Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made use of the free flu jab list to identify patients who need to be prioritised for the covid-19 booster vaccinations.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) published interim advice on a potential COVID-19 booster vaccination programme on 30 June which is available at the following link:
The JCVI advises a two staged approach, with individuals in stage one offered a booster and flu vaccine as soon as possible from September. Individuals at stage two would be offered a booster vaccine as soon as practicable after stage one, with equal emphasis on deployment of the flu vaccine where eligible. Adults aged over 50 years old and those aged 16 to 49 years old who are in an influenza or COVID-19 at-risk group, are included in stage two.
Final decisions on the timing and scope of the vaccine booster programme, as well as cohorts and eligibility, will be made later in the year, informed by further independent advice from the JCVI.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
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 help ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place for the data collected as part of the General Practice Data for Planning and Research service for NHS Digital.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Data collected for General Practice Data for Planning and Research will be de-identified before it leaves practices and through a Trusted Research Environment.
Applications must be made through NHS Digital’s Data Access Request Service, with access strictly controlled. All applications are scrutinised and requests approved by the Independent Group Advising on the Release of Data. Organisations using this data must have a clear legal basis to do so for health and care purposes and only the minimum amount of data needed to meet the specific purpose will be made available.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
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 inform the general public about the option to opt out of the General Practice Data for Planning and Research service for NHS Digital.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
NHS Digital is promoting this new data collection through their website, engagement with media, stakeholder and patient groups and on social media channels. They have sought to raise awareness of the collection and its importance to the health and care system, but also how to opt out.
The data collection has now been paused until 1 September 2021 and we will undertake further engagement with the public.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
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 record the national rate of miscarriages.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We have funded SANDs, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity, to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support a National Bereavement Care Pathway to reduce the variation in National Health Service bereavement care. The pathway covers a range of circumstances of a baby loss including miscarriage.
The Women’s Health Strategy call for evidence sought to examine women’s experiences of the whole health and care system, including issues such as fertility, pregnancy and baby loss. We are analysing responses on miscarriage to ensure that the strategy reflects what women identify as priorities. We will consider recording all miscarriages as part of this work.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
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 improve the care for women who experience a miscarriage.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We have funded SANDs, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity, to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support a National Bereavement Care Pathway to reduce the variation in National Health Service bereavement care. The pathway covers a range of circumstances of a baby loss including miscarriage.
The Women’s Health Strategy call for evidence sought to examine women’s experiences of the whole health and care system, including issues such as fertility, pregnancy and baby loss. We are analysing responses on miscarriage to ensure that the strategy reflects what women identify as priorities. We will consider recording all miscarriages as part of this work.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
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 its Tackling Obesity Strategy does not promote crash diets.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We carefully consider all views and potential impacts of our measures to reduce obesity and its effects on individual health. This includes feedback from a wide range of experts and stakeholders on specific policy proposals and in response to our public consultations.
Public Health England and the National Health Service are supporting local areas to increase weight management services, with the aim to reach population groups most in need. This includes local implementation of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines relating to obesity, which includes identification of obesity status and recommends appropriate weight management approaches to care and support individuals living with severe obesity. NICE’s guidelines on obesity assessment, identification and management are available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg189/chapter/1-Recommendations
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
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 funding a network of early support hubs for young people to access mental health support.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Government is investigating the early access model of support, but there are no present plans to create a network of early support hubs across the country. There are currently around 60 ‘hubs’ in England which feature early intervention and prevention services. They are locally designed and funded and often provide several services such as sexual health clinics or careers advice. Clinical commissioning groups and local authorities work with local partners to understand local needs and commission services on that basis.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will increase funding for (a) paid and (b) unpaid carers to have access to breaks from their caring responsibilities.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Act 2014 introduced rights for carers which includes an assessment of and support for, their needs where eligible. During the pandemic, we have provided £1.35 billion via the Infection Control Fund, part of which has been used to support the safe reopening of day and respite services. In addition, we have committed at least £6.9 billion in 2021-2022 to the Better Care Fund, which includes funding that can be used on social care support, including respite services.
We have also taken steps to support the social care sector workforce during the pandemic. To support the wellbeing of social care workers, the Department, the National Health Service and other organisations have provided a package of emotional, psychological and practical resources. This includes support helplines, guidance, bereavement resources and a bespoke package of support for registered managers.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will make it its policy to make community support available to prevent people with learning disabilities from being admitted to inpatient units.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
‘Building the right support’, published in October 2015, is our national plan to improve the quality of care, reduce avoidable admissions and reduce reliance on specialist inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to increased investment in intensive, crisis and forensic community support for people with a learning disability and autistic people by 2023/24, which will enable more people to receive personalised care in the community and reduce preventable admissions to inpatient services.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will conduct an independent inquiry and evaluation of Serenity Integrated Mentoring within the NHS, with regards to its evidence base, safety, legality, ethics, governance and acceptability to service users.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We have no plans to conduct such an inquiry. However, in light of the concerns that have been raised regarding the Serenity Integrated Mentoring model, NHS England and NHS Improvement have written to the medical directors of National Health Service mental health trusts asking them to review the implementation of Serenity Integrated Mentoring and similar models in trusts, in partnership with local patient representatives and those who might have been in the care of such models.
NHS England and NHS Improvement intend to gather learning from these local reviews, to inform the expansion and transformation of community and crisis care services for adults and older adults with mental health needs as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.