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Written Question
General Practitioners: Surveys
Monday 11th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to request that Ipsos includes a category of "Speech, Language, and Communication Difficulties” in the annual GP Patient Survey.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The 2024 GP Patient Survey includes a question on long-term conditions, which currently lists 15 such conditions. ‘Speech, Language, and Communication Difficulties’ is not one of the specific options listed in this question in the 2024 survey.

We appreciate that there are many people in England who are living with speech, language, and communication difficulties. We must strike a careful balance between breadth of coverage and the availability of space in the questionnaire. Anyone who is living with a long-term condition which is not listed is able to select ‘Another long-term condition’.

However, we record all questionnaire feedback given to us and take it into account when we review the survey every year.


Written Question
Suicide: Men
Thursday 20th July 2023

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 15 June (HL8295), how they are targeting the extra funds for suicide prevention among the minority ethnic groups with a higher than average prevalence of suicide, including the Gypsy and Traveller communities; and whether they treat Gypsy and Traveller men as a high risk category.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As part of the Spring 2023 Budget, an additional £10 million was announced for a Suicide Prevention Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Grant Fund to support people experiencing suicidal thoughts or approaching a mental health crisis. Further information about the fund will be set out in due course.

We also announced on 9 May 2022 that 113 suicide prevention voluntary, community and social enterprises received a share of £5.4 million funding in 2021/22, distributed through the Suicide Prevention Grant Fund, to prevent suicide in high-risk groups, including people from minority ethnic groups.

Whilst Gypsy and Traveller men are not named as a high-risk group within the current national suicide prevention strategy of 2012 or subsequent progress reports, we are aware of research indicating increased risk in Gypsy and Traveller groups. Every local authority has a multi-agency suicide prevention plan in place and we have published a resource to support local suicide prevention planning, a copy of which is attached. The resource emphasises that local demographics need to be considered when developing plans, and that this includes considering the needs of people from minority ethnic groups, such as Gypsies and Travellers.

We have committed to publish a new national suicide prevention strategy later this year and have been engaging widely across the sector to understand what further action we can take to reduce cases of suicides. The new strategy will reflect new evidence and national priorities for preventing suicides across England.


Written Question
Evusheld
Monday 28th November 2022

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of immunocompromised people in England who could potentially benefit from Evusheld if it is found to be appropriate for prescription on the NHS.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Health Service estimates approximately 500,000 patients in England are immunosuppressed. A minority of these patients may not respond adequately to vaccines and could potentially benefit from pre-exposure prophylaxis. The OCTAVE study found that 11% of immunocompromised patients fail to generate antibodies following vaccination and 40% mounted a low serological response. The use of antibody testing could potentially identify which patients have lower levels of protection and should be prioritised for treatment.

This data is approximate and the Department has commissioned additional advice from independent experts to refine its understanding of vaccine response and the patient cohorts which could be prioritised for prophylaxis and for other interventions. If the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) ascertains that Evusheld as a pre-exposure prophylaxis is clinically and cost effective, the National Health Service will make Evusheld available as appropriate. NICE’s appraisal will also consider suitable patient cohorts.


Written Question
Evusheld
Monday 28th November 2022

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government why, given that Evusheld has been approved for private prescription, it has not yet been approved for prescription on the NHS.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has decided not to procure Evusheld for prevention through emergency routes at this time. This is based on independent clinical advice by the multi-agency RAPID C-19 and a United Kingdom national expert policy working group, which concluded that there is insufficient evidence of benefit to recommend deployment.

While the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency gave a Conditional Marketing Authorisation to Evusheld in March 2022, it did so noting that there a lack of data on its response to the Omicron variant. AstraZeneca has made Evusheld available privately in the UK, which is a matter for individual patients and their healthcare providers. It is distinct from any Government consideration of its use within the National Health Service.


Written Question
Evusheld
Monday 28th November 2022

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what factors they are taking into account as they reach a decision on the suitability of prescribing Evusheld on the NHS.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has decided not to procure Evusheld at this time for prevention through emergency routes. This is a decision based on independent clinical advice by the multi-agency RAPID C-19 and a United Kingdom national expert policy working group, which considered all available evidence for whether treatments are likely to be effective at preventing symptomatic infection, hospitalisation or mortality from COVID-19. The groups concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence of benefit to recommend deployment at this time.

