Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to tackle the promotion and marketing of vaping to children.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Government recently ran a call for evidence on youth vaping that closed on the 6 June 2023. This included a theme covering the marketing and promotion of vapes. We are now reviewing the evidence and will respond later this year.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Government's position is on each of the proposed amendments to the World Health Organisation International Health Regulations 2005.
Answered by Will Quince
The United Kingdom supports targeted amendments of the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 alongside improvements to increase implementation to strengthen the preparedness for and response to future health emergencies in light of lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are a number of areas within the Global Health architecture which we hope to strengthen and reform through the IHR amendment process; for example, transparency, timeliness of reporting and the Emergency Committee processes. Negotiations are currently ongoing, and the UK Government continues to work closely with World Health Organization member states in ensuring positive outcomes from the negotiations.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions the Government has had had with Northern Ireland Health and Social Care on the potential introduction of Op COURAGE in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Health is a devolved matter. The United Kingdom Government has not had any discussions with the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care department on the potential introduction of Op COURAGE in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to change reimbursement tariffs to help incentivise (a) modern forms of radiotherapy and (b) adaptive radiotherapy.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
NHS England has signalled its intent to revise the reimbursement arrangements for radiotherapy as part of its consultation on National Health Service tariff arrangements ‘2023/25 NHS Payment Scheme – a consultation notice’, released in December 2022. The new arrangements aim to deliver the NHS Long Term Plan ambition to incentivise innovative forms of radiotherapy, for example the use of hypofractionated protocols, and timely equipment replacement.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the adequacy of multidisciplinary support for Parkinson's care across UK (a) regions and (b) nations.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
No specific assessment has been made.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 bring forward an NHS workforce plan at the earliest opportunity.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government has committed to publishing a workforce plan next year, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years, taking into account improvements in retention and productivity.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals on early intervention measures to help safeguard the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
There are no plans to do so. We have accelerated the deployment of mental health support teams to schools and colleges for approximately 35% of pupils by 2023. We are working with the Department for Education to provide early intervention and mental wellbeing support in education settings. In addition, a call for evidence on long term measures to support mental health, wellbeing and suicide prevention closed on 7 July 2022. We are currently analysing over 5,000 responses received.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps with Cabinet colleagues to help support sight loss research in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Will Quince
Sight loss research undertaken in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of timely dementia diagnosis on patient outcomes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The National Institute for Care Excellence’s (NICE) quality standard on dementia states that timely diagnosis allows patients to access support and treatment at an earlier stage and families and carers can benefit from advanced care planning. The quality standard is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs184/chapter/Quality-statement-2-Diagnosis
We will set out plans for dementia in England for the next 10 years later this year,, which will include a focus on dementia diagnosis.