Asked by: Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) Marie Curie, (b) Sue Ryder and (c) other hospice care groups have adequate supplies of personal protective equipment during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We published a personal protective equipment (PPE) plan on 10 April, setting out clear guidance on who needs PPE and in what circumstances they need to use it, how sufficient supplies will be secured and distributed to the front line.
The Government recognises the vital services that hospices provide across the United Kingdom. Distribution routes for PPE are constantly reviewed to strengthen and expand capacity, and efforts are currently being undertaken to boost the service to hospices.
We have provided local resilience forums with supplies of PPE to help them respond to urgent local spikes in need across front-line services, including hospices.
The National Supply Disruption Response exists as an emergency escalation route who handle queries including the supply of PPE as a last resort.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that children’s hospices are able to procure personal protective equipment through push deliveries from the NHS Supply Chain.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We published a personal protective equipment (PPE) plan on 10 April, setting out clear guidance on who needs PPE and in what circumstances they need to use it, how sufficient supplies will be secured and distributed to the front line.
The Government recognises the vital services that hospices provide across the United Kingdom. Distribution routes for PPE are constantly reviewed to strengthen and expand capacity, and efforts are currently being undertaken to boost the service to hospices.
We have provided local resilience forums with supplies of PPE to help them respond to urgent local spikes in need across front-line services, including hospices.
The National Supply Disruption Response exists as an emergency escalation route who handle queries including the supply of PPE as a last resort.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 hospices have a reliable supply of personal protective equipment.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the vital services that hospices provide, and are aware of issues they have been facing in obtaining personal protective equipment (PPE). The Department is working on putting a sustainable solution in place to ensure continuity of supply for the hospice sector, which has recently stepped up to take the pressure off the National Health Service as part of a £200 million funding arrangement announced by the Chancellor on 8 April.
To address continuity of supply concerns, central delivery points provided by hospices to the Department will get weekly drops of PPE until they can be added to the PPE e-commerce ordering portal. The Department will continue to work with the hospice sector to ensure they have the support they need during this challenging period.
The Department holds regular calls at Ministerial level with representatives of the hospice sector to better understand the specific issues facing the sector in delivering palliative and end of life care, including PPE supply, during this challenging period.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
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 help ensure children's hospices have access to the personal protective equipment for providing palliative care to (a) children and (b) their families in (i) hospices and (ii) other community settings during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is actively taking steps to ensure that staff operating in the hospice sector, including children’s hospices, can access adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) to continue to provide palliative care to children and their families during this challenging period.
To support this, and working with key stakeholders, NHS England and NHS Improvement have developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for palliative care for children and young people in community and hospice settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is due to published shortly, and will contain guidance on the appropriate use of PPE for the care and treatment of this vulnerable group of patients.
To address supply concerns, central delivery points provided by children’s hospices to the Department will get weekly drops of PPE until they are added on to the PPE e-commerce ordering portal. Those deliveries are booked in, and the Department will continue to work with the hospice sector to ensure they have the support they need.