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Written Question
Coronavirus: Disease Control
Friday 23rd July 2021

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies research and analysis, Potential application of Air Cleaning devices and personal decontamination to manage transmission of COVID-19, 4 November 2020, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of the deployment of professional air purification systems.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department has not received or commissioned any such independent validation and no further assessment has also been made of the potential merits for the deployment of air purification systems as the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Health and Safety Executive are responsible for determining future policy and regulatory action.

The Government has established a programme to improve CO2 monitoring and ventilation across public and private sector buildings to help limit transmission in autumn and winter and improve long-term pandemic resilience.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Disease Control
Friday 23rd July 2021

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons his Department has not made an assessment of the potential benefits of professional air purification systems in indoor settings, such as hospitals where adequate ventilation, such as opening windows is not always possible or does not provide the required amount of ventilation.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department has not received or commissioned any such independent validation and no further assessment has also been made of the potential merits for the deployment of air purification systems as the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Health and Safety Executive are responsible for determining future policy and regulatory action.

The Government has established a programme to improve CO2 monitoring and ventilation across public and private sector buildings to help limit transmission in autumn and winter and improve long-term pandemic resilience.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Disease Control
Friday 23rd July 2021

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies research and analysis, Potential application of Air Cleaning devices and personal decontamination to manage transmission of COVID-19, 4 November 2020, whether his Department has received any independent validation that UV technology in standalone air cleaners provides any additional benefits to the benefits of a leakage free high-efficiency particulate absorbing filter in such a system would give.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department has not received or commissioned any such independent validation and no further assessment has also been made of the potential merits for the deployment of air purification systems as the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Health and Safety Executive are responsible for determining future policy and regulatory action.

The Government has established a programme to improve CO2 monitoring and ventilation across public and private sector buildings to help limit transmission in autumn and winter and improve long-term pandemic resilience.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Vaccination
Tuesday 13th April 2021

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

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 extending the bonus payments that GPs have received for administering the covid-19 vaccine to care home patients to the vaccination of other difficult to reach groups.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

We have made no such assessment.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Vaccination
Monday 12th April 2021

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will implement financial rewards for (a) GPs, (b) vaccination centres and (c) other local health professionals for each vaccine administered that goes above the average number of vaccines administered.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

We have no plans to do so.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Vaccination
Wednesday 17th March 2021

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance to hospital trusts on vaccinating vulnerable inpatients against covid-19 on admission rather than discharge.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

There are no current plans to issue guidance to hospital trusts on vaccinating vulnerable inpatients against COVID-19 on admission rather than discharge.

Timing of vaccinations for vulnerable inpatients, if they have not already been vaccinated as one of the priority cohorts, would be a decision for clinicians responsible for their care taking into account their risk of contracting COVID-19 relative to the potential impact of the vaccine on their treatment.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Vaccination
Thursday 18th February 2021

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish percentage rates of covid-19 vaccination for the (a) first and (b) second dose, by priority group, at Clinical Commissioning Group level.

Answered by Nadhim Zahawi

NHS England is continually reviewing the data and information it publishes about COVID-19 and the related vaccine. The level of data published about the vaccination programme has increased since the original dataset was first published.

Further information on vaccination levels across the country is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/

The latest data on first and second dose vaccinations is available at the following link:

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations


Written Question
Drugs: UK Trade with EU
Monday 15th February 2021

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

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 as a result of new customs arrangements to ensure that (a) the sight-preserving eye drops atropine and (b) other medicines sourced inside the EU are able to reach patients and clinical trial participants in the UK.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Our priority is to ensure that patients continue to have access to the medicines and clinical trial supplies they need, including eye medicines such as atropine. We continue to work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, sponsors of clinical trials, the National Health Service, and others in the supply chain to deliver the shared goal of continuity of safe patient care under all circumstances.

The Department wrote to all suppliers of medicines and medical products, including sponsors of clinical trials, coming to the United Kingdom from or via the European Union on 17 November 2020. The letter sets out how we are continuing to work with suppliers and sponsors to deliver our multi-layered approach to mitigate any potential disruption to supply of medicines into the UK, including supplies for clinical trials, now that the UK has left the EU Single Market and Customs Union.

The letter is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-medicines-and-medical-products-suppliers-17-november-2020


Written Question
Medical Treatments: Coronavirus
Wednesday 21st October 2020

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the potential effectiveness of cotrimoxazole in the treatment of covid-19.

Answered by Nadine Dorries

The Department is considering carefully all available evidence around the potential of different drugs for use in treating COVID-19, including from clinical trials in the United Kingdom and overseas. NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the National Institute for Health Research Innovation Observatory are working together through the RAPID-C19 oversight group as part of a multi-agency approach to ensure any products deemed safe and effective in clinical trials to treat COVID-19 can rapidly be brought into wider use across the National Health Service in the UK.

There are currently no UK clinical trials investigating cotrimoxazole in the treatment of COVID-19; however, we are aware of two Phase II trials using this product running in Bangladesh and Greece. These studies have not yet reported results.


Written Question
Care Homes: Greater Manchester
Wednesday 9th September 2020

Asked by: William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the arrangements are for relatives who wish to visit family members who are residents in care homes in Greater Manchester.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our aim is to enable residents to be reunited safely with their loved ones. This guidance will be updated as the risk posed by COVID-19 continues to change.

On 22 July 2020 the Government published updated guidance on visiting arrangements for care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visiting-care-homes-during-coronavirus

Our first priority is to prevent infections in care homes and therefore visits should be carried out with caution.

Care homes can develop their visiting policies based on a local dynamic risk assessment, taking into account the circumstances and needs of the individual care setting, including both residents and staff, and the external COVID-19 environment. The process of considering visitors should be led by the relevant local Director of Public Health.