Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will detail the losses and special payments valued at under £300,000 for his departmental group as defined by section A4.10.7 in HM Treasury's Managing Public Money for (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The departmental group includes 25 arm’s length bodies, 135 clinical commissioning groups and 219 National Health Service providers. Each legal entity within the group discloses the losses and special payments within its annual report and accounts. The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts includes the consolidated number and total value of losses and special payments for the entire departmental group.
The Department does not collect details relating to all losses and special payments below £300,000 from its underlying group bodies, therefore this information is not available for the departmental group. The Department’s losses and special payments from 2018/19 to 2020/21 is shown in the attached tables.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
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 ensure that his Department and its agencies remove all internal covid-19 related policies, restrictions and mask mandates.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Throughout the pandemic, the Department has followed the Government’s guidance in setting out its internal COVID-19 related policies. This includes complying with the Working Safely during Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guidance which sets out the key actions organisations should take to protect employees and customers in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in workplaces, along with carrying out health and safety risk assessments that include the ongoing risk from COVID-19.
On 21 February 2022, the Government published their COVID-19 Response: Living with COVID-19. This sets out how and when the remaining restrictions will be lifted in England. The Government’s guidance was subsequently amended, including the Working Safely guidance.
The Government’s Working Safely guidance, which was revised on 24 February 2022, continues to require organisations to carry out a risk assessment which includes the risk from COVID-19. It also sets out additional actions organisations can take to protect employees in the workplace, such as ensuring adequate ventilation, frequent cleaning, asking people to wash their hands frequently and asking people with COVID-19 to stay away. The guidance advises that people continue to wear face coverings in crowded and enclosed settings where they come into contact with people they do not normally meet, when rates of transmission are high. Civil Service employers will continue to follow this guidance and align their policies accordingly. There is no mandation for Departmental colleagues to wear masks in offices.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
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 end requirements for mandatory covid-19 vaccination for care workers and NHS staff.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Secretary of State announced on the 31 January that the Government intends to revoke the regulations making vaccination a condition of deployment in health and social care, subject to consultation.
We have today published the Government’s response to the consultation undertaken. This confirms that we will revoke the vaccination as a condition of deployment requirements.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will increase the funding for research into tinnitus.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including tinnitus, it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
The NIHR’s support for tinnitus research was over £1.5 million between 2016/17 and 2021/22. This included funding for research projects and funding for NIHR managed infrastructure to support tinnitus research. Current NIHR funding includes £15 million over five years from April 2017 to support deafness and hearing loss research in NIHR’s Manchester, University College London and Nottingham Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs). The Nottingham BRC has a core research theme on tinnitus and noise sensitivity.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an opt-out independent mental health advocacy service as part of his reforms of the Mental Health Act.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The white paper ‘Reforming the Mental Health Act’, published in January 2021, set out proposals to expand access to an advocate to voluntary or informal patients and to consider an ‘opt out model’. These proposals received significant support at public consultation and we are now exploring the associated costs and practicalities. This includes examining current independent mental health advocate uptake and existing opt out models which have been successfully implemented in some areas.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
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 help expand entitlement to independent mental health advocacy to voluntary or informal patients as part of his reforms of the Mental Health Act.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The white paper ‘Reforming the Mental Health Act’, published in January 2021, set out proposals to expand access to an advocate to voluntary or informal patients and to consider an ‘opt out model’. These proposals received significant support at public consultation and we are now exploring the associated costs and practicalities. This includes examining current independent mental health advocate uptake and existing opt out models which have been successfully implemented in some areas.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people in hospital with covid-19 were (a) in hospital with another condition and contracted covid-19 while in hospital and (b) admitted to hospital with covid-19 in each of the last three months.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The information requested on the proportion of people who were admitted to hospital with COVID-19 and those who contracted the virus in the last three months is not available. The following table shows the number of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 whilst in hospital between 7 April and 30 June.
Month | Number of patients |
7 - 30 April | 1,957 |
May | 1,479 |
June | 2,799 |
Source: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-hospital-activity/
Note:
The following table shows the number of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 between 1 April and 30 June.
Month | Number of patients |
April | 5,258 |
May | 2,569 |
June | 4,158 |
Source: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare
Note:
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his current policy is on the wearing of face coverings in his (a) Department, (b) departmental agencies and (c) related bodies during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A COVID-19 risk assessment has been carried out following the framework provided by the Health and Safety Executive. In line with this assessment, the Department does not currently require face coverings to be worn by staff in departmental buildings. Those who do wish to wear them will be supported to do so safely.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet the Bradford District Care Trust to discuss the need for investment at Lynfield Mount Hospital.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have no current plans to do so.
On 17 July we launched the process for trusts to express an interest in being selected for funding for eight new hospitals to be built by 2030 in England.
The Department welcomes applications from all trusts, including Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, who meet the criteria. Local health systems have received confirmation of their capital funding for 2021/22 which enables them to progress priority investments agreed with local health partners.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women receiving the covid-19 vaccination; and what steps he is taking to ensure that equal numbers of men and women receive that vaccination.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
No specific comparative assessment has been made on the number of men and women receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
The ‘UK COVID-19 vaccine uptake plan’ published in February sets out the Government’s approach to ensure that all groups have the opportunity to receive the vaccine. The plan is available at the following link: