Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
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 potential merits of using recruitment and retention payments to tackle staff shortages in the social care sector.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
We have no current plans to issue recruitment and retention payments directly to social care staff. The vast majority of care workers are employed by private sector providers who ultimately set their pay and remuneration, independent of central Government.
To provide additional support to the sector over the winter, on October 21st we announced a new £162.5 million Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund (WRRF). We expect local authorities to work closely with care providers on how this funding is spent, which may include one-off recruitment and retention payments.
We are continuing to work closely with providers, councils, and partners to assess workforce capacity pressures and to consider what further action may be necessary.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
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 2 November 2021 to Question HL 3265, if he will speed up his Department's investigation into allegations of modern slavery at Supermax.
Answered by Edward Argar
We continue to prioritise our investigations into these allegations which are ongoing.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made in securing a supplier for medical examination gloves and surgical gloves under tender, reference 269071/982217, published on 23 July 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar
The tender remains under evaluation by NHS Supply Chain Coordination Limited.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Sefton Central to the Minister for International Trade, dated 3 August 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar
We replied to the hon. Member on 12 November 2021.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS Supply Chain’s response of 29 June 2021 to FOI Request SCCL-FOI-2021-063, which of the 16 companies set out in that FOI response that supply the NHS with rubber gloves from Malaysia receive rubber glove supplies from (a) Top Glove, (b) Supermax, (c) Brightway Holdings, (d) WRP, (e) Ansell, (f) Kossan and (g) Hartalega.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Department has procured rubber gloves to supply the National Health Service from the following suppliers on the NHS Supply Chain Framework, sourced from the providers in the following table.
Suppliers | Sources |
Ansell Healthcare Europe | Ansell |
Medicare Products | Kossan |
Medline Industries Ltd | Hartelega |
Supermax | Supermax |