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.
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 plan to maintain equivalence with the EU Regulation on Medical Devices 2017/745 during the planned transition period from March 2019 to March 2021.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government is committed to the safe and effective regulation of medical devices in the United Kingdom; we continue to strengthen safety while ensuring patients and the public have fast access to new, innovative devices.
The new EU Devices Regulations entered into force in May 2017. The EU Regulation on Medical Devices 2017/745 will be fully applied from May 2020, during the implementation period agreed with the European Union, and would therefore apply under the terms of the time-limited implementation period.
Under our responsibilities as a Member State, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency continues to work to implement the new Regulations and has met all relevant milestones set out in the legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of warehousing requirements for NHS suppliers if frictionless trade with the EU is not maintained following Brexit.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Patient safety is paramount in our exit negotiations and maintaining continuity of supply of medical products is a key part of ensuring patients continue to receive the safe high-quality care they need on day one of the exit from the European Union exit and thereafter.
The Department is working closely with cross Government agencies to ensure that there is no disruption to the supply of medical products following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, regardless of the terms of the withdrawal.
This includes enhancing existing supply chain resilience, scoping out alternative sources of supply and providing means to access critical medical devices at short notice. Warehousing requirements for centrally held stock of medical devices for the National Health Service is continuously reviewed against demand patterns and forecasts which incorporate consideration of external factors, such as exiting the EU, and is integral to contingency planning. Medicines suppliers will be taking a similar approach to their stocks.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of NHS warehousing requirements if frictionless trade with the EU is not maintained following Brexit.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Patient safety is paramount in our exit negotiations and maintaining continuity of supply of medical products is a key part of ensuring patients continue to receive the safe high-quality care they need on day one of the exit from the European Union exit and thereafter.
The Department is working closely with cross Government agencies to ensure that there is no disruption to the supply of medical products following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, regardless of the terms of the withdrawal.
This includes enhancing existing supply chain resilience, scoping out alternative sources of supply and providing means to access critical medical devices at short notice. Warehousing requirements for centrally held stock of medical devices for the National Health Service is continuously reviewed against demand patterns and forecasts which incorporate consideration of external factors, such as exiting the EU, and is integral to contingency planning. Medicines suppliers will be taking a similar approach to their stocks.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability to UK patients of fenestrated endografts, developed in the UK, manufactured in Scotland and used around the world, if the current draft NICE guidelines on Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm are implemented.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
We have made no such assessments. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and has not yet published final guidance on the diagnosis and management of abdominal aortic aneurysm. NICE has recently consulted on its draft guideline and will take the comments it has received in response to the consultation fully into account in finalising its recommendations.
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 conducted an impact assessment of the draft NICE Guidelines on Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, including the impact (1) on patients over 65 years old who may be medically unsuitable for open surgical repair, and (2) of removing certain treatment options when clinical professionals have indicated that patients require such treatment.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
We have made no such assessments. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and has not yet published final guidance on the diagnosis and management of abdominal aortic aneurysm. NICE has recently consulted on its draft guideline and will take the comments it has received in response to the consultation fully into account in finalising its recommendations.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - 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 of minimum waiting times on patients awaiting surgical procedures in (1) the South West Lincolnshire CCG area, and (2) England.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
No such assessment has been made.
How trusts schedule surgical procedures is for local determination but national guidance and support is available from NHS England and NHS Improvement to support trusts to meet maximum waiting times standards. Clinical priority is the main determinant of when patients should be treated followed by the chronological order of when they were added to the waiting list.