Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish guidance on the rules for communication between hospitals on individual patient care.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has produced guidance on the rules for communication between hospitals for individual patient care, and it is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/data-and-clinical-record-sharing/
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for bringing forward legislation on rights to visits in care settings.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s guidance states that every resident should be able to have at least one visitor in all circumstances. We are looking at a range of options to strengthen the guidance around visiting and avoid instances where residents are unable to receive visitors.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to tackle the shortages of HRT medication.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are over 70 hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products available in the United Kingdom and while most remain in good supply, factors including an increase in demand has led to supply issues with a limited number of products. We are working with suppliers and the National Health Service and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to maintain overall supply, including expediting resupply dates of the disrupted HRT products, filling supply gaps and preventing future shortages.
Since Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) were issued for HRT products to provide an even distribution and allow alternative products to be dispensed, supplies have improved for many products and several SSPs have been removed. Suppliers have secured additional stock of the HRT products experiencing shortages and deliveries have been expedited. We share regular communications on shortages and discontinuations with the NHS on HRT supply issues via the on the Specialist Pharmacy Services medicine supply tool.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will carry out a review of NHS patient engagement processes in order to (a) ensure parents and guardians are fully supported in deciding whether to make organs available for donation when a child dies and (b) identify ways to raise public awareness of the benefits of organ donation.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
NHS Blood and Transplant’s ‘UK Paediatric and Neonatal Deceased Donation: A Strategic Plan by the Paediatric Subgroup of the National Organ Donation Committee’ was published in March 2019, which is available at the following link:
The plan includes increased support for families throughout the donation process, additional dedicated training and support for clinical staff caring for paediatric patients, the development of new screening and assessment processes and continued work with coroners and the Procurators Fiscal to enable more donations to proceed.
As of September 2020, blood, organ and stem cell donation was added to the National Curriculum for all secondary schools in England. In addition, NHS Blood and Transplant deliver year-round public engagement activity, which aligns with events such as Organ Donation Week to raise awareness.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to review its current policy on the use of Evusheld in the NHS in winter 2022-23.
Answered by Will Quince
There are no current plans for any further review of the decision not to procure Evusheld. The decision is based on a range of evidence, including clinical trial data, in vitro analysis and emerging observational studies. The Chief Medical Officer for England is content that the correct process for providing clinical advice has been followed and it is right that it has now been referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for further evaluation. At present, RAPID C-19 will continue to keep Evusheld under active review and will notify DHSC of any significant developments.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking with NHS England to reduce backlogs in Memory Assessment Services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2021/22, the Government made £17 million available to clinical commissioning groups to address dementia waiting lists and increase the number of diagnoses. This included identifying areas of good practice in dementia diagnosis, and provision of pre and post diagnostic support, which will be shared with dementia clinical networks and stakeholders.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to publish details on her Department's 10-year plan for dementia.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We are reviewing plans for dementia in England and further information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to order Evusheld for use in the NHS.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department continues to examine the potential introduction of prophylaxis, which includes deployment and administration processes. On 17 March 2022, Evusheld was granted conditional marketing approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. However, the approval highlighted uncertainty over the dose required for protection against the Omicron variants.
We have asked clinicians to advise on the most appropriate option for the National Health Service in line with all available data, the public health situation and other treatments available.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
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 extent of the shortage of HRT.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are more than 70 hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products currently available in the United Kingdom. While most remain in good supply, a range of factors such as an increase in demand has led to supply issues with a limited number of products. However, alternatives to those experiencing supply issues remain available.
Asked by: Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
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 continue funding for the Office of National Statistics’ weekly infection survey after April 2022.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The UK Health Security Agency will maintain surveillance capabilities, including the Office of National Statistics’ COVID-19 Infection Survey, genomic sequencing and additional data.