Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of improving access to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation training and Automated External Defibrillators in more deprived areas of the country where incidences of cardiac arrest are higher.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of improving access to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation training and Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in more deprived areas of the country where incidences of cardiac arrest are higher. Similarly, no assessment has been made of the potential merits of increasing societal awareness of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and AED use to improve survival rates in response to cardiac arrest in homes, workplaces and public spaces.
The Government has agreed to provide funding of £1 million to design a grant scheme for the expansion of AEDs that expands the number and accessibility of publicly supported access to defibrillators.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and 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 an estimate of the number and proportion of medicines that were prescribed by doctors that were not available on local formularies in the last 12 months; and if he will make an assessment of the impact of medicine availability on prescriptions made by doctors.
Answered by Will Quince
No estimate has been made as the information requested is not held centrally. The purpose of a formulary is to guide prescribers to preferred products rather than mandating what they can and cannot prescribe. Prescribers are still able to prescribe medicines that are not listed on a formulary.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of products approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence did not appear on local formularies within 90 days of its approval in the last 12 months.
Answered by Will Quince
Information on the inclusion of products recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on local formularies is not held centrally.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to reduce regional variations in the availability of hormone replacement therapies.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Regional information is not held centrally, however, there are over 70 hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products available in the United Kingdom and the vast majority are in good supply. We are regularly engaging with individual suppliers to prevent and mitigate supply issues in the short and long term. The HRT supply position has improved considerably since last Spring.
Local or system level formularies have been established in some areas to support integrated care boards (ICBs) in making the best use of resources based on local population needs. Where they are in place, local formularies guide prescribers to preferred products rather than mandating what they can and cannot prescribe. Prescribers are still able to prescribe medicines that are not listed on a formulary.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and 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 an estimate of the average administrative time spent by healthcare professionals on updating local formularies to include hormone replacement therapies in the last 12 months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
No estimate has been made as this information is not held centrally.
Local formularies guide prescribers to preferred products rather than mandating what they can and cannot prescribe. Prescribers are still able to prescribe medicines that are not listed on a formulary. Formularies do not always include medicines from all clinical areas, as they are tailored towards areas where support is felt to be helpful and or necessary for a local area.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have bought an HRT pre-payment certificate since its introduction.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
From 1 to 30 April 2023 there were 130,623 successful applications for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescription pre-payment certificates. Information on the number of people who have bought prescription pre-payment certificates for HRT and who are accessing HRT for the first time is not held.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people who have bought an HRT pre-payment certificate are accessing HRT for the first time.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
From 1 to 30 April 2023 there were 130,623 successful applications for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescription pre-payment certificates. Information on the number of people who have bought prescription pre-payment certificates for HRT and who are accessing HRT for the first time is not held.