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, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of shortages in prescription drugs (a) Atorvastatin and (b) Bumetanide on patients who are regularly prescribed those drugs; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
We are aware of recent supply constraints affecting atorvastatin tablets, although supplies have now improved. We continue to work with wholesalers and all suppliers to understand what steps can be taken to further improve the situation. Deliveries are continuing to be made and we are closely monitoring the situation.
We are aware of supply constraints affecting bumetanide tablets, although alternative products remain available. We have issued communications to the National Health Service to advise healthcare professionals on management of patients during this time. We continue to work closely with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues as soon as possible and to ensure patients have access to the medicines they need.
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, at which meetings the Government was represented at the Sixth Meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body for a WHO Instrument on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response which took place between 17 and 21 July 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government was represented by officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for the entirety of the Sixth Meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body between 17 and 21 July 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 the Government be represented at Joint Plenary Meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body and the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations in July 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government was represented by officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office at the Joint Plenary Meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating body and the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations on 21 and 24 July 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, in which meetings the Government will be represented at the fourth meeting of the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations 2005.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government was represented by officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for the entirety of the fourth meeting of the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) that took place between 24 and 28 July 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 his Department has made assessment of the implication for its policies of Lloyds Pharmacy plan to sell pharmacy branches and contracts they hold across the UK.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. There are mechanisms in place through Local Authority Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments to identify where there is a need for additional pharmaceutical services in an area.
The Department continues to closely monitor patient access to NHS pharmaceutical services across England. Access remains good with 80 percent of people living within 20 minutes walking of a pharmacy and twice as many pharmacies in the more deprived areas.
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 his Department is taking to improve NHS sexual healthcare provision (a) nationally and (b) in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We remain committed to improving sexual and reproductive health in England. The Department published a HIV Action Plan in 2021 setting out our actions during 2022-2025 to move towards ending new HIV transmissions, AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030. Great progress has been made during the first year of its implementation, as set out by the annual report to Parliament published on 7 June. In 2022 we published the Women’s Health Strategy for England setting out our 10-year ambitions and actions to improve health for women and girls.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual health services to meet local demand and individual local authorities decide on spending priorities based on an assessment of local need for sexual health services. We are providing more than £3.5 billion this financial year to local authorities through the Public Health Grant to fund public health services, including sexual health services, increasing to £3.575 billion in 2024/25.
Regarding sexual health provision in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency, Hull and East Riding have integrated sexual and reproductive health services that work to ensure that residents receive the best care, advice and treatment possible. The service continues to develop with the support of the Local Authority and the NHS to meet the needs of the communities it serves.
The Conifer Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Service is based in Hull City Centre and holds clinics at various health centres around the East Riding, including at Hessle Health Centre. It is a progressive and innovative service provided by City Health Care Partnership CIC, where Genitourinary Medicine and Family Planning, Community Gynaecology, Social Services, non-statutory services and voluntary services work together to offer a holistic service to meet the differing needs of diverse populations in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire.
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 he has made an assessment of the impact of trends in the level of homecare medicines services on patient safety.
Answered by Will Quince
Providers of Homecare Medicines services operate in a highly regulated environment with obligations to record and monitor quality metrics, including any trends. To monitor industry trends, providers provide the same data set to the trade association, the National Clinical Homecare Association (NCHA), allowing for the aggregation of all providers metrics. The NCHA report that delivery performance of providers (delivery to patients on the agreed date) was 99.0% in 2020; 98.6% in 2021; and 98.8% in 2022. Formal complaints and incidents are also monitored and the data shows that the percentage of complaints raised was 1.4% in 2020; 1.6% in 2021 and 1.8% in 2022 of active patients (this refers to complaints opened, not upheld).
The National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC) is not aware of having received any formal written notifications from manufacturers where declining trends can be reasonably considered to compromise patient safety. Information from clinical referring centres is routed via regional National Health Service homecare specialists, as NHMC members.
When the Key Performance Indicators indicate that the service levels of a provider on a national or regional framework or contract are not to the standard expected, the NHMC addresses the issue by meeting with individual providers to discuss safety and performance issues. If necessary, the regulators the Care Quality Commission and the General Pharmaceutical Council are also informed.
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 paragraphs 2.7 and 2.8: Service Performance, of the National Homecare Medicines Committee Good Practice Principles: Provision of Manufacturer Funded Homecare Medicines Services, published in February 2018, what information his Department holds on any notifications between (a) manufacturers and that Committee or individual Clinical Referring Centres and (b) the NHMC or individual Clinical Referring Centres and manufacturers on trends in the performance of a Homecare Provider which can be reasonably considered to compromise patient safety; and whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of measures to protect patient safety.
Answered by Will Quince
Providers of Homecare Medicines services operate in a highly regulated environment with obligations to record and monitor quality metrics, including any trends. To monitor industry trends, providers provide the same data set to the trade association, the National Clinical Homecare Association (NCHA), allowing for the aggregation of all providers metrics. The NCHA report that delivery performance of providers (delivery to patients on the agreed date) was 99.0% in 2020; 98.6% in 2021; and 98.8% in 2022. Formal complaints and incidents are also monitored and the data shows that the percentage of complaints raised was 1.4% in 2020; 1.6% in 2021 and 1.8% in 2022 of active patients (this refers to complaints opened, not upheld).
The National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC) is not aware of having received any formal written notifications from manufacturers where declining trends can be reasonably considered to compromise patient safety. Information from clinical referring centres is routed via regional National Health Service homecare specialists, as NHMC members.
When the Key Performance Indicators indicate that the service levels of a provider on a national or regional framework or contract are not to the standard expected, the NHMC addresses the issue by meeting with individual providers to discuss safety and performance issues. If necessary, the regulators the Care Quality Commission and the General Pharmaceutical Council are also informed.
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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed Three-Vodafone merger on NHS 111 helpline contracts.
Answered by Will Quince
As an open economy, this Government welcomes and encourages investment where it supports the Prime Minister’s goal of boosting United Kingdom growth and jobs, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security. The Government has robust powers under the National Security & Investment Act, which it introduced, to block or impose remedies on transactions that pose a national security risk.
We cannot comment on specific acquisitions nor the applicability of the National Security and Investment regime. It is the responsibility of Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess the impact on consumers and competition in the market, with input from sectoral regulators.
The Investment Security Unit works closely with the CMA on cases that are being considered for both national security and competition reasons. A memorandum of understanding has been agreed between the Investment Security Unit and the CMA to assist joint working.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the use of value-based procurement by (a) NHS and (b) social care services in purchasing incontinence products on (i) patient quality of life and (ii) health outcomes.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government's new Medical Technology Strategy, published in February 2023, commits to developing an environment that supports the understanding and delivery of value for money and affordability. Within the strategy, incontinence products have been identified as one area of focus. The Department will work with clinicians to review, assess and categorise similar products to lay the foundations for value based procurement. This assessment of products will be shared with NHS Supply Chain and other organisations involved in the purchase of incontinence products.