Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with representatives of Welsh companies that supply lateral flow tests on the long-term production of testing devices.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department has had no specific discussions.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussion he has had with companies in Wales on providing covid-19 lateral flow tests to meet the increase in demand.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department has had no specific discussions on this issue.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
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 dated 16 September 2021 from the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, reference GJ13377.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We replied to the hon. Member on 30 November 2021.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has provided guidance to primary care providers on the referral of gambling disorder cases into specialist care pathways.
Answered by Maggie Throup
NHS England has commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop a national clinical guideline on the treatment of problem gambling. This will focus on identification, diagnosis and management of gambling-related harms and will support clinicians, including primary care providers, in referring people experiencing gambling disorder to appropriate treatment and support. Publication of the guideline is expected in 2024.
The Department continues to support the National Health Service with the phased expansion of up to 15 specialist problem gambling clinics by 2023/24. Work continues to explore how best to use existing treatment models to reach those most in need of support.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether a clinically informed assessment of the effectiveness of the voluntary support system for gambling harm has been carried out.
Answered by Maggie Throup
A clinically informed assessment has not been carried out.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timeline is for establishing the remaining specialist gambling clinics as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The National Health Service has committed to opening 15 specialist problem gambling clinics by 2023/24. Four clinics are already in operation, in London, Leeds, Manchester and Sunderland. Work continues on the phased expansion, enabling the NHS to explore how best to use existing treatment models to reach those most in need of support.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
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 implications for his policies of the responses to his consultation on legislative changes to support the rollout of covid-19 vaccines in the UK; and when he plans to publish the outcome of that consultation.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The consultation on Changes to Human Medicine Regulations to support the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines received a huge number of responses, and we welcome the views of all individuals, organisations and stakeholders who participated.
We are now in the process of analysing those responses, considering any changes to the legislation we may wish to make, and will respond to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
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 risk of the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency being given temporary authorisation allowing patients the covid-19 vaccine before that vaccine undergoes the full licensing process.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
All vaccines will undergo a thorough assessment of quality, safety and efficacy before being licensed. The preferred route to enable deployment of a new vaccine for COVID-19 is through the usual marketing authorisation (product licensing) process. If a suitable COVID-19 vaccine candidate, with strong supporting evidence of safety, quality and efficacy, becomes available, we will seek to license that vaccine through the usual route. Until the end of December 2020, European Union legislation requires biotechnological medicines, which would include candidate COVID-19 vaccines, to be authorised via the European Medicines Agency, and a marketing authorisation granted by them would automatically be valid in the United Kingdom. From January 2021, the UK’s licensing authority Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will have new powers to license all medicines, including vaccines. Any temporary authorisation of the supply of an unlicensed vaccine would be by exception and the timing of this would depend on the public health need. Following vaccine deployment, safety will be proactively and continuously monitored.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the sale of ex-emergency service vehicles.
Answered by Philip Dunne
No such discussions have taken place between my Rt. hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.