supplements but is aware of studies into the use of probiotics. The POG will continue to monitor the research.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of recommendation 16, and its sub-recommendations, from the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform report, published 16 June 2021, in respect of regulation of nutriceuticals.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department has reviewed this recommendation and concluded that the United Kingdom already has in place the legislation and processes required for the regulation of such products. These are placed into various existing product categories such as food supplements, novel foods, additives, enzymes, flavouring used in foods, foods for specific groups and medicines.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the well-being of carers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government recognises the vital role all unpaid and paid carers play and that the health of some carers may have been affected as a result of their caring role. We are committed to supporting carers in a way that maintains their own health and wellbeing.
During the pandemic, the Government has provided carers with guidance which includes advice on their health and wellbeing and provided over £11.6 million to a number of charities to support carers, including funding to Carers UK to extend their support phoneline. We have worked with the Social Care Institute for Excellence to publish guidance on reopening day services to provide important respite to carers. In addition, we have also allocated funding through the £1.8 billion Infection Control Fund to support the reopening of day and respite services.
The Care Act 2014 introduced important rights for carers, including an assessment of and support for, their needs where eligible. These includes a duty to promote an individual’s ‘wellbeing’ and consider the impact of the role as a carer on their wellbeing.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) risks and (b) potential benefits for patients of the use by the NHS of electroconvulsive therapy.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We have made no such assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides guidelines for the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) based on the most up to date available clinical evidence. NICE has also produced guidance, ‘Depression in adults: recognition and management’, which includes recommendations on when to use ECT for complex and severe depression. The Department expects commissioners and providers of services to pay due regard to these guidelines. NICE keeps its guidance under regular review.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of adding calorie counts to menus on people (a) with eating disorders and (b) in recovery from eating disorders; and what evidence his Department has on the merits of publishing calories for public health.
Answered by Jo Churchill
We have been careful to consider the views of a wide range of experts in response to our public consultation on introducing mandatory out-of-home calorie labelling including representatives from eating disorder groups. The Department has also engaged with the eating disorder charity BEAT, as well as others representing the views of people living with eating disorders, on several occasions since the Government published ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ last July.
The Department has published an impact assessment detailing the likely effect the policy will have, including the potential effect of the policy on people living with eating disorders. This and the Government’s response to its public consultation on calorie labelling in the out-of-home sector, set out the evidence used to support the policy. The impact assessment and consultation response are available at the following link:
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his criteria are for determining (a) which covid-19 restriction tier each region is placed under and (b) when an area can be moved down one tier.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Decisions on tiers are made by Ministers based on public health recommendations from senior clinical and scientific advisors, guided by five key indicators - the case detection rate in all age groups, case detection rate among the over 60 year olds, the rate at which case rates are rising or falling, positivity rate and pressures on the National Health Service. Final decisions on tiering are made by the COVID-19 Operations Committee.
As of 6 January, all areas have been moved into tier 4 and the Government will review the tiering allocations every 14 days.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the ability of health insurance providers to reimburse the cost of dialysis for people with kidney disease who need to travel to the European Union after 31 December 2020 in the event that reciprocal healthcare arrangements are not agreed with (a) the EU and (b) individual member states.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Department is aware of the concerns of people with kidney disease and is carefully looking into the impact of any loss of necessary healthcare provisions. The Government will assess its options for reciprocal healthcare if we do not achieve a European Union-wide arrangement.