Food and Drink: Advertising Restrictions
Andrew Gwynne Excerpts(2 weeks, 1 day ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)
I wish to update the House on the Government’s progress on delivering our manifesto commitment to implement restrictions on junk food advertising on TV and online.
The country wants to see our broken NHS fixed. Our health mission makes it clear that this requires a prevention revolution, tackling the drivers of preventable illness and reducing demand on health services. One of these pressures is the childhood obesity crisis, setting up children for an unhealthy life and generating yet greater pressures on the NHS. More than one in five children in England are overweight or living with obesity by the time they start primary school, and this rises to more than one third by the time they leave. We want to tackle the problem head-on, and that includes implementing the restrictions on junk food advertising on TV and online without further delay. We will introduce a 9 pm watershed on TV advertising, and a total ban on paid-for online advertising. These restrictions will help protect children from being exposed to advertising of less healthy food and drinks, which evidence shows influences their dietary preferences from a young age.
I am today confirming that we have published the Government’s response to the 2022 consultation on the draft secondary legislation. This is a key milestone that confirms the definitions for the products, businesses and services in scope of the restrictions. This provides the clarity that businesses have been calling for and will support them to prepare for the restrictions coming into force across the UK on 1 October 2025.
As part of our response, we will clarify how the regulations will apply to internet protocol television, which delivers television live over the internet. Our proposal is to make it clear in the regulations that IPTV services regulated by Ofcom will be subject to the broadcast 9 pm watershed in the same way as other TV and Ofcom-regulated on-demand programme services. This requires clarification within the secondary legislation and, in line with our statutory duty to consult, we are launching a targeted consultation, which is open for four weeks from today.
These steps mean we can move forward to laying the final legislation and publishing guidance. I will provide a further update to the House when the secondary legislation is laid to implement the advertising restrictions on 1 October 2025.
The Government’s response to the 2022 consultation and the IPTV consultation have been published on gov.uk.
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World Health Organisation Pandemic Accord Negotiations
Andrew Gwynne Excerpts(2 weeks, 4 days ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)
I would like to update the House regarding the ongoing negotiations on a new, legally binding international agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response—a pandemic accord—at the World Health Organisation.
Infectious diseases do not respect borders. As the covid-19 pandemic showed, and the current mpox health emergency has reminded us, we can only protect citizens and economies from health threats if we collaborate closely with other countries.
Whether it is to monitor the spread of disease or to develop new vaccines, in future health emergencies we will likely rely on others, and they may rely on us, to share the information and resources we all need to save lives. It was only because of the information shared with us from countries which covid reached first that we were able to develop the vaccines that protected the UK and many around the world. More global collaboration on health threats will make Britain stronger and safer.
That is why the Government are committed to working with our international partners, including those in the global south, to negotiate a pandemic accord that enhances global health security across the world and is firmly in the UK’s national interest.
The pandemic accord presents a unique opportunity to:
protect lives, livelihoods and the NHS by strengthening pandemic prevention and response;
contribute to economic growth by promoting innovation in pandemic-related R&D;
signal to the world that the UK is taking a new approach to multilateralism and is sincere about improving equitable access to vaccines, treatments and tests.
The Government are also determined to use this opportunity to support delivery of our health, growth and security missions. We will engage closely with our developed and developing country partners to reach a consensus agreement that reflects their priorities as well as our own, to keep us all safer. We will also continue to engage with civil society, industry, and the devolved Governments, Crown dependencies and overseas territories.
Member states of the WHO have until the World Health Assembly in May 2025 to reach an agreement on the pandemic accord, following an extension agreed at the World Health Assembly in May 2024.
Targeted amendments to the international health regulations to improve information sharing and collaboration for public health emergency response were agreed at the World Health Assembly in May 2024. The international health regulations are an important technical framework that helps to prevent and protect against the international spread of disease. This set of proposed amendments updates the regulations to reflect lessons learned, including from covid-19.
Every WHO member state, including the UK, now has the right under the international health regulations to evaluate each and every amendment before exercising its sovereignty to decide whether to accept or opt out of each or all of the amendments. This Government will of course agree to amendments only if they are in the UK national interest. Officials across Government are currently analysing the amendments and will provide advice to Ministers. The Government will provide an update to Parliament on the UK’s approach in due course.
