Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when funding for the Integrated Health Care Hubs in North Staffordshire will be made available to the Integrated care board in North Staffordshire.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust is currently developing the business cases for the North Staffordshire Integrated Health Care Hubs, and is responsible for driving them through the usual assurance and approval processes. NHS England and the Department will consider these cases once received from the trust.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has taken steps to implement the recommendations of the report entitled Improving non-emergency patient transport services: Report of the non-emergency patient transport review published by the NHS in August 2021.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
NHS England has published updated Patient Transport Service (PTS) eligibility criteria, guidance on the universal offer of transport support for patients attending in-centre haemodialysis, and has shared numerous guidance documents with the system including on commissioning, contracting and core standards, minimum training standards, and national mobility categories.
A new national data collection has also been introduced and, allowing for a national and Integrated Care System view of PTS within the NHS, to understand the provider landscape and provide assurance on performance and spend.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the range of rates for transport expenses that can be claimed by patients attending in-centre haemodialysis.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Data is not held centrally on the range of rates for transport expenses that can be claimed by patients attending in-centre haemodialysis.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
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 align the separate national digital proof of covid-19 vaccination status systems of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland so that information on vaccine status can be shared throughout the UK, in particular for people who are registered with a GP in one nation and due to work received the covid-19 vaccination in a different nation.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We are continuing to work closely with the devolved administrations to ensure that a United Kingdom-wide approach is developed where possible. The adoption of a UK-wide COVID Pass letter has been agreed with the devolved administrations, which includes each nation’s health service logo. England and Wales launched the letter in early July, with Northern Ireland and Scotland to follow by late July.
Information for those vaccinated in England but registered with a general practitioner (GP) in Wales or Scotland is already in place. We are working with officials to ensure the cross-border data is in place for those vaccinated in Wales and Scotland but registered with a GP in England by late July. Work is underway to find a solution for cross border vaccinations with Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward the rollout of the covid-19 vaccine to (a) internet and phone engineers and (b) other key workers who need to enter residential premises to carry out their work.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the independent body made up of scientists and clinical experts who advise the Government on prioritisation of vaccines at a population level. For phase one, the JCVI has prioritised nine priority groups primarily based on age and clinical risk factors in order to meet the Government’s aim of continuing to reduce morbidity, mortality and to protect the National Health Service and social care system.
For phase two of the COVID 19 vaccination programme, the JCVI published its interim advice on 26 February, setting out that the most effective way to minimise hospitalisations and deaths is to continue to prioritise people by age, rather than by occupation. Age is assessed to be the strongest factor linked to mortality, morbidity and hospitalisations and because the speed of delivery is crucial as we provide more people with protection from COVID-19. If internet and phone engineers and other key workers who need to enter residential premises to carry out their work are captured in phase one due to age or clinical need, then they will be vaccinated accordingly. However, there are currently no plans to specifically vaccinate by occupation.