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 estimate his Department has made of the number of women who are at a high or very high risk of breast cancer and who are waiting for risk reducing mastectomies as of 31 January 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No estimate has been made of the number of women who are at a high or very high risk of breast cancer and who are waiting for risk reducing mastectomies.
The National Health Service is committed to recovering cancer services and to ensuring patients receive the best and most appropriate care.
At the beginning of the pandemic, NHS England asked the Federation of Surgical Speciality Associations to produce a guide on which surgery should be prioritised and the timescales for this. The current guidance states that risk reducing mastectomy surgery in gene carriers is a priority three procedure and should be carried out in under three months.
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 he has had discussions with representatives of mobile operators on how long NHS websites that have been zero-rated during the covid-19 will continue to be zero-rated and so remain accessible without internet data plans being charged.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
In March 2020 we worked with Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three to secure free online access to the following websites:
- NHS.UK;
- 111.nhs.uk;
- wales.nhs.uk;
- nhsinform.scot;
- nidirect.gov.uk; and
- publichealth.hscni.net.
We also agreed time-limited data provisions for Attend Anywhere, our main provider of video consultations. The provisions we made for access to the above websites and Attend Anywhere were temporary and concluded by the end of 2020.
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, which NHS websites are zero rated and so accessible without internet data plans being charged; and which mobile networks that applies to.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
In March 2020 we worked with Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three to secure free online access to the following websites:
- NHS.UK;
- 111.nhs.uk;
- wales.nhs.uk;
- nhsinform.scot;
- nidirect.gov.uk; and
- publichealth.hscni.net.
We also agreed time-limited data provisions for Attend Anywhere, our main provider of video consultations. The provisions we made for access to the above websites and Attend Anywhere were temporary and concluded by the end of 2020.
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 information his Department holds on GP surgery websites.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We do not hold information on general practitioner (GP) surgery websites. However, NHS England and NHSX have made guidance available to GP practices on website design. Some commissioners have also provided to support to practices to standardise and upgrade websites.
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.