Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage those who are eligible for COVID-19 booster vaccinations to take up their offer.
Answered by Lord Kamall
A national ‘BOOST your immunity this winter’ communications campaign was launched in mid-October. This sets out the importance of those eligible receiving their COVID-19 booster vaccination. We are sponsoring information articles in more than 600 newspaper titles, including multicultural newspapers in multiple languages. The COVID-19 vaccination leaflets produced by UK Health Security Agency have also been translated into 27 languages including Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Panjabi and Urdu. This is supported by Ministers, scientists and clinicians and community and faith leaders, alongside social media messaging.
There are more clinics in England delivering COVID-19 vaccines, including pharmacies, general practitioner (GP) practices and other community sites. Hundreds of walk-in sites are offering booster vaccines without an appointment. In addition, COVID-19 booster vaccinations have been delivered or scheduled in nine out of ten care homes in England. The National Booking Service has also been updated to allow those eligible for a booster vaccine to pre-book their appointment five months after their second dose.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of extra (1) doctors, and (2) nurses, that will be needed to clear backlogs in the NHS.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to tackle elective waiting lists. We are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to develop a plan for how that funding will be used, including workforce requirements.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the wearing of face masks in crowded locations, particularly indoors.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The wearing of face coverings in indoor settings is no longer a mandatory requirement in England. However, to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, the Government expects and recommends that everyone continues to wear face coverings in situations when they are likely to come into contact with people they do not normally meet, particularly in enclosed, crowded or poorly ventilated spaces.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to facilitate COVID-19 vaccinations for school age children.
Answered by Lord Kamall
All school-aged children between 12 to 15 years old are being offered their COVID-19 vaccination in their schools. The vaccination programme has been expanded to enable parents or guardians to choose whether their child receives their dose in school or at a vaccination centre. An increasing number of vaccination sites will begin offering appointments to 12 to 15 year olds in the coming weeks, including general practitioner practices and community pharmacies.
The National Health Service national booking service will provide an additional way for parents to book a COVID-19 vaccine for their child, alongside the existing schools programme. Parents and guardians will be given the option to book a vaccine appointment online or by calling 119. School Age Immunisation Service providers have alternative plans for those who are home schooled, in further education colleges, secure services or specialist mental health settings.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding they are providing to promote vaccinations across England against diseases in the current financial year; and how much they plan to spend on promoting vaccinations in the next three financial years.
Answered by Lord Kamall
In 2021/22 the Department forecasts it will spend approximately £6 million on the promotion of vaccinations. The forthcoming Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for future years.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the delivery of drugs (1) to the NHS, and (2) to patients, of the shortage of HGV drivers in the UK.
Answered by Lord Kamall
We are not currently seeing the shortage of Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) drivers in the United Kingdom impact the delivery of medicines nor are we seeing it impact the delivery of flu vaccinations. The majority of deliveries are still being made to schedule with on-time delivery performance currently at 98%. However, the issue has been raised by a growing number of suppliers, including National Health Service trusts.
The number of National Supply Disruption Responses relating to medicine shortages in August 2021 is similar to the level in March 2021. This has remained stable and is unrelated to HGV driver shortages. Whilst no formal assessment has been made, we are reviewing broad trends are obtained through the Department’s freight desk, through organisations such as NHS Supply Chain, industry and NHS trusts. The Government’s Express Freight Service remains available to support suppliers if their existing supply chains are disrupted.
The Government is aware of concerns and are taking steps to support businesses and stakeholders, including streamlining the process for new HGV drivers, increasing the number of driving tests, improved pay, working conditions and diversity.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what comparisons they have made of life expectancy in different communities in the UK; and what policy initiatives they have pursued as a result of such comparisons.
Answered by Lord Kamall
In England, life expectancy for men is 9.4 years lower for those in the most deprived areas compared to those in the least deprived areas. For women, it is 7.7 years lower for those in the most deprived areas compared to those in the least deprived areas.
To improve life expectancy and reduce disparities, we have undertaken prevention measures such as an updated obesity strategy, NHS Health Checks, a tobacco control plan and a diabetes prevention programme. The National Health Service also delivers national vaccination and screening programmes. Delivery of public health services is devolved to local authorities where resources are needed for their communities.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the delivery of flu vaccinations this winter of the shortage of HGV drivers in the UK.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Department works closely with manufacturers to assess the impact of any HGV driver shortages on the delivery of flu vaccinations. Due to the nature of seasonal flu vaccine manufacturing, short delays in production and delivery of the flu vaccine are common and factored into delivery timescales.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the availability of mental health care, following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Kamall
In March 2021, we published COVID-19 mental health and wellbeing recovery action plan: Our plan to prevent, mitigate and respond to the mental health impacts of the pandemic during 2021 to 2022, funded by an additional £500 million for 2021-22 to address waiting times for services. The plan aims to respond to the pandemic by specifically targeting groups which have been most impacted, including those with severe mental illness, young people and frontline staff. A copy of the plan is attached.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide vaccinations against COVID-19 during the winter 2021–22.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The National Health Service will be launching a booster programme to protect individuals who received vaccination in phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in priority groups one to nine.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advise that the booster vaccine dose is offered no earlier than six months after completion of the primary vaccine course and that the booster programme should as far as possible be deployed in the same order as during phase one. The first booster vaccine was administered on 16 September and the NHS plans to begin offering booster vaccines at scale to the most vulnerable from the week commencing 20 September 2021.