Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 7 June 2023 on Public Health Update, HCWS831, when his Department informed Novo Nordisk that it would be making this statement.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Novo Nordisk was informed about the pilots, under embargo, on Tuesday 6 June 2023.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2023 to Question 185509 on Life Expectancy, whether his Department is on track to meet this target.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. Current trends show that Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) is stalled. In the period from 2018 to 2020, HLE at birth in the United Kingdom for males was 62.8 years and 63.6 years for females, showing no significant change since 2015 to 2017.
In England in 2019, the conditions responsible for the greatest share of premature death (measured as years of life lost) were cancers (35%) and cardiovascular diseases (26%). The conditions responsible for the greatest proportion of ill-health (measured as years lived with disability) were musculoskeletal disorders (21%) and mental health conditions (15%), which are also the most cited conditions causing economic inactivity. Around one in four adults in England live with two or more long-term conditions.
The Major Conditions Strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England including, cancers, cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, mental ill health and musculoskeletal conditions.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many active users there are of the Better Health: Rewards app.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Registrations for the Better Health: Rewards app were open from 17 February 2023 to 3 April 2023 to adults in Wolverhampton. During this time, 28,858 people registered with the app.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 7 June 2023 HCWS831 on Public Health Update, whether he has made an estimate of the number of patients who will be eligible for Semaglutide in each year of the pilot.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The precise number of patients to be included in each year of the pilot will be finalised in due course, along with the service models being tested. In addition to Semaglutide (Wegovy), the pilots are expected to include Tirzepatide, subject to this receiving a license and approval from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and launching in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 7 June 2023 entitled Public Health Update, HCWS831, how many doses of Semaglutide his Department plans to purchase for these pilots.
Answered by Will Quince
We will work with NHS England to ensure appropriate supply of the relevant drugs. This is expected to include Semaglutide (Wegovy) once launched in the United Kingdom and Tirzepatide if licenced and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to support patients receiving a stem cell transplant with the cost of living.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
NHS England does not provide any specific cost of living support for patients receiving stem cell transplantation, however, trusts can exercise discretion to provide accommodation and/or other support depending on local and individual patient circumstances. Depending on a patient’s financial circumstances, they may be eligible for financial support with travel costs via the NHS Low Income Scheme and Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme.
With regards to the Healthcare Travel Scheme, the regulations provide that the amount payable should be calculated by reference to the cost of travelling by the cheapest means of transport which is reasonable having regard to the person’s age, medical condition or any other relevant circumstance.
People with long-term health conditions or disabilities, including those requiring stem cell transplants, may be entitled to financial support to contribute towards their extra costs such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Entitlement to PIP is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a health condition or disability, rather than the health condition or disability itself. Recipients of extra costs disability benefits, such as PIP, will receive a £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment in the summer. They may also be entitled to up to £900 of Cost of Living Payments if they are a member of a household receiving a means tested benefit.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of hospitalisations which were attributed to household mould inhalation in each of the last three years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This information is not held in the format requested.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) does not hold data on hospitalisations following household mould exposures or inhalations as they are difficult to define or prove causality. Most reasons for healthcare presentation from household mould exposures would be exacerbation of pre-existing asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis and/or rhinitis. Invasive disease following such exposures is likely to be very rare in non-immunocompromised individuals and would follow overwhelming exposure.
UKHSA currently routinely reports invasive fungal disease from bloodstream infections in our annual English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance (ESPAUR) report which is available at the following link:
In addition, UKHSA has recently published data on invasive fungal disease associated with COVID-19 in peer-reviewed literature, available at the following links:
https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/JCM.02136-20
https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(21)00665-4/fulltext
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 January 2023 to Question 119899.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of making pre-exposure prophylaxis available as part of plans to make prescription medications accessible directly in community pharmacies.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. As part of the HIV Action Plan, we committed to supporting the system to continue to improve access to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention drug pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for key population groups.
A PrEP Access and Equity Task and Finish group was established in 2022 as part of the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group comprised of key delivery partners and sector stakeholders. The task and finish group has delivered recommendations on improving PrEP delivery for key population groups which are currently being considered.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
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 with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of long covid on trends in the number of people who are not in work; and what recent steps his Department has taken to help tackle long covid.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department regularly discusses long COVID and its impact across Government and with a range of external stakeholders. NHS England has invested £314 million to support the assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of people with post-COVID-19 syndrome.
There are 90 post assessment services to support adults and 14 services for children and young people with post-COVID-19 conditions and to direct them into appropriate care pathways. The Government has invested £50 million for research projects into the long-term impacts of COVID-19 infection.