Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect unborn babies with Down’s Syndrome.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department expects clinicians to take note of the Supporting women and their partners through prenatal screening for Down's syndrome, Edwards' syndrome and Patau's syndrome consensus statement published in an online only format by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal College of Midwives and the Society and College of Radiographers.
The consensus statement sets out that all medical professionals involved in the offer of prenatal screening should ensure that women are given results in a non-directive way; the offer of further tests is non-directive; women are signposted to relevant charities and organisations to support personal informed choice; and options following a higher chance result in a non-directive manner. The consensus statement explicitly states that parents whose babies have been identified as having a higher chance of having Down’s Syndrome who have decided to continue with their pregnancy should not have their decisions challenged or be pressured into changing their minds.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the shortage of doctors in the NHS.
Answered by Lord Bethell
In England, to further increase the supply of doctors we have increased the number of medical school places by 1,500 and opened five medical schools. This expansion was completed in September 2020 and the first of these doctors will enter the workforce from 2023. We are also taking action to increase the retention of doctors. The Enhancing Junior Doctors’ Working Lives programme, led by Health Education England, is delivering a range of initiatives to improve the quality of life of doctors in training.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the devolved administrations regarding suicide prevention measures.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Departmental officials responsible for suicide and self-harm prevention attend regular meetings with officials from devolved administrations to discuss best practice, share learning and look at emerging issues.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish their social care reforms.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government is committed to sustainable improvement of the adult social care system and will bring forward proposals in 2021.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many extra hospital beds across the United Kingdom will be needed to meet winter pressures in 2021–22.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The information is not available in the format requested. National Health Service bed capacity is not fixed and is flexible to meet changes in demand. Demand in winter 2021/22 remains uncertain due to factors including hospitalisations of patients with influenza or COVID-19.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Ivermectin is being considered to treat mild cases of COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
On 23 June, the PRINCIPLE clinical trial platform in the United Kingdom announced that ivermectin would be investigated to generate robust data on its effectiveness in treating adults aged 18 years old and over with mild COVID-19 who are at higher risk of developing serious illness. We will closely monitor the data from this trial, as well as emerging clinical trials worldwide to expand our evidence-base on the efficacy of ivermectin in treating COVID-19.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce legislation to protect people from having to sell their homes to pay for the costs of care.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are committed to bringing forward a proposal for social care this year. The reform of social care and its funding arrangements are complex areas and a range of options for how to deliver on this commitment are being considered.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent (1) research they have commissioned, and (2) investment they have made, relating to a cure for Lyme disease.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR has no current active projects into Lyme disease. The NIHR Health Protection Research Unit on Emerging and Zoonotic Infections has undertaken work on the understanding of and treatments for Lyme disease, including looking at incidence of the disease in England and Wales.