Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what examples of best practice within NHS England his Department holds in respect of the reduction of waiting lists for cardiac treatment by Clinical Commissioning Groups; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the gender imbalance in the take up of the HPV vaccine in schools between girls and boys.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was first offered to males in school Year 8 in the 2019/20 academic year. School-aged immunisation providers have been hosting educational activities, such as school assemblies, to educate boys about the benefits of the HPV programme.
NHS England’s Regional Public Health Commissioners work with providers and local authorities to identify any inequalities or variations in uptake and coverage and take appropriate action. Continued public and professional communication campaigns for HPV and other vaccinations are planned throughout the year.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
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 (a) resilience of abortion services and (b) timely access to care in the event that (i) there are future pressures on health services as a result of the covid-19 outbreak and (ii) permissions that allow for telemedical abortion care ended.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department is aware that there are a number of pressures on abortion services. We continue to work closely with the sector to ensure women are able to access abortion services.
We are developing a new Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy to improve reproductive health outcomes and wellbeing. The Strategy will include a focus on improving information and access to contraception, to support women to make informed choices about their reproductive health.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to make the permission allowing telemedical abortion services permanent.
Answered by Maggie Throup
There are no plans to make this measure permanent. The temporary approval which enabled home use of both pills for early medical abortion was in response to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the success of the vaccination and booster programme, face to face abortion services will return by 29 August 2022. A short-term extension of the temporary approval has been made to enable a safe and reliable return to these arrangements.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
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 (a) availability of a catch up programme for boys who miss out on receiving the HPV vaccine, (b) capacity in sexual health clinics to support the delivery of the HPV vaccine programme for gay and bisexual men and (c) levels of unmet need of eligible boys and men who have not received the HPV vaccine.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In 2020/21, 71% of males in year 8 received their first dose of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and 54.7% of males in year 9 received a second dose. Providers are running catch up programmes for those academic cohorts who may have missed HPV vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, boys can also receive their vaccination through the National Health Service commissioned School Aged Immunisation Service providers or from their general practitioner until the age of 25 years old.
HPV vaccinations are available in all sexual health trusts for men who have sex with men (MSM). Evidence suggests that well over 50% of MSM regularly attending sexual health clinics have received at least one HPV vaccination. Regional commissioners work with vaccine providers to review uptake numbers and respond to any issues with operational delivery.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support the Government providing to help tackle regional variations in delivery of the HPV vaccine programme in schools.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England and NHS Improvement’s regional health commissioning teams work with local stakeholders to monitor uptake data and commission human papillomavirus vaccines. In areas of low uptake, regional teams will host catch up clinics in schools and local venues and manage local call and recall processes.
Additional work is ongoing using the data and technological solutions created for the expanded flu and COVID-19 immunisation programmes to measure and record timely vaccination events, react to regional variations and tackle health inequalities.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is his assessment of the impact of the covid-19 (a) outbreak and (b) vaccine rollout on the delivery of HPV vaccines in schools for 2021-22.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Routine childhood immunisation programmes continued to be delivered in primary care during the early stages of the pandemic. However, the closure of schools from 23 March 2020 disrupted the delivery of all school-aged immunisation programmes, including human papillomavirus (HPV).
Providers have adopted a flexible and transformative delivery model to address this and ensure that those who are eligible can receive their vaccinations. This includes prioritisation of immunisations based on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice, digitalising consent processes and utilising a range of alternative community settings to deliver vaccines where appropriate. The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England are working with the Department for Education to ensure that schools facilitate the continuation of vaccinations and improve uptake rates.
Providers are currently focussed on delivering the flu vaccine in schools as well as the COVID-19 vaccine. The prioritisation of the flu vaccine is usual for this time of year and school providers will recommence work on routine vaccinations and those outstanding in the new year.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to progress the delivery of HPV vaccination, following the Minister's response to HC Deb, 25 March 2021, who stated that missed school aged vaccinations would be delivered no later than August 2021.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The closure of schools from 23 March 2020 interrupted the delivery of school-aged immunisation programmes, including human papillomavirus (HPV). NHS England and its commissioned school aged providers continue to implement the advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation regarding HPV vaccinations. The National Health Service is therefore prioritising the first dose of HPV vaccine for all those eligible whilst working to recover those school aged immunisations which have been previously missed. The Department and NHS England are working closely with the Department for Education to ensure that schools facilitate the continuation of vaccinations and improving uptake rates for school-aged vaccinations.
Providers are currently focussed on delivering the flu vaccine in schools, as is usual for this time of year, as well as the COVID-19 and expanded flu immunisation programme. School providers will recommence work on routine and outstanding vaccinations in the new year.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
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 for the risk of women turning to illegal online abortion medication at home if he remove the temporary approval given during the covid-19 outbreak to women and girls to take an early medical abortion following a telephone or e-consultation with a clinician.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Government’s public consultation on whether to make permanent the temporary measure allowing for home use of both pills for early medical abortion up to 10 weeks gestation for all eligible women has now closed. We are considering all evidence submitted, including relating to illegal online abortion websites and plan to publish our response later this year.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what inspection regime is planned of sites where patients sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983 are housed where they are not inspected by the Care Quality Commission.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Detentions for treatment under the Mental Health Act 1983 must take place in hospital and as such are inspected by the Care Quality Commission. Persons may exceptionally be subject to short-term holding powers elsewhere, for example in police stations, which are inspected by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.