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 he plans to take into account the EU's Tobacco Products Directive when developing the next UK Government's Tobacco Control Plan.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A new Tobacco Control Plan for England will be published later this summer to outline the Government’s plans to achieve its ambition to be smokefree by 2030.
The Government has made the necessary legislative amendments to ensure robust tobacco control regulation continues throughout the United Kingdom after the 1 January 2021 and give effect to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Great Britain no longer has to comply with the European Union’s Tobacco Products Directive and, as part of the development of the Tobacco Control Plan for England, there will be opportunity to consider whether any regulatory changes are required to help people quit smoking and address the harms from tobacco. Any changes will be based on robust international evidence and be in the interests of public health.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2020 to Question 64346 on Cholesterol: Screening, when cholesterol checks will resume.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2020/21 the Quality and Outcomes Framework has continued to incentivise general practice to undertake cholesterol checks on individuals prescribed a statin and those with diabetes. There has not been any recommendation that general practice should not undertake a cholesterol check where it is clinically indicated.
The NHS Health Check prevention programme has resumed in many areas. Between July and September 2020, 41,525 people had a NHS Health Check, which includes a cholesterol test.
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 (a) processes, (b) public consultation exercises and (c) other procedures his Department plans to undertake in the production of its next Tobacco Control Plan.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to addressing the harms from smoking. The Department held a public consultation on its Smokefree 2030 ambition as part of the prevention green paper consultation which was published in July 2019. The Department, working with Public Health England and NHS England, will engage key stakeholders about potential proposals to include in the new plan, and this will include consideration of legislative proposals. The new tobacco control plan is expected in July 2021. No timetable has been set for any legislative changes.
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 he plans to bring forward legislative proposals (a) to implement the Government's commitment to make England smokefree by 2030 and (b) as part of the Government's next Tobacco Control Plan; and what the timetable will be for bringing forward any such legislative proposals.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to addressing the harms from smoking. The Department held a public consultation on its Smokefree 2030 ambition as part of the prevention green paper consultation which was published in July 2019. The Department, working with Public Health England and NHS England, will engage key stakeholders about potential proposals to include in the new plan, and this will include consideration of legislative proposals. The new tobacco control plan is expected in July 2021. No timetable has been set for any legislative changes.
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 recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of provision of mental health support for 16 to 18 year olds.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We are committed to improving the mental health provision for 16-18-year olds. We are implementing the three core proposals in the green paper on children and young people’s mental health, which will incentivise all schools and colleges to identify and train a senior lead for mental health; create new school and college-based mental health support teams supervised by trained children and young people’s mental health staff; and pilot a four-week waiting time for access to specialist children and young people’s mental health services.
Under the NHS Long Term Plan, at least an additional 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 years old will be able to access support via National Health Service-funded mental health services and school or college-based mental health support teams by 2023/24 and we will extend current service models to create a comprehensive offer for 0-25 year olds that reaches across mental health services for children, young people and adults.
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 additional support his Department is providing to people being treated with chemotherapy during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance NG161 was published in April 2020 to support clinicians in the management of patients requiring systemic treatment through the pandemic. The guidance, developed by clinicians, provides advice on alternative chemotherapy treatment approaches to reduce the risk of infection to patients and avoid unnecessary admissions and visits to hospital where possible.
On 3 August 2020, NHS England and NHS Improvement announced that ‘COVID-19 friendly’ cancer treatments that are safe for patients during the pandemic will be expanded and extended through a £160 million initiative. The funding will pay for drugs that treat patients without having such a big impact on their immune system or offer other benefits such as fewer hospital visits.
Thousands of patients have already benefitted from 50 treatments approved for use as ‘swaps’ for existing drugs and more have become available thanks to a series of deals struck between the National Health Service and pharmaceutical companies.
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 additional support his Department is providing to transplant recipients during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Solid organ transplant recipients were identified at the start of the pandemic as one of the groups of patients at highest clinical risk of COVID-19 and therefore were included in the agreed list of clinically extremely vulnerable patients. Throughout the pandemic, healthcare providers were asked to ensure care for these patients is personalised and takes account of individual circumstances such as COVID-19 risk and the impact of shielding on health and wellbeing. Such patients were able to access government support, including delivery of food and medicines and clinical advice through various routes.
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 additional support his Department is providing to people living with asthma during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Through its communication to general practitioner practices and commissioners on 31 July 2020, NHS England and NHS Improvement asked general practice to restore activity to usual levels where clinically appropriate and reach out proactively to clinically vulnerable patients and those whose care may have been delayed.
The new Respiratory Clinical Networks bring together leaders from the National Health Service and other health and social care organisations, to transform the diagnosis, treatment and care for respiratory patients in their local area, focusing on reducing inequalities.
Public Health England continue to provide advice for people with long term health conditions during COVID-19.
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 data his Department holds on detection and diagnosis rates for atrial fibrillation in England (a) from January to May 2019 and (b) from January to May 2020 inclusive; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information is not available in the format requested. The Quality Outcomes Framework reports annually for atrial fibrillation and it is not possible to break down into monthly data.
A register of patients with atrial fibrillation is used to monitor cumulative recorded prevalence year-on-year. Recorded prevalence of atrial fibrillation increased from 1.98% in 2018/19 to 2.05% in 2019/20. Data for 2020/21 will be published during 2021.