Asked by: Lord Balfe (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 clinical impact of GPs directing patients to dedicated blood test centres rather than carrying out such tests at local surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
No formal assessment has been made. Offering blood tests has continued throughout the pandemic, with urgent tests being prioritised. However, infection control measures have necessitated changes to the model of delivery in some parts of the country. For some general practitioner practices, their own services will have been able to continue. For other practices, teams may have joined up to create a hub offer to provide extra capacity.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - 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 questions for written answer from members of the House of Lords that are allocated to the Department for Health and Social Care are answered on time; and what plans they have to recruit more staff for that purpose.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department has received an unprecedented number of Written Questions since March 2020. We are working hard to improve our response rate through an iterative written questions recovery plan and performance is now improving at a steady rate. The core Department has increased by a further 400 posts since December 2020, to support the COVID-19 response across all areas.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 8 February (HL12760), whether there are any (1) financial, or (2) other, arrangements for private providers to be admitted to their list of COVID-19 test providers; how companies are admitted to that list; and what ongoing inspection takes place to ensure that they meet appropriate standards.
Answered by Lord Bethell
There are no financial or other arrangements for private providers to be added the list of providers. Any provider may submit a self-declaration stating that their full end-to-end process meets the minimum standards set out in legislation. Following the review of these self-declarations by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), the provider may be added to the list of private testing providers, subject to their meeting the minimum standards. This is the first stage of a three-stage assessment process in order to attain full UKAS accreditation.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 8 February (HL12760), what is the weekly number of tests able to be carried out by NHS Test and Trace; what is the estimated number of tests required for the Test to Release for International Travel scheme; and how testing as part of that scheme helps to "safeguard testing capacity”.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Since 15 February, NHS Test and Trace has had the capacity to deliver around 750,000 polymerase chain reaction tests every day. According to Passenger Locator Form data, 61,193 individuals opted-in to Test to Release during the week 15 to 21 February. Testing for Test to Release is delivered only by private testing providers that meet a specific set of minimum standards, therefore the number of individuals that choose to opt-in to Test to Release does not impact on NHS Test and Trace’s ability to deliver tests.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 8 February (HL12760), why NHS Test and Trace tests do “not meet the minimum standards required to legally release a traveller from self-isolation upon providing a negative result”; and on what basis they are using lateral flow tests as part of the Test to Release International Travel scheme.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS Test and Trace tests are not being used for the Test to Release scheme as this is an optional scheme for international arrivals from non ‘red list’ countries to allow them to shorten their isolation period. NHS Test and Trace testing is for people who have symptoms of COVID-19 or who are clinically advised to take a COVID-19 test. Testing for Test to Release must be a polymerase chain reaction test purchased from a private testing provider.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 8 February (HL12760), what plans they have to change the format of NHS Test and Trace to allow it to “provide a result notification in a format that would be acceptable to meet the new pre-departure testing requirements”.
Answered by Lord Bethell
There are no plans to do so. NHS Test and Trace testing is for those with symptoms of COVID-19 or who are clinically advised to take a test and are not to be used for international travel.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 8 February (HL12760), what plans, if any, they have to make tests carried out by NHS Test and Trace acceptable for the Test to Release for International Travel scheme; and what assessment they have made of the ability of the private sector to provide COVID-19 tests for that scheme.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS Test and Trace testing is not being used for the Test to Release scheme as this is an optional scheme for international arrivals from non ‘red list’ countries to allow them to shorten their isolation period. The private sector has successfully delivered tests for this scheme since its introduction on 15 December 2020.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to increase the capacity of the Department of Health and Social Care to provide answers to Questions for Written Answer on time.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Prior to the pandemic, the Department employed approximately 1,500 people. In the last eight months that has grown to approximately 2,900 staff in the core Department. The Parliamentary Questions team has doubled in size. We have created and put into action an iterative written questions recovery plan, the objectives of which are to increase the number of questions answered on time, to clear the backlog of overdue questions and to ensure high-quality answers.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (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 November (HL9107), who is responsible for the provision of face to face appointments in each of the seven NHS regions.
Answered by Lord Bethell
General practitioners (GPs) are independent contractors who are contracted by NHS England and NHS Improvement and/or clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to provide primary medical services. In designing services contractors are required to take into account the reasonable needs of their local population, including the types of appointments that are offered. NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for the provision of primary medical services in England. As such, it is for NHS England and NHS Improvement to ensure that patients in all areas have access to GP services.
On 14 September, NHS England and NHS Improvement wrote to GPs and their commissioners reiterating the importance of providing face to face appointments for those who need them and shared a communications toolkit designed to support clear communication with patients about how they can access the right type of appointment.
Local commissioners, NHS England and NHS Improvement regional teams or CCGs with delegated responsibility, are responsible for ensuring general practice providers meet their responsibilities under their contracts.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (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 impact on public confidence in the safety of returning to work and schools of the forecasted number of deaths resulting from a reasonable worst-case scenario in a resurgence of COVID-19 during the winter being double that that has already occurred.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government has undertaken no specific assessment. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies reviewed a paper on direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 on excess deaths and morbidity in July, which provides a scenario-based estimate for additional deaths that may result from the changes necessary to routine care during the first six months of the pandemic. A copy of the paper is attached.