Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to collect data on the impact of covid-19 on different (a) genders and (b) ethnicities.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England has established surveillance systems to collect and analyse data on COVID-19 infection by demographic characteristics including gender.
The number of deaths with confirmed COVID-19 by age and gender can be viewed on the National COVID-19 Weekly Summary Report at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-covid-19-surveillance-reports
NHS England and NHS Improvement lead on reporting deaths with confirmed COVID-19 in hospital. They publish a daily summary that includes a breakdown by ethnicity. These are updated weekly and can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-daily-deaths/
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the safe disposal of personal protective equipment.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
NHS England has set out guidance on the safe disposal of personal protective equipment in their Standard Operating Procedure. All disposal should be done in line with the rigorous legislative requirements set out by the Environment Agency.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
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 provide access to covid-19 testing for people in (a) South Leicestershire constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Government is rapidly scaling up the national effort to boost testing capacity for COVID-19 to protect the vulnerable, support the National Health Service, and ultimately save lives. Details of this work can be found in the Government’s Testing Strategy ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19): scaling up testing programmes’, published on 4 April and available online.
As of 19 May 2020, the Government has established a network of 50 Regional Testing Sites across the UK, of which 50 are in England. The sites at Birstall Park and Ride in Leicestershire and the RICOH Arena in Coventry are the closest to South Leicestershire, and there are also Mobile Testing Units and home delivery testing kits available based on local need.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to regulate the advertisement of vitamins and diet supplements on (a) social media and (b) other media platforms.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The advertising of vitamins and dietary supplements is governed by Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims, Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, and the Food Safety Act 1990.
This legislation is incorporated into the United Kingdom Codes on Broadcast Advertising and Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing. These Codes provide the rules for advertising and marketing across social media and other media platforms. The Advertising Standards Authority is the UK’s independent advertising regulator, responsible for administering and assessing compliance with its codes, ensuring that the self-regulatory system works in the public interest. If advertisers and broadcasters persistently break the Advertising Codes they may be referred to other bodies for further action, such as Trading Standards or Ofcom.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
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 effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the development and production of flu vaccinations.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England remains in contact with all manufacturers of flu vaccines concerning any potential impact on vaccine production as a result of COVID-19. Flu vaccine production has already begun for the coming winter and there are currently no delays to schedules. Business continuity processes are in place to ensure that the flu vaccine can be delivered by manufacturers prior to the start of the next flu season.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to enable birthing partners to be present at (a) emergency and (b) unplanned births.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Guidance produced by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is clear that women should be encouraged to have a single birth partner, who has no symptoms of COVID-19, present with them during any type of labour and birth, unless the birth occurs under general anaesthetic. Having a trusted birth partner present throughout labour is known to make a significant difference to the safety and well-being of women in childbirth.
If the birth partner has symptoms of coronavirus, they will not be allowed to go into the maternity suite, to safeguard the health of the woman, other women and babies, and the maternity staff. However, an alternative, well birth partner can attend in their place.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support pregnant health care workers during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Guidance updated on 21 April 2020 from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists emphasises that pregnant women of any gestation should be offered the choice of whether to work in direct patient-facing roles during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health care workers who are less than 28 weeks pregnant should practise social distancing but can choose to continue working in a patient-facing role, provided the necessary precautions are taken.
Women who are more than 28 weeks pregnant, or have underlying health conditions, should avoid direct patient contact and it is recommended that they stay at home.
If it is found that an employee or the pregnancy would be at risk were the employee to continue with their normal duties, the employer should provide suitable alternative work for which the employee will receive their normal rate of pay. Where it is not reasonably practicable to offer suitable alternative work, the employee should be suspended on full pay.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of oncologists in the NHS.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Cancer Workforce Plan (published in 2017), identified a range of measures to increase the numbers of clinical radiologists, histopathologists, oncologists and radiographers by 2021. This included improving working practices, attracting qualified people back to the National Health Service and international recruitment. Between March 2016 and March 2019, there has been a net increase of 2,515 full time equivalent staff across the seven priority professions identified in the Cancer Workforce Plan, including an increase of 167 clinical and medical oncologists.
The People Plan will build upon the progress already made and take targeted action to ensure the supply of NHS staff who play a vital role in delivering cancer care, including oncologists.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
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 for the future of Feilding Palmer Hospital in Lutterworth.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The local clinical commissioning groups have made no decisions with regard to any community hospitals in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. They are now considering changing services to help more people be cared for at home and in local communities.
Patients, carers, staff and stakeholders will continue to be involved in the redesign process through a variety of engagement activities. If any of the proposals being developed require a public consultation, then this will be undertaken with local communities including in Lutterworth.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
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 the affordability of residential care for those that need it.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Care Act 2014 placed a duty on local authorities to shape their local markets so that there is an adequate supply of provision which ensures all adult social care service users have a choice of high-quality services. In the case of state-funded care, local authorities negotiate with care providers to achieve a balance of quality, effectiveness and value for money for the public purse.
The level of fees charged to people who fund their own care is a private contractual matter.
The Care Act also placed a duty on local authorities to assess an individual’s finances to establish if they are able to pay for their care. This ensures everyone can rely on state support if they do not have the means to support themselves. The means test is reviewed annually.