Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people (1) over 65, (2) over 75, and (3) over 85 years old died of influenza in England and Wales in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The data is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks and benefits of lifting the lockdown now, while advising those aged over 65 years old to continue to self-isolate.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government advises anyone aged 70 or older regardless of medical conditions to be particularly stringent in following social distancing measures because they are at increased risk of severe illness.
The Government has been clear throughout the COVID-19 outbreak that it is vital to take the right steps at the right time. Any change to social distancing measures now would risk a return to exponential spread of the virus and undo all the good progress made to date, requiring a longer period of more stringent distancing measures, damaging both the economy and public health.
As set out by the First Secretary of State (the Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab MP), there are five tests that the Government needs to be satisfied with before we adjust the measures of the lockdown:
- The National Health Service is able to provide sufficient critical care and specialist care across the United Kingdom;
- A fall in the death rate;
- Rate of infection has decreased across all settings;
- Confidence that operational challenges, such as increasing our testing capacity and having enough personal protective equipment, are in hand; and
- Confidence that any changes will not lead to a significant second peak of infections.
At all times we have been consistently guided by scientific advice to protect lives. The current advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies is that relaxing any of the measures could risk damage to public health, our economy, and the sacrifices we have all made. Only when the evidence suggests that it is safe to do so, and the scientific advice provides for it, will we adjust these measures.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - 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 increased incidence of osteoporosis in women who wear the Burka.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will invite the NHS and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to re-consider their decision not to offer Orkambi to cystic fibrosis sufferers in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
It is crucial that patients have access to the most effective and innovative medicines at a price that represents value to the National Health Service. While Ministers are keeping a very close eye on negotiations, it is the responsibility of NHS England as the commissioner and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as the independent body that is responsible for making recommendations on whether drugs and other treatments represent a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources, to work with Vertex to agree a deal to secure the best outcome for patients and a price for Orkambi that is fair and responsible.
NHS England has proposed its best offer ever for a drug. This offer, in the region of £500 million over five years, is the largest ever commitment of its kind in the 70-year history of the NHS. This would guarantee immediate and expanded access to both Orkambi and the drug Kalydeco for patients who need it. While it is disappointing that Vertex has not taken up NHS England’s offer, we are pleased to hear that they have responded positively to NHS England’s and NICE’s latest offer to meet. We would urge Vertex to reconsider this fair offer.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they can provide a breakdown of health service spending by gender since 2008.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The information is not available in the format requested.
The majority of National Health Service funding is allocated to NHS England, primarily for the commissioning of healthcare services from a range of primary and secondary care providers. NHS England allocates funding to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The model for CCG allocations is made up of three separate formulas – CCG core allocations, primary care and specialised services. Each formula is made up of a number of segments (for example, services covered by CCG core allocations include the segments maternity, mental health, prescribing, general and acute and supply needs). Each segment may be affected by the local population’s attributes, for example sex, age, morbidity, rates of disability, excess deaths and deprivation, plus wider factors associated with health needs including housing status and unemployment.
The statistical allocations formula is built up from data, which the NHS holds on individuals and their use of hospital services. This person-based approach helps ensure accuracy and takes account of local variation in health needs. Data for patients in general practitioner (GP) practices are linked to their treatment records, to calculate overall cost of care. The costs of health services for millions of real patients over a number of years are reviewed. Statistical analysis identifies factors, which can be used to predict future spending, for a given sex-age group in any GP practice in England (all data used is non-identifiable). Allocations reflect and build on information about spending patterns, but they do not report past spending patterns and therefore it is not possible to calculate costs per patient and so therefore not possible to calculate costs by gender over a given time period.