Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be (1) the process, and (2) the timeline, for the expansion of weight management services available through the NHS announced in their strategy Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives, published on 27 July; and whether this will include expansion of (a) tier 3, and (b) tier 4, weight management services.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Through the new obesity strategy, published on 27 July, we are delivering a range of measures on weight management including a National Health Service 12-week weight loss plan app, expanding weight management services to help more people get the support they need, accelerating the expansion of the NHS diabetes prevention programme and making conversations about weight in primary care the norm. Further details about these measures will be available later in the year and we will engage stakeholders throughout this process.
A copy of Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which government departments will be accountable for the implementation of their strategy Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives, published on 27 July.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are committed to reducing obesity. The National Child Measurement Programme and Health Survey for England provide prevalence data which will be important in understanding the levels of obesity in England. Importantly, alongside reports such as the National Diet and Nutrition Survey which enables us to measure changes to the population’s diet, we will also be putting in place evaluation of our legislative action so we can understand its impact.
Government departments work very closely on reducing obesity and have shared responsibility in delivering these policies.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to involve people with relevant lived experiences in (1) the campaign, and (2) the implementation of policies, associated with their strategy Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives, published on 27 July.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Through the new obesity strategy, published on 27 July, we are delivering a range of measures on weight management including a National Health Service 12-week weight loss plan app, expanding weight management services to help more people get the support they need, accelerating the expansion of the NHS diabetes prevention programme and making conversations about weight in primary care the norm. Further details about these measures will be available later in the year and we will engage stakeholders throughout this process.
A copy of Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to fund private prescriptions for whole plant cannabis pharmaceutical medicines for children with severe drug resistant epilepsy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The costs of medicines associated with treatment sought privately remain the responsibility of patients. No additional public funding is being provided beyond the financial package to provide additional support for public services, individuals and businesses experiencing financial difficulties during COVID-19.
The latest National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines on the National Health Service, and we are working hard with the health system, industry and researchers to improve the knowledge base.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what steps the House of Lords administration is taking to increase the availability of halal food in its cafeterias.
Answered by Lord Laming
The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee to respond on his behalf. Following careful consideration, the provision of halal products when weighed against demand, is unfortunately not viable in terms of costs, logistics and supplier management.
Upon request for events, the Catering and Retail Service (CRS) can provide pre-stunned halal meat and poultry from certified and trusted suppliers that meet the standards for recognised accreditation schemes such as the RSPCA’s Freedom Food and Red Tractor.
CRS fully understand that all its customers do have wider individual requirements which it aims to cater for. In doing so CRS provide weekly changing menus in our cafeterias and table service restaurants offering an increased array of vegan and vegetarian options which continue to grow in popularity.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are planning to take to ensure that people with fluctuating and hidden health conditions receive the support they need to (1) find, and (2) stay in, employment.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Government is committed to reducing the disability employment gap and seeing a million more disabled people in work by 2027. We support disabled people, including people with fluctuating and hidden health conditions, to return to work through programmes such as the Work and Health Programme and the new Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme.
Access to Work supports people with a disability or health condition that affects the way they do their job to enter, sustain and progress in their employment. The scheme offers individually tailored support and advice, including a discretionary grant of up to £59,200 per year to cover costs above the level of employers’ statutory obligation to provide reasonable adjustments.
We will publish a National Strategy for Disabled People before the end of 2020. This will look at ways to improve the benefits system, opportunities and access for disabled people in terms of housing, education, transport and jobs.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish a GP-operated call/recall system to invite older people to receive the shingles vaccination.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
As outlined in both the NHS Long Term Plan and Investment and evolution: a five-year framework for GP contract reform to implement The NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently undertaking a Review of vaccinations and immunisations. The Department would not wish to pre-empt the outcome of this Review. Investment and evolution sets out the purpose of the Review as being to:
- Ensure the system incentivises achievement of appropriate uptake rates for immunisations in line with national public health uptake rates;
- Reduce the administrative burden on general practices by simplifying the system if possible;
- Clarify what is expected on call/recall for immunisations delivered through the general practitioner (GP) contract;
- Address anomalies in the system that directly incentivise some vaccines but not others;
- Look at how we deal with outbreaks and catch-up programmes; and
- Consider whether we extend the list of chargeable travel vaccines.
Recommendations from the Review will be implemented through the 2020 and 2021 GP contracts.
A copy of Investment and evolution: a five-year framework for GP contract reform to implement The NHS Long Term Plan is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to change the eligibility for Pupil Premium Plus funding to include children adopted from overseas.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government is currently considering the application of pupil premium plus to children adopted from care outside England and Wales and have not set a timetable for any changes. However, this should not prevent schools from providing full support to these children now, including, for example, the expertise of both designated teacher and virtual school heads, whose duties to promote the educational attainment of previously looked-after children include children adopted from care from abroad.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care receives when deciding how to instruct NICE in relation to whether to use the Single Technology Appraisal route or the Highly Specialised Technology route when assessing a new medicine or treatment.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Departmental Ministers, on behalf of the Secretary of State, take decisions on the final referral of topics to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal and highly specialised technology work programmes on the basis of advice from the Department’s officials. The advice summarises the outcome of a topic selection process that is overseen by NICE and includes consideration of topics against published criteria by a group comprising representatives from the Department, NHS England and NICE and informed by public consultation.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any medium to long-term horizon scanning assessment concerning medical research advances in transplantation of material of human origin in the UK and worldwide.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is directed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to conduct or commission research into organ donation and transplantation and into the uses, or development, of stem cells and tissues.
NHSBT’s Research, Innovation and Novel Technologies Advisory Group monitors research programmes that require access to donated human material where consent has been given for research. Members of the group include leading researchers who cover all aspects of transplantation. The group also has representation from the British Transplantation Society.
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), funded by the Department, also has an important role. The NIHR Biomedical Research Centre has a research theme on Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine which aims to improve outcomes in solid organ transplantation and the use of clinical advances to support the development of cell based therapies. The NIHR Innovation Observatory is a national medical horizon scanning facility which identifies technologies up to 10 years from being publicly available.