Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
HM Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and the devolved administrations for European Union Exit preparations so far.
£21.1 million was allocated to the Department of Health and Social Care preparations for EU Exit in 2018/19, including planning for the United Kingdom leaving the EU without a deal. Spend against this allocation will be included in the 2018/19 financial accounts in due course.
Preparations for the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU will continue through 2019/20 and £50 million of additional funding from HM Treasury has been made available for this purpose, as set out in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS1205) laid before Parliament on 18 December 2018.
This Government funding is to cover all exit scenarios and is in addition to departmental efforts to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK’s departure from the EU.
The Department is preparing for all eventualities and we will continue to review resources required as events develop. We will seek to mitigate costs to the taxpayer wherever possible.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the healthcare equipment that NHS England stockpiled for use in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal has expiry dates which will be surpassed by the 31 October 2019.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
NHS England has not stockpiled healthcare equipment for use in the event of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a deal. The Department increased stockholding through its national procurement and logistics operation, NHS Supply Chain, as part of its contingency arrangements for the UK leaving the EU without a deal. The majority of the stockpiled medical devices and clinical consumables products have shelf lives that extend beyond 31 October 2019; however, as part of good inventory management practice, products are routinely rotated to ensure they are used ahead of expiry.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are breast cancer medicines that are not expected to have a six-week supply stockpiled by 12 April 2018.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
Leaving the European Union with a deal remains the Government’s top priority. However, as a responsible Government we must plan for every possible outcome including ‘no deal’.
The Government has been working closely with industry to ensure the supply of medicines, including medical radioisotopes, can continue uninterrupted in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit.
The Department is unable to discuss specific companies and medicines because, to reassure participating companies, we have committed to treating all information received confidentially, securely and to use it only for the purposes of the Department’s programme. However, we continue to work with all suppliers to ensure their plans remain on track.
We are confident that, if everyone does what they need to do, the supply of medicines and medical products will be uninterrupted.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the British Ophthalmological Surveillance Unit report of February 2017 on sight loss caused by delayed or cancelled hospital appointments, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the Government's Green Paper on prevention includes measures to tackle changes in the incidence of eye disease.
Answered by Steve Brine
We are considering a number of policy options for the prevention green paper and will be mindful of changes in the incidence of eye disease.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to Clinical Commissioning Groups on the provision of medicines in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal; and what the responsibility is of Clinical Commissioning Groups ensure adequate supplies of medicines in that event.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Department’s contingency plans aim to ensure that the supply of medicines to patients is not disrupted in all European Union exit scenarios, including in the event we exit the EU without a deal. We are confident that, if everyone does what they need to do, the supply of medicines will be uninterrupted in the event of exiting the EU without a deal.
The Department is working closely with trade bodies, product suppliers, the health and care system in England, the devolved administrations and Crown Dependencies, to make detailed plans to ensure the continuation of the supply of medicines to the whole of the United Kingdom in the event of a no deal EU exit.
On 23 August 2018, the Department sent a letter to all healthcare providers to advise of our ‘no deal’ EU exit medicines supply contingency plans. That letter highlighted the need for maintaining existing practices and that hospitals, general practitioners and community pharmacies throughout the UK do not need to take any steps to stockpile additional medicines, beyond their business as usual buffer stocks.
A letter from Dr Keith Ridge CBE, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at NHS England, outlining the steps taken thus far to protect the continuity of supply for medicines was then sent out NHS services, including clinical commissioning groups, on 17 January 2019.
More recently, on 4 February 2019, a further letter was sent out by Professor Keith Willett, EU Exit Strategic Commander and Medical Director for Acute Care and Emergency Preparedness, to clinical commissioning groups and trust Chief Executives reiterating the Department’s messaging and outlining the operational response that NHS England and NHS Improvement are undertaking at a national and regional level in preparation for a ‘no deal’ EU exit. This latest letter also includes links to previous correspondence and operational guidance.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with relevant health charities on ensuring they have advance warning of the publication of new advice on travel in the EU and EEA in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The United Kingdom Government is seeking agreements with Member States, so that no individual will face sudden changes to their healthcare cover.
People requiring treatment for their pre-existing conditions when travelling should always seek advice from their doctor and specialist unit before booking travel. They should also contact the chosen specialist administrator at the destination of travel to ensure their treatment is covered after 29 March 2019 in a ‘no deal’ scenario. Any charges to the patient should be discussed and agreed before booking travel.
The Department has been in discussion with a number of stakeholders on reciprocal healthcare after the UK leaves the EU.
Any new travel advice will be updated on GOV.UK and the NHS website as the circumstances change, including for travellers who have pre-existing conditions.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure the safety of patients with pre-existing conditions, which are not covered by insurance, who travel in the EU and would no longer be covered by reciprocal healthcare agreements in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The United Kingdom Government is seeking agreements with Member States, so that no individual will face sudden changes to their healthcare cover.
People requiring treatment for their pre-existing conditions when travelling should always seek advice from their doctor and specialist unit before booking travel. They should also contact the chosen specialist administrator at the destination of travel to ensure their treatment is covered after 29 March 2019 in a ‘no deal’ scenario. Any charges to the patient should be discussed and agreed before booking travel.
The Department has been in discussion with a number of stakeholders on reciprocal healthcare after the UK leaves the EU.
Any new travel advice will be updated on GOV.UK and the NHS website as the circumstances change, including for travellers who have pre-existing conditions.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 reciprocal agreements with EU Member States and Members of the EEA for the provision of health care to UK citizens travelling temporarily to those countries will be in place after the UK leaves the EU; and what the timetable is for those arrangements.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The United Kingdom Government is seeking agreements with Member States, so that no individual will face sudden changes to their healthcare cover.
People requiring treatment for their pre-existing conditions when travelling should always seek advice from their doctor and specialist unit before booking travel. They should also contact the chosen specialist administrator at the destination of travel to ensure their treatment is covered after 29 March 2019 in a ‘no deal’ scenario. Any charges to the patient should be discussed and agreed before booking travel.
The Department has been in discussion with a number of stakeholders on reciprocal healthcare after the UK leaves the EU.
Any new travel advice will be updated on GOV.UK and the NHS website as the circumstances change, including for travellers who have pre-existing conditions.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has publicised the potential changes to accessing and paying for (a) dialysis and (b) other medical treatment in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Government has published updated advice for United Kingdom persons resident in countries in the European Economic Area as well as for those wishing to travel to such countries after exit day with specific information on potential changes to access to reciprocal healthcare and precautions they may wish to take in a ‘no deal’ scenario.
General information is available on the GOV.UK website and country-specific advice can be found under the relevant sections of NHS.UK as well. This includes guidance for those with pre-existing health conditions, including dialysis users, and suggestions on alternative arrangements they may wish to make, should existing arrangements such as the European Health Insurance Card scheme cease, which appears as a section under the profile of each individual country.
The information provided on these pages will be updated in light of new developments and changing circumstances.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the criteria is for bids to access (a) support and (b) funding from the Government’s Carer Innovations Fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
In June 2018 the Government published the Carers’ Action Plan, setting out a cross-Government programme of targeted work to support carers over the next two years. Through this, we announced that we would be investing £0.5 million in the Carer Innovations Fund to develop innovative and creative ideas, supported by technology, to improve carers’ everyday experiences.
In November, I announced that the budget for the Fund would be significantly increased to £5 million. We will be launching the Fund in the coming weeks and will set out the criteria as part of the application pack.