The pandemic accord and international health regulations negotiations have been the subject of significant misinformation. Both the WHO and the UK Government are clear that respect for member state sovereignty is a guiding principle of the negotiations. Co-operation with countries around the world does not compromise our sovereignty; it strengthens our security.
The Government are firm in our belief that a new pandemic accord and strengthened international health regulations that set out how countries will work together to address health threats is in all of our best interests. The world is safer when we stand together.
We will continue to update the House through the course of this Session at relevant and important junctures in the negotiating process.
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Death Certification Reform
Andrew Gwynne Excerpts(2 weeks, 4 days ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)
My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health (Baroness Merron) has made the following statement:
I wish to inform the House that reforms to the death certification process in England and Wales begin today.
These reforms focus on the experience for bereaved people and seek to support improvements to patient safety. Importantly for bereaved people, the introduction of a statutory medical examiner system provides an opportunity for them to raise questions or concerns with a senior doctor not involved in the care of the deceased. The statutory system will also help deter criminal activity, improve practice and ensure appropriate referrals to coroners for further investigation.
These reforms respond to multiple inquiry recommendations over many years and mark a significant change to processes for medical practitioners, registrars and coroners. Under these reforms all deaths will legally become subject to either a medical examiner’s scrutiny or a coroner’s investigation irrespective of whether the deceased is to be buried or cremated, delivering a more equal and comprehensive system of assurance. From today, all of the medical examiner system’s obligations, duties and responsibilities are enshrined in law.
These reforms are the result of work across a number of Government Departments including the Department of Health and Social Care, Ministry of Justice, Home Office and General Register Office, Welsh Government and the Office for National Statistics. The National Medical Examiner in NHS England oversees the medical examiner system. The Royal College of Pathologists, the lead college for medical examiners, provides training for medical examiners and shares relevant communications to all those involved in the death management process.
I wish to share my gratitude to all those involved in delivering this important reform to death certification to provide greater transparency to bereaved people on the circumstances surrounding a death.
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Covid-19 Vaccination: Autumn 2024
Andrew Gwynne Excerpts(3 weeks, 4 days ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)
His Majesty’s Government are committed to protecting people most vulnerable to covid-19 through vaccination as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
On 2 August 2024, the JCVI published advice on the covid-19 vaccination programme for autumn 2024. Their advice is that a covid-19 vaccine should be offered in autumn 2024 to those in the population most vulnerable to serious outcomes from covid-19 and who are therefore most likely to benefit from vaccination. These groups are:
adults aged 65 years and over;
residents in a care home for older adults;
persons aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group, as defined in tables 3 and 4 of the covid-19 chapter of the UK health security green book on immunisation against infectious disease.
HM Government have accepted the JCVI advice, and the above groups will be offered vaccination in England this autumn.
The JCVI also advised that health and social care service providers may wish to consider whether vaccination provided as an occupational health programme to frontline health and social care workers is appropriate in future years and that ahead of such considerations, health departments may choose to continue to extend an offer of vaccination to frontline health and social care workers and staff working in care homes for older adults in autumn 2024.
HM Government have decided that frontline health and social care workers and staff working in care homes for older adults will continue to be offered vaccination in the autumn 2024 programme in England.
The JCVI has also advised which vaccines may be used in the autumn 2024 covid-19 programme and in line with this advice the vaccines that will be supplied are the Moderna mRNA (Spikevax) vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA (Comirnaty) vaccine.
Future programmes
The JCVI has advised that infection with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 disease) continues to occur throughout the year. The current trend indicates intermittent waves occurring every few months which are consistently peaking at lower amplitude. Winter remains the period of greatest threat from covid-19 both in relation to the risk of infection to individuals and the pressures on health systems. Should population immunity to SARS-CoV-2 be maintained, it is anticipated that most people will experience relatively mild symptomatic or asymptomatic infections. JCVI will continue to review and advise on the optimal timing and frequency of covid-19 vaccination beyond autumn 2024.
Notification of liabilities
I am now updating the House on the liabilities HM Government have taken on in relation to further vaccine deployment via this statement and accompanying departmental minute laid in Parliament containing a description of the liability undertaken. The agreement to provide indemnity with deployment of further doses increases the contingent liability of the covid-19 vaccination programme.
