Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to undertake (a) health-and-safety research and (b) a risk assessments before 5G is adopted in a localised test area.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
Public Health England (PHE) has published a webpage about exposure to the radio waves from mobile phone base stations, including those for 5G networks, at the following link:
This explains the health-related reviews and assessments have been performed, as well as the practical measures that are in place to protect public health.
PHE advises that the guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) should be adopted and there is no convincing evidence that radio wave exposures below the ICNIRP guideline levels cause adverse health effects. The guidelines apply to exposures at frequencies up to 300 GHz, well above the maximum few tens of GHz frequencies anticipated for use by 5G systems.
Health and safety legislation requires companies deploying and operating communication networks to carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessments, as well as put in place measures to reduce the identified risks so far as reasonably practicable. In controlling risks arising from radio wave exposure, the Health and Safety Executive refer to compliance with the ICNIRP guidelines. Industry has committed to comply with the international guidelines and to provide certificates of compliance with planning applications for base stations.
PHE continues to monitor the health-related evidence applicable to radio waves, including in relation to base stations, and is committed to updating its advice as required.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will expedite the process by which the NICE publishes its decisions.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The Government wants patients to be able to benefit from access to effective new treatments as quickly as possible.
Through its technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies guidance, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes authoritative, evidence-based recommendations on whether medicines and other treatments represent a clinically and cost effective use of National Health Service resources. NHS organisations are legally required to make funding available for NICE recommended treatments, usually within three months of final guidance.
Wherever possible, NICE currently aims to publish recommendations on new drugs as soon as possible after licensing, with draft guidance on cancer drugs published in advance of licensing. The 2019 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access includes a commitment to faster NICE assessments of new medicines, with timelines for non-cancer drugs to match those for cancer drugs, subject to the evidence base for the product being sufficiently developed.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to reduce the differential in spending on mental health support between different parts of the country.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Funding allocations to clinical commissioning groups vary to meet the needs of local populations, including mental health need. These allocations are determined by a formula managed for the National Health Service by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are required to continue to increase investment in mental health services in line with the mental health investment standard. In 2017/18, all CCGs met the standard. For 2019/20, the standard requires CCGs to increase spend by at least their overall programme allocation growth, plus an additional percentage increment to reflect the additional mental health funding included in CCG allocations for 2019/20.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS Trusts undertook a rural proofing review of policies adopted for 2018-2019.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The information requested is not centrally held.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
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 enable more midwifes to be qualified tongue tie practitioners.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Student midwives are trained to look for tongue ties as part of the routine new born examination that midwives undertake after birth. However, they are not always easily identifiable at this stage and may not become apparent until babies have feeding problems.
It is for the National Health Service locally to ensure appropriate services are available for the diagnosis and treatment of tongue tie. Tongue tie practitioners may be registered nurses, doctors or midwives and they undertake specialist post-registration training to do this based on organisational need.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, why NHS prescription forms have not been updated to include people in receipt of universal credit who are entitled to free prescriptions.
Answered by Steve Brine
A revised version of the FP10 prescription form, featuring a dedicated tick-box for use by Universal Credit claimants who meet the criteria for free National Health Service prescriptions, recently received Ministerial clearance. Any change to the form involves major system and software updates across the NHS to allow the re-designed form to be used and processed. The revised paper form is currently being prepared for testing, to ensure it is compatible with the scanners used by the NHS Business Services Authority. The revised form will be introduced at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many individuals have been wrongly issued with NHS prescription fines due to prescription forms not being updated to include universal credit claimants; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Brine
Work is ongoing to update the FP10 prescription form, to include a new exemption tick box for use by Universal Credit (UC) claimants, is underway and the revised form will be introduced at the earliest opportunity. In advance of this update both UC and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants who meet the criteria for free National Health Service prescriptions are ticking exemption box K on the FP10 prescription form. As a result, the NHS Business Services Authority does not have a data split that enables it to confirm how many penalty charges notices have been issued to UC claimants alone and therefore, how many were issued to UC claimants who had a valid prescription charge exemption.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2019 to Question 213200 on Air Pollution and with reference to p165 of the World Health Organisation report, Review of evidence on health aspects of air pollution – REVIHAAP Project, if his Department will conduct research into PM1 and PM0.1.
Answered by Steve Brine
Recent assessments have been undertaken of the health effects of long-term exposure to the air pollution mixture in the United Kingdom, but no separate assessments of the impact of PM1 and PM0.1 components (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 1 or 0.1 microns respectively) of particulate air pollution have been produced.
Public Health England (PHE) undertakes various air quality research projects, working with academic partners, to review the evidence of the health effects of air pollutants. In particular, regarding the health effects of PM0.1 and PM1, PHE has a research program that looks at various aspects of the health effects of PM0.1 (nanoparticles) through the inhalational route mainly focussed on manufactured materials. However, PHE has no plans to engage in work on the effects of PM1 particles on human health over the coming year.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2019 to Question 213200 and with reference to page six of the January 2013 report of the Health Effects Institute entitled Understanding the Health Effects of Ambient Ultrafine Particles, if he will implement the recommendations of that report on PM0.1 and PM1.
Answered by Steve Brine
Recent assessments have been undertaken of the health effects of long-term exposure to the air pollution mixture in the United Kingdom, but no separate assessments of the impact of PM1 and PM0.1 components (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 1 or 0.1 microns respectively) of particulate air pollution have been produced.
Public Health England (PHE) undertakes various air quality research projects, working with academic partners, to review the evidence of the health effects of air pollutants. In particular, regarding the health effects of PM0.1 and PM1, PHE has a research program that looks at various aspects of the health effects of PM0.1 (nanoparticles) through the inhalational route mainly focussed on manufactured materials. However, PHE has no plans to engage in work on the effects of PM1 particles on human health over the coming year.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2019 to Question 213202 on Incinerators: Air Pollution, with reference to the report entitled Ultrafine Particulates (UFP) in the UK, published by the Air Quality Expert Group by his Department in 2018, if he will make an assessment of the effect of ultrafine particles on human health (a) in and (b) outside of the vicinity of incinerators.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Air Quality Expert Group Report on ‘Ultrafine Particles in the UK’ summarised current knowledge on the levels, sources and characteristics of ultrafine particles in the United Kingdom air; the report can be viewed at the following link:
https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/reports.php?report_id=968
An assessment on the potential health impacts of ultrafine particles was beyond the scope of this report.
Reviews by the Health Effects Institute and World Health Organization of the effects of different components of air pollution, including ultrafine particles (PM0.1), concluded that there is currently limited evidence on the effects on health of ultrafine particles. These reports are available to view at the following links:
https://www.healtheffects.org/publication/understanding-health-effects-ambient-ultrafine-particles
Public Health England has no plans to engage in work on the effects of ultrafine particles on human health in and outside the vicinity of incinerators.