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Written Question
Social Workers
Wednesday 26th October 2022

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

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 increase the amount provided by the social work bursary.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

The Department has no plans to increase the social work bursary amount for the forthcoming academic year.


Written Question
Endometriosis: Health Services
Tuesday 21st January 2020

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

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 improve healthcare for women with endometriosis.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

The National Health Service provides clinical care and treatment for women with endometriosis, including treatment for severe endometriosis through specialised centres across England.

To support women with endometriosis, all obstetricians and gynaecologists have been trained in the diagnosis, investigation and management of the condition, which is specifically listed as a topic in the core curriculum for obstetrics and gynaecology.

NHS England recommends the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology guidelines on the management of women with endometriosis. The guidance offers best practice advice on the diagnosis and treatment of women with suspected endometriosis as well as the effectiveness of medically assisted reproduction for endometriosis-associated infertility. It also provides information on the management of patients in whom endometriosis is found incidentally (without pain or infertility).

NHS England also expects providers to adhere to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance regarding the diagnosis, management and treatment of endometriosis.


Written Question
Smoking
Tuesday 11th June 2019

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has made an assessment of the effect of second hand smoke from residential properties on people in neighbouring properties; and whether he has plans to extend the smoking ban to private homes.

Answered by Seema Kennedy

The Government has made no such assessment. However, the Government remains committed to protecting the public from the harms of smoking and a comprehensive set of tobacco control policies is in place. There are no plans to extend the smoking ban to private homes.


Written Question
5G: Health Hazards
Wednesday 27th March 2019

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

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 roll-out of 5G technology on people's health.

Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and health evidence reviews have been prepared by scientific expert groups in the United Kingdom and around the world. The independent Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (AGNIR) published their report in the UK in 2012 and the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) published their report in 2015. The World Health Organization is presently preparing a review. The AGNIR report is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/radiofrequency-electromagnetic-fields-health-effects

The SCENIHR report is available at the following link:

https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/scientific_committees/docs/citizens_emf_en.pdf

Based on the accumulated evidence and reviews, Public Health England (PHE) advises that the guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) should be adopted and there is no convincing evidence that EMF exposures below the ICNIRP guideline levels cause adverse health effects.

PHE has committed to keeping the emerging evidence under review and to preparing another comprehensive review when sufficient new evidence has accumulated.


Written Question
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Tuesday 26th March 2019

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has any plans to review the RCGP Advanced Knowledge Test in relation to ME and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to ensure it (a) remains up-to-date and (b) demonstrates best practice for treatment of those conditions.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

The responsibility for reviewing and updating the Advanced Knowledge Test (AKT) lies with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).

General practice is where most patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis are likely to be managed, and the condition is identified as a key area of clinical knowledge in the RCGP AKT content guide. The AKT is a summative assessment of the knowledge base that underpins general practice in the United Kingdom within the context of the National Health Service and is a key part of general practitioners’ qualifying exams.


Written Question
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Tuesday 22nd May 2018

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

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 stimulate and facilitate high-quality research into chronic fatigue syndrome.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

The Department National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) recognises that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), is a debilitating condition. The NIHR is speaking with the United Kingdom’s CFS/ME Research Collaborative and patient representatives about how best we can 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.


Written Question
Motor Vehicles: Disability
Friday 27th April 2018

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the statutory definition is of a disability access vehicle; and whether that definition is different to a wheelchair accessible vehicle.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

The Commission Regulation EU/678/2011, which amends EU Directive 2007/46/EC, defines a wheelchair accessible vehicle as a vehicle of Category M1 constructed or converted specifically so that they accommodate one or more persons seated in their wheelchairs when travelling on the road.

The Road Vehicle (Approval) Regulations 2009, which implement Directive 2007/46/EC in the United Kingdom, define a disabled person’s vehicle as a vehicle constructed or adapted to enable a person with a disability to travel in the vehicle as a driver or a passenger, in safety and reasonable comfort.


Written Question
Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Independent Review: Surgical Mesh Implants
Monday 23rd April 2018

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of including laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy within the ongoing review into medicines and medical devices safety.

Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price

We anticipate that the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review will wish to examine, among other things, the concerns that have been raised about the use of mesh, including ventral mesh rectopexy surgery. The Review is, however, independent of the Department, and such decisions are a matter for its Chair, Baroness Cumberlege.


Written Question
Electronic Cigarettes
Tuesday 6th March 2018

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has assessed the effect of vaping on second-hand smoke inhalers; and what steps his Department is considering to tackle those potential effects.

Answered by Steve Brine

Public Health England (PHE) published its most recent evidence review on e-cigarettes and novel tobacco products on 6 February this year. PHE concluded that “to date there have been no identified health risks of passive vaping to bystanders.”

The Department will continue to work with PHE to monitor the evidence base around e-cigarettes. In the Tobacco Control Plan, published in July 2017, PHE committed to update their evidence report on e-cigarettes and other novel nicotine delivery systems annually until the end of the Parliament in 2022.


Written Question
First Aid
Tuesday 6th February 2018

Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

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 improve public awareness of basic life-saving first aid techniques.

Answered by Steve Brine

Information on first aid techniques is available on the NHS Choices website:

https://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/category.aspx?CategoryID=72

NHS organisations may offer first aid courses for businesses, organisations or individuals.

In order to further support the National Health Service and local communities, the Government provided £2 million to make public access defibrillators more widely available and to increase the numbers of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The national Public Health England ‘Act FAST’ campaign aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of stroke, teach people what to look out for in themselves and others, and encourage those who notice the symptoms to call 999.