Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients affected by the backlogs in cancer (a) screening, (b) diagnostic tests and (c) other treatments that have accrued as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The UK National Screening Committee is undertaking work to estimate the impact of temporary suspension to screening programmes, including cancer screening. This work is currently in its early stages and the results will be reported as soon they are available.
The National Health Service has continued to provide urgent and emergency services throughout the outbreak and has run the ‘Open for Business’ media campaign to encourage people with potentially serious health issues, such as cancer, to continue to seek medical advice and attend essential appointments. Cancer Alliances and Cancer Hubs have identified (COVID-19 free) surgical and diagnostic capacity to meet demand for cancer services and treatments at this time.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
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 patients who are waiting for cancer (a) screening, (b) follow-up tests and (c) treatment that has been postponed due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement have taken a range of actions to support patients during the COVID-19 outbreak. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with providers to ensure that any screening appointments that have been delayed due to the pandemic are rescheduled as soon as is safely possible. Services are focused on restoring appointments for the highest-priority patient populations first, including those already some way along the screening pathway.
In addition, COVID-19 protected cancer hubs were set up in 21 Cancer Alliances across England to provide cancer surgery and to keep patients safe during the outbreak. Diagnostic and surgical capacity for cancer has been ring-fenced so that referrals, diagnostics and treatment can be brought back to pre-pandemic levels at the earliest opportunity. Particular emphasis has been given to ensuring that patients are confident and feel safe in accessing these services.
The National Cancer Director wrote to Cancer Alliances on 8 June to outline these measures at the following link:
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether officials in his Department have held discussions with representatives of Israeli medical technology companies on the (a) use and (b) importation of medical technologies developed in that country to tackle the covid-19 outbreak in the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is regularly in discussions with other countries on a wide range of issues of issues relating to COVID-19, including Israel. COVID-19 presents a global challenge which requires a collaborative response. The Department will continue to work with other countries throughout the crisis and beyond.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to allocate additional funding for mental health support for victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We provided a £5 million grant to Mind and the Mental Health Consortia to administer a Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund to mental health voluntary and community sector organisations across England to promote mental health and wellbeing services. This complements NHS services and support those struggling with their mental health, including vulnerable people such as victims of domestic abuse. We announced a further £4.2 million to support mental health charities as part of our United Kingdom-wide £750 million package of support for the voluntary sector announced in April. This package of support also includes £28?million?to help survivors of domestic abuse and their children by providing more safe spaces, accommodation and access to support services during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase the provision of testing for people experiencing symptoms of covid-19.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Government has met the commitment to carry out 100,000 tests for COVID-19 every day by the end of April set out in the Government’s Testing Strategy and carried out over 122,000 tests on 30 April.
On 27 May it was announced that COVID-19 testing was being extended in the United Kingdom to anyone with symptoms.
Demand for testing may fluctuate daily but we expect overall to see it continue to increase.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of people being tested for covid-19.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Government has met the commitment to carry out 100,000 tests for COVID-19 every day by the end of April set out in the Government’s Testing Strategy and carried out over 122,000 tests on 30 April.
On 27 May it was announced that COVID-19 testing was being extended in the United Kingdom to anyone with symptoms.
Demand for testing may fluctuate daily but we expect overall to see it continue to increase.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to prevent the dissemination of disinformation on covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously. We have brought together existing cross-Government monitoring and analysis capabilities to provide the most comprehensive picture possible about the extent, scope and impact of disinformation and misinformation linked to COVID-19.
We are working with strategic communications experts to ensure that we are prepared to respond to disinformation campaigns where necessary. As part of this work, we are regularly engaging with the social media platforms.
We are also working with industry to support the introduction of systems and processes that promote authoritative sources and reduce dangerous advice.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) funding and (b) other resources the Government is allocating to the search for (a) a vaccine and (b) different treatment options for covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has announced a total of £42.5 million to support clinical trials of vaccines being developed at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London. This funding is in addition to the £25 million committed through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Covid-19 Rapid Response Research Call1. The NIHR and UKRI have also jointly launched a Rapid Response rolling call for proposals to address evidence gaps and needs on COVID-19, which builds on the earlier NIHR-UKRI COVID-19 research initiatives.
Building on existing trial capability, national platform trials have been expanded to test the most promising therapeutics candidates as large Phase III clinical trials. This currently includes the PRINCIPLE, RECOVERY and REMAP-CAP trials which cover primary, acute and intensive care settings.
A cross-Government Vaccines Taskforce has been established to coordinate and accelerate the development and manufacture of a COVID-19 vaccine, in partnership with academia and industry, and look at other therapeutic options.
The Government has also contributed £250 million of United Kingdom aid, the biggest donation of any country, to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to support ongoing work to rapidly develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
Note:
1 https://www.ukri.org/news/covid-19-research-boosted-by-new-projects/
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to create a vaccine for covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Supported by United Kingdom funding, a number of potential COVID-19 vaccines are currently under development and efforts are being made to get any viable vaccines from sequencing of the virus to clinical testing in under a year. Governments around the world could then work with pharmaceutical companies to get vaccines into production and use.
As of 6 March, the UK’s total investment into COVID-19 vaccine research stands at £65 million.
This includes a £50 million contribution to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.