Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of drugs available within the NHS to treat (a) epidermolysis bullosa and (b) other inflammatory skin conditions.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes independent, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS, based on an assessment of their costs and benefits.
Currently, there is one product licensed specifically for epidermolysis bullosa, Filsuvez gel, which contains birch bark extract. The NICE recommends birch bark extract as a clinically and cost effective use of NHS resources, and the NHS is legally required to fund it in line with the NICE’s recommendations. Other healthcare products are also used in the care of epidermolysis bullosa patients. There are a number of licensed and NICE recommended treatments for other inflammatory skin conditions that are now routinely available for NHS patients.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will (a) publish average weight to height ratios for children in England and (b) provide advice on any health implications for those who have a ratio significantly larger or smaller than the average.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects data on the height and weight status of children aged four to five years old, who are in Reception, and 10 to 11 years old, who are in Year six. The data collected and published by NHS England is expressed as a Body Mass Index (BMI) centile, to estimate child overweight and obesity. Data on average weight to height ratios for children in England is not available. The Department does not plan to publish data on average weight to height ratios, or average waist to height ratios for children in England. Waist measurements are not collected as part of the NCMP.
The clinical guidance from the National Institute of Health and Care Research recommends that a waist to height ratio measurement is considered alongside a child’s BMI centile in individual clinical assessments, to give a practical estimate of central adiposity. If a child falls into an unhealthy weight category, a waist to height ratio will give additional health information in clinical settings. This includes helping to assess and predict individual health risks such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, or cardiovascular disease, as the location of where children carry weight on their bodies has an influence on their health.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Coroner’s report entitled Oli Hoque: Prevention of future deaths report, published on 13 October 2022, what steps NHS England is taking to allow the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority to compel the timely production of clinical data when conducting investigations into harms arising from regulated medicines.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS England National Patient Safety Team and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) routinely work closely on both system development, and a number of safety issues. The NHS England National Patient Safety Team have a data sharing agreement with the MHRA, and provide regular sharing of patient safety incidents reported to NHS England, that are classified as medication incidents or medical device incidents. In addition, the MHRA are able to request focussed searches of reported incidents if they are working on a specific issue.
However, the MHRA does not have the legal powers to compel healthcare professionals to provide additional information after an initial report of a suspected adverse reaction. The MHRA has been working with the National Health Service to explore approaches to facilitate digital linkage of Yellow Card information to clinical records, and potentially to enable faster access to information, where considered necessary for an assessment. This work remains ongoing.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Yellow Cards for covid-19 vaccinations were (a) identified by the MHRA as being of special interest and (b) followed up by the MHRA in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Adverse events of special interest (AESI) are medical events or conditions that have been identified as possible vaccine safety concerns, based mainly on previous experience with other vaccines and immune-mediated events which theoretically may occur, as vaccines stimulate an immune response. AESIs for COVID-19 vaccines were subject to enhanced surveillance by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and many other regulators from the start of the United Kingdom’s immunisation programme.
Specifically in relation to AESIs, the MHRA has received 22880 UK spontaneous suspected adverse reaction (ADR) reports across all COVID-19 vaccines. Over 157 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been given in the UK. It is important to note that Yellow Card reports are not proof of a side effect occurring, and the incidence of a reaction occurring cannot be determined by these reports. The MHRA considers that the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines continue to outweigh the risks for the majority of people.
The MHRA acknowledges receipt of every Yellow Card report received, and a team of safety experts follow up for additional information as necessary, including consideration of reports with a fatal outcome, based on the completeness, severity, and clinical details provided in the report. Responses to follow-up requests for ADR reports are recorded and stored with the original report on our ADR database. The information is then passed downstream for use in signal detection and the identification of safety concerns.
The data is available for its core purpose of assessment and signal detection, however, the systems were not designed to quantify follow-up metrics requested in this parliamentary question. As such it is not possible to automatically generate metrics on the proportion of follow-up requests sent. The MHRA has provided information on follow up rates under Freedom of Information, within the 20 day statutory timeframes based on manual review of reports, and is committed to publishing high level data on its website.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when work on the Christchurch Hospital Macmillan Unit building project included in the New Hospital programme will begin.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Trust's Full Business Case, it has been agreed that works at Christchurch Hospital, including those to enable the MacMillan palliative unit, are being funded and taken forward by the trust directly, in collaboration with the Macmillan Caring Locally Charity.
