Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of evidence that suggests people can be reinfected with COVID-19 more than once; and what estimate they have made of the number of people who have contracted COVID-19 for a second time.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The SARS-CoV-2 Immunity & REinfection EvaluatioN (SIREN) study follows up healthcare workers across the United Kingdom to estimate reinfection risk following a natural infection with SARS-CoV-2. Preliminary results suggest that reinfection is possible, though rare. This is supported by several case reports on reinfection internationally.
Forty four potential cases of reinfections were detected among 6,614 participants who had evidence of a past infection, contributing 1,339,078 days of follow-up. Those who had antibodies upon enrolment had a rate of becoming (re)infected that was 83% lower than that among those who had no antibodies upon enrolment. No estimate has been made of the number of people who have contracted COVID-19 for a second time in the general population.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, what is their estimate of the number of women who will travel from Northern Ireland to England to seek an abortion in the current and each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
723 women from Northern Ireland accessed abortions in England in 2016. Our planning has considered estimates that range from 1,000 to 2,000 women seeking access to services in England in each of the next three years.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, what assessment they have made of the finding in the report by the Care Quality Commission, published in January, that the Merseyside Clinic operated by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service was in breach of a number of safety guidelines; and what steps they will take to ensure that women attending that clinic receive safe abortions.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Following the inspection, a joint action plan between the Care Quality Commission (CQC), BPAS Merseyside, and Halton Clinical Commissioning Group was formulated to ensure all issues raised during the inspection were fully addressed. The CQC is monitoring the action plan through ongoing engagement with BPAS Merseyside. Overall, the CQC has found that improvements continue to be made at BPAS Merseyside both from a clinical and a governance perspective.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, whether women receiving such support will be required to attend an abortion clinic achieving a particular rating by the Care Quality Commission; and if so, what that rating will be.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
To participate in the scheme providers must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and, in the case of independent sector providers, be approved by the Secretary of State to perform abortions. There are no requirements in place based on CQC ratings.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, including support with travel costs for those meeting financial hardship criteria, what those criteria will be.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
We have developed criteria similar to that used in the National Health Service low income scheme. To receive support for travel costs women must be in receipt of benefit, such as universal credit, jobseeker’s allowance or income support or have an income of £15,276 a year or less.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, including support with travel costs for those meeting financial hardship criteria, whether that support will include the costs of accommodation.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
If an overnight stay is deemed to be clinically necessary, those who meet the financial hardship criteria will have suitable accommodation booked for them.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 23 October (HLWS190) announcing further support for women from Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in England, what assessment they have made of the finding in the report by the Care Quality Commission, published in December 2016, that several clinics operated by Marie Stopes International were in serious breach of safety guidelines; and what steps they will take to ensure that women attending those clinics receive safe abortions.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Marie Stopes International (MSI) are continuing to take a range of actions to address the issues identified in the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) reports. The CQC re-inspected MSI earlier this year and have made clear that they will not hesitate to take further action, if necessary, in order to guarantee MSI meets the standard of care they expect and that its patients deserve.
The Department continues to monitor the situation with particular regard being had to the statutory approval responsibilities of the Secretary of State.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, if the draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 are passed, any person created by the procedures provided for by that legislation will be followed-up in the way recommended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s Expert Panel on page 5 of their report,<i> Scientific review of the safety and efficacy of methods to avoid mitochondrial disease through assisted conception: update, 2013</i>.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 will not come into force until 29 October 2015. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will consider how best to apply a monitoring framework to clinics awarded a licence to carry out mitochondrial donation treatment, against which it would inspect.
The HFEA will announce its proposals for the regulation and monitoring of mitochondrial donation treatment cycles following the approval of regulations by Parliament.