I will update the House in a similar manner as appropriate, as and when any future decisions impact the contingent liability of the covid-19 vaccination programme.
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Death Certification Reform: Medical Examiners
Andrew Gwynne Excerpts(2 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care, my noble Friend Baroness Merron, has made the following written statement:
I wish to inform the House of the Government’s plan to continue with the reform to death certification and introduce a statutory medical examiner system on 9 September 2024. By law, all deaths will become subject to either a medical examiner’s scrutiny or a coroner’s investigation. The changes will put the existing medical examiner system’s obligations, duties and responsibilities on a statutory footing. Regulations were laid on 15 April 2024 including the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death Regulations, the Medical Examiners Regulations and the National Medical Examiner (Additional Functions) Regulations, and will come into force on 9 September 2024.
The changes will put the bereaved at the centre by providing an opportunity for them to raisequestions or concerns with a senior doctor not involved in the care of the deceased. This will improve practice and communication, support the right deaths being referred to coroners for further investigation and help deter poor practice and criminal activity.
The introduction of medical examiners is part of a broader set of reforms to death certification, coronial and registration processes. We are working closely across Government to ensure we are supporting the professions involved with relevant communications and guidance. This will be published on 9 September when the reforms come into force.
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Pharmacy Provision: Hampton
Andrew Gwynne Excerpts(2 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)
May I start by welcoming you to the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker? I congratulate you on your election earlier this week. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) on securing a debate that is absolutely crucial, not just given the specifics of the case in her constituency, but for the precedent that it sets as we plan community pharmacy provision across England. I assure her that although Lyle missed out on his week in London for Whitsun half-term, because somebody called a general election, he is on his way to London as I speak, with Allison, so that we can do London as tourists this weekend.
I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Aberafan Maesteg (Stephen Kinnock), who leads in this area. I start by paying tribute to pharmacists. It is a credit to them that surveys show that nine in 10 people who visit pharmacies feel positive about their experience. Colleagues appreciate how accessible pharmacies in towns and villages across our country are, but for too long, Governments have failed to recognise their essential role in safeguarding the nation’s health, not least in my constituency of Gorton and Denton. This Government know that people who work in pharmacies are highly trained specialists, and we are committed to helping pharmacists and pharmacy technicians reach their full potential.
Pharmacies already provide vital advice on prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines and minor ailments, but they do not just dispense medicines and proffer advice, important though that is; they must do much more than that. Many already offer blood-pressure checks, flu and covid-19 vaccinations, contraception consultations and treatment for the seven conditions covered by the Pharmacy First service. I supported Pharmacy First when I was in opposition, as I think the hon. Lady did, and my party pledged to build on the programme by making prescribing an integral part of the services delivered by community pharmacies. For that reason, in the next two years, we will ensure that every newly qualified pharmacist has a prescribing qualification, while we train up the existing workforce.
This year, NHS England is working closely with all integrated care boards on pilots to test how prescribing can work in community pharmacy, because like the hon. Lady, we want pharmacies delivering services that help patients to access advice, prevention and treatment more easily; services that ease the pressure on general practice and in other areas in the NHS; and services that unlock the knowledge and expertise that our pharmacists have to offer. This Government take the view that pharmacies can and should play an even greater role in providing healthcare on the high street. That is why we stood on a manifesto that promised to shift resources to primary care and to community services over time. Community pharmacies will play an important part in moving our health service from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. But we have only been in office for three weeks; this cannot happen overnight, and colleagues have been absolutely right to raise concerns with Ministers about the closure of pharmacies.
As we speak, well over 10,000 pharmacies in England are dispensing medicines, offering advice and delivering care, and despite closures, access to pharmacies remains good across most of the country. Four out of five people live within a 20-minute walk of their local pharmacy, but as we have heard in this really important debate, that is not the case everywhere in the country. I know, having listened to the hon. Lady, that in Twickenham it is higher than four in five, but in other parts of the country it is below one in two. In the most deprived parts of England there are almost twice as many pharmacies—a good thing—than in the least deprived, but we need better access across the country. To take the example of my own constituency, where access to pharmacies is fairly good, almost the entire population is within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy. However, in certain rural areas, and in a growing number of urban areas because of the closure programme, that is not the case. In those rural areas, there are dispensing doctors who can supply medicines to patients, and patients across the country can access around 400 distance-selling pharmacies that deliver medicines to patients’ homes free of charge. It is true that experiences vary depending on where people live, but I am aware of the specific problem in Hampton following the closure of the two Boots pharmacies that she described.
