Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing regular testing for covid-19 infection for a named visitor for each person in a care home so that, after that testing, a person’s partner, child or significant other can visit that person in their care home on a regular basis.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want to bring an end to the pain of separation and help care homes bring families and loved ones together. The launch of visitor testing is a crucial step to making that happen. We aim to rollout visitor testing nationwide by Christmas.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 delays to the expansion of gambling addiction as a result of the covid-19 outbreak on the number of people (a) seeking help from the NHS where a gambling disorder was a relevant factor and (b) who have (i) taken and (ii) attempted to take their own lives where gambling disorder was a relevant factor.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The provision of National Health Service treatment services for problem gamblers has continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with many face to face services switching to remote provision. The NHS continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the NHS Long Term Plan commitment to introduce up to 15 clinics by 2023/24.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of positive covid-19 test results are (a) false positive and (b) false negative.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In June 2020 the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies published a briefing paper on the impact of false positives and false negatives in the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing programme, which is available to view at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gos-impact-of-false-positives-and-negatives-3-june-2020
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he received a proposal, as part of the response to the initial request of seven North East Councils for further local restrictions due to the covid-19 outbreak, that included ensuring informal childcare arrangements could continue in that region.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Government is committed to supporting families, including key workers, who rely on informal childcare so they can work. We listened to feedback from local authorities and Directors of Public Health, who supported the position that a specific exemption for informal childcare would particularly help working families in areas where interhousehold mixing was restricted.
Interhousehold mixing was banned in some areas under local restrictions, including parts of the North East. From Tuesday 22 September, care bubbles are able to form in areas of intervention, to allow families to share caring responsibilities with another household.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on increasing NHS support for people with gambling addiction.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The NHS Long Term Plan made a commitment to expand the geographical coverage of NHS services for people with serious gambling problems.
In addition to the existing National Problem Gambling Clinic in London, the National Health Service has committed to opening an additional 14 new problem gambling clinics by 2023/24. The NHS Northern Gambling Service in Leeds opened in 2019 and now has satellite sites in Manchester and Sunderland. The NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan has committed to spending up to £15 million on gambling-related harms by 2023/24.
As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England and NHS Improvement are improving referral routes for mental health services in primary care, by focusing on the integration of services.
The NHS continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the NHS Long Term Plan commitments and timescales outlined above.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 steps needed to treat gambling-related harm as a public health matter.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England (PHE) is carrying out an evidence review on the prevalence of gambling and associated health harms and their social and economic burden. It is expected to be published in March 2021. The full scope of the PHE gambling-related harms evidence review can be viewed at the following link:
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, prior to 14 September 2020, when (a) he and (b) another minister in his Department most recently visited Shotley Bridge Hospital in Consett, Co. Durham.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care had not visited Shotley Bridge Hospital prior to 14 September 2020 in his Ministerial capacity. The Department of Health and Social Care can also find no record of the current Ministerial team visiting the hospital prior to 14 September 2020.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it was Government policy to link the increase in social care funding allocated to local councils during the covid-19 outbreak to the transfer of (a) untested and (b) covid-19 positive patients from hospitals to care homes.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is our priority to ensure that everyone receives the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
We have never made it a requirement nationally that additional funding for care homes was conditional on care homes accepting discharged patients.
As set out in the Adult Social Care Action Plan on 15 April, all patients are required to be tested prior to discharge to a care home. The Adult Social Care Action Plan is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-adult-social-care-action-plan
This is an unprecedented global pandemic and at every stage we have been guided by the latest scientific advice. We keep our policies under continuous review, based on the emerging international and domestic evidence.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
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 inclusion of community pharmacies in the rollout of antibody testing; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since the end of May, lab-based antibody tests have been available to all National Health Service staff that want one. NHS England has made antibody tests available to all its staff including those working on NHS premises but not directly employed by the NHS, and those in primary, community, and mental health care including community pharmacists providing NHS pharmaceutical services, dentists and dental staff.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of gambling-related suicides.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We have made no such assessment. There is currently no reliable estimate of the number of suicides linked to problem gambling in the United Kingdom, and there would be significant challenges in attempting to record this. Requiring coroners to routinely assess the motivation in all cases of suicide would take the coroner role fundamentally beyond its legal parameters.
We know that there may be wider lifestyle factors associated with gambling addiction that may link to poor mental health, and that gambling addiction can create a cycle of debt that can also have a significant impact on mental health and wellbeing. In extreme cases it may lead to thoughts of suicide.
The Government committed to addressing suicide risk and gambling in the latest progress report to the National Suicide Prevention Strategy and the Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Workplan, which were published in January 2019