Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the (a) contribution to the public purse of tax, National Insurance and NHS surcharges paid by families without permanent residence in the UK and (b) cost to the NHS of care provided by the NHS to those families.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department does not collect data on tax or National Insurance payments that migrants and their family members make in the United Kingdom. Since 2015, the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) has raised almost £2 billion for the National Health Service. The Department estimates that the average cost to the NHS of care provided to an IHS payer is £646 per year.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason working families without permanent residence in the UK, who pay income tax and National Insurance, are also required to pay NHS surcharges.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The National Health Service is a residency-based healthcare system, meaning that people who do not live here on a lawful, settled basis must contribute to the cost of their care, regardless of individual tax status. All temporary migrants of more than six months are subject to the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) at the point of visa application. This allows them to access NHS services without further charge while they are here with some exceptions. The IHS ensures that individuals do not face unexpected treatment bills and reduces the administrative burden on frontline staff of identifying chargeable patients and recovering charges.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect on the number of NHS staff planning to leave the UK to care for their adult dependents living abroad of the change in the level of dependent visa applications granted on the first attempt.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment. Information on the number of staff leaving for this reason is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will amend the current guidance on Visits out of care homes so that the position of people with learning disability in residential care is the same as that of people in supported living with comparable capacity and living situations.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
From 17 May we have updated guidance to advise care homes and their residents that visits out of the home should be allowed, subject to appropriate mitigation of the risk of bringing COVID-19 into the care home. We have also published guidance on supported living which reflects the differences between supported living and care homes.
Care homes are one household with numerous residents while individuals in supported living environments have their own accommodation. The size of the household involved and the vulnerability of residents in care homes mean that we cannot regard the two groups as equivalent. Spending time with others outside the care home will increase the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for the resident and other vulnerable residents on their return. It is therefore important that our guidance provides advice on how to mitigate this risk.
In supported living settings, managers and carers should suggest safe ways to enable visiting, risk assessing individual settings and vulnerabilities, and considering the risks to others in shared accommodation. Families wishing to visit their loved ones in supported living or residential care settings should also follow the national guidance on meeting others safely, including guidance on support bubbles.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2021 to Question 187127 on Dementia: Prescription Drugs, what steps the Government is taking to (a) assess the reasons for the recent increase in anti-psychotic prescriptions in dementia care and (b) reduce the number of anti-psychotic prescriptions being administered in dementia care; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to monitor the monthly data published by NHS Digital on the prescribing of anti-psychotic medication for people diagnosed with dementia and have regular conversations with regional clinical network leads and local services to understand the patterns in prescribing and potential reasons for trends being seen.
To aid reduction of unwarranted prescribing of antipsychotic medication, NHS England and NHS Improvement are promoting good practice in respect of prescribing anti-psychotic medication in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what preparations his Department has made for covid-19 hotel quarantine for international students from (a) India and (b) other countries in autumn 2021; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department will continue to ensure that the system has enough capacity to meet the challenges of arrivals from overseas, which includes international students arriving from red-list countries. The Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Education are working together on this issue.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2021 to Questions 180914 and 180915 on Dementia: Prescription Drugs, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of people on the Dementia Register who have been issued with an anti-psychotic drug prescription since March 2020; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for a multi-disciplinary approach to rehabilitation for people affected by dementia following the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and NHS Improvement are committed to delivering high quality care and support for every person with dementia and central to this is the provision of personalised care. This person-centred approach is set out in NHS England and NHS Improvement’s resource ‘Dementia wellbeing in the COVID-19 pandemic’ which is available at the following link:
This resource accompanies the ‘Well Pathway for Dementia’ and sets out the adjustments and amendments needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including specific considerations for rehabilitation. Key priorities and actions for support are included for each step in the pathway. These initiatives will support people living with dementia in care homes and in the community.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the changes in the level of anti-psychotic medication prescriptions in dementia care in recent periods of covid-19 lockdown; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Digital publishes monthly data on the prescribing of anti-psychotic medication for people diagnosed with dementia. The number of people with a diagnosis of dementia that also had a prescription for an anti-psychotic medication was 42,942 in February 2021 or 10% of those on the Dementia Register. The trend has been stable over the last 12 months. The data does not include information on the level of doses of the medication prescribed.
NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to monitor the NHS Digital data and take steps to understand the patterns in prescribing and potential reasons for trends being seen.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the number of doses of anti-psychotic medication prescribed for people with dementia has increased during the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Digital publishes monthly data on the prescribing of anti-psychotic medication for people diagnosed with dementia. The number of people with a diagnosis of dementia that also had a prescription for an anti-psychotic medication was 42,942 in February 2021 or 10% of those on the Dementia Register. The trend has been stable over the last 12 months. The data does not include information on the level of doses of the medication prescribed.
NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to monitor the NHS Digital data and take steps to understand the patterns in prescribing and potential reasons for trends being seen.