Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, what plans the Government has to (a) replace, (b) revoke or (c) retain the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, the Government is currently reviewing which retained European Union law should be repealed, reformed or preserved. The Government continues to work with a range of stakeholders to ensure that any such reforms maintain current standards in public health.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he has plans to (a) replace, (b) revoke and (c) retain the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, the Government is considering which retained European Union legislation should be repealed, reformed or preserved. Any such reforms will not alter the United Kingdom’s high standards. The Government will continue to work with a range of organisations and stakeholders to ensure that patient safety and public health are maintained.
The independent Food Standards Agency, working with Food Standards Scotland, is participating in the review of all retained EU law within its responsibilities. Consumer safety or the ability of business to trade during this review will not be compromised.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) fines have been issued and (b) individuals have been fined or required to repay the value of a prescription after the fact, due to an individual failing to pay for a prescription without a valid maternity exemption certificate in each of the last five years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The following table shows the number of patients who declared they held a valid Maternity Exemption Certificate and who were issued with at least one penalty charge notice (PCN) and the number of PCNs issued in each of the last five years.
Number of patients declaring a valid maternity exemption certificate and were issued with at least one PCN | Number of PCNs issued against maternity exemption declarations | |
2018 | 73,918 | 92,208 |
2019 | 73,915 | 92,440 |
2020 | 12,614 | 13,359 |
2021 | 85 | 85 |
2022 | 20,257 | 22,344 |
Total | 180,789 | 220,436 |
Source: the NHS Business Services Authority
PCNs are sometimes issued to patients who were entitled to claim free prescriptions due to data mismatches. This may be for reasons such as the patient has moved and not updated their address with their general practitioner or changed their name and not updated the exemption certificate. The patient is sent an enquiry letter asking to confirm their entitlement and any data updates can be undertaken at this stage and the case closed if appropriate. If the patient does not respond to the enquiry letter within 28 days, they will automatically be sent a penalty charge notice.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many officials in her Department are working on Retained EU Law legislation, as (a) headcount and (b) Full Time Equivalent.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has a central coordinating team working on the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, which currently has two full time officials and support from an additional three officials alongside their other business activities. This is equates to approximately three full time equivalent officials. The central team is supported by advice from Departmental officials where there are Retained EU Law implications. These officials provide support as part of their normal business activities and do not have specific headcount or full time equivalent staff allocated to this work.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether a process has been established to evaluate future prophylactic treatments for covid-19.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The PROTECT-V clinical trial tests several treatments intended to reduce the risk of confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 infections in vulnerable renal and immunosuppressed patients and the associated risk of hospitalisation and death. The study focuses on prophylactic drugs administered over a six-month period to test the effectiveness at reducing the spread of the virus among those who may be exposed at regular hospital check-ups or dialysis appointments.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the decision-making process was ahead of the decision not to procure Evusheld including what (a) discussions took place and (b) evidence was used to inform the decision; and for what reason the Government decided not to procure Evusheld.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government has decided not to procure Evusheld for prevention through emergency routes at this time. This is a decision based on independent clinical advice by the multi-agency RAPID C-19 and a national expert policy working group. These groups considered a range of evidence, including clinical trial data, in vitro analysis and emerging observational studies and concluded there is currently insufficient evidence of benefit to recommend deployment. The Chief Medical Officer for England is content that the correct process for providing clinical advice has been followed and this should now be referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for further evaluation.
The Department wrote to patient groups on 5 September 2022 with information on this decision and evidence considered. The letter summarised the evidence considered by RAPID C-19 that contributed to the decision not to procure and deploy Evusheld and detailed the next steps the Government will take.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to expand the availability of Evusheld as a prophylactic through clinical trials.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Following engagement with AstraZeneca, we have encouraged the company to continue discussions with the Antivirals and Therapeutics Taskforce (ATTF) and the Chief Scientific Adviser on options for evaluating the clinical effectiveness of Evusheld. Clinical advisers have recommended a United Kingdom clinical trial to generate sufficient data to understand Evusheld’s effectiveness against current and future variants. The ATTF are currently considering options for such a trial.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the commitment in the Women’s Health Strategy for England, published on 19 July 2022, to certify pregnancy losses occurring before 24 weeks, in what ways that certification will differ from informal certification practices already provided in some hospitals.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
There is currently no formal process for parents to register the loss when a pregnancy ends before 24 weeks gestations. While some trusts have local arrangements, such as a book of remembrance or a certificate of loss, this is not consistent and is not available for the estimated 250,000 losses which take place outside medical settings. The introduction of pregnancy loss certificates in England will allow a non-statutory, voluntary scheme to enable parents who have experienced a pre-24 weeks pregnancy loss to record and receive a certificate to provide recognition of their baby’s potential life.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure everyone at risk of exposure to Monkeypox is able to access a vaccine.
Answered by Maggie Throup
On 21 June 2022 the UK Health Security Agency published a targeted vaccine strategy which recommends that gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men at higher risk of exposure to monkeypox should be offered a smallpox vaccine. Vaccines are also offered to those most likely to be exposed to monkeypox, including healthcare workers and close contacts of infected persons. The local National Health Service will contact members of the public at risk of exposure to offer a vaccination in due course.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
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 adequacy of existing measures for preventing the monkeypox virus becoming endemic.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is working with the National Health Service and the public health agencies in each nation to prevent the onward transmission of the monkeypox virus. The public health response is kept under review to prevent the virus from becoming endemic.
Monkeypox is not a novel virus and the West African subtype which is currently present in the United Kingdom is less transmissible and largely contained within a single sub-population. We have sufficient testing capacity to meet demand and we are deploying vaccines and therapeutics which offer estimated high levels of protection against and treatment for monkeypox.