Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the practice of chest binding; and whether there are any restrictions on the advertising of chest binders.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
No formal assessment has been made. The Advertising Standards Authority are responsible for the regulation of advertising in the United Kingdom. Their codes outline the standards which advertisers must adhere to when producing marketing or advertising content. Currently there are no formal restrictions for the restrictions on advertising of chest binding or products associated with chest binding.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics to apply across government; and if so, how they intend to record a rape committed by a male who identifies as a woman with respect to (1) sex, and (2) gender identity.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are discussing the options for implementing the recommendations with delivery partners and through appropriate stakeholder engagement.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what options they are considering for recording gender reassignment as part of the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics; whether they are considering recording gender identity as part of that consideration; and if so, in what form.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are discussing the options for implementing the recommendations with delivery partners and through appropriate stakeholder engagement.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what options they are considering for recording sex as part of the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics; and in particular, what consideration they are giving to those instances where sex may be hard to determine or non-standard in its expression.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are discussing the options for implementing the recommendations with delivery partners and through appropriate stakeholder engagement.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to require NHS doctors, when prescribing a treatment off-label, to encourage patients to allow their data to be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment; what plans they have to provide mechanisms whereby (1) consent and refusal may be easily recorded, and (2) relevant data may be made available for academic evaluation; and what plans they have to review such evaluations in order to reduce the percentage of off-label prescribing.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government has no plans to do so. However, the Department with NHS England and NHS Improvement, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, the National Institute of Health Research recently launched a repurposing medicines programme which aims to strengthen the evidence base, licensing, supply and cost effectiveness of medicines being used outside their original medical indication. The aim is to improve clinical outcomes and patient experience by taking action to enable more equitable access to those medicines prioritised for adoption into the programme.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to discourage the sale of (1) puberty blockers, and (2) cross-sex hormones, over the internet to children who do not have (a) a prescription, or (b) parental permission.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We would expect all registered pharmacies and pharmacists to meet the regulatory standards set by the General Pharmaceutical Council or the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland when considering dispensing any lawfully valid prescription. This includes puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
The Department has agreed with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to investigate changes to regulations that would allow the CQC to take enforcement action against online healthcare providers.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Care Quality Commission’s justification for the use of the word gender in the equality and human rights statement on its website reflects Government policy.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has used the word ‘gender’ instead of ‘sex’ in their Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Policy and Principles of Workforce Equality Monitoring since these documents were introduced in 2011.
These documents were reviewed by the CQC’s Staff Equality Networks and approved by the CQC’s Joint Negotiating and Consultation Committee, which includes trade union representatives and senior managers, alongside external, national union officers and were signed-off by the CQC’s board at that time.
The use of the word ‘gender’ did not arise as an issue of concern whilst completing Equality Impact Assessments for new human resources policies. It was neither subject to a specific assessment nor to legal advice at the time, but Government Legal Services have now reviewed the CQC’s use of the word gender in these documents and confirmed that this meets the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the High Court judgment in R (on the application of) Quincy Bell and A -v- Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust and others [2020] EWHC 3274, issued on 1 December, what plans they have to (1) prevent, or (2) discourage, GenderGP.com from marketing puberty blocking drugs to anyone under the age of 16; and whether they intend to issue guidance discouraging parents from buying such drugs for children under 16 years old.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Strict regulatory controls govern medicinal products for human use including their manufacture, distribution, retail sale and supply and advertisement.
Prescription only medicines cannot be advertised directly to the public and any advertisement offering to sell or supply a prescription only medicine directly to a patient is likely to contravene the requirements of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.
Any report of non-compliant activity relating to the advertising of a prescription only medicine would be investigated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the appropriate action would be taken.