Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role the voluntary sector will play in the new HIV Action Plan; and what steps he will take to support that role.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
HIV is a priority for the Government, and we have commissioned a new HIV Action Plan to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. Integration of services and strengthening the delivery of HIV prevention and care will be key objectives of the plan, which we aim to publish in summer 2025.
The voluntary and community sector (VCS) has been a key partner in the development and implementation of the existing HIV Action Plan, and will continue to be a key partner in the new plan. The Terrence Higgins Trust, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and the National AIDS Trust have led engagement with the VCS and the wider community to develop recommendations for the new plan, including relating to culturally competent interventions. These were published on 25 November and will be considered in the development of the new HIV Action Plan.
In addition, as part of its HIV Prevention England programme, the Department will host three further engagement sessions with the VCS during February and March 2025, including patients with lived experience.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that the new HIV Action Plan includes culturally competent interventions.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
HIV is a priority for the Government, and we have commissioned a new HIV Action Plan to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. Integration of services and strengthening the delivery of HIV prevention and care will be key objectives of the plan, which we aim to publish in summer 2025.
The voluntary and community sector (VCS) has been a key partner in the development and implementation of the existing HIV Action Plan, and will continue to be a key partner in the new plan. The Terrence Higgins Trust, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and the National AIDS Trust have led engagement with the VCS and the wider community to develop recommendations for the new plan, including relating to culturally competent interventions. These were published on 25 November and will be considered in the development of the new HIV Action Plan.
In addition, as part of its HIV Prevention England programme, the Department will host three further engagement sessions with the VCS during February and March 2025, including patients with lived experience.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
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 stop young sudden cardiac deaths; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) increasing the availability of ECG testing for young people and (b) ensuring doctors are sufficiently trained to interpret ECGs in fit and active young people.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The UK National Screening Committee does not recommend offering screening for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in people under the age of 39 years old. Research showed that current tests are not accurate enough to use in young people without symptoms. Individuals with the condition may receive a negative test result, a false negative, giving them false reassurance.
Doctors are already trained to interpret electrocardiograms in fit and active young people. To stop young SCDs, the consensus is to focus on rapid identification and care of people who are likely to be at risk of SCD, due to a family link or because they have had symptoms, and to train people to carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation and to use defibrillators.
NHS England has published guidance for inherited cardiac conditions, which requires services to investigate patients with previously undiagnosed cardiac disease, suggestive symptoms, or from families with sudden unexplained deaths. Where a genetic variation is identified, cascade testing is offered to relatives based on risk.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people who require enzyme replacement therapy receive that medication in a timely manner.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We are aware of the supply issues with the three enzyme replacement therapies, Creon 10,000 gastro-resistant capsules, Creon 25,000 gastro-resistant capsules, and Nutrizym 22 capsules. These are due to manufacturing and active pharmaceutical ingredient constraints. The Department will be issuing updated guidance to healthcare professionals regarding treatment of patients while there is a disruption to the supply of these pancreatic enzyme replacement therapies. We are having regular conversations with the suppliers of these products to help drive the resolution of these issues as quickly as possible, for example by expediting orders and increasing forecasts. We are also working with specialist importers to source unlicensed imports from abroad.
Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, so they can advise and support their patients.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with pharmaceutical companies on ensuring adequate supplies of (a) enzyme replacement therapy and (b) other related medications.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We are aware of the supply issues with the three enzyme replacement therapies, Creon 10,000 gastro-resistant capsules, Creon 25,000 gastro-resistant capsules, and Nutrizym 22 capsules. These are due to manufacturing and active pharmaceutical ingredient constraints. The Department will be issuing updated guidance to healthcare professionals regarding treatment of patients while there is a disruption to the supply of these pancreatic enzyme replacement therapies. We are having regular conversations with the suppliers of these products to help drive the resolution of these issues as quickly as possible, for example by expediting orders and increasing forecasts. We are also working with specialist importers to source unlicensed imports from abroad.
Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, so they can advise and support their patients.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
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 adequacy of the availability of enzyme replacement therapy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We are aware of the supply issues with the three enzyme replacement therapies, Creon 10,000 gastro-resistant capsules, Creon 25,000 gastro-resistant capsules, and Nutrizym 22 capsules. These are due to manufacturing and active pharmaceutical ingredient constraints. The Department will be issuing updated guidance to healthcare professionals regarding treatment of patients while there is a disruption to the supply of these pancreatic enzyme replacement therapies. We are having regular conversations with the suppliers of these products to help drive the resolution of these issues as quickly as possible, for example by expediting orders and increasing forecasts. We are also working with specialist importers to source unlicensed imports from abroad.
Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, so they can advise and support their patients.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of equalising dentistry training requirements between the private sector and NHS on (a) NHS budgets and (b) the NHS dentistry workforce.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government’s priority is to ensure that all dentists practising in the United Kingdom are suitably qualified. The General Dental Council (GDC) is responsible for regulating dentistry qualifications and dental professionals within the UK dental register. Only dentists and dental care professionals registered with the GDC can legally practise dentistry in the UK, which applies to both National Health Service and private dentists.
In order to deliver NHS dentistry services, dentists must also be included on the Dental Performers List (DPL) managed by NHS England. To be included on the DPL, dentists must complete post-registration dental foundation training, or undertake a structured induction process managed by NHS England.
We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will address how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients, and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure that NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver NHS care.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of offering incentives to dentists to deliver NHS dentistry.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
We invest more than £3 billion each year to deliver National Health Service dentistry, and we have already introduced reforms designed to incentivise practices to deliver more dental care. These include increasing the amount of money that practices receive for high-need patients and allowing dentists to carry out more than their usual contracted NHS work. This has had the effect of more patients being seen, and a 23% increase in NHS activity in the past year.
We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will be published shortly and will address how we will continue to improve access, particularly for new patients, and how we will make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver NHS care.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential implications for management of donor information of commercial direct-to-consumer genetic testing.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government asked the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in 2021 to undertake a review and public engagement about priorities for modernising the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. HFEA published its report on 14 November 2023, which is available at the following link:
HFEA’s report notes the rapidly developing field of genetic testing, including direct to consumer testing, and includes proposals about access to donor information. The Government is considering the issues raised in the report and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to partner with (a) media outlets and (b) influencers to promote information on HIV and safe sex practices within the black community.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
HIV Prevention England (HPE) is the national HIV prevention programme for England and is funded at £3.5 million over three years by the Department, as part of the Government’s HIV Action Plan.
The programme aims to support communities who are disproportionately affected by HIV, in particular gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men and Black African heterosexual men and women. The Department has appointed Terrence Higgins Trust, a national charity that provides services related to sexual heath and HIV, to deliver the programme from 2021 to 2024. HPE delivers a nationally co-ordinated programme of HIV prevention work, including public campaigns such as National HIV Testing Week, that is designed to complement locally commissioned prevention activities in areas of high HIV prevalence. HPE also aims to improve knowledge and understating of HIV transmission and reduce stigma within affected communities.
HPE works with a wide range of models and their network of influencers and develops its strategies based on comprehensive data, audience insight and knowledge from local partners within England, which ensure a wide range of patient’s voices and experiences are represented including those within the black community. Campaigns are promoted using a multi-channel approach including specialist channels relevant to the audiences and targeting via digital platforms and social media.