Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all patients in NHS facilities are entitled to ask if those treating them are vaccinated against COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The NHS Constitution sets out the rights to which patients are entitled, which includes the right to be involved in decisions about their care and the right to be cared for in a clean, safe, secure and suitable environment. However, there is no specific entitlement for patients in National Health Service facilities in relation to asking whether staff treating them are vaccinated.
Regulations have been laid which, subject to Parliamentary approval, would introduce COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of the deployment within health and wider social care settings. The Department continues to work with NHS England on engagement with NHS staff who have not yet been vaccinated to encourage them to help protect themselves, their colleagues and the people they care for. Currently more than 92% of NHS staff have received a first dose.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there has been any inappropriate use of do not attempt resuscitation orders in (1) hospitals, and (2) care homes, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
In October 2020, the Department asked the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to review how Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions were used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and whether they had been inappropriately applied. Interim findings were published on 3 December 2020, with a final report due shortly. The review will take a national view of how these decisions were made across all health and care settings and will inform national learning and good practice development.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of (1) doctors, and (2) other staff, being recruited into the prison medical service in meeting the needs of inmate health.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department does not hold the data requested.
There are currently 110 prisons in England for which NHS England commissions healthcare for. There is no mandated staffing level given to providers and contracts are awarded to those providers whose planned delivery model best fits with the need and outcomes required.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the work done by hospital chaplains in helping (1) the welfare, and (2) the recovery, of patients.
Answered by Lord Bethell
No formal assessment has taken place.
Chaplaincy and faith services are funded locally. The commissioning of local services is conducted by clinical commission groups responding to the needs of their individual patient populations and workforce, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. NHS England and NHS Improvement recognise the significant role chaplains and leaders of all faiths play in spiritual, emotional and psychological care and in the delivery of high-quality palliative and end of life care. This is recognised in clinical guides and for compassionate visiting arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the number of chaplains from all faith groups active in NHS hospitals since March 2020.
Answered by Lord Bethell
This information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current arrangements for chaplains of all faith groups to visit residents in care homes.
Answered by Lord Bethell
In the face of a new variant of the virus we have acted to protect those most at risk in care homes and ensure visits can go ahead safely in some form. Visits to care homes can continue to take place with arrangements such as outdoor visiting, substantial screens, visiting pods or behind windows. Close-contact indoor visits are not currently allowed. However, visits in exceptional circumstances, including end of life, should always be supported and enabled.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what, under the current regulations, is the maximum distance that a person in England may travel (1) to shop and (2) to exercise.
Answered by Lord Bethell
There is no specific distance applicable to all circumstances. However, the advice is that to meet the legal requirement not to leave home to travel unless for work or other legally permitted reasons and to reduce the risk of transmission, individuals should stay local and avoid travelling outside of the village, town or the part of a city where they live and look to reduce the number of journeys they make overall.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of current levels of emergency hospital admissions related to self-harm in Somerset; and whether such levels are higher or lower than those for (1) South West England, and (2) England as a whole.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 29 January (HL525), what consideration they are giving to reducing the correlated colour temperature of LED lights in order to avoid any adverse affects on melatonin production in the evening.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Public Health England reviews the scientific literature and maintains regular contact with research groups studying the impact of light exposure on melatonin production. People who received normal levels of light exposure during the day, especially from daylight, appear to be less susceptible to delayed onset of melatonin production in the evening from artificial lighting. The scope to address various performance parameters of lighting sits with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of references to the replacement by some local authorities of sodium and mercury street lighting with LEDs contained in the Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer 2017, published on 2 March 2018.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Public Health England has not carried out an assessment of the replacement by some local authorities of sodium and mercury street lighting with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) since the publication of the Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer 2017, on 2 March 2018.
Public Health England carried out a study in 2016 for Human responses to lighting based on LED lighting solutions: Commissioned by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers and the Society of Light and Lighting. A copy of the report is attached. This study included an assessment of LED streetlights.