Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many European Health Insurance Cards have been issued to people over the age of 70.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
There were 118,684 accepted claims when a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) was used, in the last 12 months.
There are 3,108,739 United Kingdom-issued EHICs in circulation for people aged over 70. This is based on cards which have not expired and the applicant’s age on the date the card was issued, and not their current age. EHICs are valid for five years after their issue date.
Information is not available on the number of times EHICs were used by UK citizens abroad to support the treatment of pre-existing conditions in the last year.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times European Health Insurance Cards were used by UK citizens abroad to support the treatment of pre-existing conditions in the last year.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
There were 118,684 accepted claims when a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) was used, in the last 12 months.
There are 3,108,739 United Kingdom-issued EHICs in circulation for people aged over 70. This is based on cards which have not expired and the applicant’s age on the date the card was issued, and not their current age. EHICs are valid for five years after their issue date.
Information is not available on the number of times EHICs were used by UK citizens abroad to support the treatment of pre-existing conditions in the last year.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on 29 March 2019 on the supply of medicines to the UK for NHS use.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
Our number one priority is to ensure patients continue to have unhindered access to medicines as we exit the European Union and we are working with all sectors in the supply chain to ensure this happens.
The Government remains committed to leaving the EU with a deal. Under the conditions of the Withdrawal Agreement, there will be a two-year Implementation Period within which the Government will negotiate the United Kingdom’s future relationship with the EU. During the Implementation Period, there will be no change to the current trading arrangements with the EU/European Economic Area (EEA), meaning the supply of medicines and medical products will continue unhindered.
As a responsible Government, we are planning for all possible exit scenarios, including ‘no deal’. Our ‘no deal’ medicines supply contingency plans include sensible mitigations for medicines that come to the United Kingdom from or via the EU/ EEA to ensure that the supply of essential medicines, is not disrupted.
In August 2018, the Department wrote to all pharmaceutical companies that supply prescription-only and pharmacy medicines to the UK that come from, or via, the EU/EEA asking them to ensure a minimum of six weeks additional supply in the UK, over and above existing business-as-usual buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019. The response from industry has been very positive. The vast majority of companies have confirmed stockpiling plans are in place.
On 7 December, the Government published updated reasonable worst-case scenario border disruption planning assumptions in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit. Medicines and medical products are prioritised in cross-Government planning, and the Department is working with relevant partners across Government and industry to ensure we have sufficient roll-on, roll-off freight capacity on alternative routes to enable these vital products to continue to move freely into the UK.
We are confident that if everyone does what they need to do, supplies will continue unhindered. The Department does not expect to see significant changes to existing medicine supply chains or capacity in the intervening period between now and 29 March 2019, although we will be monitoring this closely.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he is taking to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of Kawasaki disease among NHS health professionals.
Answered by Steve Brine
Guidance is available from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the assessment and initial management of fever in children under five, and this guidance includes recommendations on recognising the symptoms of Kawasaki disease.
NICE’s clinical guidelines help healthcare professionals deliver the best possible care based on the best available evidence; the guidelines are not mandatory, although health and care commissioners are expected to take them fully into account.
Information about the symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment and complications of Kawasaki disease is also available on the National Health Service website.
Furthermore, learning information and resources for clinicians about Kawasaki disease is available from Societi, The UK Kawasaki Disease Foundation. Societi engages with a range of NHS stakeholders to raise awareness of Kawasaki disease, and has a number of senior clinicians on its Scientific Advisory Board who work in leading NHS institutions and who have expertise in relevant clinical areas such as vasculitis and paediatric cardiology.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase support for families who have suffered baby loss.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Government is working to improve the care and support received by families who experience baby loss. The Department has provided funding to Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) to reduce the variation in the quality of bereavement care provided by the National Health Service.
The NBCP helps professionals to support families in their bereavement after any pregnancy or baby loss, be that miscarriage (including ectopic and molar pregnancy), termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly, stillbirth, neonatal death or sudden unexpected death in infancy. In October 2018, all of the NBCP guidance materials and tools were published online.
