Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress has been made on the implementation of the new annual prepayment certificate for hormone replacement therapy products; for what reason implementation will take a further 12 months; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the target implementation date of April 2023 is met.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Subject to consultation with relevant professional bodies, we will deliver the cost reduction through a bespoke pre-payment certificate (PPC) for hormone replacement therapy. As a PPC usually applies to all medicines on National Health Service prescriptions, we are working with the NHS Business Services Authority to implement a solution as soon as possible.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to meet representatives from the pharmaceutical supply companies to discuss availability issues with hormone replacement therapy products; and when those meetings are scheduled to take place.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department regularly discusses the supply of human replacement therapy products with pharmaceutical companies and trade bodies. On 31 March 2022, I met with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the British Generic Manufacturers Association to discuss the availability of these products.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many female patients aged between 40 and 60 received prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy in each of the last three years; and how many prescriptions were made to women of those ages in each of the last three years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The following table shows the number of identified female patients aged 40 to 60 years old prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medication and the number of prescription items for HRT medication where a patient could be identified in each of the last three years.
| Number of identified patients | Number of prescription items for which a patient could be identified |
December 2018 to November 2019 | 661,990 | 2,181,328 |
December 2019 to November 2020 | 614,590 | 2,133,193 |
December 2020 to November 2021 | 782,664 | 2,678,094 |
Source: NHS Business Services Authority
Records of prescriptions written but not dispensed are not held centrally.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients received prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy prescriptions in each of the last three years; and how many prescriptions for that treatment were made in each of the last three years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information is not collected in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number of patients for whom a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medication has been dispensed and the number of prescription items for HRT medication in the last three years.
| Number of identified patients | Total number of prescription items, including those for which no patient could be identified |
December 2018 to November 2019 | 1,145,262 | 3,923,194 |
December 2019 to November 2020 | 1,076,038 | 3,866,793 |
December 2020 to November 2021 | 1,284,488 | 4,542,567 |
Source: NHS Business Services Authority
Notes:
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing access to defibrillators by mandating them to be located in out of hospital settings.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England is working with partners to improve community first response and build defibrillator networks to improve survival from sudden cardiac arrest. A national network of community first responders and defibrillators will save up to 4,000 lives each year by 2028, supported by educating the public on recognising and responding to a cardiac arrest.
No recent assessment of mandating defibrillators in out of hospital settings has been made. The Government has encouraged communities and organisations in England to consider purchasing a defibrillator as part of first-aid equipment, specifically in densely populated areas.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
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 proportion of women who are experiencing the menopause that were receiving a prescription for hormone replacement therapy in (a) each of the last three years and (b) each month of the last three years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific estimate has been made. Data is held on the number of hormone replacement therapy prescriptions, but not on the condition for which they have been prescribed.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to submit the Sinopharm vaccine to the MHRA and JCVI for consideration as an alternative to currently available vaccines, for those who are unable to receive their first dose of covid-19 vaccine for medical reasons.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department does not submit treatments or medicines to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) or the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for authorisation. Vaccine developers must submit the relevant clinical trial data and safety information to the regulator for consideration. Any route to approval of new vaccine treatments will be subject to the developer seeking regulatory approval from the MHRA. As with all other COVID-19 vaccines, the MHRA will ensure a thorough and expedited assessment of this medicine’s safety and efficacy before any authorisation.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pregnant women tested positive for covid-19 at HMP Styal in the last two years.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The information requested is not available in the format requested.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support people who wish to be vaccinated against covid-19 but are allergic to ingredients in the covid-19 vaccines available in the UK.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The UK Health Security Agency’s Green Book provides advice for clinicians to assess individuals with a history of allergy who may suffer a reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine. It also sets out how second dose vaccinations may be considered for those who experienced a reaction to the first. The advice has been developed with the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI).
The guidance states that anyone with a history of allergic reaction to an ingredient in a COVID-19 vaccine should not receive it except on expert advice. Those with any other allergies, including those with prior anaphylaxis, may receive the vaccine. If an individual has an allergic reaction to a first dose of vaccine, the BSACI has advised that they may be able to receive a second dose of vaccine. Many individuals have tolerated subsequent doses of the same vaccine and this is preferred as it avoids being incorrectly labelled as allergic for life. Individuals with non-allergic reactions to the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can receive the second dose of vaccine in any vaccination setting.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when Public Health England will publish its report into Gambling Related Harms.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England is carrying out an evidence review on gambling related harms. The evidence review has been delayed due to COVID-19 and is expected to be completed later in summer 2021.