Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet with charities supporting immunocompromised and immunosuppressed groups to discuss what the Government will do to support them to live safely with covid-19.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We have regular meeting with charities representing and supporting patients in immunocompromised and immunosuppressed groups. The Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Jenny Harries, is the clinical lead for programmes supporting these patients and has met with charities at stakeholder engagement sessions.
On 4 April 2022, updated guidance was issued for those whose immune system means they are at higher risk of serious illness if they become infected with COVID-19, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will carry out an impact assessment of the Government's Living Safely with Covid strategy on any potential risk posed by that strategy to people who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressed.
Answered by Maggie Throup
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he intends to issue specific guidance for people who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressed on how to manage their risk to covid-19 in the Living Safely with Covid strategy.
Answered by Maggie Throup
On 4 April 2022, updated guidance for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk of serious illness if they become infected with COVID-19 was published at the following link:
Immunocompromised individuals who are eligible to receive COVID-19 treatments will receive a letter from NHS England offering advice should they become symptomatic, which is available at the following link:
The letter also includes information on accessing free lateral flow device tests and should they test positive, how to contact a Covid Medicines Delivery Unit in and out of general practitioner surgery hours.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will appoint a dedicated lead for immunocompromised and immunosuppressed people in Government in order to provide adequate communication and guidance on covid-19 to this group.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Jenny Harries, is the Senior Coordinating Clinical Lead for the programmes supporting these patients.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what impact assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of its Living Safely with Covid strategy on the Panoramic study.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Limited symptomatic testing will be available for a small number of at-risk groups. The forthcoming testing strategy will provide further detail on eligible groups, including for patients who may be eligible to enrol in the Panoramic study.
Asked by: Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
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 guidance on vitamin D consumption issued in the (a) UK, (b) US and (c) EU.
Answered by Maggie Throup
In 2016, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) published a review of the evidence on vitamin D and a wide range of health outcomes. This included consideration of the approach taken by the Institute of Medicine in the United States in setting dietary reference intakes for vitamin D. In 2016, the SACN and the European Food Safety Authority published a joint explanatory note outlining their dietary reference values (DRVs) for vitamin D.
The SACN noted that for assessments carried out in the United Kingdom, US and the European Union, serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) continues to be the best indicator of exposure to vitamin D from skin synthesis and dietary intake, and is used to derive DRVs for vitamin D. However, the evidence considered for setting a target concentration of 25(OH)D, as the basis for setting DRVs, is not the same.