Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) efficacy of the AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine on over 65s and (b) implications for his policies of Germany banning the vaccine for its over-65 population.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Current evidence for the AstraZeneca vaccine does not suggest a lack of protection against COVID-19 in people aged 65 years and over. The Department continues to work closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and its international counterparts to assess any new data on the use of all COVID-19 vaccines.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 tests have been available and what proportion of those tests have been used in (a) the North West, (b) Merseyside, (c) Wirral and (d) Wallasey constituency in each of the last five weeks for which data is available.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
We do not publish data in the format requested. We publish data on the number of pillar 2 tests processed in each local authority weekly alongside the Test and Trace statistics publication on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department regularly (a) monitors and (b) measures levels and trends in (i) mental health and (b) occupational health and safety among NHS health workers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Trends in mental health and occupational health and safety of National Health Service workers are shared through self-reported data in the annual NHS staff survey. The survey includes questions on health and wellbeing and safety culture.
More information on the survey is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsstaffsurveys.com/Page/1056/Home/NHS-Staff-Survey-2020/
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people eligible for the £500 Test and Trace Support Payment for self-isolating have (a) claimed and (b) received that payment in England; and what the total cost to the public purse has been of those payments.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
We are working closely with all 314 lower tier and unitary local authorities to collate information on how the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme is progressing, and will release information on the number of applications, number of successful applications and amounts paid out in due course.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Government's policy is on the World Health Organization Charter on Health worker safety: a priority for patient safety, published on 17 September 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Ensuring the safety of both health workers and patients is a priority for the Government, particularly during this unprecedented pandemic. The Secretary of State agreed on 21 September 2020 to sign up to the World Health Organization Charter on Health worker safety: a priority for patient safety. The charter is closely aligned with aims of the NHS People Plan 2020/21 published in July. The People Plan includes a specific commitment around looking after National Health Service staff in compassionate and inclusive environments and focuses on building resilience across the NHS workforce.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on (a) the mental health of NHS staff (b) the effect of stress on NHS staff in (i) each year since 2015 and (ii) since the outbreak of covid-19.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The annual National Health Service staff survey enables an analysis of self-reported trends and can be tracked back to 2015. The survey collects data on health and wellbeing.
It includes the question ‘During the last 12 months have you felt unwell as a result of work-related stress?’. The response rates for the past five years are shown in the following table:
Year | % of staff responding ‘yes’ |
2015 | 37.10% |
2016 | 36.80% |
2017 | 38.40% |
2018 | 39.90% |
2019 | 40.30% |
Data on NHS staff sickness absence is published by NHS Digital includes reporting on the reason for sickness absence dating back to 2015.
The following table shows the full time equivalent (FTE) days lost to mental health related absence for NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) staff, for the period March to February in each year since 2015.
Period | FTE days lost due to mental health related reasons | Sickness absence rate for mental health related absence as a percentage of FTE days available | Sickness absence rate for mental health related absence as a percentage of FTE days lost due to all reasons |
March 2015 to February 2016 | 3,264,151 | 0.80% | 20.10% |
March 2016 to February 2017 | 3,465,678 | 0.90% | 20.70% |
March 2017 to February 2018 | 3,759,543 | 0.90% | 22.20% |
March 2018 to February 2019 | 4,206,154 | 1.00% | 24.10% |
March 2019 to February 2020 | 4,820,335 | 1.10% | 25.60% |
Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, a significant health and wellbeing offer accessed over 500,000 times by NHS staff, has been developed to support the psychological and physical health of staff. The offer is kept under review and gathers intelligence from existing surveys and user experience.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
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 effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the (a) mental health and (b) occupational health and safety of health workers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Supporting the mental health and occupational health and safety of health workers is a priority for the Government, particularly during this unprecedented pandemic. NHS England and NHS Improvement have put in place a comprehensive package of health and wellbeing services for National Health Service staff, including helplines for counselling and support and free access to well-being apps. The NHS People Plan published in July is focused on the wellbeing of the NHS workforce. This includes more comprehensive occupational health support and a £15 million investment into mental health hubs that will provide proactive outreach to overcome barriers to seeking help for frontline staff. The NHS also funds NHS Practitioner Health, which provides confidential mental health services for doctors and dentists.