Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to introduce comprehensive diagnostic and outcome data collection on outpatient appointments within the NHS.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Detailed information is collected and published on diagnostic and outpatient appointments. These data sets include Hospital Episode Statistics, Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity, and Diagnostic Imaging Dataset.
We are working to improve the range of data we collect on diagnostic activity to support the delivery of the Sir Mike Richards Review, Diagnostics: Recovery and Renewal.
We are also working to improve outcome data collection for outpatient appointments, and from April 2022, a new facility will be available in outpatient data collection, which will report on the ‘latest Clinically Appropriate Date’ by which the patient should next be seen or reviewed.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that homeless people without access to GP services receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recognises that many people who are homeless or sleeping rough are likely to have underlying health conditions which would place them in priority group six. These conditions are likely to be under-diagnosed or not properly reflected in general practitioner (GP) records. The JCVI has advised that homeless people without access to GP services should be offered the vaccine without the need for a National Health Service number or GP registration.
There is work being undertaken to update our operational guidance on reaching rough sleepers and homeless people based on this recent JCVI advice. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to support outreach, and further work is being done to explore the availability of effective on-street models which could be used to support this work. Local teams are now prioritising all homeless people for vaccination alongside priority group six.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many homeless people have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in England.
Answered by Lord Bethell
This information is not held in the format requested. NHS Digital collects data on an admission, not individual, basis therefore an individual may be recorded more than once.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many new HIV infections have been recorded in each of the last ten years, broken down by age group; and what proportion of those infections were a clinical late diagnosis.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The number of HIV diagnoses in the United Kingdom and the proportion made at late stage of infection by age group for the past 10 years are presented in the national HIV tables which are attached due to the size of the data.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure equitable access to sexual health services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Sexual and reproductive health services are open during the COVID-19 pandemic though some are temporarily reducing their face-to-face appointments and may only be able to see emergency or urgent cases in person. The Department and Public Health England (PHE) are working with local commissioners, the National Health Service and professional bodies including the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, to discuss emerging issues on sexual and reproductive services, including contraception, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
PHE is also establishing a national framework for online sexual and reproductive health services that local areas can choose to commission for their residents. Information for the public on how to access contraception, emergency contraception, abortion, sexually transmitted infections, HIV and sexual assault during COVID-19 is online at the Sexwise and the NHS websites. This includes links to other organisations providing information and support.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the upcoming National Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy will tackle sexual health inequalities experienced by (1) BAME communities, (2) trans and non-binary, including gender diverse, people, (3) gay and bisexual men and women, and (4) people living in poverty.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The development of the national sexual health and reproductive health strategy was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that we are moving forward with the Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy, work on the strategy will be restarting shortly. We will consider issues around inequalities, tackling stigma and discrimination and other relevant issues as part of the strategy development.