Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish further details on when unpaid and informal carers will receive the covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the vital role that unpaid carers play and the Government is developing bespoke guidance for this group, set out in a Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) which has been developed in close cooperation with carers organisations and local authorities. This guidance will be published in due course. The SOP will provide guidance on the process to support the identification and vaccination of adult unpaid carers as part of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. It is intended to support local authorities, the vaccination programme, carers organisations and unpaid carers themselves to understand the actions they should take to ensure equitable access to and uptake of vaccination by eligible unpaid carers as per the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 improve lung transplantation for people with cystic fibrosis during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and NHS Improvement, NHS Blood and Transplant and transplant teams have been working closely together throughout the pandemic to ensure that donation and transplant activity can safely continue for very urgent lifesaving transplants. Transplant teams have kept in close contact with patients on the lung transplant waiting list to discuss transplant options and ensure the right decisions are taken based on the patient’s clinical condition.
The national position is reviewed weekly and is highly co-ordinated to ensure all capacity for transplantation is optimised. This is despite the major impact on hospital capacity due to COVID-19. A patient’s position on the lung transplant waiting list is determined by their overall clinical status and if a lung transplant becomes available, the highest priority patient will be selected.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Post Implementation Review of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, if he will make it his policy to accept submissions directly from scientists and experts in the harm reduction sphere, in order to give due weight to the evidence from participants.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government launched a consultation on the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 as part of our statutory obligation to conduct post implementation reviews on the legislation. It is a public consultation and open to any individual or any organisation wishing to submit a response.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment the Government has made of trends in the consumption of (a) vapes and e-cigarettes, (b) heated tobacco products, (c) tobacco and nicotine and (d) cigarettes.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Office for National Statistics’ ‘Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2019’ shows that smoking prevalence in England has decreased from 17.8% in 2014 to 13.9% in 2019. The percentage of adults using e-cigarettes in England has increased from 3.7% in 2014 to 5.5% in 2019. Of those who use e-cigarettes daily, 42% also smoke cigarettes. Among smokers and vapers, greater use of e-cigarettes is associated with lower use of smoked tobacco.
Public Health England closely monitors trends in tobacco and nicotine products and will publish its next Vaping in England report later this month. A range of data sources are used including official and academic surveys. Use of heated tobacco products has consistently remained at rates of less than 1% of the adult population in England.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to monitor the effectiveness of different covid-19 vaccines on different age groups.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Public Health England is leading on the surveillance of the COVID-19 vaccine programme and has developed a surveillance strategy to monitor the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against mortality, hospitalisations, confirmed infections, markers of infectiousness and the impact on transmission.
Whilst phase three clinical trials provided evidence of vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease, further evidence is needed on how effectiveness varies by subgroup, including by age. This will be done using advanced surveillance techniques once the earliest eligible cohorts have been offered a full course of vaccination.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when mass community testing for covid-19 will begin in Nottinghamshire following the 20,000 lateral flow tests received by Nottinghamshire County Council.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Test and Trace will work with each local authority on an expanded community testing plan appropriate for them. This support will be rolled out during national lockdown restrictions, being kept closely under review. It will be for local authorities in partnership with their directors of public health and with the support of NHS Test and Trace to design a programme that maximises accessibility to, and take-up of, asymptomatic testing in their area. Support for the programme will be provided until at least the end of March 2021.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is undertaking research to determine the extent to which smokers may experience more serious effects of covid-19 compared to non-smokers; and what information his Department holds on that matter.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
At the request of Public Health England, an independent and regularly updated rapid review of the international evidence on smoking and COVID-19 has been made and is available at the following link:
https://www.qeios.com/read/UJR2AW.11
The evidence on smoking and COVID-19 is mixed and developing. We do not yet have a clear picture on the impact of smoking on COVID-19 risks. There is strong evidence that smoking tobacco is generally associated with an increased risk of developing respiratory viral infections.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 health benefits of ensuring that smokers have (a) information about and (b) access to a wide range of reduced risk smoking-related products; and whether the Government's next Tobacco control Plan plans to take steps to ensure that such (i) information and (b) access is more readily available.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government continues to review the evidence of reduced risk products such as e-cigarettes, including their harms and usefulness as an aid to stop smoking. Although not risk free, current evidence suggests e-cigarettes are far less harmful to health than smoking and help people quit. There are already 2.5 million e-cigarettes users in England, which suggests that these products are widely accessible.
Public Health England, through their stop smoking campaigns, provides information, advice and support on using e-cigarettes to help smokers quit. Some local stop smoking services offer vouchers which can be exchanged for e-cigarettes to help smokers to switch.
The Government will consider in its next Tobacco Control Plan for England what further steps are required to provide smokers with more information about and access to reduced risk smoking-related products, including an assessment of how far these diverse products reduce risk.