Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 Cabinet colleagues on whether the Government would a) reimpose restrictions on the hospitality sector and (b) reinstate job retention schemes in the event of a further covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We have regular discussions with other Government departments on a range of issues related to controlling the spread of the virus. The current targeted and temporary measures will slow the entry and spread of the Omicron variant of concern and will be reviewed. This will protect the National Health Service from being overwhelmed. More economic and social restrictions would only be considered as a last resort, which includes restrictions on the hospitality sector.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will undertake a new public information campaign on the difference between lateral flow tests and PCR tests for covid-19 and self-isolation requirements.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We have no plans to do so. Those who receive a positive polymerase chain reaction or assisted lateral flow device (LFD) test result or who self-report a positive LFD test receive specific advice on their self-isolation requirements.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to make access to telemedical abortions a permanent part of abortion care.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We are considering all evidence submitted to the Government’s public consultation on whether to make permanent the temporary measure allowing for home use of both pills for early medical abortion. We will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 additional financial support for trainee nurses and paramedics to tackle staff shortages and alleviate the burden on the NHS.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department has no such current plans. Since September 2020, the Department has made available a new, non-repayable, training grant of at least £5,000 per academic year for eligible nursing and paramedicine students through the NHS Learning Support Fund (NHS LSF). In addition, the NHS LSF provides for an additional parental support allowance of £2,000 per academic year to help eligible students with childcare costs. NHS LSF funding is a supplementary source of financial support for eligible students in addition to maintenance and tuition fee loans provided by the Student Loans Company.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will require the wearing of face coverings on public transport in response to the increasing number of cases of covid-19, hospitalisations and deaths.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The ‘COVID-19 Response: Autumn and Winter Plan 2021’ sets out that if the data suggests the National Health Service is likely to come under unsustainable pressure, the Government will implement its prepared ‘Plan B’ for England. This would introduce measures to control transmission of the virus, such as requiring people to wear face coverings in some settings. The exact settings will be announced if and when Plan B is implemented.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 for the implications of his policies of the findings of the Level Up and Stop the Devastation Report from Brain Tumour Research on creating a dedicated levelling up brain tumour research fund.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department agrees further brain tumour research is vital for improving the treatment and outcome for these patients. In 2018, we announced £40 million over five years for the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission via the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). To encourage applications for this research, the NIHR is supporting the research community in submitting fundable proposals. The NIHR also continues to encourage brain tumour research applications. We therefore have no plans for a dedicated fund.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 tackle the spread of misinformation on GP surgeries refusing to see patients.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
General practice has remained open throughout the pandemic, offering face to face appointments in addition to telephone and online consultations.
On 14 October we announced a plan for improving access for patients and supporting general practice. NHS England and NHS Improvement will work with professional bodies and patient groups to develop communications tools to help patients understand how they can access the care they need in general practice.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 reduce pressure on respite care for people with terminal illnesses.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Local authorities have a statutory duty to assess the eligible social care needs of the local population and arrange respite care where necessary, including for people with terminal illnesses. We have supported councils to maintain services with access to over £1 billion of additional funding for social care in 2021-22, including for respite care for people with a terminal illness where required. Since the start of the pandemic we have also an additional £6 billion directly to councils to support them with the impacts of COVID-19 related spending pressures, including on social care services such as respite care.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 there is an adequate number of GPs to meet current demand.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have invested £270 million since November 2020 to expand capacity in general practice, in addition to £1.5 billion until 2023/24 and £250 million via the Winter Access Fund. The non-recurring revenue funding through the Winter Access Fund is ringfenced to protect and expand capacity in general practice, until March 2022.
We have committed increasing and diversifying the workforce and through our general practitioner (GP) recruitment and retention schemes, alongside recruiting an additional 26,000 primary care staff by embedding multidisciplinary teams.
More than 3,793 doctors accepted a place on GP training in 2020 against a target of 3,500 and we remain committed to increasing the number of training places to 4,000 in 2021/22.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to provide additional support to GP surgeries whose staff are under extreme pressure due to a lack of staff.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have invested £270 million since November 2020 to expand capacity in general practice, in addition to £1.5 billion until 2023/24 and £250 million via the Winter Access Fund. The non-recurring revenue funding through the Winter Access Fund is ringfenced to protect and expand capacity in general practice, until March 2022.
We have committed increasing and diversifying the workforce and through our general practitioner (GP) recruitment and retention schemes, alongside recruiting an additional 26,000 primary care staff by embedding multidisciplinary teams.
More than 3,793 doctors accepted a place on GP training in 2020 against a target of 3,500 and we remain committed to increasing the number of training places to 4,000 in 2021/22.