Munira Wilson
On the point about the 20-minute walk and the four in five statistic, does the Minister recognise that a 20-minute walk for me or him is actually much longer for an elderly person or somebody with multiple health conditions or mobility issues? We have to work out what measure we are using. Yes, the Twickenham constituency may have many pharmacies, but we must look at that highly localised level. That is why we need the local authority and local health boards to be involved, because actually in Hampton, as a community, the transport links are terrible.
Andrew Gwynne
I completely understand the case the hon. Lady is making. I ask her please to understand that she is pushing on a bit of an open door. It is a completely different subject, but I have had exactly the same arguments about bank closures in my constituency. I am told that as long as the nearest bank branch is half an hour away by public transport, that is acceptable. Unfortunately, computer says no when it is two buses that do not meet up in between. I agree with her that there are complexities around drawing up arbitrary limits, but generally access to pharmacies is good. We need to maximise the use of the pharmacy network so that we get more pharmacists coming in.
Alison Bennett (Mid Sussex) (LD)
I welcome the Government’s support for strengthening the pharmacy sector. The Minister talks about the workforce. Residents in my constituency have raised concerns about the pressure on pharmacists to take on more and more services that might traditionally have been provided by primary care. What assurances can he give me that he will make sure that the workforce plan for pharmacists is robust enough to cope with the extra demand?
Andrew Gwynne
We are very committed, as I hope the hon. Lady knows, to the workforce plan being as robust as it can be, so we do not just get the pharmacists of the future but the doctors, nurses, healthcare workers and so on too. On the journey to a national health service that is much more community focused and much more aligned to prevention rather than to curing sickness—we want to prevent people from becoming ill in the first place—we must ensure that at its heart is how we can deliver medicines and treatments closer to where people live. Having well-trained capabilities in the pharmacy sector to do that is very much a priority for this Government.
Returning to the issue of the two Boots closures in Hampton, the Minister for Care is aware of the closures. He asked me to communicate to the hon. Lady the fact that he will keep a very close eye on what is happening on the ground in her area.
On the hon. Lady’s specific point about bureaucracy, I assure her that the regulatory framework is always under review, and as a new Government we are keen to make improvements wherever we can. I am sure that my officials will have heard the case that she has made.
After the hon. Lady kindly reached out to me prior to the debate, I instructed officials to ask her ICB to consider her concerns again. I hear that she has had a reply that was not particularly helpful. Again, I hope that her ICB is watching this debate, and listening to her case and to me as the Minister saying from the Dispatch Box that we take these issues seriously. Good access to pharmacy services is important to her constituents and to the constituents of Members right across the House. We need to make sure that the network is protected and enhanced.
On funding, NHS England has commissioned an economic analysis of the cost of providing pharmaceutical services. That work is happening right now with the pharmacy sector and we look forward to seeing the outcome. Previous Governments dithered and delayed on finding a sustainable and long-term solution. The consultation around this year’s funding and contractual arrangements with Community Pharmacy England did not make it over the line before the election was called, so we as Ministers are looking at that as a matter of urgency.
All that we are speaking of today is against the backdrop of the most challenging circumstances since the second world war. That is why the Chancellor is carrying out an urgent assessment of our spending inheritance and will be presenting the results to Parliament before the summer recess, so that the findings can inform every spending decision we make.
In the meantime, I am afraid that I cannot update the House on this year’s arrangements. I understand that that will be frustrating to the hon. Lady, but the Prime Minister has asked me and every Minister of this Government to be honest and open about the state of the nation’s finances. I intend to keep that promise, but I look forward to working with pharmacy stakeholders to discuss not just how we solve these problems, but how we seize the opportunities for transformation in the sector, and how we deliver health and social care in the community, closer to where people need it, providing the new, innovative treatments from pharmacies where that is appropriate. This Government will always put patients before politics.
