Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of expanding the sample size for the Food Standards Agency's Food and You 2 survey to a minimum of 10,000 households.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency currently has no plans to increase the sample size for the Food and You 2 Survey. Each biannual wave of fieldwork contains a sample size of 4,000 households, with 2,000 in England, and 1,000 in each of Wales and Northern Ireland. This provides sufficient accuracy at a 95% confidence level for the survey’s key estimates. The random probability sampling approach, by which households are randomly selected from the postcode address file, and use of weighting helps to ensure the results are representative of the population. Where greater accuracy is required, responses from multiple survey waves can be combined.
The higher survey delivery costs associated with a larger sample size outweigh the benefits from an increase in accuracy.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 22 July (HL1593), how many (1) NHS, and (2) private, (a) licensed, and (b) unlicensed, prescriptions for cannabis medicines were made for severe treatment-resistant epilepsy in 2022.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
This information is not held in the format requested. The NHS Business Services Authority collects data relating to drugs prescribed in the National Health Service in England and dispensed within a community setting and private prescriptions concerning controlled drugs dispensed in the community. However, information on the condition for which a prescription has been issued is not held centrally.
We are unable to provide the information requested on NHS prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines as the number of items is attributed to fewer than five patients and the data could potentially identify individuals.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prescriptions for cannabis have been issued each year since 2018 in England
Answered by Lord Kamall
The following table shows the number of items for licensed and unlicensed cannabis-based medicines prescribed on a National Health Service prescription, dispensed in the community and submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority in England between January 2018 and April 2022, the latest data available. We are unable to provide data on NHS prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines, due to the number of items attributed to fewer than five patients which could identify individuals.
NHS prescription items | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 January to April |
Licensed cannabis-based medicines | 2,591 | 2,636 | 2,681 | 2,981 | 1,171 |
The following table shows the number of items for licensed and unlicensed cannabis-based medicines prescribed on a private prescription, dispensed in the community and submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority between January 2018 and April 2022, the latest data available. Data on unlicensed prescriptions in 2018 is held for November and December only and January in 2022.
Private prescription items dispensed | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Licensed cannabis-based medicines | 24 | 35 | 29 | 28 | 17 |
Unlicensed cannabis-based medicines | 0 | 278 | 4,469 | 42,393 | 385 |
Data licensed cannabis-based medicines prescribed in secondary care since 2018 is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals have brought claims against the Government for negligence in relation to contaminated Factor VIII blood products since the Government first made compensation payments to haemophiliacs infected with HIV in 1991.
Answered by Lord Kamall
A group claim has been brought on behalf of approximately 500 claimants or their dependants, in relation to Factor VIII and Factor IX products. This claim is stayed pending the outcome of the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cannabis prescriptions have been issued to treat severe treatment-resistant epilepsy for each year since November 2018.
Answered by Lord Kamall
This information is not held in the format requested. The NHS Business Services Authority holds data relating to drugs prescribed in the National Health Service in England and dispensed within a community setting. However, this does not record the condition for which a prescription is intended.
While details on private prescriptions for controlled drugs, including cannabis-based products for medicinal use, are also submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority, information on the condition for which a prescription has been issued is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many lump sum (1) regular, and (2) discretionary, one-off payments were made between the establishment of the Infected Blood Inquiry in 2017 to July 2018.
Answered by Lord Kamall
This information is not held in the format requested. The Infected Blood Inquiry was established in July 2018. The England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS) is administered by the NHS Business Service Authority and began operation on 1 November 2017. In England, the EIBSS makes regular payments to beneficiaries, paid either monthly or quarterly, a winter fuel payment in Quarter 3 of each year and one-off lump sum and discretionary payments.
Data on the number of payments made between November 2017 and March 2018 is not held centrally. However, the following table shows the total payments made in each category between November 2017 and March 2018.
Regular payment £10,774,736
Lump sum payment £2,634,105
Discretionary £1,292,921
The following table shows number of payments and the total payments made in each category between April and July 2018.
Regular payment 9,701 payments £11,706,192
Lump sum payment 283 payments £3,247,498
Discretionary payment 2,352 payments £1,192,842
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any payments were made to families of those who were infected by contaminated blood since the settlement in 1990, and the opening of the present inquiry into contaminated blood; and if such payments were made, what years they took place; how many payments were made; and what was the total amount paid.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The information requested on payments made between 1990 and the start of the Infected Blood Inquiry in 2017 is not held centrally.
Since 2017, support for those affected has been provided through four national infected blood support schemes. In England, the England Infected Blood Support Scheme is operated by the NHS Business Services Authority. Prior to the current scheme, support was provided by five independently operated schemes. These provided a range of lump sums, regular payments and smaller one-off payments to meet the immediate needs of individuals infected with hepatitis C or HIV, those who were co-infected and their families.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, since the inquiry into contaminated blood opened in July 2018, how many payments have been awarded to the families affected; and how many families have received payment.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Since July 2018, the England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS) has provided 154,380 lump sum, regular and discretionary one-off payments to beneficiaries. The EIBSS does not hold information on whether individual beneficiaries are members of the same family.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have identified any correlation between the number of deaths of care home residents and the number of care home (1) staff, and (2) residents, who decide not to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
Answered by Lord Bethell
No such correlation has been identified. Public Health England is investigating outbreaks in care homes which have occurred since the start of the vaccination programme to inform our understanding of the impact of vaccination in social care settings. Studying the relationship between numbers or percentage of staff or residents vaccinated and deaths from COVID-19 will be challenging as the number of deaths are falling as a result of falling COVID-19 infections in the general population.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the shelf life of Healthy Start vitamins; and what steps they take to ensure that such vitamins are delivered within at least three months of expiry.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The shelf-life of Healthy Start Vitamins tablets for women is 24 months and the shelf-life of Healthy Start Vitamins drops for children is 15 months. The Service Level Agreement under which Healthy Start Vitamins are supplied to local areas ensures that stocks with sufficient shelf-life should be dispatched and this should be a minimum of three months.