Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Welsh Government, (b) NHS England and (c) people with B12 deficiency on removing the classification of Prescription Only Medicine from injectable vitamin B12 and making B12 injectables available over the counter at pharmacies.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Vitamin B12 is only available as an injection and therefore must be classified as prescription only under the regulations as suitable training needs to be given for its administration. The condition for which it is prescribed also means the product must be classified as a prescription only medicine and therefore no further assessment has been made of the potential merits of making these products available over the counter. Patients are prescribed vitamin B12 for pernicious anaemia and need medical input to diagnose, monitor their condition and treat it appropriately.
Formal discussions have therefore not been held with the Welsh Government or NHS England on the reclassification of vitamin B12. Officials have responded to patient enquiries to explain the rationale for the classification of this medicine as they have arisen.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 potential merits for those with B12 deficiency of removing the classification of Prescription Only Medicine from injectable vitamin B12 and making B12 injectables available over the counter at pharmacies.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Vitamin B12 is only available as an injection and therefore must be classified as prescription only under the regulations as suitable training needs to be given for its administration. The condition for which it is prescribed also means the product must be classified as a prescription only medicine and therefore no further assessment has been made of the potential merits of making these products available over the counter. Patients are prescribed vitamin B12 for pernicious anaemia and need medical input to diagnose, monitor their condition and treat it appropriately.
Formal discussions have therefore not been held with the Welsh Government or NHS England on the reclassification of vitamin B12. Officials have responded to patient enquiries to explain the rationale for the classification of this medicine as they have arisen.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 help enable the unhindered movement of medicinal drugs from EU countries into the UK after the end of the transition period.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Our priority is to ensure that patients continue to have access to the medicines they need. We continue to work closely with industry, the National Health Service and others in the supply chain to deliver the shared goal of continuity of safe patient care by mitigating any potential disruption to supply into the United Kingdom of medicines at the end of the transition period.
As set out in a letter from the Department to industry of 3 August, we are implementing a multi-layered approach, that involves asking suppliers of medicines and medical products to the UK from or via the European Union to get trader ready, reroute their supply chains away from any potential disruption and stockpile to a target level of six weeks on UK soil where this is possible. The letter is available at the following link:
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 effect of the incompatibility of older phones with the NHS covid-19 app on the effectiveness of that app.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Estimates using the latest data from Apple and Google show that 87% of iOS smartphone users and 93% of Android smartphone users in the United Kingdom can install a version of the operating system with the contact tracing technology the National Health Service app uses.
This means over 33.5 million people in England and Wales can download and use the NHS app.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that the NHS covid-19 app is compatible with all mobile phone software.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Estimates using the latest data from Apple and Google show that 87% of iOS smartphone users and 93% of Android smartphone users in the United Kingdom can install a version of the operating system with the contact tracing technology the National Health Service app uses.
This means over 33.5 million people in England and Wales can download and use the NHS app.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many individuals in (a) Wales and (b) England his Department will not have access to the NHS COVID-19 app due to (i) device incompatibility and (ii) lack of access to a device; and if he will publish the methodology used.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Estimates using the latest data from Apple and Google show that 87% of iOS smartphone users and 93% of Android smartphone users in the United Kingdom can install a version of the operating system with the contact tracing technology the National Health Service app uses.
This means over 33.5 million people in England and Wales can download and use the NHS app.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on preparations for the deployment of a covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Vaccine Taskforce is procuring vaccines for the whole of the United Kingdom, including Wales. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care meets weekly with counterparts in the devolved administrations for discussions of key COVID-19 issues across all four nations. The Government is working closely with the devolved administrations to ensure successful delivery across the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) access to medical cannabis for children and adults with rare and severe forms of epilepsy and (b) of Government financial support for vulnerable children with intractable epilepsy who are reliant on privately-paid for medical cannabis.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Guidelines published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions of unlicensed cannabis-based medicines for severe treatment resistant epilepsy and other conditions. We are working hard with the health system, industry and researchers to improve the knowledge base available. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng144
With regard to Government financial support for vulnerable children with intractable epilepsy who are reliant on privately-paid for medical cannabis, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Rt. hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead on 15 May 2020 to Question 43850.
No assessment has been made.