Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many severe asthma patients are receiving biologic therapies through (a) the severe asthma networks and (b) other services.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No estimate has been made and information on the number of severe asthma patients are receiving biologic therapies is not available in the format requested.
Clinicians are responsible for making prescribing decisions for their patients, taking into account the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisals and guidance on management of asthma and the local commissioning decisions. Prescribing of biologics for severe asthma is co-ordinated through severe asthma centre multi-disciplinary teams to ensure current treatments are optimised and all appropriate treatments are considered with use of biologics as part of the treatment review for each patient.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the size of the eligible population among severe asthma suffers for biologic treatments.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No estimate has been made and information on the number of severe asthma patients are receiving biologic therapies is not available in the format requested.
Clinicians are responsible for making prescribing decisions for their patients, taking into account the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisals and guidance on management of asthma and the local commissioning decisions. Prescribing of biologics for severe asthma is co-ordinated through severe asthma centre multi-disciplinary teams to ensure current treatments are optimised and all appropriate treatments are considered with use of biologics as part of the treatment review for each patient.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timescale is for patients with severe asthma who are shielding during the covid-19 outbreak and who have been taught to self-administer their medication at home to return to clinical supervision.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
People with severe asthma are not currently being asked to shield. The decision to continue self-administration of home biologics will be made between the person with severe asthma and their specialist centre on how best to manage their condition.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what help is available for asthma sufferers to enable them to continue to self-administer their medication due to the pressures on the NHS during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Specialist respiratory services for severe asthma, along with urgent and emergency treatment for other serious complaints, have continued throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. In most cases people with severe asthma have been able to receive their medication at home instead of having to attend hospital.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence COVID-19 rapid guideline on severe asthma promoted the use of home delivery for biologic treatments to maintain access and reduce the risks to patients of COVID-19 exposure. The NHS England severe asthma ‘Accelerated Access Collaborative’ will continue to focus on the area of home administration.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what has been the effect of home delivery of biologic medication for asthma patients on patient outcomes.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No specific assessment has been made of the effect of home delivery of asthma biologic medication on patient outcomes.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the roll out of asthma diagnostic hubs, set out in NICE Guidance NG80.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Community Diagnostic Hubs (CDHs), which diagnose a number of conditions, will be launched in place of asthma diagnostic hubs. Diagnostics for respiratory conditions are part of the proposed ‘core’ services to be provided by CDHs. A review of diagnostics in the NHS Long Term Plan, highlighted that patients with respiratory symptoms would benefit from this facility due to the number of diagnostic tests that they use.
In 2021/22, £325 million has been allocated for diagnostic services. Discussions on how funding will be allocated are ongoing. Plans for mobilisation of CDHs from across England are currently under review. NHS England and NHS Improvement have approved the mobilisation of some early adopter sites from summer 2021 with more CDHs opening from autumn 2021.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
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 merits of making prescriptions available for biologics for (a) severe asthma and (b) asthma that is difficult to control, available within secondary care.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Clinicians are responsible for making prescribing decisions for their patients, taking into account the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisals and guidance on management of asthma and the local commissioning decisions of their respective clinical commissioning groups.
Prescribing of biologics is co-ordinated through severe asthma centre multi-disciplinary team to ensure current treatments are optimised and all appropriate treatments are considered with use of biologics as part of the treatment review for each patient. The biologic prescribing pathway is one of the areas of focus for the NHS England Severe Asthma Accelerated Access Collaborative.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
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 restore severe asthma referrals to pre-covid-19 levels.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon MP) on 7 July to Question 13943.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
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 support clinical choice in asthma treatment in the provision of biologic treatments, as recommended in the APPG report, entitled Improving Asthma Outcomes in the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There has been significant increase in the use of biologics in the last three years. The decision to start a biologic treatment for asthma is made by specialist severe asthma multi-disciplinary teams (MDT) based in severe asthma centres on clinical grounds. The MDT considers all aspects of the patients’ illness, efficacy of current treatments and other treatment options. Patients receiving biologics are closely monitored to ensure that they are receiving the right treatment to help manage their symptoms.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
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 (a) the efficacy of remote consultations for asthma treatment and (b) the effect remote consultations has had on outcomes for asthma patients.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No specific assessment has been made.