Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure equitable distribution of the gonorrhoea vaccine to economically and socially disadvantaged communities, including minority communities and women from minority communities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The routine vaccination programme for gonorrhoea prevention is targeted towards gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), as this group is disproportionately affected by gonorrhoea infection, accounting for nearly half of all diagnoses in England.
The Government recognises that gonorrhoea and its complications can also disproportionately affect minority groups, including women from ethnic minority communities, particularly in urban and more deprived areas, where longstanding inequalities in sexually transmitted infection rates persist.
Vaccination is offered nationally through sexual health services (SHSs), which are skilled in identifying individuals who should be vaccinated, trusted by eligible cohorts, and understand the local populations they serve. SHSs can perform individual risk assessments to identify those at equivalent risk of gonorrhoea infection to GBMSM and offer vaccination where appropriate. Many services also undertake innovative and effective outreach programmes to reach those less able to access mainstream services.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation continues to keep all vaccination programmes under review as further evidence and epidemiological data emerge. Anyone concerned about their own risk should consult their local sexual health clinic for tailored advice and testing.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have provided to the NHS to ensure that spending on privately owned health apps does not interfere with the operation of the NHS app.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Privately owned health apps do not interfere with the operation of the NHS App because they are separate systems that do not share data directly or integrate with the NHS App's core functionalities.
These apps offer different services and information, and some patients might use both to supplement the core functionalities of the NHS App, such as managing personal health data or accessing private healthcare providers.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance through hospital wastewater; and what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of on-site treatment at healthcare facilities to remove pharmaceutical and microbial contaminants before they enter the municipal sewerage system.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 2024 to 2029 United Kingdom antimicrobial resistance (AMR) National Action Plan (NAP) encompasses a range of One Health activities to target the drivers of AMR. This includes understanding and reducing the spread of AMR through wastewater and built environments.
As set out in the NAP, the UK Health Security Agency’s modular ward will generate evidence on how the hospital environment contributes to the spread of AMR infection, and how wards should be designed, refurbished, and operated to enhance infection, prevention, and control. A particular focus of the modular ward is understanding how risks associated with water and wastewater can be mitigated.
Evidence will be used to inform the New Hospital Programme, which aims to reduce AMR through innovative approaches to design and care models for the next generation of National Health Service hospitals.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to expand the remit of the Care Quality Commission to include oversight of private medical insurers to ensure that insurer-led decisions do not impact clinical autonomy or patient safety.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The role of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is to regulate health and adult social care providers in England, for regulated activities set out in schedule one of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
There are no plans to extend the role of the CQC to regulate private medical insurers.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they expect to provide a response to The Hughes Report: Options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, published on 4 February 2024 by the Patient Safety Commissioner before parliament rises for the summer; and if not, on what timeframe they expect to provide a response.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different Government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prescriptions were given to women between the ages of 18–52 for sodium valproate in 2024, and what improvements have been made to the information provided to midwives to help them prepare expectant mothers with epilepsy.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of prescription items prescribed in England to women between the ages of 18 to 52 years old for sodium valproate in 2024 was 201,834.
Valproate must not be prescribed to women under the age of 55 years old who are able to have children, unless two specialists independently consider and document that there is no other effective or tolerated treatment, and the patient fulfils the conditions of a Pregnancy Prevention Programme (PPP). As part of the PPP, healthcare professionals should discuss the risks of valproate in pregnancy with the patient and the need to take effective contraception. The number of women who become pregnant while on valproate is very small and is monitored. Pregnant women with epilepsy should only be treated with valproate if there are no other treatment options.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has recently updated its guidance to assist healthcare professionals, including midwives, in supporting all women, especially those who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy. This updated guidance is readily available online.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to providing controls on the use of the terms non-toxic and quasi-ceramic in cookware.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency recognises the importance of clear and accurate labelling in relation to food contact materials. Under the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations 2012, all materials intended for contact with food must be safe and must not transfer substances to food in quantities that could endanger human health. This requirement applies regardless of the terminology used in marketing.
The terms “non-toxic” and “quasi-ceramic” are not defined or recognised as official terms under current food contact materials regulations. There are no plans to introduce specific definitions for them. Their use is instead subject to general consumer protection laws, which prohibit false or misleading claims.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 14 May (HL6764), whether (1) the Department of Health and Social Care, and (2) NHS England’s Workforce, Training and Education Directorate, either (a) hold data on the number of individual applicants for medical speciality training places, or (b) can extract such data from their existing systems.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England holds data based on the application process for medical specialty training, which allows for the identification of unique applicants. The following data is part of management information systems summarising information supplied in historic medical specialty training cycles and has not been quality assured for routine publication purposes. Applicants may have chosen to only apply to one specialty programme or may have made multiple applications within any year. The following table shows the data held on the number of unique applicants in rounds one and two of medical specialty training for each of the years 2020 to 2024 across the United Kingdom:
Entry year | Round one unique applicants | Round two unique applicants | Total number of unique applicants in rounds one plus unique applicants in round two |
2020 | 13,901 | 6,457 | 20,358 |
2021 | 17,154 | 6,685 | 23,839 |
2022 | 18,260 | 6,134 | 24,394 |
2023 | 20,297 | 6,081 | 26,378 |
2024 | 26,203 | 7,179 | 33,382 |
Source: NHS England Medical Specialty Programme Applications Data.
Round one of the medical specialty application process includes applications to first year specialty training and core training programmes, often referred to as ST1 and CT1, and some ‘higher’ medical specialty training programmes, usually at year three, often referred to as ST3. Round two is for entry to most ‘higher’ medical specialty training programmes, often referred to as ST3 or ST4. There will be a limited number of doctors who apply in a year to both rounds one and two, and therefore they will appear twice in the aggregated final column of this data.
The Department also has access to information held in the UK Medical Education Database (UKMED) which is managed jointly by the General Medical Council and the Medical Schools Council. NHS England submits specialty medical recruitment data to the UKMED. This includes more information on individual historical applications to medical specialty training, which underpins the data presented above.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the number of doctors who have applied for specialty training across all 65 medical specialties in terms of (1) individual applicants, and (2) numbers of applications, in each of the past five years; and what is the number of training places available per year in the same time period.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the total number of applications across all medical specialties for recruitment rounds from 2020 to 2024 in the United Kingdom, alongside the total number of posts available:
Entry year | Number of applications across all specialty training pathways | Number of posts cross all specialty training pathways |
2020 | 28,124 | 11,779 |
2021 | 31,890 | 11,579 |
2022 | 36,563 | 12,105 |
2023 | 42,794 | 12,680 |
2024 | 59,698 | 12,743 |
Source: NHS England, Medical Specialty Training Competition Ratios.
This data covers all round one and round two specialty training pathway programmes. The Department does not hold information on the number of individual, or unique, applicants that this comprises of. Data for individual specialties is published annually by NHS England and can be found on the NHS.UK website, in an online only format.
We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. This is central to the vision in our 10 Year Plan.
We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of general practices which have stopped offering prescriptions for hormones for transgender patients; and what steps, if any, they are taking to ensure that these prescriptions are available to all patients within a reasonable reach of their home.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold this data centrally. NHS England is currently carrying out a review of adult gender services, chaired by Dr David Levy, with the aim of producing an updated service specification. The review will examine the model of care and operating procedures of each service, and will carefully consider experiences, feedback, and outcomes from clinicians and patients. It will also look at how to overcome the challenges that some individuals face in accessing a timely prescription.
NHS England has also increased the number of adult gender dysphoria clinics in England from seven to 12, with the rollout of five new pilot adult clinics since July 2020. The rollout of these new clinics is helping to tackle long waiting times.