Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 1 July 2019 to Question 269708, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' steps to prevent foetal pain since July 2019.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department does not set clinical practice. To support clinical practice, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has considered the issue of fetal pain and awareness in its guidelines on ‘The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion’ and ‘Fetal Awareness: Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice’, which are available at the following links:
https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/abortion-guideline_web_1.pdf
https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/rcogfetalawarenesswpr0610.pdf
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when a decision is planned to be made on renewing the Thalidomide Health Grant.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The current multi-year settlement continues for a further three years running until the end of the 2022/23 financial year. Officials are continuing to meet with the Thalidomide Trust to discuss ongoing health needs after the end of the current Grant.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of covid-19 tests for people in Congleton constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department is working to increase the availability of COVID-19 testing in Congleton and the United Kingdom through the expansion of the testing network through home testing, regional and local testing sites and mobile testing units which travel the UK.
The nearest test centre to Congleton is the walk-through testing site at the Synetics Solutions Car Park in Stoke. The nearest drive through site is at the Bet365 Stadium in Stoke.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings the Government has had with abortion providers to monitor the evidence on the safety of abortion pills taken at home since 30 March 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government has had nine meetings with abortion providers and four meetings with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to monitor the evidence on the safety of abortion pills taken at home since 30 March 2020.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings the Government has had with the Care Quality Commission to monitor the evidence on the safety of abortion pills taken at home since 30 March 2020
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government has had nine meetings with abortion providers and four meetings with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to monitor the evidence on the safety of abortion pills taken at home since 30 March 2020.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 20 October 2020 to Question 98692 on Care Homes: Standards, what steps a person can take in the event that they are concerned that there are not sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced persons deployed to meet the needs of the people using the service.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Anyone with concerns about staffing, or other standards of care can contact the Care Quality Commission (CQC) about their concerns. The CQC encourages people to contact them by telephone, email or by using their online ‘Give Feedback on Care’ web form. This allows the CQC to respond to poor care, abuse and neglect immediately.
A crucial part of the CQC’s regulatory approach is the ability to hear the voices of relatives, people who use services, and staff. Inspectors routinely talk to Local Healthwatch and others who represent or act on behalf of people who use services.
The CQC also encourages staff to speak up by following their own service-specific internal whistleblowing policies, as well as directing them to relevant whistleblowing helplines which give free, independent and confidential guidance.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential spread of covid-19 through bags for life and other reusable plastic bags in supermarkets during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
No specific assessment has been undertaken.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to improve dependency ratios in care homes.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Care homes that carry out regulated activities must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and providers must comply with the Fundamental Standards, below which the standard of care must not fall. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 require that sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced persons must be deployed to meet the needs of the people using the service in order to meet regulatory requirements.