Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many applications for self-isolation payments were received in each of the pilot areas up to the end of the first full week of operation; and how many such applications were approved.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are working closely with all 314 lower tier and unitary local authorities to collate information on how the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme is progressing and will release information on the number of applications, number of successful applications and amounts paid out in due course.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether each local authority will be provided with full funding (1) for all £500 self-isolation payments made, and (2) for all the administrative costs of running that scheme.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Local authorities have been given additional funding to enable them to make discretionary £500 payments to people who do not fulfil the main eligibility criteria but will still face hardship if they have to self-isolate. It is for local authorities to make decisions on applications for discretionary payments, based on the individual circumstances of the applicant.
We have worked closely with local authorities in England and we have provided an initial £50 million to cover their costs for administering the scheme as follows:
- £25 million to cover the costs of the support payment;
- £15 million for discretionary payments; and
- £10 million for administration costs.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake among (1) people with physical and mental disabilities, (2) people with physical and mental chronic illnesses, (3) people who have been sheltering for much of 2020, (4) elderly people, (5) carers, and (6) people who are reluctant to be vaccinated due to anti-vaccine propaganda on social media and elsewhere.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department has met with organisations representing the health sector, adult social care sector, charities and patient groups to gather insight and build support for pro-vaccine communications to encourage take-up of potential COVID-19 vaccines. These stakeholders represent groups that reflect the interim prioritisation advice published by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which recommends that the vaccine should first be given to care home residents and staff, followed by people over 80 years old and health and social workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors in the initial phase. Messaging will address vaccine safety, quality and efficacy of any vaccine.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Northern Health Science Alliance Covid-19 and the Northern Powerhouse: tackling inequalities for UK health and productivity, published on 10 November; and what proposals they are putting forward to meet the recommendations of that report.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The NHS Long Term Plan commits all major national programmes and every local area across England to set out specific measurable goals and mechanisms by which they will contribute to narrowing health inequalities over the next five and ten years.
On economy and productivity, the Government is levelling up opportunity across the United Kingdom to ensure that everyone can benefit from economic growth. For example, HM Treasury has provided £1 billion for local projects to boost local economic growth. In the North of England this includes so far over half a million self-employed people have been supported through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, with claims worth over £1 billion. Furthermore, over 2 million jobs have been protected through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and business support loans worth over £10.5 billion have been provided.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the required full capacity staffing levels for each of the NHS Nightingale hospitals for (1) doctors, (2) nursing staff, (3) other health staff, (4) administrative staff, and (5) other ancillary staff; and, in each case, how many staff are currently available to start work at those hospitals.
Answered by Lord Bethell
As part of their comprehensive activation plans, each Nightingale team has been developing a clinical model that can be scaled up as and when additional capacity is required in the region. This ensures that the right skill mix of staff will be available from National Health Service trusts in the region and via NHS Professionals and through direct recruitment if required.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the potential bed capacity at each of the NHS Nightingale hospitals; and what is the expected timetable for bringing them into use in the near future.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The overall capacity of Nightingale hospitals is not fixed and can be scaled according to requirement. As part of their comprehensive activation plans, each Nightingale team has developed a clinical model that can be scaled up as and when additional capacity is required in the region. This ensures that the right skill mix of staff will be available from National Health Service trusts in the region and via NHS Professionals and through direct recruitment if required.