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Written Question
Vaccination: Take-up
Friday 14th February 2025

Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the level of vaccine uptake is by (a) ethnicity, (b) region and (c) socio-economic group.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

This information is not held in the format requested. The total number of mpox vaccinations administered in England in 2023/24 financial year was 21,225. The total number of mpox vaccinations administered in 2024/25 financial year to date currently stands at 15,649. The latest vaccine coverage statistics are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake

Influenza and COVID-19 coverage data can also be viewed in the weekly flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports, which are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2024-to-2025-season

Childhood vaccination coverage statistics in England are available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-immunisation-statistics


Written Question
Mpox: Vaccination
Friday 14th February 2025

Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Mpox vaccines were delivered in each month since January 2024.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table shows the number of Mpox vaccines delivered each month from 1 January 2024 to 31 January 2025, as well as the total Mpox vaccines delivered in that period:

Month

Number of Mpox vaccinations administered

January 2024

804

February 2024

1,069

March 2024

900

April 2024

612

May 2024

899

June 2024

894

July 2024

704

August 2024

2,856

September 2024

2,078

October 2024

4,329

November 2024

1,713

December 2024

1,271

January 2025

293

Total

18,422

The data was extracted on 5 February 2025 and is based on aggregate data submissions from sexual health or genitourinary medicine clinics.


Written Question
Mpox: Vaccination
Friday 14th February 2025

Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)

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 potential merits of integrating Mpox vaccines into routine sexual health services for higher risk groups.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is planning for a routine Mpox vaccination programme, whilst continuing to offer vaccination to eligible cohorts in areas with the highest density of the eligible population as part of the response to the recent Mpox outbreaks.

NHS England has recently opened additional Mpox vaccination sites across the country to support the access for eligible individuals, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2025/02/nhs-opens-new-mpox-vaccination-sites-across-england/

The programme will be delivered through Sexual Health Services who have experience in the assessment, identification, and vaccination of those who are at increased risk of Mpox infection.


Written Question
Mpox: Vaccination
Friday 14th February 2025

Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many mPox vaccines were given in England in the 2023-24 financial year; and how many have been given to date in the 2024-25 financial year.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The total number of Mpox vaccinations administered in England in the 2023/24 financial year totalled to 21,225. The total number of Mpox vaccinations administered in the 2024/25 financial year to date currently stands at 15,649.

The data was extracted on 5 February 2025 based on aggregate data submissions from sexual health or genitourinary medicine clinics. The data covers a period of 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, and 1 April 2024 to 31 January 2025.


Written Question
Accident and Emergency Departments: Standards
Friday 31st January 2025

Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)

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 assessment of the potential merits of regularly publishing data on incidents of corridor care in the NHS.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is clear that patients should expect and receive the highest standard of service, and is determined to tackle the issue of corridor care.

Discussions on how to improve urgent and emergency care services are continuing, and we will continue to keep the data available and published to support that aim under review. Before the spring, we will set out the lessons learned from this winter and the improvements that we will put in place ahead of next winter.


Written Question
NHS Trusts: Unmanned Air Systems
Thursday 30th January 2025

Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to expand the trial of the transportation of blood by drone technology undertaken by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital to more NHS Trusts.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

The medical drone delivery service for the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is a six-month trial, that started in November. There is potential for drones to support and improve the way the National Health Service delivers patient care, with the outcome of trials supporting NHS trusts to consider the benefits of adoption.


Written Question
NHS: Unmanned Air Systems
Thursday 30th January 2025

Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to encourage the wider adoption of drone technology in the NHS.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England will continue to encourage the wider adoption of drone technology in the National Health Service where it is both feasible and appropriate.

The NHS is committed to decarbonising travel and transport, with a clear vision of achieving a zero-emission fleet by 2040. In October 2023, NHS England published the NHS Net Zero Travel and Transport Strategy, which contains an ambitious, yet deliverable, roadmap to achieve this. Further information on the NHS Net Zero Travel and Transport Strategy is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/net-zero-travel-and-transport-strategy/

This strategy includes drones as one of the interventions to achieve decarbonised travel and transport. There have already been a number of projects testing and implementing the use of drone technology in the NHS, including pathology drones in Cornwall and blood delivery drones in London. Further information on the pathology drones in Cornwall and the blood delivery drones in London is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.rcpath.org/resource-report/pathology-drone-transport-hopes-to-overcome-logistical-constraints-in-cornwall.html

https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/news/nhs-delivery-drones-take-flight-offering-faster-and-greener-patient-care

Drones have also been used to deliver vital chemotherapy to the Isle of Wight, reducing a four-hour journey time by road and sea to a 30-minute flight, minimising waste and treatment delays whilst also reducing carbon, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/whats-already-happening/drone-deliveries-of-vital-chemotherapy-to-the-isle-of-wight/


Written Question
Accident and Emergency Departments: Standards
Thursday 30th January 2025

Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS England on the potential merits of publishing data on incidents of corridor care in the NHS.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is clear that patients should expect and receive the highest standard of service, and is determined to tackle the issue of corridor care.

Discussions on how to improve urgent and emergency care services are continuing, including how best to make use of data. Before the spring, we will set out the lessons learned from this winter and the improvements that we will put in place ahead of next winter.


Written Question
Prostate Cancer: Screening
Wednesday 8th January 2025

Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which body within the NHS will be conducting the review into the case for lowering the screening age for prostate cancer; what the scope of this review will be; and when he expects to receive recommendations.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended in the United Kingdom, due to the inaccuracy of the current best test Prostate Specific Antigen.

A UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) review looking at whether to offer screening for prostate cancer is currently underway. This evidence review will cover modelling the clinical effectiveness and cost of several approaches to prostate cancer screening. This will include different potential ways of screening the whole population and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher-than-average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.

Once the modelling and evidence review are complete, it will be considered by the UK NSC. Subject to no further revisions being required, the UK NSC plans to look at the findings towards the end of 2025.

Further details of the UK NSC’s evidence review process are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process


Written Question
Shingles: Vaccination
Wednesday 8th January 2025

Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make shingles vaccinations available to all people aged over 65.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

Shingles vaccination was originally routinely offered as part of the national immunisation programme to those aged 70, using the Zostavax vaccine. In 2019, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that the programme should be changed to offer the Shingrix vaccine routinely at 60 years of age, that those aged between 60 and 70 years old should also be offered the vaccine, and that individuals would require two doses of Shingrix to complete the course.

Based on JCVI advice, the Department, the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England decided that the programme would be implemented in phases, with the first phase being that between 1 September 2023 and 31 August 2028, those who reach 65 or 70 years old should be called in on or after their 65th or 70th birthday. The second phase would be that from 1 September 2028 to 31 August 2033, those who reach age 60 or 65 years old should be called in on or after their 60th or 65th birthday. From 1 September 2033 onwards, vaccination will be routinely offered to those turning 60 years of age on or after their 60th birthday.

The JCVI also recommended that all severely immunosuppressed individuals aged 50 years old and older should be eligible for shingles vaccination due to their higher risk of complications from shingles. This programme change was also implemented on 1 September 2023. These individuals have been prioritised as part of the early roll-out of the programme to ensure those who are most vulnerable are protected.