Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities data on D01 - Fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution (new method), if she will publish the annual number of deaths attributable to long term exposure to total concentrations of fine particulate matter for each year that data is available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The estimates for the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution, measured as PM2.5, are published every year. Data for 2022 will be published later this year. The fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution indicator represents the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 and older attributed to PM2.5.
Annual numbers of deaths attributable to particulate air pollution are not calculated each year. The published estimate for England for 2019 was 26,000 to 38,000 deaths for adults aged 30 and over. For the United Kingdom, the published estimate for 2019 was 29,000 to 43,000 deaths for adults aged 30 and over.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s policies of UK Parliament's publication entitled POSTbrief54 Indoor Air Quality, published on 26 September 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific policy assessment has been made. However, as set out in the Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report 2022 on air pollution, there is good evidence on the health risks associated with poor air quality, including indoor air. The Department continues to work collaboratively across government on both outdoor and indoor air quality.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidance on indoor air pollution in 2020. This was designed to raise awareness of the importance of good air quality in people's homes and advise on how to achieve this.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on implementing the 15 recommendations in the Chief Medical Officer's annual report 2022: Air Pollution published on 8 December 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government recognises that there is more to do to protect people and the environment from the effects of air pollution, including in some of the areas outlined in the Chief Medical Officer's Annual Report 2022. The Department of Health and Social Carecontinues to work collaboratively work across Government to address the impact of air pollution.
We are taking significant and wide-ranging action to drive improvements to air quality as set out in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Environmental Improvement Plan. The UK Health Security Agency’s Cleaner Air Programme also aims to help reduce people’s exposure to air pollution, tackle disparities in exposure and improve outcomes for all.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185749, what progress she has made on (a) increasing the evidence base, (b) supporting stakeholders and (c) improving awareness and understanding of indoor air quality in 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department of Health and Social Care collaborates across Government to help ensure a joined-up approach on Government actions concerning indoor air quality. It has worked with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to design new consolidated guidance on damp and mould aimed at private and social rented landlords, including quantification of the respiratory burden of disease in England from exposure to damp and mould in housing. The guidance is available at the following link:
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published the Health Effects of Climate Change report which provides evidence on the impact of climate change mitigation and adaptation policies on indoor environmental quality and health. UKHSA supports research and are co-funding and supervising PhD projects to develop evidence on the factors that affect personal exposure. The report is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/climate-change-health-effects-in-the-uk
The Department of Health and Social Care works closely with stakeholders and organisations to provide scientific input, using expert knowledge and experience on indoor air quality in relation to public health and to approve awareness.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of pay for care sector roles on the number of vacancies within that sector.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have made no recent assessment.
Vacancy rates are likely not the best measure of capacity, or lack of capacity, in the sector. Independent providers make the decision on whether to advertise vacancies based on their aspirations to grow their businesses and the expected churn of workers within the sector.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has taken recent steps with (a) Health Education England and (b) Royal Colleges to provide information to health professionals on treating people who are vulnerable to the health effects of air pollution.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence includes recommendations on advice health professionals can give to people who may be particularly affected by poor outdoor and indoor air quality. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng70
Standards for education and training of healthcare professionals are the responsibility of the independent statutory regulatory bodies. The Department engages regularly with health professional bodies, but it would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene in the design of standards of proficiency or the design of curricula. This is to respect the independence and expertise of regulators and universities in designing standards and curricula that ensure public safety.
The Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2022 focused on air pollution and includes an assessment of the evidence on health risks associated with poor air quality. The report is available at the following link:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2022-air-pollution
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 domestic wood burning on public health.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Air pollution has been highlighted as the largest environmental risk to public health in the United Kingdom. Burning combustion of wood accounted for 17% of fine particulate matter emissions in 2020.
The UK Health Security Agency has, as part of the Cleaner Air Programme, undertaken a systematic review of the epidemiological studies on the association between outdoor and indoor solid fuel exposure, including biomass and coal and respiratory diseases in children and adults. The evidence suggests that burning solid fuels such as coal and wood indoors could contribute to the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer in adults, but further work is needed to confirm this. There is less evidence for effects in children. Introducing measures to reduce solid fuel burning can improve air quality, leading to some reductions of adverse respiratory effects.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to publish the annual estimate of the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution in 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department plans to publish the annual estimate of the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution for 2022 for England in the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF) in early 2024 which can be found at the following link:
https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Oral Statement from the Secretary of State for the Home Department of 4 December 2023 on Legal Migration, Official Report, column 41, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to visas announced in that Statement on the number of vacancies in health and care roles.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, has committed to put estimates of the impact of these announcements in the House of Commons Library. This will be done in due course.
It is important to note vacancies are not necessarily a good measure of workforce capacity or of levels of need in social care. Vacancies include posts that are vacant in the short term due to recent or anticipated staff turnover and posts created by employers who want to expand and grow their businesses rather than only roles needed to meet statutory entitlements.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Oral Statement from the Secretary of State for the Home Department of 4 December 2023 on Legal Migration, Official Report, column 41, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the changes to visas announced in that Statement on the (a) mental health and (b) general well-being of workers in health and care roles.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the potential impact of the changes to visas announced in the Statement of 4 December 2023 on Legal Migration on the mental health and general well-being of workers in health and care roles.