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 plans his Department has to increase the number of people tested for flu during the 2021-22 winter season.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The diagnosis of influenza is generally made using clinical symptoms in primary care settings. Diagnosis of influenza can only be confirmed by laboratory testing. Rapid testing should be undertaken in all people with complicated influenza, which often takes place in hospital. The UK Health Security Agency is exploring options to pilot increased testing for influenza for certain cases as an extension of the current routine community surveillance for COVID-19.
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 proportion of flu patients were prescribed antiviral medication in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Data on the proportion of flu patients prescribed antiviral medication is not collected centrally.
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 assessment he has made of the impact alcohol advertising on public transport has on (a) children and (b) vulnerable populations such as people in recovery from dependency on alcohol.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No specific assessment has been made.
There is some evidence that exposure to alcohol marketing can increase the risk that children will start to drink alcohol or, if they already drink, that it can increase the risk that they will consume greater quantities of alcohol. This includes any alcohol advertising that children are exposed to on public transport. There is evidence to show exposure to alcohol advertising can induce physiological cravings to drink, but not necessarily relapse, among ex-dependent drinkers. However, this evidence comes from a single study and more research is needed to fully understand the impact.
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 formula his Department applies to the allocation of funding for NHS prostate cancer services to ensure that that funding increases in line with (a) the number of men being diagnosed and (b) requirements for ongoing treatment and monitoring.
Answered by Jo Churchill
NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and take advice on the underlying formula from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation. On 10 January the National Health Service published five-year indicative CCG allocations 2019/20 to 2023/24 which are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/ccg-allocations-2019-20-to-2023-24-core-services/
CCGs commission the majority of hospital and community NHS services in the local areas for which they are responsible for and assess the funding of services for individual cancers, such as prostate cancer. As decisions will be based on local populations needs, funding will be in line with the number of men being diagnosed and requirements for ongoing treatment and monitoring.