Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they evaluate (1) the results, and (2) the accuracy, of COVID-19 tests; what percentage of those tests are accurate, both positive and negative; and how many people have had to be retested.
Answered by Lord Bethell
To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is their policy to renew their commitments to nutrition (1) at, or (2) before, the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth summit.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
We are still assessing options for any new commitment to nutrition now that both the Olympic pledging event and the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit have been postponed. We await further details of the new format for the Summit. We will continue to invest in programmes to address malnutrition beyond 2020 and we will continue to work with the Government of Japan to ensure the future Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit is a success.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 19 May (HL4100), when they will provide an update on their plans for UK investment to prevent and treat malnutrition.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK remains committed to preventing and treating malnutrition as part of our commitment to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children. We will continue to invest in programmes to address malnutrition beyond 2020 and we will continue to work with the Government of Japan to ensure the future Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit is a success.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that hospitals and other healthcare providers in England follow NHS England guidelines to (1) risk assess, and (2) redeploy where possible, BAME staff who are working on the COVID-19 frontline; and what assessment they have made of the implantation of those guidelines.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Guidance for all black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) colleagues working in the National Health Service has been published online by NHS England. This is in addition to information from NHS Employers on COVID-19 and the prioritisation and management of risk, including ethnicity.
NHS England will be sharing a framework of resources to support systems, trusts, commissioners and primary care teams to implement the actions listed in their online blog post, ‘A note for all BAME colleagues working in the NHS’. We would expect all NHS trusts to follow and take account of any guidance that is issued and to disseminate it as appropriate to the relevant departments or clinical areas to action and take forward as necessary.
Public Health England’s review will analyse available data on health outcomes for NHS staff, to develop a better understanding of how the virus affects frontline workforce.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many companies they have requested to manufacture personal protective equipment since 1 January; and what new contracts they have placed (1) inside, and (2) outside, the UK to manufacture such equipment since that date.
Answered by Lord Bethell
As of 15 May, over 13,000 businesses have contacted the Government with offers of help on supplying personal protective equipment (PPE). Many are related to the manufacture of PPE for the National Health Service and care sectors, a vast majority of which we are taking forward, predominantly from United Kingdom based companies but also including multinational companies. Some offers were not progressed due to financial and capability considerations.
The Department engages directly with potential manufacturers to qualify and prioritise the opportunity, based on availability of and access to raw supplies, lead-times to manufacture, and other commercial considerations. Product prototypes are submitted to a Technical Product Review process, to ensure they meet essential health, safety and quality standards for PPE. Financial due diligence and fraud prevention measures are also undertaken, after which the Department can contract with the manufacturer.
Lord Deighton is leading the Government’s efforts to secure sufficient PPE and ensure this gets to where it is needed. He is also driving forward coordination of the end-to-end process design and manufacture of new domestic PPE supplies. As at 15 May, the Department has entered into contract and placed orders with eight manufacturers to provide millions of items of PPE products to the National Health Service and carers. The volumes will increase in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on food security and nutrition globally.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Services to address food insecurity and malnutrition are part of DFID’s immediate response to COVID-19 in many of the countries where we work.
We are supporting UNICEF to make sure life-saving supplies to treat acute malnutrition continue to reach children at most risk across the Sahel as well as in Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen. We are also using programmes in agriculture, social protection and humanitarian assistance to tackle the factors driving COVID-19 induced food insecurity. We are a major funder of existing multilateral programmes in these areas. We have also committed £15 million to the World Food Programme’s recent urgent appeals.
In all cases we continue to put the poorest and most marginalised at the heart of our programmes to address the immediate and underlying causes of hunger and malnutrition, including in the face of COVID-19.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to ensure (1) the continuation, and (2) the provision, of Nutrition for Growth funding at the start of 2021.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Global commitments to nutrition made at the 2013 Nutrition for Growth Summit come to an end this year. Continued investment to prevent and treat malnutrition is important, particularly as countries face worsening levels of malnutrition in the face of COVID-19.
DFID is assessing options for the UK commitment now that both the Olympic pledging event and the main Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit have been postponed. The UK remains committed to preventing and treating malnutrition as part of our commitment to end the preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns and children. We will provide an update on our plans in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the (1) doctor, and (2) nurse, shortfall in NHS hospitals in (1) January, (2) February, and (3) March; how those positions were filled; and who took on those roles.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department does not hold the data requested.
The Government has pledged to increase nurse numbers by 50,000 in England by 2025. As part of this commitment, eligible pre-registration nursing students enrolled on courses at English universities from September 2020 will receive a payment of at least £5,000 per academic year which they will not need to pay back. There will be up to £3,000 additional funding for some students to support with childcare costs, students studying specialist subjects or students studying in areas struggling to recruit.
An additional 1,500 undergraduate medical school places are being made available for domestic students in England - a 25% increase over three years by September 2020.
The interim NHS People Plan committed to re-balancing the supply of doctors across geographies and specialties. When the final NHS People Plan is published, scheduled to be later this year, it will explore options for growing the medical workforce.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many BAME NHS staff are working directly on the COVID-19 frontline; whether such staff are provided with any specific safety information or guidance in addition to any guidance provided to all NHS staff working on the frontline; and if so, (1) what is that guidance, and (2) where such guidance is published.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Data on the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) National Health Service staff working directly on COVID-19 is not held centrally.
Guidance for all BAME colleagues working in the NHS has been published by NHS England and is available on the NHS England website. This is in addition to information from NHS Employers on COVID-19 and the prioritisation and management of risk, including ethnicity. NHS England is prioritising engagement with staff and staff networks and are looking to hear and learn from lived experience, to share guidance, and to hear views on what support is required nationally. NHS England has started a series of webinars with staff networks across organisations and disciplines using existing BAME, faith and other networks.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many BAME NHS staff have been diverted to the COVID-19 frontline in NHS hospitals since 1 January; and what percentage of those moves were not to provide additional capacity but to fill vacant roles.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department does not hold the data requested.