Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on ensuring that the correct supply chain requirements have been made for distributing a covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government closely monitors plans for the requirements across the supply chain for COVID-19 vaccines and associated material. For the provision of potential vaccines and their onward deployment, there are clearly defined supply chain plans for manufacturing, transport, storage and distribution.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set up more post-covid 19 clinics to support people who are chronically ill with coronavirus symptoms.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
In July 2020, the National Health Service launched the ‘Your COVID Recovery’ service to support the recovery of people who have been in hospital or suffered at home with the virus. This is a two-phase endeavour with phase one being available as an open, publicly available site containing general information on all aspects of recovering from COVID-19, including physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing. Over 100,000 people have used the online service since it was launched in July.
On 7 October the NHS announced £10 million is be invested this year to help kick start and designate ‘long COVID-19’ clinics that will be available to all patients in England. Alongside this, new guidance has been commissioned by NHS England from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the clinical case definition of ‘long COVID-19’. This will include patients who have had COVID-19 who may not have had a hospital admission or a previous positive test. It will be followed by evidence-based NICE clinical guidelines that will outline the support that ‘long COVID-19’ patients should receive, enabling NHS doctors, therapists and staff to provide a clear and personalised treatment plan. This will include education materials for general practitioners and other health professionals to help them refer and signpost patients to the right support.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional support he plans to make available to general practices (a) during and (b) after the coronavirus outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is supporting general practices in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in several ways. We have facilitated remote working by distributing over 22,000 laptops to general practice staff; have provided a COVID-19 Support Fund to cover additional costs incurred by practices as a result of the response to the virus; have enabled flexibility in the delivery of services to relieve pressures; and have reduced bureaucratic burdens.
In addition, we are supporting the wellbeing of the primary care workforce in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners via the #LookingAfterYouToo: Coaching Support for Primary Care Staff service, which provides access to mental health services for all primary care workers.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with medical logistics experts on the roll-out of a covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The safe and efficient delivery of a COVID-19 vaccine is a top priority for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Discussions are held regularly on a wide range of topics with experts about the logistics, warehousing, transport and end-destination ‘clinic’ storage, for delivering a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available.