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, for what reason healthcare staff and nurses who are subcontracted to the NHS are not entitled to the same employment protections during periods of covid and long covid infection as staff employed by the NHS and under the agenda for change system.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Subcontracted healthcare workers and nurses are not employed by the National Health Service and are therefore subject to their employer’s terms, conditions and entitlements, including sick pay. The Government has made it clear that agencies are required to pay Statutory Sick Pay to their workers where they cannot work due to COVID-19.
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ensure that healthcare staff and nurses who have long covid get the same employment protections and financial help for the duration of their illness as people subject to the NHS agenda for change.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not plan to bring forward legislative proposals specific to one group of staff. Statutory employment protections and statutory financial support applies to all eligible individuals.
The majority of healthcare staff and nurses are employed on national Terms and Conditions, including Agenda for Change which contains sick pay and additional contractual provisions regarding the management of long-term sickness. Employers should develop local policies and procedures regarding long-term sickness, in line with Annex 26 of the national Terms and Conditions.
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 the Covishield covid-19 vaccine will be recognised by the Government for the purposes of inbound international travel.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are a large variety of COVID-19 vaccines being administered worldwide. Work is ongoing to determine which non-United Kingdom (UK) administered vaccines we might be confident to recognise, including AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines branded as Covishield. We want to welcome international visitors back to the UK and are working to extend our approach to vaccinated passengers from key holiday destinations.
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 he is taking to make day two PCR tests (a) cheaper and (b) a standardised cost across all providers.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since requirements were introduced for international travel testing, the costs of travel testing have fallen significantly. We have invited the Competition and Markets Authority to conduct a review into pricing and standards in the market for international travel tests.
The Government has announced there will be a rapid internal review of the pricing and service standards of all providers of day two and day eight tests. It has also been announced that the cost of NHS Test and Trace tests for international arrivals has been reduced from £88 to £68 for green list arrivals or fully vaccinated amber list arrivals and from £170 to £136 for two tests for amber list arrivals who are not fully vaccinated.
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, with reference to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's (JCVI) recommendation of 4 August 2021 that covid-19 vaccinations should be extended to 16 to 17-year-olds, if he will publish a detailed briefing on the material changes that were provided by the JCVI from their position set out in the JCVI statement on COVID-19 vaccination of children and young people aged 12 to 17 years: 15 July 2021, published on 19 July 2021, that stated that the benefits of universal vaccination in children and young people below the age of 18 do not outweigh the potential risks.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The minutes of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's (JCVI) meetings in which the COVID-19 vaccination of children and young people were discussed, including those between 15 July and 04 August 2021, will be published on GOV.UK in due course. Any additional briefing will not be published.
Minutes of the JCVI meetings can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation#minutes.
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 ask the Chief Medical Officer to update his open letter of 11 June 2021 to all covid-19 vaccine trial participants to clarify the validity of their covid-19 vaccination status.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Deputy’s Chief Medical Officer’s letter reiterated the importance of the clinical trials and that participants should not be disadvantaged. We are currently working with the National Immunisation Management Service to allow participants to access their NHS COVID Pass for both domestic and international travel purposes. In the interim, participating clinical trial sites have provided a letter to participants which certifies that they are in a clinical trial and should be recognised as vaccinated.
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 people who have contracted covid-19 but not been vaccinated will be afforded the same status as those who have been fully vaccinated when restrictions are lifted.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
From 19 July, the Government have made the NHS COVID Pass available so that individuals can prove their vaccination status. The NHS COVID Pass is available through the NHS App, NHS.UK, and in letter format. Certification for accessing settings through the NHS COVID Pass can be acquired by completion of a full vaccine course, a recent negative test, or proof of natural immunity. Natural immunity is proof of a positive polymerase chain reaction test, lasting for 180 days from the date of the positive test and following completion of the self-isolation period.
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 assessment his Department has made of levels of immunity from covid-19 after two doses of vaccine among people who are immunosuppressed.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Vaccine responses in individuals in clinical risk groups after one and two doses is being monitored by Public Health England in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners’ Research and Surveillance Centre and data will be published in due course.
Virus Watch, supported by NHS Test and Trace, provides information regarding patients’ antibodies, including immunocompromised patients as part of their cohort. The data suggests some protection against COVID-19 but is only one measure of protection and does not look at cellular immunity which may be more important in terms of long-term immunity.
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 his Department has undertaken analysis of the potential effect on the economy of NHS waiting lists for people waiting for operations.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There has been no formal analysis.
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 the Government will permit UK residents working overseas to complete any required quarantine at home upon return to the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
You cannot travel to the United Kingdom if you’ve been in a red list country in the previous 10 days unless you’re a British or Irish national or have residence rights in the UK. Everyone allowed to enter England who has been in a red list country in the 10 days before they arrive must quarantine for 10 full days in a managed quarantine hotel and take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8 of quarantining. Those travelling from amber list countries should quarantine at home or their own accommodation for 10 full days, as well as taking a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8. You may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.
Some people are exempt from some or all COVID-19 travel and entry requirements because of their job. The guidance listing the jobs that qualify for an exemption can be found at the following link: