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Written Question
Heart Diseases: Prescriptions
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of including heart disease on the list of exempted conditions for prescription charges in England.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

While the Government’s policy remains that there are no plans to review the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate, there are extensive arrangements currently in place in England to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone including for those with heart disease.

Approximately 89% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in the community in England, and there is a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place for which those with heart disease may be eligible. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.

People on low incomes can apply for help with their health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme. The scheme provides income related help to people who are not automatically exempt from charges but who may be entitled to full or partial help if they have a low income and savings below a defined limit.

To support those with greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption or the NHS Low Income Scheme, prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) are available. PPCs allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost, with three month and 12 month certificates available.


Written Question
Surgical Mesh Implants
Monday 4th March 2024

Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his correspondence of 28 February 2024 to Kath Sansom and Ruth MacLeod of the Sling the Mesh Group, if he will publish (a) the patient groups that contributed to, (b) the distribution lists used to inform (i) patient groups and (ii) stakeholders about and (c) a summary of the contributions of patient groups to the consultation.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is in the process of drafting the response to the consultation on Disclosure of industry payments to the healthcare sector, which will be published in due course. As the consultation response is in policy development, the information requested is not available.


Written Question
Neuromuscular Disorders: Hydrotherapy
Tuesday 16th January 2024

Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the (a) availability of and (b) access to hydrotherapy for people living with long-term neurological conditions in (i) Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency and (ii) the UK.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Health services are commissioned locally by integrated care boards, which are best placed to make decisions regarding the provision of health services, including hydrotherapy for people living with long-term neurological conditions, to their local population, subject to local prioritisation and funding. These commissioning arrangements apply in England only given that health is a devolved issue.


Written Question
NHS: Drugs
Tuesday 16th January 2024

Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Fourth Report of the House of Lords Public Services Committee, Session 2022-23, entitled Homecare medicines services: an opportunity lost, HL Paper 269, what his position is in respect of the recommendation that following the interim findings of the NHS England review, and by no later than April 2024, the Government should establish and fund an independent review into the homecare system.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are carefully considering all the conclusions and recommendations made in the report and will respond to the Committee shortly.


Written Question
NHS: Drugs
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

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 11 December 2023 to Question 5389 on NHS: Drugs, and with reference to his Answer of 26 June 2023 to Question 189330 NHS: Drugs, if he will publish the National Clinical Homecare Association data on how many and what proportion of complaints about homecare medicines services were (a) opened and (b) upheld in each of the last three years.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The information is not held centrally. The National Clinical Homecare Association is the trade body for homecare medicines service providers and is independent of NHS England. However, work which is currently underway means that such data is expected to be available from 2024.


Written Question
Epilepsy: Medical Treatments
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase provision of epilepsy treatment in (a) Hull West and Hessle constituency and (b) nationally.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The majority of health services for people with epilepsy are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs are best placed to make decisions regarding the provision of health services to their local population, including for the treatment of epilepsy, subject to local prioritisation and funding.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement for those with epilepsy, including NHS England’s Neuroscience Service Transformation Programme and the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit.

The National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on epilepsies in children, young people, and adults [NG217], published in April 2022, covers diagnosing and managing epilepsy in primary and secondary care, and referral to tertiary services. Recommendation 8.1 states that a ketogenic diet should be considered under the guidance of a tertiary epilepsy specialist for certain childhood-onset epilepsy syndromes, and for drug resistant epilepsy when other treatments have failed or are not appropriate. More information on this is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng217/chapter/8-Non-pharmacological-treatments#ketogenic-diet

We expect National Health Service commissioners to take NICE guidelines into full account in designing services that meet the needs of their local populations. It is, however, important to note that NICE guidelines are not mandatory and do not override a clinician’s responsibility to make decisions appropriate to individual patients, in consultation with them and their families.


Written Question
Diets
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to help ensure access to ketogenic diet treatment in (a) Hull West and Hessle constituency and (b) nationally.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The majority of health services for people with epilepsy are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs are best placed to make decisions regarding the provision of health services to their local population, including for the treatment of epilepsy, subject to local prioritisation and funding.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement for those with epilepsy, including NHS England’s Neuroscience Service Transformation Programme and the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit.

The National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on epilepsies in children, young people, and adults [NG217], published in April 2022, covers diagnosing and managing epilepsy in primary and secondary care, and referral to tertiary services. Recommendation 8.1 states that a ketogenic diet should be considered under the guidance of a tertiary epilepsy specialist for certain childhood-onset epilepsy syndromes, and for drug resistant epilepsy when other treatments have failed or are not appropriate. More information on this is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng217/chapter/8-Non-pharmacological-treatments#ketogenic-diet

We expect National Health Service commissioners to take NICE guidelines into full account in designing services that meet the needs of their local populations. It is, however, important to note that NICE guidelines are not mandatory and do not override a clinician’s responsibility to make decisions appropriate to individual patients, in consultation with them and their families.


Written Question
Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

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 30 November 2023 to Question 3921 on Prescriptions: Fees and Charges, whether her Department has considered the potential merits of reviewing the list of conditions that entitle a person to apply for a medical exemption certificate.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

While the Government’s policy remains that there are no plans to review the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate, there are extensive arrangements currently in place in England to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone. Approximately 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge in the community in England and extensive arrangements are already in place to help those with the greatest need. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.


Written Question
NHS: Drugs
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information the National Homecare Medicines Committee has provided to the (a) Care Quality Commission, (b) General Pharmaceutical Council and (c) Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on the adequacy of the (i) performance and (ii) safety of homecare medicines services in the last three years.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC) has provided no information to the Care Quality Commission or to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency about the adequacy of the performance and safety of homecare medicines providers in the last three years. The General Pharmaceutical Council has had occasional meetings with the NHMC in the past, more than three years ago. It has now been invited to attend NHMC quarterly meetings and has been taking part in those meetings since November 2023.


Written Question
NHS: Drugs
Tuesday 12th December 2023

Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any homecare medicines services providers have been placed in an escalation process since May 2023.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Homecare Medicines Committee has not placed any providers in an escalation process since May 2023.