Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how far on average patients registered with the GP At Hand service have had to travel to access their covid-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As at 1st March 2021, there were 92,470 patients registered at the ‘GP at Hand’ practice.
Data on how many of those patients have been unable to access COVID-19 vaccines in their local area, how far they have had to travel, or the average wait between being offered a vaccine and attending to receive, is not collected centrally. Individuals eligible for vaccination have a choice on where they can book their COVID-19 vaccination. More than 98% of the country is now within 10 miles of a vaccination site.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of patients registered with the GP At Hand service who have been unable to access a covid-19 vaccine in their local areas.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As at 1st March 2021, there were 92,470 patients registered at the ‘GP at Hand’ practice.
Data on how many of those patients have been unable to access COVID-19 vaccines in their local area, how far they have had to travel, or the average wait between being offered a vaccine and attending to receive, is not collected centrally. Individuals eligible for vaccination have a choice on where they can book their COVID-19 vaccination. More than 98% of the country is now within 10 miles of a vaccination site.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients are registered with the GP At Hand service.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
As at 1st March 2021, there were 92,470 patients registered at the ‘GP at Hand’ practice.
Data on how many of those patients have been unable to access COVID-19 vaccines in their local area, how far they have had to travel, or the average wait between being offered a vaccine and attending to receive, is not collected centrally. Individuals eligible for vaccination have a choice on where they can book their COVID-19 vaccination. More than 98% of the country is now within 10 miles of a vaccination site.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people there are without an NHS number who are (a) over 65 and (b) over 50 in England.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
NHS Digital does not have a mechanism for recording people who are not on National Health Service systems.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
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 reasons for higher rates of covid-19 deaths among (a) BAME communities, (b) people affected by the benefits cap and (c) people living in overcrowded accommodation.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There has been significant effort to understand the causes of race disparities in COVID-19 infection and to bring the research into policy making to mitigate the disproportionate effects. The direct impacts of COVID-19 improved for ethnic minorities as a whole during the early second wave, suggesting that race disparities in COVID-19 outcomes are driven by risk of infection rather than ethnicity itself being a risk factor for severe illness or death.
Data shows deprivation to be a major driver of the disparities in COVID-19 infection rates for all ethnic groups. Whilst mortality rates in black African men and women have significantly decreased between the first and second waves, the findings that the impact has been greater in South Asian groups indicate the role of wider social determinants in the unequal impact of COVID-19. Tackling deprivation will be a particular focus of the Government work.
No assessment has been made for people affected by the benefits cap. There is no direct evidence concerning overcrowded accommodation, but there is some related evidence of a positive association between household size and composition and COVID-19 deaths. The evidence is summarised in a recent report by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies on housing, household transmission and ethnicity, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on rolling out the regular testing of care home residents’ families in (a) Poplar and Limehouse and (b) throughout England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All Care Quality Commission-registered adult care homes, including those in Poplar and Limehouse, are receiving lateral flow device (LFD) test kits to enable safe visits, where permitted.
From 8 March, care home residents will be able to be visited indoors by a single, named individual who will be required to have a test beforehand, wear personal protective equipment during the visit and avoid close contact. All visitors will receive a lateral flow test and be required to follow all infection prevention and control measures.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether people living in households that include members with (a) blood cancer, (b) HIV and (c) other immune deficiency disorders will be prioritised for the covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Those who are eligible for a carer’s allowance, or those who are the sole or primary carer of an elderly or disabled person who is at increased risk of COVID-19 mortality and therefore clinically vulnerable, should be offered vaccination in priority group six. This group includes unpaid carers. In addition, consideration has been given by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to vaccination of household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals. However, at this time there is insufficient data on the size of the effect of COVID-19 vaccines on transmission. Further evidence is expected to accrue on transmission during the course of the vaccine programme but currently the JCVI is not in a position to advise vaccination solely on the basis of indirect protection.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce a managed isolation welfare fund similar to the scheme in Scotland for people unable to afford hotel quarantine.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
For those facing significant financial hardship as a result of the managed quarantine charge, there is an opportunity to apply for a deferred repayment plan when booking. This is available for individuals who receive income-related benefits and they will be required to pay back the charge in 12 monthly instalments.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to create NHS Osteopathic units for Long Covid sufferers.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Patients diagnosed with ‘long’ COVID-19 will be directed into multi-system care pathways, which will be tailored to their specific needs. These care pathways are still in early stages of development and it is unknown whether specific osteopathic units will form a part of this.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
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 public health implications of removing from priority in phase two of the vaccine roll-out those people who take steroid inhalers to manage asthma symptoms.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation concluded that only a subset of those with asthma are at clinically higher risk from COVID-19. This group is defined as adults with asthma who require continuous or repeated use of systemic steroids or with previous exacerbations requiring hospital admission and will be vaccinated in priority group six. An individual with a more severe case of asthma may have been included in the clinically extremely vulnerable group, in which case they will be vaccinated in priority group four.