Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what fiscal steps they are taking to help disabled children, young people and families (1) to recover from missed health and social care services during the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) to access the therapies, care, equipment and health services they need in for their future wellbeing.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The forthcoming Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for health and social care for future years. On 6 September, we announced an additional £5.4 billion to support the COVID-19 response over the next six months - a total of more than £34 billion this year. This includes £2 billion to tackle the elective backlog and reducing waiting times for patients, including disabled children.
We are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health and care services for disabled children, including access to therapies and equipment. In 2020, NHS England and NHS Improvement made clear that the restoration of essential community services must be prioritised for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities aged up to 25 years old and who have an Education Health and Care Plan in place or are going through an assessment. We are supporting access to appropriate disability equipment via the NHS Supply Chain, which maintains a framework contract for the supply of rehabilitation and disabled services equipment, such as paediatric wheelchairs.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that (1) doctors, and (2) medical students, in Myanmar have been arbitrarily detained; and what steps they are taking (a) to support any such individuals who are seeking asylum in the UK, and (b) to process any such asylum applications.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are deeply concerned by the appalling violence inflicted on the people of Myanmar by the Security Forces, and the arbitrary detention of civilians, including healthcare workers. With our G7 partners on 5 May, we called on the military junta to respect the safety of medical facilities and staff and to release all those arbitrarily detained.
Myanmar nationals who are currently in the UK can access the UK's strong immigration package according to their personal circumstances. Where there are compelling compassionate factors, individuals can apply for Leave Outside the Immigration Rules. While asylum claims cannot be made from abroad, all asylum claims made in the UK are considered on a case-by-case basis on their individual merits.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Dermatology GIRFT Programme National Specialty Report: Proposed Recommendations, published on 15 September 2020; and what steps they intend to take in response to the proposed recommendations.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) National report on dermatology was completed in 2020 but has not yet been published, therefore we have not made this assessment. The report will be published later this year, once NHS England and NHS Improvement have reviewed the recommendations.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the role of environmental health professionals has been included in the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care's plans for reforming Public Health England and other public health related functions.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We have made no proposals in our public health reforms to make changes to the role of local environmental health professionals.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has to establish a Chief Environmental Health Officer role (1) to coordinate environmental health teams within local authorities, and (2) to provide advice and support to the Department.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Department convened the Regulatory Services Task and Finish Group in December 2020 to help coordinate central government’s expectation of regulatory services teams in local government and propose short and long-term options to support the sector. The Group consists of senior officials from government departments and senior representatives from the Local Government Association and local authorities
The Group is now focussed on developing a suite of recommendations to address the immediate and systemic issues faced by regulatory services teams, which includes environmental health teams. These recommendations will address areas including the cross-government coordination of departments and the establishment of ongoing links with local authority experts.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the definition of a health institution as defined in the Guidance on the regulation of In Vitro Diagnostic medical devices in Great Britain, published in January, differs from that in the MHRA guidance on the health institution exemption (HIE) – IVDR and MDR (Northern Ireland), published on 1 January.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Northern Ireland Protocol has resulted in the European Union Medical Device Regulation (MDR) (2017/745) and the EU In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR) (2017/746) taking direct effect in Northern Ireland on 26 May 2020 and 26 May 2022 respectively. In its guidance on the application of EU MDR and EU IVDR in Northern Ireland, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has included the definition of a ‘health institution’ as determined by the EU.
The UK Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (as amended) does not define ‘health institution’. As a result, the MHRA has provided its own interpretation, which was set out in MHRA guidance on in vitro diagnostic medical devices when it was first published in August 2013. The MHRA continues to rely on this interpretation of the definition for Great Britain and this has not been altered in subsequent updates. However, this issue will be considered during the review of medical devices regulation taking place later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the proposed timescale for the (1) publication of the consultation on mandatory calorie labelling for pre-packaged alcoholic drinks, and (2) implementation of the policy following the consultation.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are committed to consult shortly on our intention to make companies provide calorie labelling on all pre-packaged alcohol they sell. The consultation will include further details about the proposed timescale for implementation of the policy.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to work with the NHS to change perceptions around organ donation to make it an expected part of care when a potential donor dies.
Answered by Lord Bethell
A system for deemed consent, known as ‘opt-out’, was introduced in England from May 2020, to make deceased organ donation the default position. NHS Blood and Transplant and NHS England and NHS Improvement have worked together to implement the new United Kingdom-wide organ donation and transplantation strategy. NHS Blood and Transplant has launched communication campaigns and partnerships to address barriers, such as the ‘Leave Them Certain’ campaign and the Community Investment Scheme and promotes organ donation at events such as Organ Donation Week and the Transplant Games.
In addition, NHS Blood and Transplant has introduced prompts for organ donation when applying for a driving licence or taxing a car. Teaching resources have been provided in all state-funded secondary schools for blood, organ and stem cell donation.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Emergency Departments currently collect data on 12-hours from the time of arrival at the Department.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England and NHS Improvement are considering a 12 hour measure in emergency departments as part of its clinically-led review of standards and have undertaken a public consultation. They will respond in due course. All emergency departments are collecting data.
Asked by: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the 12-hour waiting times from the time of arrival at an Emergency Department will be published.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England and NHS Improvement are considering a 12 hour measure in emergency departments as part of its clinically-led review of standards and have undertaken a public consultation. They will respond in due course. All emergency departments are collecting data.