In addition, NHS England’s Perinatal Mental Health Team has been working with Sands to ensure that the NBCP guidelines effectively signpost universal mental health screening and referral to evidence-based interventions and support.
Furthermore, the Pregnancy Loss Review which the Department commissioned earlier this year, has been considering the question of whether legislation should provide new rights to bereaved parents to register pregnancy loss occurring before 24 weeks gestation, as well as investigating the impact of such losses on families and how care can be improved for parents who experience this. The review has been widely consulting with parents, charities and medical professionals and is currently scheduled to be completed in early 2019.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to allow patients to have access to NHS doctors willing to prescribe cannabis-based medicine in cases where their NHS doctor is unwilling to do so.
Answered by Steve Brine
NHS England expects that cannabis-based products for medicinal use should only be prescribed for indications where there is clear evidence of benefit, and in patients where there is a clinical need which cannot be met by a licensed medicine and, where established treatment options have been exhausted.
The decision to prescribe these unlicensed medicines must be made by a specialist doctor – not a general practitioner. These doctors focus on one field of medicine such as neurology or paediatrics and are listed on the General Medical Council’s specialist register. They must make decisions on prescribing cannabis-based products for medicinal use on a case by case basis, and only when the patient has an unmet special clinical need that cannot be met by licensed products. In addition, a specialist on the General Medical Council Register should only prescribe within their own area of practice, and the decision to prescribe should be agreed by the multidisciplinary team.
NHS England, the British Paediatric Neurology Association and the Royal College of Physicians will provide clinical advice to doctors ahead of the law change. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has been commissioned to develop more detailed guidelines for clinicians in the longer term.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2018 to Question 147821, on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, what plans he has and what recent steps he has taken to expand this funding in the future.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) recognises that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), is a debilitating condition and is speaking with the UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative and patient representatives about how best to support a joined up approach to high quality research into this complex disorder.
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including CFS/ME; it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to increase support for unpaid carers.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government is committed to continuing to support informal carers, and to do so in a way that supports their own health and wellbeing, employment and other life chances.
That is why, on 5 June, the Department published a cross-Government action plan of targeted work to support carers over the next two years. This is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carers-action-plan-2018-to-2020
There are 64 actions in the plan focused around five important themes:
- Effective services and systems;
- Employment and financial wellbeing;
- Supporting young carers;
- Recognition and support within the wider community and society; and
- Building evidence and research to improve health and wellbeing outcomes.
The forthcoming adult social care Green Paper will also include a focus on carers and how society supports them.
On funding, social care continues to be a key priority for this Government. In addition to the £2 billion announced at Spring Budget 2017, we have announced a further £150 million for 2018/19, giving councils access to up to £9.4 billion more dedicated funding for adult social care in total over three years.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department has allocated to support research into treatment for myalgic encephalomyelitis in each of the last five years; and what plans he has to allocate further funding for such research.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The following table shows information provided by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) on Departmental programme research funding for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), over each of the last five years. It is not possible to disaggregate funding for research into treatments specifically but further information on this research is available through the NIHR Journals Library at the following link:
https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/
Financial Year | £ |
2013-14 | 561,950 |
2014-15 | 426,055 |
2015-16 | 475,676 |
2016-17 | 554,785 |
2017-18 | 464,902 |
In terms of future research, the NIHR recognises that CFS/ME is a debilitating condition and is speaking with the UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative and patient representatives about how best to support a joined up approach to high quality research into this complex disorder. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including CFS/ME; it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of renaming his Department including signage, stationery, website, business cards and any other associated costs.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The costs of changing the name ‘Department of Health’ to ‘Department of Health and Social Care’ will be kept to an absolute minimum. The current estimate for costs associated to the name change will be no more than £1,000.
Stationery, such as business cards and headed paper, will only be changed when stock is used up.
Signage in the Department’s London headquarters is digital only. Physical signage in the Leeds headquarters will only be changed later in 2018, as part of a planned refurbishment of the building.
Amends to the website and intranet have not incurred additional costs.