In the spirit of the friendship that we have developed over the years, particularly over the kinship issue, I look forward to working with the hon. Lady on this and other health-related issues, and on making our country a better, fairer and more equal place for her constituents and mine, with better access to health services, including community pharmacy. I hope to work with her in the years to come, and let us hope that we can improve the pharmacy services for Hampton and other parts of England.
Question put and agreed to.
Oral Answers to Questions
Andrew Gwynne Excerpts(2 months ago)
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Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)
I warmly welcome my hon. Friend, the new Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme, and thank him for raising this important issue. The UK Health Security Agency works with the regulator, the Environment Agency, to advise on health risks from landfill sites. In relation to the site in his constituency, the UKHSA undertakes monthly risk assessments using air quality data. A multi-agency group, including Government agencies and local authorities, meets regularly to review the situation and any interventions needed. I will, of course, raise his concerns with my counterparts in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Adam Jogee
I thank the Minister for his answer, and welcome him to his place. Walleys Quarry landfill in Newcastle-under-Lyme is an environmental crisis and a health one too, and my constituents Sheelagh Casey-Hulme, Jan Middleton, Lee Walford and many others are rightly scared and angry about the impact of toxic levels of hydrogen sulphide on the health and wellbeing of local people. Will the Minister come to Newcastle-under-Lyme to listen, to learn and to smell, and to help us finally stop the stink?
Andrew Gwynne
Public health and prevention are priorities for me and this Labour Government. Obviously, the Environment Agency takes the lead in this specific instance, but I am more than happy to jump off the train at Stoke—if my hon. Friend will pick me up—and visit his constituents to listen to their concerns, and to ensure that the public health considerations are amplified to Environment Agency colleagues.
Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst (Solihull West and Shirley) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)
I thank the learned and gallant hon. Member for his question. More than 500,000 fragility fractures occur every year, and up to 40% of fracture patients will suffer another fracture. I praise the campaigns by the Sunday Express, The Mail on Sunday and the Royal Osteoporosis Society for their campaigns on this. I am pleased to reiterate the Government’s commitment to expanding access to fracture liaison services. The Department is working closely with NHS England to develop plans to ensure better quality and access to these important preventive services.
Dr Shastri-Hurst
First, I congratulate the Minister and the rest of the Front-Bench team on their appointments. As a former orthopaedic surgeon, I am mindful of the impact of osteoporosis on many of our constituents, including my own in Solihull West and Shirley. In England, more than 67,000 people suffer a fracture every year, and a disproportionate number of those are women. What we do know, however, is that fracture liaison services, where they are delivered well, can prevent many of those fractures. Currently, half of the country has access to such services. The last Conservative Government made a commitment to roll them out to the whole country by 2030. Will the Minister honour that commitment?
Andrew Gwynne
The hon. Gentleman makes a really important point, and we are absolutely committed to ensuring that these services across England are better than those we have inherited. Of course, I completely agree with him about the need to improve these services in specific parts of the country, which is something we will be looking at in detail. However, I have to say to the hon. Gentleman that the one thing those of us on this side of the House will not be doing is what he has written about in “ConservativeHome”, which is health rationing and cutting back on treatment.
Uma Kumaran (Stratford and Bow) (Lab)
Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury—words I did not think I would ever say—and welcome him to his place. The answer to his question is yes. We do not just want to discuss with patients and staff; we want them to help shape the 10-year plan for the next decade of reform, which will take our NHS from the worst crisis in its history and make it fit for the future. Social care also needs to change. We will work with care workers and care users to build consensus for and shape a new national care service.
Sean Woodcock
Does the Minister agree that the voices of frontline staff, whether in hospitals such as the Horton general hospital in Banbury or carers like my mum, are still often ignored when it comes to whistleblowing? More worryingly, those voices are silenced by threats to report them to regulatory bodies. Does he agree that we need to level the field of accountability for managers who ignore whistleblowers, and that there should be a regulatory body with oversight of medical managers?
Andrew Gwynne
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have previously said that bank managers are more regulated than NHS managers. This Labour Government will pursue an agenda of greater accountability, transparency and candour when it comes to those making managerial and executive decisions in our national health service.
Dave Doogan (Angus and Perthshire Glens) (SNP)
In integrating health and social care it is vital to take the staff component along with you. It is also vital to have sufficient funding. We integrated health and social care in Scotland in 2012 and it has been a difficult road, but health in Scotland is funded £323 per head more than it is in England. Will the Minister commit to put his hand in his pocket and make sure English people enjoy the same health funding as people in Scotland?
