Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the minute of meeting held on 1 February 2023 by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), for what reason a budget has not been allocated for a national respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunisation programme for the prevention of RSV related lower respiratory tract infections in infants for 2023-24.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are actively considering the potential for an expanded or universal respiratory syncytial virus programme. Once the JCVI have concluded their robust review of evidence, the Department will support the implementation of any advice with NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency as soon as is practicable, including, if necessary, engaging with HM Treasury to seek budgetary support for a potential programme.
Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommendation to work towards replacing palivizumab with nirsevimab in 2022, what steps his Department plans to take to work with the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England to agree an innovative procurement route to enable an expanded immunisation programme for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-related lower respiratory tract infections for the 2023-24 winter season.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that the current respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) monoclonal antibody, palivizumab, should be replaced by nirsevimab for the existing, targeted cohort. The Department, the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England are engaging with the manufacturer to support this change in time for the 2023/24 winter season.
The JCVI is actively reviewing evidence about a potential expanded RSV programme. Once the JCVI have concluded their review of evidence and any advice is made, the Department will support the implementation of any changes advised by the JCVI as soon as is practicable, including working closely with NHS England and UKHSA.
Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
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 work with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunisation manufacturers to support the implementation of a universal immunisation programme for the prevention of RSV-related lower respiratory tract infections in infants, to reduce winter pressures on the NHS.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provides the Government with advice on all immunisation programmes, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The JCVI is actively reviewing evidence around available products and the potential for an expanded or universal RSV programme. Once the JCVI have concluded their review of evidence and any advice is made, the Department will work with manufacturers, alongside the UK Heath Security Agency and NHS England, to support the implementation of advice as soon as is practicable.
Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by NHS England entitled The two-week wait skin cancer pathway, published on 4 April 2022, if he will make an estimate of the median cost to trusts of establishing a teledermatology service.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Outpatient Recovery and Transformation (OPRT) programme has delivered a series of webinars and processes to raise awareness of various outpatient improvement initiatives to support Integrated Care Systems, with signposting to online resources and contacts for support in implementation.
The OPRT in collaboration with the National Cancer team and other stakeholders have published the Implementing a timed skin cancer diagnostic pathway guidance for local health and care systems (in October 2022), including for teledermatology pathways to support two week wait skin cancer delivery.
NHS England provide support, funding and guidance to help cancer alliances improve outcomes and reduce variation. This includes programme management to support delivery and implementing guidance for achieving best practice. Estimates of costs of establishing teledermatology services are the remit of commissioner and provider organisations.
Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by NHS England entitled The two-week wait skin cancer pathway, published on 4 April 2022, whether his Department plans to take steps to help tackle regional variations in the use of teledermatology within dermatology services in England; whether his Department has provided funding for the implementation of new pathways proposed within that guidance; and whether accountability mechanisms have been put in place to help ensure that integrated care systems implement those pathways in England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Outpatient Recovery and Transformation (OPRT) programme has delivered a series of webinars and processes to raise awareness of various outpatient improvement initiatives to support Integrated Care Systems, with signposting to online resources and contacts for support in implementation.
The OPRT in collaboration with the National Cancer team and other stakeholders have published the Implementing a timed skin cancer diagnostic pathway guidance for local health and care systems (in October 2022), including for teledermatology pathways to support two week wait skin cancer delivery.
NHS England provide support, funding and guidance to help cancer alliances improve outcomes and reduce variation. This includes programme management to support delivery and implementing guidance for achieving best practice. Estimates of costs of establishing teledermatology services are the remit of commissioner and provider organisations.
Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help (a) increase the dermatology workforce and (b) ensure that patients with inflammatory skin conditions can access timely specialist care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Starting from August 2022, Health Education England has increased the number of training posts in dermatology which will help support the dermatology workforce. In November 2022 there were 1,233 full-time equivalent doctors in the dermatology specialism working in hospital and community health settings, representing an increase of 65 since the previous year.
Alongside this expansion, in September 2022 NHS England produced guidance on referral optimisation for people with skin conditions to ensure that patients with inflammatory skin conditions can access timely specialist care. This can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by NHS England entitled Referral optimisation for people with skin conditions, published on 27 September 2022, what steps his Department is taking to help support the adoption of referral optimisation.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is supporting the National Health Service to improve outpatient services, including referral optimisation.
NHS England’s Outpatient Recovery and Transformation Programme runs a series of Action on Outpatients webinars to raise awareness of outpatient improvement initiatives. In December 2022, the series focused on outpatient referral optimisation, drawing on principles from NHS England guidance on referral optimisation for people with skin conditions, published September 2022.
Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of referral services for patients with skin conditions; and whether he is taking steps to improve those services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the Department has not made any formal assessment of the adequacy of referral services, the Department continues to support the National Health Service to recover all elective services, including for patients with skin conditions. This includes providing funding and setting direction through the elective recovery delivery plan published last year.
Most adult and paediatric dermatology services are commissioned locally through integrated care boards. However, to support patients with more complex or severe conditions, NHS England directly commissions some specialised services for example specialised adult and child dermatology clinics.
A recent NHS guide on referral optimisation for people with skin conditions outlines how systems can implement specialist advice and guidance. The approach enables local systems to embed personalised care, strengthen the primary and secondary care interface, and streamline collaboration between generalists and specialists so that more patients can be treated closer to home.
Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the level of variation in access to treatment for patients with inflammatory skin conditions in England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the Department has not made any formal assessment, NHS England is working to ensure fair and equitable access to treatment for elective services in England, including for patients with inflammatory skin conditions.
NHS England’s outpatient recovery and transformation programme has introduced a number of initiatives, such as the virtual teledermatology two-week wait pathway, as well as patient-initiated follow-up and remote consultations, all of which provide opportunities to reduce the number of patients attending face-to-face appointments. This means capacity can be released for patients that need to be seen face-to-face, such as those with extensive inflammatory skin disease.
In addition, a document focusing on equity of access has recently been published and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential (a) merits of teledermatology and (b) impact of teledermatology on the level of waiting list backlogs caused by covid-19 in England.
Answered by Will Quince
While the Department has not made a formal assessment of the potential merits of teledermatology or the impact of teledermatology on waiting list backlogs caused by COVID-19 in England, the Department continues to support the National Health Service in working to ensure the recovery and transformation of all elective services, including for patients with skin conditions. This includes providing record levels of funding and setting direction through the elective recovery delivery plan published last year. NHS England’s outpatient recovery and transformation programme published a teledermatology roadmap in 2021.
The outpatient recovery and transformation programme has also introduced a number of initiatives such as using advice and guidance and the virtual teledermatology two-week wait pathway, as well as patient initiated follow-up and remote consultations, all of which provide opportunities to reduce the number of patients attending face-to-face appointments. This means capacity can be released for patients that need to be seen face-to-face, such as those with extensive inflammatory skin disease.
Through these approaches, NHS providers are tackling the backlogs caused by the pandemic and transforming service provision for all patients.