Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific plans they have to introduce legislation on the prescription of puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria issues, and whether they plan to address the issue of such drugs being brought into England from Northern Ireland using prescriptions by private providers, and from other jurisdictions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is inclined to renew the emergency banning order on puberty blockers with a view to converting it to a permanent ban, subject to appropriate consultation.
Human medicines and healthcare are transferred matters in respect of Northern Ireland. We are engaging with the Northern Ireland Executive, including on whether the ban should apply across the United Kingdom. We are committed to providing young people with holistic care, in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - 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 the EU's decision to prohibit the use and export of dental amalgam by 1 January 2025 on dentistry in Northern Ireland due to the Windsor Framework and Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The explanatory memorandum (EM) for European Union (EU) mercury products legislation COM(23)395 and C(23)4683, was published on 1 November 2023. The EM provides a summary of the proposal to amend EU regulation 2017/852 on the manufacture, import and export of mercury products. The Department of Health and Social Care is continuing to work with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to assess all possible impacts of the decision.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of amendments to Article 1 (Definitions) and the proposed new Article 13A (WHO-led International Public Health Response) of the International Health Regulations of the World Health Organisation, designed to give the organisation's recommendations binding effect on member states during a public health emergency of international concern.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) are a key part of the global health security system to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease. The Government continues to formulate positions during ongoing textual negotiations on the proposed amendments and continues to engage with other World Health Organization member states on the matter.
The Government has a strong commitment and duty to implement international law that it is subject to. However, the United Kingdom will not sign up to any measures that compromise the UK’s ability to take decisions on national measures concerning public health.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to proposing amendments to the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations (2005).
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) are a key part of the global health security system to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease. The United Kingdom wants to ensure that countries’ obligations under the IHR remain fit for purpose and reflect lessons learned through the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to see stronger global commitment to effective disease surveillance, early reporting of potential health threats and transparency in sharing information. These issues are already on the table and form part of the multilateral discussions on amendments to the IHR. The UK continues to participate in the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005).
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to oppose proposed amendments to Article 3 of the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations (2005) which would replace the current reference that the regulations should be implemented with “full respect for the dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons” with text referring to “equity, inclusivity, coherence and solidarity”.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government continues to formulate positions ahead of textual negotiations on the proposed amendments and continues to engage with other World Health Organization member states on the matter. The United Kingdom views respect for human rights as an important principle in the International Health Regulations (2005).
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many women from Northern Ireland had abortions in England and Wales in 2021; what was the percentage change in this figure between 2020 and 2021; and how many of the abortions for women from Northern Ireland that were carried out in England were (1) surgical, and (2) through the prescription of pills.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
This information is not collected in the format requested. However, in 2021, there were 161 abortions involving women from Northern Ireland in England and Wales. This represents a decrease of 56.6% between 2020 and 2021. In 2021, 132 abortions for women from Northern Ireland carried out in England were surgical and 29 abortions were medical.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria his Department uses to estimate the average cost per year in England on treating non-EEA surcharge payers.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The estimate of the average cost per year in England of treating non-European Economic Area surcharge payers is based on the actual costs of treating surcharge payers in secondary care, and estimates for other National Health Service services based on age, gender and other demographics relative to the general population in England.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the regulation of section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 on medical devices containing computers.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Department has not made any assessment of the effect of the regulation of section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 on medical devices containing computers.
Section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 places duties on any person who designs, manufacturers, imports or supplies any article for use at work to ensure that it will be safe and without risks to health. In general this applies to all devices used in the workplace but there are exceptions, such as medical devices, which are regulated by specific regulations that set out more detailed duties.
The Medical Devices Regulations 2002 deal with the design, manufacture, import or supply of medical devices, including those which may contain computers/software. It is for the designer, manufacturer, importer or supplier to demonstrate that their product is safe. These regulations transpose the requirements of the following European Directives concerning product safety for medical devices:
- Council Directive 90/385/EEC on Active Implantable Medical Devices (AIMDD)(1990);
- Council Directive 93/42/EEC on Medical Devices (MDD)(1993); and
- Council Directive 98/79/EC on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices (IVDMD)(1998).
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) regulates medical devices in the United Kingdom. The following link provides more information on MHRA and its role:
https://www.gov.uk/topic/medicines-medical-devices-blood/medical-devices-regulation-safety
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of recent trends in the shortage of supply for drugs; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Brine
30 concessionary prices have been granted so far for the month of January. However, we are still considering requests from the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee for January. The concessionary prices granted for each month can be found on the website of the NHS Business Services Authority.
In primary care, concessionary prices ensure that patients continue to get their medication and community pharmacists are reimbursed fairly if the price of a generic medicine suddenly increases and community pharmacies cannot purchase the medicine at the price listed in the Drug Tariff. The sudden increase in a price may be the consequence of a supply issue but may have other causes including normal market forces leading to prices going up. Concessionary prices are granted for one month.
Whilst a supply issue may lead to a price increase and therefore a concessionary price, the number of concessionary prices granted is not an indication of the number of medicines supply issues.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of generic drugs his Department is currently paying a premium for due to shortage of supply.
Answered by Steve Brine
30 concessionary prices have been granted so far for the month of January. However, we are still considering requests from the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee for January. The concessionary prices granted for each month can be found on the website of the NHS Business Services Authority.
In primary care, concessionary prices ensure that patients continue to get their medication and community pharmacists are reimbursed fairly if the price of a generic medicine suddenly increases and community pharmacies cannot purchase the medicine at the price listed in the Drug Tariff. The sudden increase in a price may be the consequence of a supply issue but may have other causes including normal market forces leading to prices going up. Concessionary prices are granted for one month.
Whilst a supply issue may lead to a price increase and therefore a concessionary price, the number of concessionary prices granted is not an indication of the number of medicines supply issues.