Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to re-evaluate mileage allowance rates for (a) community nurses and (b) other NHS staff in the context of the rising cost of living.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The reimbursement of travel costs for community nurses and other National Health Service staff is addressed by the NHS Terms and Conditions, jointly agreed by employers and the NHS trades unions. The current rate for staff who use their vehicles to make journeys in the performance of their duties is 56 pence per mile, above the HM Revenue and Customs’ approved mileage rate of 45 pence per mile. This rate reduces after 3,500 miles to 20 pence per mile. The NHS Terms and Conditions sets out the process for reviewing the rate of reimbursement every six months, including reviewing fluctuations in fuel prices.
The NHS Staff Council recently published a statement to facilitate local discussions on temporary options, which is available at the following link:
The statement includes a commitment for the NHS Staff Council to write to the Department to seek a remit to undertake and set out the scope for a possible review.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Lancashire of 20 April 2022 regarding continence care, reference ZA59501.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We replied to the hon. Member on 21 June 2022.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
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 encourage members of the public to undertake CPR and first aid training.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government encourages organisations across England to consider purchasing a defibrillator with first-aid equipment, particularly in locations where there are high concentrations of people. Many community defibrillators have since been provided in public locations through national lottery funding, community fundraising schemes, workplace funding or by charities
NHS England and NHS Improvement and St John Ambulance co-ordinate skills development to increase the use of Automated External Defibrillators by individuals in the community. This will include a national network of Community Advocates to champion the importance of first aid, training 60,000 people to save up to 4,000 lives each year by 2028.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
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 improve public access to (a) first aid kits and (b) defibrillators.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government encourages organisations across England to consider purchasing a defibrillator with first-aid equipment, particularly in locations where there are high concentrations of people. Many community defibrillators have since been provided in public locations through national lottery funding, community fundraising schemes, workplace funding or by charities
NHS England and NHS Improvement and St John Ambulance co-ordinate skills development to increase the use of Automated External Defibrillators by individuals in the community. This will include a national network of Community Advocates to champion the importance of first aid, training 60,000 people to save up to 4,000 lives each year by 2028.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Lancashire dated 2 March 2022 on the impact of the Health and Care Act 2022 on the powers of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, reference ZA59040.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We replied to the hon. Member on 24 May
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the impact of chewing tobacco on health inequalities among Bengali women.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No formal assessment of the safety of chewing tobacco has been made and there are no current plans to assess its impact on health inequalities among Bengali women. However, traditional smokeless tobacco products are harmful to health by causing oral, oesophageal and pancreatic cancers. It remains our policy to help people to quit all forms of tobacco use through behavioural support from stop smoking services, nicotine replacement therapy or e-cigarettes.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings of the 2006 study by McNeill and West in the British Medical Journal that chewed tobacco is a major cause of oral cancer, if his Department will make an assessment of the safety of chewing tobacco products; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No formal assessment of the safety of chewing tobacco has been made and there are no current plans to assess its impact on health inequalities among Bengali women. However, traditional smokeless tobacco products are harmful to health by causing oral, oesophageal and pancreatic cancers. It remains our policy to help people to quit all forms of tobacco use through behavioural support from stop smoking services, nicotine replacement therapy or e-cigarettes.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet with representatives of charities supporting severely immunocompromised groups to discuss their involvement in co-creating and disseminating communication and guidance to people on safely managing their risk after 1 April 2022.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We have regular meeting with charities representing and supporting patients in immunocompromised and immunosuppressed groups. The Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Jenny Harries, is the clinical lead for programmes supporting these patients and has met with charities at stakeholder engagement sessions.
On 4 April 2022, updated guidance was issued for those whose immune system means they are at higher risk of serious illness if they become infected with COVID-19, which is available at the following link: