Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Public Health England's guidance entitled, Personal protective equipment (PPE) – resource for care workers working in care homes during sustained COVID-19 transmission in England, for what reasons the advice was changed from wearing vinyl gloves to wearing nitrile, neoprene or latex when providing personal care and when exposure to body fluids or blood is likely; and what evidence base was used to inform that updated guidance.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Public Health England (PHE) guidance on personal protective equipment (PPE) was amended to state that vinyl gloves should not be worn if it is anticipated that there will be contact with bodily fluids or blood. This was informed by Health Protection Scotland’s Standard Infection Control Precautions Literature Review on PPE. We recognise that as this review was undertaken in clinical settings, the findings are not wholly applicable to adult social care settings. We are working closely with PHE and adult social care providers to amend and clarify the guidance.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the covid-19 testing facility located at Borough Hall in Bedford will reduce from seven to four days a week during a period in which the infection rate in the borough is increasing.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Demand for testing is increasing and as such some test sites will have reductions of testing capacity, so we can keep maximum capacity in highest risk areas. Allocation decisions are frequently and systematically reviewed to ensure we are using our testing where it can be most effective. We are working to develop more sophisticated approaches, based on the latest evidence to manage the prioritisation process to ensure that we are able to provide appropriate testing for both outbreak management and surveillance purposes.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the covid-19 testing facility located at Borough Hall in Bedford is reducing its service provision from seven to four days a week.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Demand for testing is increasing and as such some test sites will have reductions of testing capacity, so we can keep maximum capacity in highest risk areas. Allocation decisions are frequently and systematically reviewed to ensure we are using our testing where it can be most effective. We are working to develop more sophisticated approaches, based on the latest evidence to manage the prioritisation process to ensure that we are able to provide appropriate testing for both outbreak management and surveillance purposes.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional support the Government is providing to support the mental health of (a) frontline workers, (b) people from different Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and (c) young people in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Government recognised at the start of the pandemic the need for enhanced wellbeing support for National Health Service and social care staff and commissioned NHS England and NHS Improvement to develop a comprehensive emotional, psychological and practical support package for NHS staff. Wherever possible we have ensured the same offer is included in the support package that developed for the social care workforce.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are working closely with key stakeholders and people with lived experience to support information sharing to encourage timely access to NHS mental health services and improve people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds’ experiences of these services.
We are working to ensure that all children and young people who have or who develop mental ill health can access support if they need to and that schools and colleges, parents and carers can support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing over the coming weeks and months.
The Government has also provided £9.2 million of additional funding for mental health charities to support adults and children. This includes charities that offer support to BAME communities and charities like Young Minds.
The Government’s £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return programme will support school staff to respond to the emotional and mental health pressures some children and young people may be feeling.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to co-ordinate the Government's support for people's mental health and wellbeing in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We know that there is the potential for an increase in demand for mental health services. Ministers in the Department are engaging regularly with their counterparts across Whitehall on how best the Government can prevent and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health and wellbeing.
We are also working with the National Health Service, Public Health England and other key partners to gather evidence and assess the potential longer-term mental health impacts and plan for how to support mental health and wellbeing throughout the ‘recovery’ phase.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many drive through covid-19 tests have been carried out in (a) Bedfordshire and (b) England in each month since 23 March 2020; and how many of those tests had results generated within the 48-hour target.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We do not publish data by region. All information surrounding turnaround times are released weekly on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that schools can respond effectively to children and young people’s mental health needs when they return in September 2020.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Department for Education has published detailed plans for all children and young people to return to full-time education from September. The guidance highlights the particular need to focus on pastoral support and mental wellbeing as a central part of what schools provide, in order to re-engage them and rebuild social interaction with their friends and teachers. This will involve curriculum provision as well as extra-curricular and pastoral support, and that Department’s recently published relationships, sex and health education training module will support teachers with preparation to deliver content on mental health and wellbeing.
We are also implementing the core proposals in our response to the consultation ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision’ Green Paper including, where possible, adapting the support made available during the COVID-19 outbreak to the circumstances that schools and colleges and children and young people will face once the new academic year starts.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of non-EU nationals who cannot (a) leave the UK during the covid-19 outbreak and (b) afford access to NHS maternity treatment.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department does not collect or hold data on the number of non-European Union nationals who cannot leave the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Department does not collect or hold data on the number of non-EU nationals who have been charged for National Health Service maternity care but are unable to pay.