The New Hospital Programme will be building a new hospital for Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust at Alumhurst Road as supported by the local and regional health system.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beds were occupied by patients ready to be discharged in NHS hospitals in Dorset; and how many of these patients had been awaiting discharge for more than (a) three days, (b) seven days and (c) a month on the most recent date for which data is available.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 31 January 2024, there were 308 patients with No Criteria To Reside (NCTR) in acute hospitals in Dorset, 77 patients in Dorset County Hospital Foundation Trust and 231 patients in University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust.
NHS England publishes data on the proportion of patients discharged on their discharge-ready date and the lengths of delay for those discharged after this date, up to a delay of 21 days or more. The latest published figures are for December 2023.
For Dorset County Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 91% of patients were discharged on their discharge-ready date. Of the 9% of patients who were discharged after this date, 47.6% were delayed four or more days, 32% were delayed seven or more days, and 10.7% were delayed 21 or more days.
For University Hospitals Dorset Foundation Trust, 84.2% of patients were discharged on their discharge-ready date. Of the 15.8% of patients discharged after this date, 50.4% were delayed four or more days, 33.5% were delayed seven or more days, and 9% were delayed 21 or more days.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what NHS England's policy is on hybrid working arrangements for (a) medical and (b) non-medical staff; and whether NHS England has made an assessment of the potential impact of working from home for up to (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three and (iv) four days a week on levels of work productivity.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s working from home policy, as of April 2024, will ask all colleagues with a contractual office base to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person. This will apply to both medical and non-medical staff.
A flexible work model will help the National Health Service to recruit and retain people more effectively, and is an important aspect of both the NHS People Promise and the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. NHS England will continue to shape their ways of working based on what allows them to deliver high-quality services for all.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date the Oxford–AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine Vaxzevria was withdrawn from general public administration in the UK; and for what reason.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
AstraZeneca completed its COVID-19 vaccine supply agreement with the Government in 2022. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccine booster programme in September 2021, in line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the vaccines deployed in the national programme have primarily been mRNA vaccines that were considered to provide a strong booster response.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many claims on (a) MMR, (b) Covid-19 and (c) all other vaccinations have been made to the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme in each of the last three years; and how many of each are awaiting a decision as of 1 February 2024.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In 2021 there were 27 claims related to measles, mumps or rubella (MMR) received by the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), one of which is still awaiting a decision as of 1 February 2024. Additionally in 2021, 616 claims were received relating to COVID-19, with 42 still awaiting an outcome as of 1 February 2024. 43 claims were received for all other diseases covered by the Vaccine Damage Payment Act (VDPA) 1979, and in this category, seven applications were awaiting an outcome as of 1 February 2024.
In 2022 there were 19 claims related to MMR received by the VDPS, one of which is still awaiting a decision as of 1 February 2024. Furthermore in 2022, 2723 claims were received relating to COVID-19 with 266 still awaiting an outcome as of 1 February 2024. 86 claims were received for all other diseases covered by the VDPA 1979, and of these, 12 applications were still awaiting an outcome as of 1 February 2024.
In 2023 there were five claims related to MMR received by the VDPS, one of which is still awaiting a decision as of 1 February 2024. In this same year, 5383 claims were received relating to COVID-19 with 3519 still awaiting an outcome on 1 February 2024. 222 claims were received for all other diseases covered by the VDPA 1979, and of these, 139 applications were still awaiting an outcome as of 1 February 2024.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason covid-19 vaccines are only available through the NHS as of 31 January 2024.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government is committed to protecting those most at risk from COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Those eligible receive vaccination for free through the National Health Service. Whether and when a private market for COVID-19 vaccines emerges is a matter for private companies, and the Government has no formal role in this. However, the Government is supportive of the emergence of a private market for COVID-19 vaccines, to increase choice for consumers.