Evusheld has now been referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for evaluation. NICE’s appraisal process will consider the clinical and cost effectiveness of Evusheld in order to assess its suitability for prescription in the National Health Service. The outcome of NICE’s evaluation on the use of Evusheld as a pre-exposure prophylactic treatment against COVID-19 is due in April 2023. If NICE recommends its use is clinically and cost effective, the NHS will make Evusheld available as appropriate.


Written Question
Evusheld
Monday 28th November 2022

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect a decision to be made as to the suitability of prescribing Evusheld on the NHS.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has decided not to procure Evusheld at this time for prevention through emergency routes. This is a decision based on independent clinical advice by the multi-agency RAPID C-19 and a United Kingdom national expert policy working group, which considered all available evidence for whether treatments are likely to be effective at preventing symptomatic infection, hospitalisation or mortality from COVID-19. The groups concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence of benefit to recommend deployment at this time.

Evusheld has now been referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for evaluation. NICE’s appraisal process will consider the clinical and cost effectiveness of Evusheld in order to assess its suitability for prescription in the National Health Service. The outcome of NICE’s evaluation on the use of Evusheld as a pre-exposure prophylactic treatment against COVID-19 is due in April 2023. If NICE recommends its use is clinically and cost effective, the NHS will make Evusheld available as appropriate.


Written Question
Health Services: Travellers
Tuesday 7th June 2022

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in implementing the recommendations of the report by Leeds GATE, the University of Dundee and the University of York Enhancing Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Peoples’ Trust: using maternity and early years’ health services and dental health services as exemplars of mainstream provision, published on 14 September 2018.

Answered by Lord Kamall

This report informed inclusion health guidance, which includes Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. However, its recommendations were not intended for implementation. The report was funded through the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Programme in June 2015 to support national policy development in health, care and public health systems.

Subsequent policy development in this area includes the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities’ Inclusion Health: applying All Our Health online resource. This provides guidance for health and care professionals to prevent ill-health and promote wellbeing for people in inclusion health groups in everyday practice, including Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people. The guidance reiterates many of the recommendations in the Leeds GATE report, such as providing flexible services, supporting registration with a general practitioner and increasing collaborative working. It also includes ensuring individuals can access services through outreach activities in the community.


Written Question
Palliative Care: Travellers
Thursday 24th March 2022

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations identified by the National Institute for Health Research in its article A highly personalised approach to end of life care is needed to help Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities, published on 17 December 2021; and what plans they have to implement them.

Answered by Lord Kamall

While no formal assessment has been made, we agree with these recommendations on the importance of personalised care and healthcare professionals having discussions with individuals and families on their needs and preferences. The NHS Long Term Plan set out ambitions to improve personalised end of life care, including improving equity of access to services for all under-served populations. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s palliative and end of life care strategic clinical networks work with local systems to support the delivery of this priority, including efforts to reduce health inequalities.

Care committed to me: Delivering high quality, personalised palliative and end of life care for Gypsies and Travellers, LGBT people and people experiencing homelessness. A resource for commissioners, service providers and health, care and support staff was published in 2018. This resource was produced for commissioners, providers, healthcare professionals and support staff to offer practical guidance on effective approaches to support personalised palliative and end of life care for these communities. A copy is attached.


Written Question
Doctors' List of Patients: Travellers
Wednesday 29th September 2021

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent finding by Friends, Families and Travellers, published on 8 July, which found that 74 per cent of GP surgeries breached NHS England guidelines and the Equality Act 2010 in March and April by refusing to register nomadic patients.

Answered by Lord Kamall

NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Department are engaging with Friends, Families and Travellers on their report to understand the issues raised. NHS England and NHS Improvement have been clear on the need to continue to register new patients throughout the pandemic. Patients can register without attending the practice by delivering their applications by any means, including by post and digitally. Any patient refused registration and who is not registered with another practice may request immediate necessary treatment for a new or pre-existing condition for up to 14 days.


Written Question
Speech and Language Disorders
Thursday 29th April 2021

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which NHS Trusts do not provide speech therapy for stammering adults; what are the reasons for those Trusts not providing such therapy; and what plans they have to establish a consistent service across England to provide such therapy.

Answered by Lord Bethell

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.