Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why only 975 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are scheduled for delivery to Newbury Racecourse; and what plans they have to increase the number of such doses (1) delivered to, and (2) administered at, Newbury Racecourse.
Answered by Lord Bethell
No specific assessment on the delivery of COVID-19 vaccine to Newbury Racecourse has been made.
Each Primary Care Network receives their own supply and work has been carried out with local clinical commissioning group colleagues to ensure that vaccine supply aligns with the number of registered patients in the priority cohort groups. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with vaccination sites across the country to ensure that supplies are replenished as required to ensure an adequate and consistent supply of vaccine.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they have made available to those who do not receive an appointment for a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine within 12 weeks of receiving a first dose.
Answered by Lord Bethell
In some exceptional circumstances, people may not receive their invitation for their second dose, for example if they had their first dose overseas or they have changed their address between doses. If a full 11 weeks has passed since the first dose and a second appointment has not been offered, they should contact the national booking system online or by calling 119.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether employers can insist that employees have a COVID-19 vaccine; what actions an employer can take in respect of (1) employees who refuse to have a COVID-19 vaccine, and (2) employees who refuse to work with employees who have refused the vaccine other than on medical grounds; and, in such circumstances, what are employers' health and safety obligations to their employees (a) individually, and (b) collectively.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The United Kingdom operates a system of informed consent for vaccinations. Employers are bound by a range of legal obligations to their staff including under employment, equalities, data protection and health and safety law and they will need to ensure that any vaccination policy is consistent with those legal duties.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to vaccinate patients who are in hospital for reasons other than for treatment for COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Hospital hubs will typically vaccinate eligible inpatients or eligible outpatients due to attend hospital where clinically appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (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 concerns that the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine provides limited protection for the elderly; and what advice they are giving to elderly people who have already had their first dose of this vaccine.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has advised that current evidence does not suggest any lack of protection against COVID-19 in people aged 65 years old or over who receive COVID-19 Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine. Their data shows that the vaccine produces a strong immune response in the over 65 year olds and that it is safe. Therefore we are confident in the decision to authorise the vaccine in this age group.
This decision is in line with that made by the European Medicines Agency, who have authorised COVID-19 Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine in people from 18 years of age, including those aged 65 years old and above. On 10 February, the World Health Organization have also stated that the benefits of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh any risks and the shot should be recommended for use, including in people aged 65 years old and over.
The Department has also been working closely with Public Health England and NHS England and NHS Improvement to provide authoritative information to the public on COVID-19 vaccination, including an information pack for healthcare professionals and the public about the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure patients continue to receive palliative care in the event that the hospice in which the patient is receiving treatment is forced to close due to its financial situation.
Answered by Lord Bethell
For this winter, recognising the exceptional challenges across health and social care and the specific challenges faced by hospices, significant additional funding is being made available. The COVID-19 Winter Plan set out additional funding of £125 million for hospices. This funding will be used to allow hospices to provide more beds for step down and community care through to March 2021.
If despite this, a hospice should become financially unviable, the relevant clinical commissioning group (CCG) would be responsible, if closure resulted, for ensuring that alternative palliative care was in place for those populations it is responsible for. Most National Health Service funded hospice care is commissioned through CCGs. They are best placed to understand the needs of local populations and allocate funding for services to meet those needs from the overall resource allocations they receive.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (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 (1) the number of novel infectious diseases in humans that have resulted from industrial animal farming practices over the past 10 years, and (2) the risk of future human pandemics emerging from zoonotic diseases.
Answered by Lord Bethell
In the past decade, approximately 75% of newly emerging infections have been of zoonotic origin. While this does not identify the exact number of novel infectious diseases in humans that have resulted from industrial animal farming practices, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the Health and Safety Executive conduct routine surveillance on farms for zoonotic pathogens.
The Government has procedures in place to risk assess novel pathogens and their potential impact on human health. This is led by specialist groups, such as the Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance group and the Advisory Committee for Dangerous Pathogens, who produce and publish expert-authored risk assessments. These risk assessments support the United Kingdom’s response system for infectious disease outbreaks, which focuses on minimising the impact of infectious diseases, including zoonotic diseases associated with farming and farming products, on human health and consequently the risk of future human pandemics.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (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 increase in demand for hospice care due to delays in the diagnosis of terminal illnesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; and what steps are they taking to address that increase.
Answered by Lord Bethell
No specific assessment has been made. The Department has been working with NHS England and NHS Improvement to monitor the availability and use of hospice capacity since April.
We are aware of an overall increase in demand, but it is currently too early and complex to provide detailed information on how much, if any, is currently due to delays in diagnosis.
Since April, the hospice sector has worked hard to re-design service in response to the pandemic by shutting day services that cannot run in line with COVID-19 guidance and increasing community services, enabling an overall increase in available capacity.
We regularly assess the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the hospice sector, and through NHS England and NHS Improvement are in regular discussions with stakeholders in the sector about the challenges they face. We continue to keep the situation under review as further information becomes available.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to increase the level of financial support available for hospices to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We have provided over £150million in additional funding to the hospice sector to date during the pandemic and have made up to £200 million available to the sector for additional capacity between April and July, and we continue to work closely with hospices to support their essential work. alongside this, hospices have benefited from the financial support offered by HM Treasury to all charities, such as paying no business rates for their shops next year and applying for a Business Interruption Loan. Charities, alongside other sectors, can also access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the replacement Job Support Scheme and charity shops, which are already eligible for 80% charitable rate relief, will benefit from the new enhanced retail rate relief at 100%. We continue to keep the financial impact of COVID-19 on hospices under review.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (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 impact on (1) patients, (2) care homes, and (3) hospices, of brain tumour operations which have been delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on services will not be known for some time. Cancer services remain a priority for the National Health Service and thanks to the efforts of staff, have been maintained throughout the pandemic.
In order to ensure that cancer treatment can continue during the pandemic, the NHS has established COVID-19 secure cancer hubs, consolidating cancer surgery and centralising triage to prioritise based on clinical need, and drawing on the independent sector (IS) to increase capacity. Regions are drafting plans on how to maximise IS use over the next six weeks to cope with COVID-19 surges. Urgent cancer surgery patients are the first priority for accessing IS services. In local escalation plans, any decision to reschedule cancer treatment will be a last resort.