Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has changed the method by which it calculates the number of covid-19 tests carried out in a 24-hour period, since 1 April 2020.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
As the United Kingdom COVID-19 testing programme has significantly increased through April and May, we have adapted our reporting processes to ensure they remain as accurate as possible.
Further detail, including definitions and published data, can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the advice that he received before 1 April 2020 on the development of herd immunity for covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Herd immunity has never been part of the Government action plan, but it is a natural by-product of an epidemic. Our aims are to save lives, protect the most vulnerable, and relieve pressure on the National Health Service. Every measure that we have or will introduce will be based on the best scientific evidence. None of our measures are aimed at generating herd immunity but we must be aware of the likely levels of immunity in the country over the coming months, to ensure our planning and response is as accurate and effective as possible.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what preventive plans he put in place to protect elderly residents in the care home sector from covid-19; and on what date each plan was introduced.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government, working with the sector and public health experts, has published a range of guidance on GOV.UK to protect residents in the care home sector from COVID-19. Details of published guidance, publication dates and information on updates is shown in the attached table.
We are constantly reviewing our guidance in line with scientific advice.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
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 compatibility of Government guidance requiring people at high risk from covid-19 to stay at home and self-isolate for 12 weeks with the content of the frequently asked questions document issued to GPs on 11 April 2020 that states that shielded patients may attend GPs surgeries.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Shielding protects the most clinically vulnerable against COVID-19. However, this protection cannot come at the expense of the clinically extremely vulnerable accessing the health care they need for current health conditions. General practitioners have been asked by the National Health Service to review any ongoing care arrangements for shielded patients at highest risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Wherever possible, patient contact, triage and treatment should be delivered via phone, email or online. However, if a shielding patient needs a face-to-face assessment, they should be seen on a home visit, and not brought into general practice premises unless a designated site has been set up for such purposes. Strict infection prevention and control measures should be followed at all times for the protection of shielded patients.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has to ensure local health providers are able to meet additional health care demands over winter 2016-17.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The National Health Service has robust plans in place to identify rapidly and address seasonal pressures, and planning for winter takes place throughout the year. All local health and social care systems develop detailed plans. This winter, the Health Service allocated £400 million to local health systems for winter preparations.
Winter pressures are an issue for the whole local system, which is why NHS Improvement, and NHS England (with targeted support resources such as the Emergency Care Improvement Programme) work together, alongside social care and local authorities to resolve any issues that are contributing to pressures and ensure that patients are kept safe.
Management of day to day pressures is done in line with the new Operational Pressures Escalation Level framework. Pressures are monitored at the local, regional and national level by the winter resilience structure. Where further local support is required the winter resilience reporting structure (local, regional and national) acts as a point of escalation which can coordinate rapid action and support from NHS Improvement and NHS England in the system and oversee measures that can support local recovery.