Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
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 21 September 2022 to Question 48396 on Hong Kong: Foreign Nationals, where in (a) the guidance by NHS Employers entitled Criminal Records Checks, published in May 2022 and (b) other guidance it is stated that employers are sometimes required to obtain Certificates of No Criminal Conviction.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The NHS Employment Check Standards outlines the six mandated checks that National Health Service employers in England must consider when appointing to NHS positions. This includes where roles are eligible, any criminal record checks either through the Disclosure and Barring Service and where applicable, overseas police checks as aligned to the Home Office’s guidance. The standard does not specifically refer to ‘Certificates of No Criminal Convictions’ as this is specific to Hong Kong nationals and the guidance is not country specific.
The Home Office provides national guidance on the type of checks which can be obtained from any overseas country and how these can be obtained. The guidance also outlines any legal requirement for overseas police checks to enable the Home Office to grant a skilled worker visa for those working in either health or education.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
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 impact of the time taken for specialist referrals for people with suspected symptoms of Huntingdon's disease on those people's (a) condition and (b) wellbeing.
Answered by James Morris
No formal assessment has been made.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
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 availability of healthcare professionals trained to deliver specialist (a) nursing and (b) social care support for Huntingdon's patients.
Answered by James Morris
No specific assessment has been made.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the provision of mental health support for people with Huntingdon's disease.
Answered by James Morris
There are no plans to make a specific assessment. However, we will review the specification for the Clinical Genomic Service, which offers specialised neurology services for people with Huntington’s disease. This will include improving access to mental health services. The revised specification will be subject to public consultation before receiving final approval. In addition, the neuropsychiatry service specification is in development, which will outline the multi-disciplinary approach to caring for patients with complex neurological conditions who require specialised assessment and mental health support.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to meet with representatives of junior doctors to discuss their working conditions and pay.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have regular meetings with representatives of the British Medical Association, including through the quarterly Social Partnership Forum. Junior doctors are currently in a four-year collectively agreed pay and contract reform deal from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2023. Through the NHS People Plan and People Promise we are modernising National Health Service working cultures to ensure that the NHS is an attractive place to work. This includes a focus on staff health and wellbeing, more support for flexible working and a commitment to tackling inequality.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
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 potential merits of allowing senior academic General Practitioners to access clinical excellence awards.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The National Clinical Excellence Awards have been reformed and renamed the National Clinical Impact Awards. Academic general practitioners (GPs) are eligible to apply for an award if they meet the criteria within the 2022 guidance for applicants, which is available at the following link:
Access to the Local Clinical Excellence Award scheme is a contractual entitlement for all consultants employed on the 2003 terms and conditions. Academic GPs are not eligible for the scheme as they are employed on separate terms and conditions.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 134034, tabled by the hon. Member for Bristol West, on 3 March 2022.
Answered by Maggie Throup
There are several safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines already in deployment the United Kingdom. The Government will continue to be guided by the advice of the independent Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on which vaccines should be deployed in the UK’s vaccination programmes. The JCVI has discussed the potential use of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine (Nuvaxovid) in the national vaccination programme. Its considerations will be published in due course and kept under review.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has asked the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to provide advice on the use of the Novavax covid-19 vaccine in the UK vaccination programme.
Answered by Maggie Throup
There are several safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines already in deployment the United Kingdom. The Government will continue to be guided by the advice of the independent Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on which vaccines should be deployed in the UK’s vaccination programmes. The JCVI has discussed the potential use of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine (Nuvaxovid) in the national vaccination programme. Its considerations will be published in due course and kept under review.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
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 ensure that healthcare workers recruited for the NHS who are not UK nationals can acquire the necessary documents as soon as possible.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
All regulated healthcare professionals are required to register with the relevant professional regulator, such as the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council, in order to practice in the United Kingdom. All regulators have procedures in place to assess the skills, knowledge and experience of healthcare professionals who have qualified overseas to ensure that they meet standards of practice in the UK. The regulators are independent and are responsible for these arrangements.
The Department is currently consulting on legislative changes which will provide the General Dental Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council with greater flexibility to put in place alternative routes to registration for international applicants.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will request the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to publish the interactive drug analysis profiles for each covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Yellow Card scheme is the safety monitoring system operated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This scheme encourages reports of suspected adverse reactions from healthcare professionals, patients and the public for the purpose of detecting signals of new or changing safety issues. Data is used for the purpose of regulation and is held by the MHRA in confidence.
The MHRA publishes weekly summaries of Yellow Card data associated with the COVID-19 vaccines, including detailed analyses of safety signals to support understanding of the vaccine safety profiles. More specific and contextualised data from reports of suspected adverse reactions associated with COVID-19 vaccines such as the type of data included in interactive drug analysis profiles will be available by the end of 2022.