Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle failures by companies that are required to deliver covid-19 tests under the Government’s quarantine procedures to deliver those tests.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to bring forward proposals on the social care plan announced by the Prime Minister in July 2019; and whether he plans to bring forward a (a) White Paper or (b) Bill.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 2020 Spending Review, the Government is committed to the reform of the adult social care system and will bring forward proposals later this year, the form of which is to be confirmed.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, by what date he is planning for all domiciliary care staff in England to have been vaccinated; and how many of those staff have been vaccinated to date.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We offered a first vaccine to everyone in the first four priority groups, including domiciliary care staff by 15 February. We are working with NHS England to publish data on the vaccination of domiciliary care staff shortly.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, by what date he is planning for all care home staff in England to have been vaccinated; and how many of those staff have been vaccinated to date.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We offered the first dose of vaccine to everyone in the first four priority groups, including all staff in care homes for older adults by 15 February. Everyone will receive the second dose within 12 weeks of their first. The second dose completes the course and is important for longer term protection.
NHS England now publish weekly data on the vaccination of staff in older adult care homes, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
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 increase awareness of symptoms of (a) chronic fatigue syndrome and (b) long covid.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
No specific assessment has been made of increasing awareness of chronic fatigue syndrome.
On 15 November 2020, the National Health Service launched a new taskforce with patients, charities, researchers and clinicians to help manage the NHS approach to ‘long COVID’. The taskforce will produce information and support materials for patients and healthcare professionals to develop a wider understanding of the condition. The full announcement is available via the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/11/nhs-launches-40-long-covid-clinics-to-tackle-persistent-symptoms/
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
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 the report by Friends, Families and Travellers entitled Suicide Prevention in Gypsy and Traveller communities in England and its findings that (a) only five out of 79 local authority suicide prevention plans mention Gypsy and Traveller communities and (b) only two out of 79 local authority suicide prevention plans listed any action to address the high suicide rate in their local Gypsy and Traveller communities.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We have not made a formal assessment. We continue to explore ways of improving the quality and timeliness of suicide data to allow both national and local partners to continue to monitor rates, identify trends and develop effective prevention plans.
We know that there are certain groups that may be exposed to more risk factors for suicide, and we expect local agencies to work together to ensure that their plans are tailored to meet the needs of these groups. These groups include people from minority ethnic groups, such as Romany Gypsies or Irish Travellers.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that NHS trusts and integrated care systems, resuming services as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased, carry out their statutory duty to consult people with arthritis on those services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Guidance has been issued to the NHS on the process of starting to restore urgent non-COVID-19 services, as well as encouraging the public to access the care they need when they need it. The most urgent treatments should be brought back first, and this will be driven by local demands with infection prevention and control as a guiding principle. The approach is being locally tailored according to capacity and demand in different parts of the country, but the reset will be gradual. The guidance is available at the following link:
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled, Elective Surgery During COVID-19, published in June 2020 by the Royal College of Surgeons, what steps he plans to take to increase the level of the NHS workforce available for elective surgery.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Guidance has been issued to National Health Service providers and commissioning trusts on resetting non-COVID-19 services, including elective surgery. Decisions on how this is done, including apportionment of the workforce, will be taken at local level, based on local demand and local capacity. Infection control will be a guiding principle in the safe resumption of services.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, qualified staff who have previously left the NHS have been encouraged to return to the NHS to increase the available workforce. Additionally, an unprecedented deal with the independent sector will support the NHS in delivering elective surgery whilst maintaining capacity to deal with a potential second surge in COVID-19 cases.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to announce which at-risk groups will be eligible for the 2020 NHS flu vaccine.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The flu vaccination programme will be a critical part of preparing the United Kingdom for winter and as part of our planning should we see co-circulation of flu and COVID-19.
On 14 May we published the Annual Flu letter 2020/21 which is available at the following link:
This indicated the main groups who are eligible for free flu vaccination. Further details will be published on our plans for the flu season soon.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform the Mental Health Act 1989.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Luton South (Rachel Hopkins MP) on 14 July 2020 to Question 68461.