Asked by: Viscount Stansgate (Labour - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Allergy's UK's Patient Charter, published on 5 May; and what steps they will take to support it.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Whilst no formal assessment has been made, we have noted the Charter’s focus on quality standards of care, access to accurate information and equality.
Allergy services in England are commissioned through clinical commissioning groups to meet the needs of the local population. A small number of specialist allergy services for patients with rare and complex conditions are commissioned through NHS England and NHS Improvement’s specialised commissioning. The service specification specifies that centres provide equity of access to best practice standards for diagnosis and management, based on current national and international guidelines.
The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to engage with stakeholders to understand the needs of people with allergies and how services could be improved. This includes patient and public voice membership in NHS England and NHS Improvement’s clinical reference group which provides clinical advice and leadership on specialised immunology and allergy services.
Asked by: Viscount Stansgate (Labour - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when COVID-19 booster vaccines will be recorded in the Covid Pass within the NHS app.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The NHS COVID Pass can now be used to demonstrate proof of a booster or third dose for outbound international travel. This is visible through the NHS App and NHS.UK within the NHS COVID Pass for Travel.
Asked by: Viscount Stansgate (Labour - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients; and what bodies were involved in any such assessment.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Therapeutics Taskforce is monitoring data from clinical trials taking place worldwide to assess whether ivermectin is a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19. Ivermectin is not currently a licensed treatment for COVID-19 and evidence from clinical trials as a treatment for COVID-19 is inconclusive. This assessment is based on the views of the Therapeutics Taskforce, the UK COVID-19 Therapeutics Advisory Panel and the Research to access pathway for investigational drugs for COVID-19. This assessment is also consistent with the views of the World Health Organization, the Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency. We will continue to keep this assessment under review as more data becomes available from clinical trials, including the Government-funded PRINCIPLE clinical trial.