Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
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 impact of recent inflation levels on the NHS pension scheme.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Health Service Pension Scheme protects the value of pensions in payment by increasing them by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) each April, based on the CPI figure from the previous September. The Scheme also revalues accrued career-average pension benefits by CPI plus 1.5% each year for active members.
A higher rate of revaluation will increase the size of pensions and may therefore increase annual allowance pension tax liability where inflation is increasing. However, when inflation reduces in the subsequent tax year, this may increase the scope for more pension growth before exceeding the annual allowance that year. Most NHS staff build their pension tax-free. Where the annual allowance is breached, it is not required to pay the tax in advance. The Scheme Pays facility allows staff to meet any annual allowance charge from their existing pension.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include provisions in the draft Mental Health Act Reform Bill in response to feedback provided by respondents to the Reforming the Mental Health Act white paper on how the reforms plan to meet the needs of children and young people.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Virendra Sharma MP) on 13 June 2022 to Question 14460.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Welsh Government on making Evusheld available to immunocompromised people.
Answered by Maggie Throup
On 17 March 2022, Evusheld was granted conditional marketing approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). However, the MHRA highlighted uncertainty over the appropriate dose needed for protection against the Omicron variant. Understanding its efficacy is necessary prior to any procurement or deployment decisions. Officials in the Antivirals and Therapeutics Taskforce regularly engage with the Welsh Government.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
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 8 June 2022 to Question 1109 on Evusheld, whether his Department has a timeline setting out a date by which they expect to receive advice from clinicians on the most appropriate option for the use of Evusheld.
Answered by Maggie Throup
While there is no specific timetable, we expect to receive clinical advice shortly.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help promote innovation in dementia diagnosis.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
For many, assessments and diagnoses begin in memory clinics which provide access to a multi-disciplinary team. In 2021, NHS England commissioned resources to support memory services to improve and innovate. These resources include an e-learning course developed by University College London to support memory services to manage a change in practice, ensuring the delivery of a personalised assessment and diagnosis via a blended service model. Leeds Beckett University has also developed a guide to supporting continuous development, improvement and innovation in memory services. These resources where circulated to services and stakeholders in March 2022.
In 2022/23, NHS England will provide funding to support general practitioners in specific areas to pilot approaches to diagnosing dementia for people living with advanced dementia in a care home setting. We will set out plans for dementia in England for the next 10 years later this year, which will include a focus on dementia diagnosis.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on increasing diagnosis rates for dementia.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We have had no specific discussions as this is a devolved matter.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Welsh Government and (b) patient representatives on making medicinal cannabis accessible to patients suffering from chronic pain conditions.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department routinely corresponds with the Welsh Government and patient representatives on making medicinal cannabis accessible to patients suffering from chronic pain. The Government has allowed specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis-based products, where clinically appropriate and in the best interests of patients. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that cannabis-based products for medicinal use are not offered to manage chronic pain in adults and that cannabidiol (CBD) only be offered as part of a clinical trial.
NICE recognises the lack of evidence to support the use of these medicines and recommends that further research is carried out on the clinical and cost effectiveness of CBD as an additional treatment for adults with fibromyalgia or for persistent treatment resistant neuropathic pain. The National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including chronic pain. As for all other medicines, it is the responsibility of the manufacturers to generate the evidence required for assessment by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and NICE.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide patients suffering from chronic pain with the option of accessing medicinal cannabis.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department routinely corresponds with the Welsh Government and patient representatives on making medicinal cannabis accessible to patients suffering from chronic pain. The Government has allowed specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis-based products, where clinically appropriate and in the best interests of patients. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that cannabis-based products for medicinal use are not offered to manage chronic pain in adults and that cannabidiol (CBD) only be offered as part of a clinical trial.
NICE recognises the lack of evidence to support the use of these medicines and recommends that further research is carried out on the clinical and cost effectiveness of CBD as an additional treatment for adults with fibromyalgia or for persistent treatment resistant neuropathic pain. The National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including chronic pain. As for all other medicines, it is the responsibility of the manufacturers to generate the evidence required for assessment by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and NICE.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase trials of non-inhaled medical cannabis for people living with chronic cancer or non-cancer pain.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department routinely corresponds with the Welsh Government and patient representatives on making medicinal cannabis accessible to patients suffering from chronic pain. The Government has allowed specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis-based products, where clinically appropriate and in the best interests of patients. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that cannabis-based products for medicinal use are not offered to manage chronic pain in adults and that cannabidiol (CBD) only be offered as part of a clinical trial.
NICE recognises the lack of evidence to support the use of these medicines and recommends that further research is carried out on the clinical and cost effectiveness of CBD as an additional treatment for adults with fibromyalgia or for persistent treatment resistant neuropathic pain. The National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including chronic pain. As for all other medicines, it is the responsibility of the manufacturers to generate the evidence required for assessment by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and NICE.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure (a) adequate covid-19 surveillance and (b) the UK's ability to respond to future waves of covid-19 in the context of the withdrawal of funding from the Zoe covid symptom checker, the CoMix social contacts survey and the Siren and Vivaldi studies.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Government will continue monitoring the virus through maintaining scaled back surveillance studies such as the Office for National Statistics’ COVID-19 Infection Survey, SIREN, Vivaldi and other data sources including genomic sequencing. As a result of these developments, the Department and the UK Health Security Agency are no longer in a position to fund the ZOE COVID study and CoMix social contact study. The Government will keep all surveillance activities under review to ensure we have the capabilities to monitor waves of COVID-19 and defend against future variants.