Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, at what cost his Department procured the Pfizer-BionTech covid-19 vaccine as of 9 December.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason there was redacted specific contractual information concerning the (a) price of vaccine doses, (b) the use of doses, liability rules, and (c) the ownership of IP and industrial trade secrets within the UK’s Government’s procurement contracts for covid-19 vaccines; and what assessment he has made of the impacts of reduced transparency in such documents.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Specific contractual information was redacted in the published contracts for COVID-19 vaccines, as it is commercially sensitive. This redaction ensures that commercially confidential and personal data is not disclosed.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the Government's contract with Pfizer specified that any contractual dispute would be determined by three private arbitrators rather than a court.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is standard practice for contractual disputes to be settled under the International Chamber of Commerce’s Rules of Arbitration.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason his Department paid a higher price for the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine for the booster campaign in winter 2021 than in 2020.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on external consultants in each of the last five years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is shown in the following table.
2020/21 | 2019/21 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2016/17 |
£'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 | £'000 |
171,613 | 15,203 | 19,829 | 12,402 | 4,485 |
Source: Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts
The information for 2021/22 will be published in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2021/22 later this year.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
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 gardening and horticulture for people's (a) physical and (b) mental welfare.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has developed a natural environment and health programme, following an evidence review of the health effects of access to greenspace published by Public Health England in 2020, which is available at the following link:
The review found evidence that exposure to greenspaces, including through gardening and horticulture, can promote and protect good health, aid in recovery from illness and in managing poor mental and physical health.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on reducing the risk of pollution to the health of people living in urban areas through the provision of urban woodland and green space.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Ministers have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, including the impact of pollution on people’s health.
In 2019, the former Public Health England published an evidence-based review on interventions to reduce air pollution, including recommendations to reduce harm from air pollution locally, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to research by Cardiff University’s Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre, Public attitudes to death and dying in the UK, published on 2 November 2021, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding in that report that over three quarters of people in the UK think that end of life care should be of equal priority to the NHS as care for people at any other stage of life; and what steps he is taking to ensure that palliative care services are available to all people a terminal illness who need them.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Although no specific assessment has been made, the National Health Service is required to commission appropriate palliative and end of life care services as part of a comprehensive health service. The Government tabled an amendment to the Health and Care Bill which will add palliative care to the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission.
To support local commissioners, NHS England and NHS Improvement have developed seven palliative and end of life care strategic clinical networks, working with ICBs to develop and implement sustainable commissioning models for palliative and end of life care which respond to the needs of their local population.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish in full the Ministerial diary of the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care for 20 May 2020.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Ministers regularly meet with departmental officials and external stakeholders. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to research by Cardiff University’s Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre, Public attitudes to death and dying in the UK, published on 2 November 2021, what steps he is taking to improve access to information about advance planning of care for people with a terminal illness in the context of the finding from that research that over half of people in the UK do not know where to find information on planning for their care after diagnosis.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We recognise that high quality palliative and end of life care should include the opportunity for individuals to discuss their wishes and preferences so that these can be taken fully into account in the provision of their future care, also known as advance care planning.
Resources available to support healthcare professionals in engaging people in advance care planning includes guidelines and a quality statement from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), a specific module within the End of Life Care for All e-learning training programme hosted by Health Education England. Advice is also available on NHS.UK at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/end-of-life-care/why-plan-ahead/
NHS England and NHS Improvement will be publishing universal principles in spring 2022, to facilitate a consistent national approach in advance care planning in England. The principles will focus on the importance of providing opportunities for a person and their family or carers to engage in meaningful discussions, led by the person concerned, which consider that person’s priorities and preferences when they are nearing the end of life.