Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people in England have been diagnosed with and are receiving treatment for hereditary angioedema.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The information requested is not held centrally. However, a survey of centres providing care for people with hereditary angioedema (HAE) in the last three years conducted by the HAE community found that there were approximately 1,150 patients in England, with 90% of centres responding.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which treatments NHS England's Clinical Priorities Advisory Group will be considering for prioritisation at its next meeting.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The propositions for potential consideration at the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group prioritisation meeting are undergoing the final stages of development. The final agenda, including which treatments will be considered for prioritisation, has yet to be determined. Stakeholders will be informed ahead of the planned meeting in July.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to test patients treated with macrolide therapy for non-tuberculous mycobacteria; and how many of these tests have been undertaken in England.
Answered by Lord Kamall
No formal assessment has been made. Patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteria will continue to be managed in primary and secondary care settings and treated with the current available treatments known as ‘Guideline Based Therapy’ as recommended by the British Thoracic Society.
The British Thoracic Society guideline for the use of longterm macrolides in adults with respiratory disease suggests that patients who are able to expectorate should be considered for testing for non-tuberculous mycobacteria prior to starting long-term macrolide therapy. A copy of the guideline is attached. NHS England and NHS Improvement do not hold data on the number of tests undertaken.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (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 impact on patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteria should there be a delay to the next meeting of the NHS England's Clinical Priorities Advisory Group.
Answered by Lord Kamall
No formal assessment has been made. Patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteria will continue to be managed in primary and secondary care settings and treated with the current available treatments known as ‘Guideline Based Therapy’ as recommended by the British Thoracic Society.
The British Thoracic Society guideline for the use of longterm macrolides in adults with respiratory disease suggests that patients who are able to expectorate should be considered for testing for non-tuberculous mycobacteria prior to starting long-term macrolide therapy. A copy of the guideline is attached. NHS England and NHS Improvement do not hold data on the number of tests undertaken.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Review.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department published the special educational needs and disabilities review on 29 March 2022.
We have also launched a full, accessible 16-week consultation so that everyone can have their say and the department is keen to hear from a wide range of stakeholders and interested parties. We are making sure that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their parents can respond, as well as people working in education, health and care, and charities and other experts.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Action for Children Too little, too late: early help and early intervention spending in England, published on 28 February.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The ‘Too Little, Too Late’ report recommends an increase in funding for a range of early intervention services. This year, the government announced a £500 million package to give families effective support earlier by creating a network of family hubs in half of the council areas in England and helping up to 300,000 more vulnerable families through the Support Families programme.
The report’s other recommendations include a legal duty for early help and additional data collection on early help. The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care has now set out its final recommendations, and we will consider those relevant to early help to inform any next steps.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to meet charities supporting severely immunocompromised groups to discuss how they can be involved in (1) co-creating, and (2) disseminating, (a) communication, and (b) guidance, to people regarding how to safely manage their risk from COVID-19 beyond 1 April.
Answered by Lord Kamall
We have regular meetings with charities representing and supporting patients who are immunocompromised and immunosuppressed groups. The Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Jenny Harries, is the clinical lead for programmes supporting these patients and has met with charities at stakeholder engagement sessions.
On 4 April 2022, updated online only guidance was issued for those whose immune system means they are at higher risk of serious illness if they become infected with COVID-19.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage veterinary surgeons to work in the UK to ensure that there is adequate cover for (1) animal welfare, and (2) public health.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is working with the veterinary profession, including the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, to help ensure that there will be an adequate number of vets across all sectors of the veterinary profession.
Defra, alongside the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and the British Veterinary Association, was successful in campaigning for the addition of the veterinary profession to the Shortage Occupation List by the Home Office in September 2019. This enabled employers to recruit overseas veterinary surgeons more easily. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons continues to accept the vast majority of European veterinary degrees as well as maintaining mutual recognition agreements with many English-speaking countries that allow automatic registration for overseas vets.
Defra is also strongly considering proposals from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to increase the range of activities that can be delegated to allied professionals who work with animals to ease the pressure on the workload of the practising vet.
We are also looking forward to an increase in UK-trained vets thanks to several new veterinary schools opening across the UK. These include Surrey University, which saw its first cohort graduate in 2019, Harper Adams and Keele University, the University of Central Lancashire, Scottish Rural College and a collaboration between Aberystwyth University and the Royal Veterinary College. The increase in veterinary schools will lead to an increase in UK-trained vets graduating in the longer term.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether COVID-19 tests will remain (1) free, and (2) accessible, for (a) all immunocompromised people, (b) their households, and (c) close contacts, from 1 April, for those who are either (i) symptomatic, or (ii) asymptomatic.
Answered by Lord Kamall
From 1 April, free access to asymptomatic and symptomatic tests for the public in England will end. The Government will continue to provide free symptomatic testing for patients in hospital, for whom a test is required for clinical management or to support treatment pathways and those eligible for COVID-19 treatments due to their higher risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19.
Patients in this higher risk cohort will be contacted directly and sent lateral flow device tests for symptomatic testing and guidance on how to reorder tests. Asymptomatic lateral flow device testing will continue in some high-risk settings where infection can spread rapidly while prevalence is high.
Asked by: Baroness Masham of Ilton (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage GPs to develop expertise in Long Covid to enable them to help patients suffering with this condition.
Answered by Lord Kamall
On 11 November 2021 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network published COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19. This guidance addresses the identification and management of post-COVID-19 syndrome in all healthcare settings, including primary care. A copy of the guidance is attached.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have also worked with the Royal College of General Practitioners to produce advice for general practitioners in the management of the long-term effects of COVID-19 and with Health Education England to produce e-learning modules on COVID-19 recovery and rehabilitation to support the educational development of healthcare professionals.
A one-year enhanced service for general practice aims to increase knowledge on identifying, assessing, referring and supporting patients experiencing the long term effects of COVID-19. NHS England and NHS Improvement are also developing a plan to further clarify the role of general practice, which is due for publication in spring 2022.