Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people registered for the first time with an NHS dentist in 2023.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly.
In the 24 months to June 2023, 235,881 adults saw an NHS dentist in Lincolnshire integrated care board (ICB), equal to 38% of the adult population in the ICB. In the 24 months up to June 2022, 223,114 adults had seen an NHS dentist in the ICB, equal to 36% of the adult population.
NHS dentists are now required to update their NHS website profiles regularly, to ensure patients have access to up-to-date information on where they can access care.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to monitor levels of diptheria; and whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on testing people arriving in the UK for diptheria.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Diphtheria is a notifiable disease in the United Kingdom and so there is a requirement for clinicians to report cases on clinical suspicion of infection and the incidence of infection is monitored. Epidemiological data is available at the following link:
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve vaccination rates for measles for children in England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency is working closely with NHS England as well as the Department and wider health system partners at the national regional and local levels to improve uptake of the routine childhood immunisations and catch-up children who missed out. Increasing uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to achieve the World Health Organisation target of 95% uptake by the time children reach five years old is a key priority for the National Health Service and a clear commitment in its Long Term Plan.
The NHS is expanding the national invite reminders scheme, starting in the next few weeks, by inviting those aged between six and 11 years old who are missing a first or second MMR vaccination. During February 2024 to the end of March 2024 we will be inviting approximately one million children via their parents and guardians.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a dedicated cancer strategy to work in conjunction with the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 24 January 2023, the Government announced plans to publish the Major Conditions Strategy, which will focus on tackling the six major conditions groups: cancers, mental ill-health, cardiovascular disease including stroke and diabetes, dementia, chronic respiratory diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders, which together account for approximately 60% of ill-health and early death in England. Addressing cancer together with other major conditions will allow the Department and NHS England to focus on similarities in approach, ensuring care is better centred around the patient.
Following the call for evidence for a 10-year cancer plan in 2022, the Department received over 5,000 submissions. These findings will be fed into the development of the Major Conditions Strategy.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with NHS England on including arthritis in NHS health screening programmes.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the United Kingdom, national screening programmes are introduced based on the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which can be alerted to any new published peer reviewed evidence which suggests the case for a new screening programme via its annual call, which will open in July 2024.
More information about the UK NSC’s annual call is available at the following link:
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many unused covid-19 vaccine doses have been destroyed as of 18 December 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
From December 2020 to 20 December 2023, 732,060 doses have been disposed of by the UK Health Security Agency. Vaccines are disposed of due to product damage or product expiry.
NHS England holds some information in relation to disposal within the NHS England supply chain, equating to 21,000 doses. This data was reported in the NAO report February 2022 and is the last published data, which is available at the following link:
NHS England does not hold the data for disposal of vaccine once the vaccine has been delivered to vaccination sites.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with the UK Health Security Agency on the prevalence of mosquito-transmitted diseases in the UK.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Department meet regularly to discuss the UKHSA’s responsibilities, including on mosquito-transmitted diseases.
UKHSA and the Animal and Plant Health Agency routinely test British mosquitoes. UKHSA undertakes routine surveillance for mosquito-transmitted diseases and have tested samples from symptomatic people in the United Kingdom for evidence of likely threats since 2003. No indigenous cases have been seen although we regularly diagnose diseases in travellers. Any significant issues are included in UKHSA’s routine regular surveillance reports that are shared with the Department and across Government.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on the proposed generational ban on tobacco products.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.
This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products.
In development of this policy, we have, and will continue to, speak to a broad range of local and regional stakeholders. In line with the UK’s obligations under the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, we will not engage with stakeholders who have links to the tobacco industry when developing this policy.
A public consultation on the Smokefree Generation policies closed on 6 December and received contributions from a broad range of stakeholders. The Department of Health and Social Care will respond to the consultation in the coming weeks.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve survival rates for people with pancreatic cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is already delivering a range of interventions that are expected to increase early diagnosis and improve outcomes for those with pancreatic cancer, therefore no additional steps are being taken by the Department. NHS England’s work includes providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk to identify lesions before they develop into cancer and diagnose cancers sooner. This creates new pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms that could be linked to a range of cancer types, and increasing general practitioner direct access to diagnostic tests. NHS England have formed an expert group to consider a pathway for Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary cancers, including pancreatic cancer.
NHS England is also funding a new audit into pancreatic cancer to provide regular and timely evidence to cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, to increase the consistency of access to treatments and to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. In addition to this, the Getting it Right First-Time team in NHS England is undertaking a deep dive into pancreatic cancer, which will highlight actions NHS providers need to take to improve services, as well as gathering examples of good practice to share.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to encourage early screening for kidney disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no national population screening programme for kidney disease. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has previously examined the evidence on this condition, but did not recommend it, due to limited evidence.
However, the committee is always keen to see any high-quality new research. Suggestions for new topics for the UK NSC to look at as part of its annual call can be made from July 2024. More information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-annual-call-submitting-a-screening-proposal