Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on (a) communications, (b) advertising and (c) marketing in (i) the UK, (ii) England, (iii) Northern Ireland, (iv) Scotland and (v) Wales in each month from August 2020 to December 2020.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Department did not run any paid for communications, advertising or marketing activity centrally between August 2020 and December 2020.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any research has been carried out on the effect of passive exposure to exhaled e-cigarette vapour or cigarette smoke on the transmission of covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Department has not carried out any research in this area and is not aware of any external research at present. Being in close proximity to anyone with COVID-19 infection would carry a risk of passing on that infection regardless of whether they are smoking or vaping. Public Health England has published COVID-19 advice for smokers and vapers which recommends that vapers avoid exhaling clouds of vapour in the presence of others. This advice is available at the following link:
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with the Health and Safety Executive on gathering and retaining data during the covid-19 outbreak on health and safety breaches regarding pregnant women and new mothers.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The methods for collecting meaningful data on health and safety breaches regarding pregnant women and new mothers during the COVID-19 outbreak are complex and unlikely to result in a data set that can provide useful information.
The Department is working with the Health and Safety Executive, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives and health departments in the devolved nations on developing guidance on occupational health advice for pregnant women in the workplace. The Department plans to publish the guidance shortly.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance to employers to allow all pregnant women who pass (a) 20 weeks or (b) 28 weeks gestation to work from home or be suspended on full pay during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Department is working with the Health and Safety Executive, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives and health departments in the devolved administrations on developing guidance on occupational health advice for pregnant women in the workplace. The Department plans to publish the guidance shortly.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce and promote standard procedures and contracts to deter poor employment practices in the social care sector.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government does not have direct responsibility for pay or wider terms and conditions in adult social care in England.
The Government nonetheless maintains oversight of the social care system and we are committed to raising the profile of the social care sector. The Government expects local authorities to commission care at a rate that allows providers to employ the staff they need to deliver quality care.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will extend the maternity exemption certificate for dental care to new mothers who have not been able to access dental care during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill
There are no plans to extend the existing charges exemption for pregnant women and those who have given birth in the last 12 months due to the pandemic.
Urgent face to face dental care was available through the peak pandemic period via over 600 urgent dental centres. All dental practices providing NHS services were able to restart face to face care from 8 June with the aim of increasing levels of service in line with recommendations around infection control procedures and personal protective equipment. Urgent Dental Care Centres remain open to support the provision of urgent face to face care.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 his counterpart in the Scottish Government on the effect of mutual recognition principle in the UK Internal Markets Bill on public health objectives across the UK.
Answered by Edward Argar
Clause 14(2) of the Bill makes clear that the core public functions of public bodies such as the National Health Service are not in scope of mutual recognition for goods. Supplies of goods by public bodies will only be in scope if they are supplied for purely commercial purposes – such as a souvenir sold by a gift shop in a public museum.
Equally, health and social care services are excluded from the mutual recognition principle for services in Part 2. This means that health services will not be affected by the mutual recognition rule for services.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to roll out covid-19 antibody testing throughout the UK.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
We are already offering antibody tests to National Health Service and care staff in England, with patients and social care residents eligible at their clinician’s request. We are also using antibody tests to support research studies.
In order to better understand the role that an antibody test could play in our response to the pandemic, we need to improve our understanding of how the immune system responds to the virus that causes COVID-19. We do not currently know how long an antibody response to the virus lasts, nor whether having antibodies means a person cannot transmit the virus to others. Our understanding of the virus will grow as new scientific evidence and studies emerge. To date, over 1.6 million COVID-19 antibody tests have been carried out.