Andrew Gwynne
I welcome the hon. Gentleman back to the House, but I politely say to him that he needs to be a little bit patient. There will be some announcements in the near future on this Government’s plans for social care. He should rest assured that we on the Labour Benches understand the integration agenda. We understand the need to fix both the NHS and social care, and this Labour Government will do that.
Sir John Whittingdale (Maldon) (Con)
I congratulate the Minister and his Front-Bench colleagues on their appointments. I welcome the suggestion that the Government are considering the possibility of a royal commission on social care and intend to address the issue on a cross-party basis, but that will take time. Can the Minister therefore confirm that, as was suggested during the election campaign, the Government will take forward the Dilnot reforms, and in particular that they will introduce a cap on social care costs, as was planned by the previous Government?
Andrew Gwynne
It was, of course, the right hon. Gentleman’s Government who kicked the can down the road on these issues. They allowed the system to spend the transformation money that had been provided precisely for the purpose of the Dilnot reforms on fixing their broken national health service. He should just be a little bit patient, as we will announce our proposals for social care shortly. He should rest assured that, as I have said to him before, this Labour Government are determined to fix both the broken NHS and the broken social care system that we inherited from 14 years of Tory failure.
Andrew Gwynne
I thank the hon. Lady for the way in which the Liberal Democrats approached the issue of health and social care during the election campaign. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has already said, we will work with all in the House who want to fix our broken health and social care system. Of course we will work collegiately across parties, and of course all issues relating to how we fix our broken social care system will be discussed during those cross-party deliberations.
Carolyn Harris (Neath and Swansea East) (Lab)
Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)
Nearly 10 children a month die from brain tumours, and I know that the public health Minister takes this issue seriously. He was familiar with the work of the Brain Tumour Charity’s HeadSmart campaign. Will he agree to meet me and my fierce campaigner constituent Sacha Langton-Gilks, who lost her son to a brain tumour, to discuss how NHS England could be persuaded to do more to inform and educate parents to identify the symptoms, so that collectively we can reduce the number of deaths?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that question. He knows that I met his constituents when I was a shadow public health Minister, and I can confirm that I am more than happy to meet him and his constituents now that I have dropped the “shadow”.
Dan Tomlinson (Chipping Barnet) (Lab)
Respiratory Syncytial Virus Immunisation Programmes
Andrew Gwynne Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)
I am today confirming that the new immunisation programme to protect infants, with a vaccine during pregnancy, and older adults against respiratory syncytial virus will start this September.
RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild cold-like symptoms but can cause severe illness, especially for young infants and older adults. There is a significant burden of RSV illness in the UK population which greatly impacts NHS services during the winter months. RSV accounts for over 30,000 hospital admissions for children under five and is estimated to cause around 9,000 admissions among adults over the age of 75 each year. The programme could free up thousands of hospital bed days and help to prevent hundreds of deaths each year.
In June 2023, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advised that an RSV immunisation programme that is cost-effective should be developed to protect both infants and older adults. From September, a routine programme will begin in England for those turning 75 and for pregnant women, who will be offered vaccination from 28 weeks of pregnancy until full term to protect their baby during the first months of life when they are most vulnerable to RSV. A one-off campaign will also run from September 2024 until 31 August 2025 for all older adults aged 75 to 79 years old on 1 September 2024.
The UK Health Security Agency is now working rapidly with the NHS to ensure we are ready, in September, to deliver the UK’s first RSV vaccination programme. The programme will save lives and protect people most at risk. We are delighted that the RSV vaccination programme will begin soon across all four UK nations.
His Majesty’s Government are encouraging eligible members of the population to come forward for their vaccination when they have been invited to do so by the NHS, to protect those most vulnerable to RSV illness and to reduce NHS winter pressures.
Older adults will be invited to come forward when they turn 75 and will be able to book their vaccination appointment with their GP.
Older adults aged 75 to 79 years old on 1 September 2024 will be invited to receive their RSV vaccination with their GP in a timely manner to ensure as many people as possible are protected this winter.
Those that are at least 28 weeks pregnant should speak to their maternity service or GP surgery to get the vaccine to protect their baby.
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