Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 help patients with ADHD access necessary medication.
Answered by Will Quince
We are aware of supply issues affecting medicines used for the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We have issued communications, in the form of a National Patient Safety Alert, to the National Health Service to advise healthcare professionals on management of patients during this time. We continue to work closely with manufacturers to resolve the issues as soon as possible and to ensure patients have continuous access to ADHD medicines in the United Kingdom. We anticipate that the supply disruption will resolve at various dates between October and December 2023.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 offer both flu and covid-19 vaccines to people aged 50 to 64 in winter 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) guides the approach to the immunisation programmes in England. For both the COVID-19 and flu vaccination programmes, the JCVI have advised a targeted approach to protect the most vulnerable from severe disease (hospitalisation and death) including older individuals and individuals with specified existing clinical conditions and the Government accepted that advice. The current COVID-19 and flu vaccination programmes started in England on 11 September 2023.
Following advice from the JCVI, the following groups are eligible for vaccination in the 2023/24 flu vaccination programme:
- those aged 65 years old and over;
- those aged six months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups;
- pregnant women;
- all children aged two or three years old on 31 August 2023;
- eligible school aged children (Reception to Year 11);
- those in long-stay residential care homes;
- carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person;
- close contacts of immunocompromised individuals; and
- frontline health and social care workers.
On 8 August 2023, the Government accepted advice from the JCVI on who should be offered a COVID-19 vaccine in the autumn 2023 booster programme. The eligible groups are:
- residents and staff in a care home for older adults;
- all adults aged 65 years and over;
- persons aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group;
- frontline health and social care workers;
- persons aged 12 to 64 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression; and
- persons aged 16 to 64 years who are carers.
Currently therefore, those aged 50 to 64 years old are not, based on age alone, eligible for COVID-19 vaccination or free flu vaccination in the current vaccination programmes. However, if individuals meet any of the eligibility criteria for flu and/or COVID-19 vaccination set out above, they will be able to receive vaccination(s). The JCVI will continue to review evidence and will provide further advice regarding future vaccination programmes in due course.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to help reduce waiting times for fertility treatments.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Funding decisions for local health services in England are made by integrated care boards, based on the clinical needs of their populations. The Government expects these organisations to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.
Diagnostic checks are a key part of fertility treatment pathways. Our national ambition is that 95% of all patients needing a diagnostic check receive it within six weeks by March 2025.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 ensure that off-label prescriptions of Ozempic Semaglutide for weight-loss from private healthcare providers do not create supply shortages for those prescribed Ozempic for diabetes.
Answered by Will Quince
We have issued guidance in the form of Medicine Supply Notifications and, on 18 July, issued a National Patient Safety Alert which made it clear that Ozempic, which is solely licensed to treat type 2 diabetes, should only be used for that purpose, and should not be routinely prescribed for weight loss.
All prescribers, whether employed privately or by the National Health Service, are expected to take account of appropriate national guidance. It is for the responsible clinician to work with their patient and decide on the course of treatment, with the provision of the most clinically appropriate care for the individual always being the primary consideration.
We have engaged with relevant regulators, and the General Pharmaceutical Council, General Medical Council, Health and Care Professions Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland have issued a joint statement stressing the importance of health and care professionals meeting regulatory standards.
We are continuing to work closely with manufacturers and others working in the supply chain to help ensure the continued supply of these medicines for United Kingdom patients, for example by asking suppliers to expedite deliveries. We have provided advice for healthcare professionals on how to manage patients requiring this medicine while there are shortages and are keeping this under review as the situation evolves. If any patient is concerned about their treatment, they should discuss this with their clinician at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 19 June 2023 to Question 188964, what his timeframe is for the piece of work with the profession and NHS England; whether the work includes (a) aims and (b) targets for increasing the availability of minor eye care services.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
We are currently at the scoping stage of the development of standard service specifications for enhanced services and have not yet set out a firm timetable for their completion. The aim of this work is to collate best practice to support commissioning by integrated care boards (ICBs), should they identify a need for such services in their areas and wish to commission them from primary eyecare providers.
ICBs remain responsible for eyecare service design and commissioning in their area.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 ensure an (a) adequate and (b) equitable supply of Sativex for people with multiple sclerosis to integrated care boards.
Answered by Will Quince
There are currently no reported supply issues concerning the licensed cannabis-based medicine Sativex. The Department has well-established processes to manage and mitigate medicine supply issues, working closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, Devolved Governments and others operating in the supply chain, to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when they do arise.
The decision on whether to prescribe Sativex must be taken by a specialist clinician on a case-by-case basis and funding of this medicine is subject to local National Health Service decisions.
On 6 September 2021, NHS England issued a reminder to NHS trusts and commissioners (now integrated care boards) of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance relating to Sativex and their responsibilities. Data from the NHS Business Services Authority indicates that dispensing of this drug in the community has almost doubled between September 21 (205 items) to March 2023 (402 items), according to the latest available data.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the Retention and Engagement in Care Task-and-Finish Group to report; and who the members of that Group are.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
As part of the Government’s HIV Action Plan, a retention and re-engagement in care task and finish group was established in 2023. This group will provide advice on increasing the number of people retained and re-engaged in care and receiving effective medical care. They will present their recommendations to the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group in due course, who will agree how the advice will be taken forward.
Members of the group includes UK Health Security Agency, NHS England, Local Government Association, HIV Clinical Reference Group, British HIV Association, British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, English HIV and Sexual Health Commissioners Group, Association of Directors of Public Health, BHA for Equality, National AIDS Trust and Terrence Higgins Trust.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide an assessment of progress against each of the individual UNAIDS targets (a) by age, (b) by ethnicity and (c) for (i) gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, (ii) heterosexual women, (iii) heterosexual men, (iv) people who acquired HIV through injecting drug use and (v) people who acquired HIV through vertical transmission.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
UK Health Security Agency undertakes the monitoring of progress against the UNAIDS targets and publishes these as part of the HIV Action Plan monitoring and evaluation framework. Information is not currently presented with breakdowns by demographic characteristics or probable route of HIV exposure. Some of this data will be available and published in future reports for the HIV Action Plan monitoring and evaluation framework.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 ensure equitable access to NHS Minor Eye Care Services across all Integrated Care Boards in England.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
In England, integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the planning and commissioning of services to meet local needs. This includes decisions on whether to commission locally enhanced services from primary eye care providers, such as minor eye conditions services.
To support ICBs we are currently planning a piece of work with the profession and NHS England to develop a standard set of service specifications for enhanced services, which will support ICB commissioning, should they identify a need for such services in their area.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the level of access to Dara-CyBorD in (a) England and (b) Scotland for people diagnosed with AL amyloidosis.
Answered by Will Quince
No specific assessment has been made. The availability of medicines on the National Health Service in Scotland is a matter for the devolved administration. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing guidance for the NHS in England on the use of daratumumab plus bortezomib, cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone (Dara-CyBorD) for the treatment of newly diagnosed systemic amyloid light-chain amyloidosis in adults. NICE’s draft recommendations published in December 2022 did not recommend use of Dara-CyBorD and are currently subject to an appeal lodged by the company and Myeloma UK.