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 the Government is taking to prioritise pregnant women for the covid-19 booster vaccine.
Answered by Maggie Throup
On 29 November 2021, we updated our advice for all those aged 18 years old and above, including pregnant women and those individuals with severe immunosuppression who have had three primary doses, will be eligible for a booster vaccination.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises that women who are pregnant should be offered vaccination at the same time as non-pregnant women, based on their age and clinical risk group. As such, pregnancy alone is not currently a cause for prioritisation for a COVID-19 booster dose at this time. The Government has accepted this advice. The JCVI will review data as it emerges and consider further advice on booster vaccinations in the rest of the population.
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 the Government is taking to prevent online sales of products containing nicotine to under-18s.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Children and Young Persons (Sale of Tobacco etc.) Order 2007 and The Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 ensure that tobacco and nicotine inhaling products can only be purchased by those who are aged 18 years old and over. This applies to both in person and online sales. The Department will consider whether the regulatory framework needs to be strengthened to protect young people from accessing products containing nicotine online.
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 the Government is taking to ensure that people who have received their first and second doses of the covid-19 vaccine in different nations of the UK can prove their vaccination status using the NHS Covid app.
Answered by Maggie Throup
For a NHS COVID Pass to be issued, both vaccine doses must be recorded in national vaccine databases. NHS Digital has established bi-directional live data flows between England and Wales and England and Scotland. The NHS App can demonstrate vaccines administered in England, Wales and Scotland for residents registered with a general practitioner in England. Data flows will be established with Northern Ireland shortly.
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 help ensure that the Cancer Patient Experience Survey takes equal account of the experience of cancer patients who have survived and not survived cancer; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 November 2021 to Question 70278.
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 help ensure that funding for maternity services is adequate to (a) safeguard the health of mothers and babies and (b) secure good working conditions for midwives.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In March 2021, we announced £95.6 million to support the recruitment of 1,200 midwives and 100 consultant obstetricians to ensure safe staffing levels and personalised midwifery care for women and babies. The Department has commissioned the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to develop a new workforce planning tool to improve calculations of medical staffing requirements to provide safe, personalised care tailored to communities. We have also provided £6.8 million to support Local Maternity Systems to implement Equity and Equality Action Plans and implement targeted and enhanced Continuity of Carer to improve equity and safe outcomes for mothers and babies.
The NHS People Plan includes a focus on healthy working environments and safe spaces for staff to rest and recuperate. The National Health Service has established a People Recovery Task Force to develop a framework and interventions which will ensure that all NHS staff, including midwives, are safe and able to recover. We have invested £43 million in staff mental health support for 2021/22, in addition to £15 million in 2020/21. Forty mental health hubs are providing outreach and assessment services to help frontline staff receive rapid access to mental health services.
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 plans his Department has to provide under-16s with an NHS Covid Pass for travel overseas.
Answered by Maggie Throup
A small proportion of children over 12 years old have or will receive full vaccination following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice. International standards for travel require a full course to be recognised as ‘fully vaccinated’. We are exploring ways to provide fully vaccinated 12 to 15 year olds with a travel NHS COVID Pass.
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 the Government is taking to ensure that elderly and clinically vulnerable hospital inpatients are provided with the covid-19 booster jab if more than six months have passed since their second vaccine dose.
Answered by Maggie Throup
NHS England and NHS Improvement’s letter of 15 September 2021 to COVID-19 vaccination providers sets out that hospital hubs are expected to support the opportunistic vaccination of inpatients who require a COVID-19 booster vaccination.
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, on what date it became known that Immensa had delivered false negative covid-19 test results to people in the South West.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The UK Health Security Agency identified this incident on 12 October 2021.
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 plans he has to ensure the (a) experiences of and (b) quality of life for people with a cancer with a poor one year prognosis are monitored by national mechanisms so issues in care and support can be identified and addressed.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
All people with a cancer diagnosis, including those diagnosed with less survivable cancers, are invited to complete the Cancer Quality of Life Survey. This is an initiative aimed specifically at supporting long term survivorship. For cancer patients who sadly do not survive for 18 months from diagnosis other approaches to assessing their experience, such as the Cancer Patient Experience Survey, will be more appropriate.
The Cancer Patient Experience Survey will capture experiences from people treated for cancer, including people with less survivable cancers. Due to the need for statistical robustness, there is a time lag between the experience of treatment and the survey questionnaires being sent out. This creates an issue for capturing insight about the experience of patients with less survivable cancers.
The Picker Institute Europe, which carries out the survey on behalf of NHS England and NHS Improvement, reviewed the survey in 2018 and as a result guidance to trusts was amended to streamline and speed up preparations for the survey.
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 suitability of the new NHS England Quality of Life survey for people diagnosed with a cancer with a poor one year prognosis.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
All people with a cancer diagnosis, including those diagnosed with less survivable cancers, are invited to complete the Cancer Quality of Life Survey. This is an initiative aimed specifically at supporting long term survivorship. For cancer patients who sadly do not survive for 18 months from diagnosis other approaches to assessing their experience, such as the Cancer Patient Experience Survey, will be more appropriate.
The Cancer Patient Experience Survey will capture experiences from people treated for cancer, including people with less survivable cancers. Due to the need for statistical robustness, there is a time lag between the experience of treatment and the survey questionnaires being sent out. This creates an issue for capturing insight about the experience of patients with less survivable cancers.
The Picker Institute Europe, which carries out the survey on behalf of NHS England and NHS Improvement, reviewed the survey in 2018 and as a result guidance to trusts was amended to streamline and speed up preparations for the survey.