Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many intensive care units are equipped with scavenging devices to allow for a decrease in the use of disposable plastics.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure intensive care is adequately resourced to deal with the next pandemic or major national emergency.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will continue to support the National Health Service with the investment and reform it needs so it is there for patients when they need it most.
Our approach, based on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and previous outbreaks, is to ensure that there are flexible, adaptable and scalable capabilities that can respond to any future novel disease or threat to public health.
While acute care resourcing decisions are made at a local level, the existing Adult Critical Care Surge Plan provides guidance on a consistent approach by which providers of adult critical care services can escalate capacity pressures locally, regionally and nationally for action. A copy of the plan is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many intensive care unit directors are involved in disaster planning at a local level.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Exercise PEGASUS will aim to test our ability to respond to a pandemic, involving all regions and nations of the United Kingdom and thousands of participants.
At a local level, Exercise Pegasus is being delivered through regional teams and integrated care board (ICB) structures. It is the responsibility of the local system to engage National Health Service providers as necessary.
The NHS needs to plan for and respond to a wide range of incidents and emergencies which could affect health or patient care. The extent of clinical stakeholders in emergency planning will be determined by local arrangements and operational needs.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many intensive care units are contributing to Exercise Pegasus, and what are the hospital trusts involved in that exercise.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Exercise PEGASUS will aim to test our ability to respond to a pandemic, involving all regions and nations of the United Kingdom and thousands of participants.
At a local level, Exercise Pegasus is being delivered through regional teams and integrated care board (ICB) structures. It is the responsibility of the local system to engage National Health Service providers as necessary.
The NHS needs to plan for and respond to a wide range of incidents and emergencies which could affect health or patient care. The extent of clinical stakeholders in emergency planning will be determined by local arrangements and operational needs.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many ventilators are currently in store in preparation for the next pandemic or major national emergency.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department no longer holds a central ventilator stockpile. The Covid Strategic Intensive Care Unit Reserve closed on 1 March 2024, and all remaining holdings have now been disposed of. This closure was in light of significantly reduced demand from the National Health Service, and the ongoing costs of storing and maintaining ageing equipment. Over 83,000 pieces of equipment were issued to NHS trusts across the United Kingdom from the reserve, including over 16,000 ventilators. In the event of a pandemic of major national health emergency, the Department will make an assessment of ventilator requirements and the feasibility of any stockpiling options.
The Government actively monitors emerging threats to supply resilience and has established processes in place to manage disruption across the health and social care sector, working in partnership with industry and the wider health system to support robust planning and preparedness for these risks. The Department’s National Supply Disruption Response acts as the single point of contact for the medical supply industry, and for the UK’s health and care system, in the event of a supply issue that cannot be resolved via local contingency measures.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of alcohol industry messaging focused on personal responsibility in hindering progress on population-level measures to reduce alcohol harms.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises alcohol as a public health issue which requires a multi-faceted approach that includes prevention, harm reduction and treatment. There are numerous independent resources available which frame alcohol through a public health lens and provide accurate and independent advice and guidance to increase awareness of risks and harms associated with alcohol consumption, protect health and promote wellbeing in relation to alcohol consumption, such as the National Health Service website, the All Our Health: Alcohol e-training in NHS England, and various pieces of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on alcohol.
The recently published 10-Year Health Plan includes a commitment to strengthen and expand on existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages. A mandatory requirement will bring alcohol labelling in line with existing health and nutritional labelling requirements for tobacco, food and alcohol-free drinks. This will ensure greater public awareness of the health risks of alcohol consumption and help consumers make more informed, healthier choices.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage earlier and more accurate diagnosis of dementia.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.
We will deliver the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in the quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
Commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership and funded by NHS England and the Welsh administration, the National Audit of Dementia Memory Service Spotlight reports include data on aspects of the diagnostic process, including waiting times and variation in service delivery in terms of diagnosis speed, neuroimaging use, and post-diagnostic support. The aim is to aid commissioners and providers in planning and targeting improvement where appropriate.
The Government is empowering local leaders with the autonomy they need to provide the best services to their local community, including for those with dementia. That is why we have published the D100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool launched in April, with further information available at the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ website, in an online only format.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many victims of contaminated blood in the UK were infected with hepatitis D in addition to hepatitis B; and how this has affected their prognosis.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The work undertaken so far to address the issues regarding contaminated blood in the United Kingdom has been related to the hepatitis C and HIV infections.
The Infected Blood Inquiry, in its Expert Report to the Infected Blood Inquiry: Statistics noted in relation to hepatitis B (HBV), that “due to the limitations in the data available, it is not possible to answer the questions set with any reasonable accuracy when compared to other infections we investigated. There was a lack of an integrated approach at the onset of donor screening in 1971/72 to identify donors who were infectious HBV carriers. Furthermore, people infected with HBV have never received financial support, and so funds are not a source of data.”
For these reasons, the Government has not made an assessment of the number of victims from contaminated blood that have been infected with HBV or hepatitis D in the United Kingdom, due to the lack of available data.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to enable (1) people with dementia to live independently, and (2) their families to care for them at home, for longer.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.
Through the 10-Year Health Plan, we are equipping and supporting carers by making them more visible, empowering their voices in care planning, joining up services, and streamlining their caring tasks by introducing a new ‘MyCarer’ section to the NHS App.
We will deliver the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026. The commission will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.
In England, we continue to fund the locally administered Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes, through practical changes like installing stair lifts or level access showers, to make them safe and suitable for their needs. We have provided an additional £172 million across this and the last financial year to uplift the DFG, which could provide approximately 15,600 home adaptations to give older and disabled people more independence in their homes. This brings the total funding for the DFG to £711 million in 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to introduce the role of approved mental capacity professionals, and whether they plan to extend eligibility for this role to include speech and language therapists.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is currently reviewing options for the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards. The Liberty Protection Safeguards would include the introduction of approved mental capacity professionals. We will set out plans in due course, which will involve clarifying eligibility for this role.