Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of effect that puberty blockers have on the (1) mental, and (2) physical, development of patients when given to them as children.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues are used in line with granted medical authorisations and ‘off label’ to treat several medical conditions in children and young people. These include precocious puberty, some forms of cancer, gender dysphoria and endometriosis.
The Department is supporting a review led by Dr Hilary Cass into the gender identity services provided to children and young people, including the use of hormone treatments. Dr Cass has recommended that the National Health Service consider establishing a formal research programme which would prospectively enrol young people where the use of puberty blockers is being considered and follow their development into adulthood. NHS England supports this recommendation and will work with the National Institute for Health and Care Research to design and commission the necessary research protocol.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of off-label puberty blockers; and how many children have been given off-label puberty blockers in the last five years.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Clinicians can prescribe medicines outside the licensed indication where it is considered the best treatment for the patient. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonists are used in line with granted medical authorisations and ‘off label’ to treat several medical conditions in children, including precocious puberty, some forms of cancer, gender dysphoria and endometriosis. Clinicians are professionally accountable for prescribing decisions and to service commissioners.
Dr Hilary Cass is currently reviewing how the National Health Service prescribes puberty blockers to children and young people with gender dysphoria. Her interim review concluded that there is insufficient evidence currently available for any firm recommendations on the routine use and that further research is needed. NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research are designing and commissioning a research protocol which will prospectively enrol young people being considered for hormone treatment. Information on prescriptions of puberty blockers dispensed in the community in England for gender dysphoria is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what cost is being charged by Pfizer for the Comirnaty Original/Omicron BA.1 medicine.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive. However, the Government has ensured that the supply agreements for COVID-19 vaccines provide access to updated vaccines, such as the bivalent mRNA vaccines deployed during the current booster vaccination campaign.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government What steps they will take to ensure that the services provided by the Gender Identity Development Service at NHS Tavistock and Portman Clinics are not replicated at proposed regional centres.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is progressing the formation of a new service model for children's gender identity services, in line with the recommendations made by the independent Cass Review. Subject to consultation, the new service model will be led by specialist children’s hospitals through an integrated multi-disciplinary team led by a medical doctor. On 21 October, NHS England launched an online only consultation on an interim service specification.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to (1) the care failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Morecambe Bay, Stafford Hospital, and Gosport War Memorial Hospital, (2) the number of NHS staff not vaccinated against COVID-19, and (3) the continued restrictions on face-to-face meetings with GPs, what assessment they have made as to whether the NHS is fit for purpose.
Answered by Lord Kamall
We are supporting the National Health Service to recover from the impact of the pandemic, improve the quality and safety of care, increase NHS staff vaccination rates and the availability of face-to-face appointments with general practitioners. The Department has regular discussions with NHS England and NHS Improvement on the provision of services. We are currently completing the annual assessment of the performance of the NHS in England for 2020/21, which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impartiality of the individual who is rewriting Annex B of the NHS document, Delivering Same-Sex Accommodation, published in September 2019.
Answered by Lord Kamall
NHS England is reviewing this guidance and will consider the recommendations made by the Equality and Human Rights Commission during this review. The Department will ensure that any revised guidance adheres to relevant equalities legislation.
The review is led by the Chief Nursing Officer for England and the Deputy Chief Nursing Officer as the Senior Responsible Officer. The review is overseen by a steering group including representatives from the Department, the CQC, NHS England and NHS Improvement clinical leads, NHS England's safeguarding Lead, and representatives from civil society organisations including the LGBT Foundation, Stonewall, Sex Matters and Fair Play for Women. Any revised guidance will be approved by senior leaders in the organisation and comply with relevant equalities legislation.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to redraft Annex B of the NHS document, Delivering Same-Sex Accommodation, published in September 2019, to implement recommendations made in the new Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance relating to single-sex wards in hospitals and nursing homes.
Answered by Lord Kamall
NHS England is reviewing this guidance and will consider the recommendations made by the Equality and Human Rights Commission during this review. The Department will ensure that any revised guidance adheres to relevant equalities legislation.
The review is led by the Chief Nursing Officer for England and the Deputy Chief Nursing Officer as the Senior Responsible Officer. The review is overseen by a steering group including representatives from the Department, the CQC, NHS England and NHS Improvement clinical leads, NHS England's safeguarding Lead, and representatives from civil society organisations including the LGBT Foundation, Stonewall, Sex Matters and Fair Play for Women. Any revised guidance will be approved by senior leaders in the organisation and comply with relevant equalities legislation.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of NHS leaders at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool Women's Hospital, and others, (1) criticising, and (2) planning to ignore, the EHRC guidance on transgender women and access to female-only spaces.
Answered by Lord Kamall
No specific assessment has been made. NHS England’s guidance Delivering same-sex accommodation is currently under review. We are working with NHS England to ensure that the privacy, dignity and safety of all patients is protected. Any updated guidance will adhere to relevant equalities legislation.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent findings by scientists at Eotvos Lorand University and the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hungary that the COVID-19 outbreak may have originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Department has not made an assessment. The United Kingdom supports a timely, transparent, evidence-based, and expert-led study into the origins of COVID-19.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why Fampridine is authorised for general NHS use in (1) Scotland, and (2) Wales, but is not permitted for new patients in England.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service in England on best practice. NICE evaluated the clinical and cost effectiveness of fampridine for use in the management of multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2014 but was unable to recommend it for routine use. NICE is currently updating its clinical guideline on MS and recently consulted on draft guidance. However, it was unable to recommend fampridine to treat mobility problems in people with MS. The independent guideline committee acknowledged that while it is a clinically effective treatment for some patients, at its current price it is not cost effective for the NHS.
NICE will carefully consider comments from stakeholders in finalising its recommendations. It is for local NHS commissioners to make funding decisions on the use of fampridine taking account of NICE’s guidance. The availability of treatments in Scotland and Wales is a matter for the devolved administrations.