Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Merron on 15 October (HL1173 and HL1174), how many GP practices and primary care centres in Sheffield have not yet received an allocation of the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board has had confirmation that all primary care practices in Sheffield have now ordered and received at least one delivery of respiratory syncytial virus vaccines.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Merron on 9 October (HL Deb col 1995), whether the working group considering apheresis capacity intends to consult stakeholders, including (1) the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, and (2) the Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre network, prior to publishing its report.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The apheresis working group was established to address issues around apheresis capacity and improve the resilience of stem cell supply for the United Kingdom. The working group is currently in the evidence gathering phase ahead of publishing its report in spring 2025.

The group is comprised of stakeholders from apheresis users, commissioning bodies, patient representatives, and subject matter experts. Each member has a responsibility for keeping wider stakeholders informed. The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult is already represented within the working group. The catapult is responsible for coordination of the Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre network. Through submissions from, and engagement with, the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, a report is in preparation on apheresis capacity across users to be discussed at the next working group meeting.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 21 October (HL1588), whether the public consultation on modern slavery in the NHS supply chain will include alternatives to the Modern Slavery Assessment tool, such as element-analysis processes.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The consultation will comprise of draft regulations which set out what public bodies will need to do to assess and mitigate the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in all procurement for goods and services for the purposes of health care in the National Health Service. This will be accompanied by guidance on how to best comply with the regulations, including how to assess risk.

The guidance will refer to a risk assessment tool NHS England is currently developing based on the six characteristics to help assess modern slavery risks, as set out in the Public Procurement Policy Note 02/23 on identifying and managing modern slavery risks. These are:

• the industry type;
• the nature of the workforce;
• the supplier location;
• the context in which the supplier operates;
• the commodity type; and
• the business or supply chain model.

The Department would of course welcome ideas and suggestions on risk assessment tools and methodologies in responses to the consultation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 19 September (HL727), what steps they are taking to improve the low recording of progesterone receptor status for breast cancer in England, as identified by the National Audit for Metastatic Breast Cancer report State of the Nation 2024, published in September.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England funded the National Audit for Metastatic Breast Cancer to reduce unwarranted variation in treatments and outcomes for patients with metastatic breast cancer. Outcomes from the audit will support National Health Services to increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help guide quality improvement initiatives. Officials at the Department and NHS England are in the process of considering the audit’s findings and next steps. To drive up the completeness of data for breast cancer, Progesterone Receptor status is already collected as part of the NHS Cancer Outcomes and Services Data set.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 19 September (HL727), how many people are diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in England each year.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table shows National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) estimates of how many people for all ages are diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in England, and their gender, each year from 2011 to 2021:

A full time series will be published alongside the cancer registration statistics once the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have published the restated population estimates.

Triple negative breast cancers may be underreported as Progesterone Receptor status is an optional data item within the Cancer Outcomes and Services Data set (COSD). The Royal College of Pathologists advises that Progesterone Receptor status is not always required to be performed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 8 October (HL957), when they expect considerations on extending the Electronic Prescription Service to conclude, and a decision to be taken.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As part of ongoing considerations, NHS England intends to launch a pilot in the coming months extending the Electronic Prescription Service to specific Detained Estate health services in England. Amendments to the National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Regulations 2015 will be made in the autumn, subject to parliamentary time.

Found: EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Baroness Merron has made the following statement under

Found: on 6 November 2024. 60 Compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights 373 The Baroness