Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential risk posed by a reliance on internet connectivity in order for people to attend virtual GP appointments.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have not made a specific assessment. However, NHS England and NHS Improvement’s guidance states that online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing general practice. All practice receptions should be open to patients, ensuring that those who do not have easy access to phones and other devices which require internet connections are not disadvantaged in their ability to access care.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have commissioned an independent evaluation to understand the impact for patients, staff and the wider health and care system on the use of digital tools in general practice to inform its long-term strategy.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will (a) provide an update on the discussions between NHS England and Gilead on an interim access arrangement for secondary breast cancer drug Trodelvy and (b) publish the timetable for the interim access arrangement to be agreed.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
NHS England and NHS Improvement and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have agreed principles to allow potential interim access to medicines licensed through Project Orbis, where there is a gap between licensing and publication of NICE’s guidance. NHS England and NHS Improvement are continuing discussions with Gilead, to urge the company to support interim access arrangements in line with the agreed principles. NICE expects to issue draft guidance on Trodelvy in spring 2022 with final guidance in June 2022.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's process is for developing interim access arrangements for oncology drugs licensed through Project Orbis.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In view of the rapid approval of Project Orbis medicines, NHS England and NHS Improvement and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have developed an interim process to support patient access to medicines between Project Orbis licensing approval and publication of NICE’s guidance. It is anticipated that this will only be required in the short term. Consideration is given to:
- whether there is expected to be a gap of three months or longer between regulatory approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and publication by NICE of its final draft guidance;
- if there are any direct competitors expected to go through the NICE technology appraisal process within the next six months;
- if the treatment will make a fundamental, positive change to the existing treatment pathway; and
- whether the company will offer the medicine or treatment on a cost neutral basis.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
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 impact of the covid-19 outbreak on testing for liver disease; and what steps he is taking to improve testing for that disease.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No formal assessment has been made. The NHS Long Term Plan recognises the importance of preventing avoidable disease through targeted policies to address lifestyle factors affecting healthy life expectancy, such as alcohol consumption and obesity. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England and NHS Improvement, with support from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, have invested £27 million in a four year programme to 2023/24 to establish or improve alcohol care teams to provide specialist alcohol interventions in hospitals where needed.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS Trusts including Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust have been asked to submit cheaper proposals for their proposed hospital rebuilds.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Organisations have been asked to submit a range of options for their new hospital schemes, with individual allocations for schemes to be determined once the respective full business cases have been reviewed and agreed.
The information requested from Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust will provide an objective evidence base for decision making at the business case stage. The central programme team are working with all lead organisations involved to ensure that schemes realise value for money, sustainability and digitalisation.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children and young people had NHS continuing care packages in each NHS clinical commissioning group area in England in each year from 2015-16 to 2020-21 inclusive.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, by what date he plans to publish guidance on the vaccination of unpaid carers against covid-19.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently developing a Stand Operating Procedure for unpaid carers to receive a vaccination. We expect this to be published in the near future.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
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 implications for his policies of the research undertaken by Xu K of the State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases at The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine and others, entitled Management of COVID-19: the Zhejiang experience, published on 21 February 2020.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has undertaken no specific assessment of this research.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
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 evidence behind reports that covid-19 can cause brain injury; and what steps he is taking to ensure brain injury charities are able to meet a potential increase in demand for services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Research and Innovation-National Institute for Health Research Rapid Response Rolling Call has funded a large post-hospitalisation study. The study, announced in July, will establish a national consortium and a research platform embedded within clinical care to understand and improve long-term outcomes for survivors following hospitalisation with COVID-19.
In recognition of the impact on charities, including brain injury charities, in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and a potential increase in demand for services, a number of measures have been put in place. Including a funding package of £750 million for the wider voluntary and charity sector. In addition, charities can access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and are able to benefit from the three-month VAT deferral scheme.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for the covid-19 social care taskforce, announced on 8 June 2020, to review the effect of covid-19 on people affected by dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Social Care Sector COVID-19 Support Taskforce will ensure the delivery of two packages of support that the Government has put in place for the care sector – the Social Care Action Plan and the Care Homes Support Plan. The Taskforce will be supported by several advisory groups including one on support for older people and people living with dementia.
We are monitoring the impact of the pandemic. We have commissioned research through the National Institute for Health Research on how to manage or mitigate the psychological, physical and social impact of COVID-19 on people with dementia living in the community, and their carers. Work has already started with phased outputs to August 2020. The project has produced a leaflet for people living with dementia, and a leaflet for carers of people living with dementia. These are available at the following link:
http://www.idealproject.org.uk/covid/