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, how many attributable deaths there were from fine particulate matter, PM2.5, were there in (a) East Midlands, (b) East of England, (c) Greater London, (d) North East, (e) North West, (f) South East, (g) South West, (h) West Midlands, (i) Yorkshire and the Humber, and (j) England in each year since 2018 using COMEAP's 2022 methodology.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The information is not held in the format requested. The following table shows the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution, measured as fine particulate matter, PM2.5 for 2018 to 2021, in each region as a percentage.
Region | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
East Midlands | 6.7 | 7.4 | 5.2 | 5.6 |
East of England | 7.6 | 7.6 | 5.8 | 5.5 |
Greater London | 9.0 | 8.8 | 7.1 | 6.5 |
North East | 5.2 | 4.9 | 4.0 | 4.8 |
North West | 5.9 | 6.2 | 5.0 | 5.3 |
South East | 7.7 | 7.2 | 6.0 | 5.4 |
South West | 6.1 | 5.9 | 5.2 | 5.1 |
West Midlands | 6.8 | 7.3 | 5.4 | 5.5 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 6.1 | 6.6 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
England | 7.1 | 7.1 | 5.6 | 5.5 |
Note:
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, if he will apply the latest 2022 update to The Building Regulations on Ventilation for New Buildings to existing Healthcare Buildings.
Answered by Will Quince
There are no plans to apply the 2022 update to the Building Regulations on Ventilation for New Buildings to existing Healthcare Buildings.
Guidance on ventilation and air filtration systems in National Health Service facilities is provided in Health Technical Memorandum 03-01: Specialised ventilation for healthcare premises. As with all guidance provided on the NHS estate, it is reviewed on an ongoing basis and will be updated to reflect changes in approach to relevant areas.
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 he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings in the article by Guest, J. et.al entitled Modelling the annual NHS costs and outcomes attributable to healthcare-associated infections in England, published in the British medical journal on 22 January 2020, on (a) the cost to the NHS, (b) the number of patient deaths, (c) the number of occupied hospital bed days and (d) days of absenteeism by health and care professionals due to hospital-acquired infections.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government is aware of the findings in the article by Guest, J. et al. 'Modelling the annual NHS costs and outcomes attributable to healthcare-associated infections in England'. Estimates of the cost to the National Health Service, the number of patient deaths, the number of occupied hospital bed days and days of absenteeism by health and care professionals due to healthcare-associated infections are welcome and inform the Government’s assessment of the cost-effectiveness of policy options.
The UK Health Security Agency monitors the numbers of certain infections that occur in healthcare settings through routine surveillance programmes and advises on how to prevent and control infection in establishments such as hospitals, care homes and schools.
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 he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the paper Mental health consequences of urban air pollution: prospective population-based longitudinal survey.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. However, the developing evidence on this issue is kept under review and this paper will be taken into account as part of the overall evidence base. There is ongoing collaborative work across Government to address the health impacts of 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, with reference to the paper Associations between air pollution and multimorbidity in the UK Biobank: A cross-sectional study, if he will make an assessment of the consequences for his policies of links between mental health and air pollution.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. However, the developing evidence on this issue is kept under review and this paper will be taken into account as part of the overall evidence base.
The UK Health Security Agency’s Cleaner Air Programme is working to increase and improve awareness and understanding of the evidence base on the health impacts of air pollution in the United Kingdom, including its links with multimorbidity and mental health. There is ongoing collaborative work across Government to address these health impacts.
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 he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the paper Associations between air pollution and multimorbidity in the UK Biobank: A cross-sectional study.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. However, the developing evidence on this issue is kept under review and this paper will be taken into account as part of the overall evidence base.
The UK Health Security Agency’s Cleaner Air Programme is working to increase and improve awareness and understanding of the evidence base on the health impacts of air pollution in the United Kingdom, including its links with multimorbidity and mental health. There is ongoing collaborative work across Government to address these health impacts.
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 paper Associations between air pollution and multimorbidity in the UK Biobank: A cross-sectional study, if he will make an estimate of the costs of air pollution to the (a) NHS and (b) UK.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
In 2018, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published an estimation of the potential health burden and costs to the National Health Service and social care system arising due to diseases related Particulate Matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
Between 2017 and 2025, the total cost to the NHS and Social Care from air pollution in England is estimated to be £1.60 billion for PM2.5 and NO2 combined (£1.54 billion for PM2.5 and £60.81 million for NO2), where there is robust evidence for an association between exposure and disease; where the evidence is less robust the cost is £2.81 billion for PM2.5 and £2.75 billion for NO2.
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 paper Association of Air Pollution Exposure With Psychotic Experiences During Adolescence, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the links between air pollution and psychotic experiences in adolescents in England and Wales.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. However, the developing evidence on this issue is kept under review and this paper will be taken into account as part of the overall evidence base. There is ongoing collaborative work across Government to address the health impacts of 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, when he plans to respond to the the letter of 8 December 2022 from All-Party Parliamentary Groups on investment in the specialist workforce for children and young people.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The letter was responded to by Minister Coutinho of the Department for Education on 23rd January 2023, as the relevant minister.
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 he plans to respond to the letter of 2 November2022 from the SEND in The Specialists Coalition on the specialist workforce for children and young people.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This letter was responded to by Minister Claire Coutinho of Department for Education as the relevant Minister on the 6 February 2023.