Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS websites are zero rated and so accessible without internet data plans being charged; and which mobile networks that applies to.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
In March 2020 we worked with Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three to secure free online access to the following websites:
- NHS.UK;
- 111.nhs.uk;
- wales.nhs.uk;
- nhsinform.scot;
- nidirect.gov.uk; and
- publichealth.hscni.net.
We also agreed time-limited data provisions for Attend Anywhere, our main provider of video consultations. The provisions we made for access to the above websites and Attend Anywhere were temporary and concluded by the end of 2020.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on GP surgery websites.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We do not hold information on general practitioner (GP) surgery websites. However, NHS England and NHSX have made guidance available to GP practices on website design. Some commissioners have also provided to support to practices to standardise and upgrade websites.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential risk posed by a reliance on internet connectivity in order for people to attend virtual GP appointments.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We have not made a specific assessment. However, NHS England and NHS Improvement’s guidance states that online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing general practice. All practice receptions should be open to patients, ensuring that those who do not have easy access to phones and other devices which require internet connections are not disadvantaged in their ability to access care.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have commissioned an independent evaluation to understand the impact for patients, staff and the wider health and care system on the use of digital tools in general practice to inform its long-term strategy.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will (a) provide an update on the discussions between NHS England and Gilead on an interim access arrangement for secondary breast cancer drug Trodelvy and (b) publish the timetable for the interim access arrangement to be agreed.
Answered by Edward Argar
NHS England and NHS Improvement and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have agreed principles to allow potential interim access to medicines licensed through Project Orbis, where there is a gap between licensing and publication of NICE’s guidance. NHS England and NHS Improvement are continuing discussions with Gilead, to urge the company to support interim access arrangements in line with the agreed principles. NICE expects to issue draft guidance on Trodelvy in spring 2022 with final guidance in June 2022.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's process is for developing interim access arrangements for oncology drugs licensed through Project Orbis.
Answered by Edward Argar
In view of the rapid approval of Project Orbis medicines, NHS England and NHS Improvement and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have developed an interim process to support patient access to medicines between Project Orbis licensing approval and publication of NICE’s guidance. It is anticipated that this will only be required in the short term. Consideration is given to:
- whether there is expected to be a gap of three months or longer between regulatory approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and publication by NICE of its final draft guidance;
- if there are any direct competitors expected to go through the NICE technology appraisal process within the next six months;
- if the treatment will make a fundamental, positive change to the existing treatment pathway; and
- whether the company will offer the medicine or treatment on a cost neutral basis.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on testing for liver disease; and what steps he is taking to improve testing for that disease.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No formal assessment has been made. The NHS Long Term Plan recognises the importance of preventing avoidable disease through targeted policies to address lifestyle factors affecting healthy life expectancy, such as alcohol consumption and obesity. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England and NHS Improvement, with support from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, have invested £27 million in a four year programme to 2023/24 to establish or improve alcohol care teams to provide specialist alcohol interventions in hospitals where needed.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS Trusts including Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust have been asked to submit cheaper proposals for their proposed hospital rebuilds.
Answered by Edward Argar
Organisations have been asked to submit a range of options for their new hospital schemes, with individual allocations for schemes to be determined once the respective full business cases have been reviewed and agreed.
The information requested from Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust will provide an objective evidence base for decision making at the business case stage. The central programme team are working with all lead organisations involved to ensure that schemes realise value for money, sustainability and digitalisation.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children and young people had NHS continuing care packages in each NHS clinical commissioning group area in England in each year from 2015-16 to 2020-21 inclusive.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The data requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, by what date he plans to publish guidance on the vaccination of unpaid carers against covid-19.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently developing a Stand Operating Procedure for unpaid carers to receive a vaccination. We expect this to be published in the near future.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the research undertaken by Xu K of the State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases at The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine and others, entitled Management of COVID-19: the Zhejiang experience, published on 21 February 2020.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Government has undertaken no specific assessment of this research.