Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average list size of patients is per full-time equivalent GP in Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The information requested is not held centrally, as general practice workforce data is not collected by constituency.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
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 of the adequacy of Food Standards Agency oversight of the provision of allergen information by home-based food businesses.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department has made no such assessment. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a non-Ministerial department which acts independently as a food safety regulator. The FSA has responsibility for the regulation of food allergen information and issuing guidance to food businesses and local authorities on the proper implementation and monitoring of allergen information regulations.
Oversight of business compliance with requirements on the provision of allergen information lies with local authority food officers. Local authority food officers will assess a food business’ level of compliance with the allergen information requirements and provide advice or take corrective action where non-compliance is identified.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
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 to ensure that people who took part in covid-19 vaccine trials for products not yet approved are able to (a) certify their vaccine status and (b) access alternative vaccines through the NHS.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government is working with clinical research sites to add participant information of COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials into the National Immunisation Management Service, in order to allow participants to access their NHS COVID Pass for both domestic and international travel purposes.
When a former COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial participant becomes eligible for a vaccine currently in deployment, they may ask for the trial to be unblinded. If they have received two placebo doses, they may freely take up the vaccine doses offered to them. If they have received only one dose and a placebo, or are yet to receive a second dose, they may receive an additional dose of the trialled vaccine if agreed by and available from the clinical trial sponsor or receive a single dose of a vaccine approved and currently in deployment, with the acknowledgement that safety data on the combination of the different vaccine is not yet available. If they have received two doses of the vaccine, they will not need additional doses under current guidance.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
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 (a) regulate providers of covid-19 testing and (b) help ensure that companies deliver testing kits on the dates promised.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Those providers listed on GOV.UK have declared and evidenced compliance with the relevant minimum standards for their commercial provision of testing, including participating in the three-staged United Kingdom Accreditation Service process if they are providing sample collection and/or test analysis services.
The Department is working closely with private providers to ensure appropriate standards of performance are met. Providers’ performance is continually monitored including their ability to provide samples, analysis and report results on time. The Department takes rapid action when providers deliver inadequate services. This includes providers receiving a five-day warning to demonstrate they have rectified their service and if they do not, they are removed from the appropriate GOV.UK list.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
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 standardise accessibility to GP services for deaf patients and ensure GP surgeries meet their responsibilities under the Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Jo Churchill
All National Health Service providers are required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in the Equality Act 2010 and the Accessible Information Standard to ensure that deaf people who wish to communicate using British Sign Language (BSL) when accessing NHS services can do so.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have also commissioned a rapid review into access to BSL interpretation in NHS services which is nearing completion. The review will set out clear steps to support NHS providers to meet their responsibilities to deliver access to BSL interpretation. Under the General Medical Service and Personal Medical Service regulations, practices are required to ensure that their premises are suitable for the delivery of essential services and that these services are sufficient to meet the reasonable needs of their patients, including those with disabilities.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the introduction from 15 February 2021 of requirements for all passengers travelling to England to take mandated covid-19 tests on day 2 and day 8 of the quarantine period, how many and what proportion of those passengers have tested positive for covid-19 on (a) day 2 and (b) day 8 of that quarantine period; and how many of those positive test results identified a variant of concern to the Government.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Data relating to testing within the managed quarantine scheme is not yet available.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to reply to the letter of 28 October 2020 from the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys on NHS test and trace.
Answered by Edward Argar
We are working to provide all Members and external correspondents with accurate answers to their correspondence, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hon. Member’s letter will be answered as soon as possible.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
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 replace EU Additives Regulation 1129/2011 to permit sugar reformulation using sweeteners in breakfast cereals as part of the tackling obesity strategy.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The retained European Union Regulation 1333/2008 governs the use of food additives in food. This legislation already permits the use of several sweeteners in energy reduced or no added sugar breakfast cereals, which can form part of a healthy balanced diet.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
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 to increase funding for research into Alzheimer's disease.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government’s 2020 Dementia Challenge contained the commitment to spend £300 million on dementia research over the five years to 2020. This commitment was delivered a year early, with £344 million spent on dementia research over four years to 2019. We are currently working on ways to significantly boost further research on dementia at all stages on the translation pathway including medical and care interventions.