Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in view of the advancing mpox epidemic, especially clade Ib, and given that a recent study has found that the effect of Imvanex wanes to undetectable levels after one year, to what extent His Majesty's Government hold a mixed stockpile of the three globally approved vaccines.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Of the three vaccines, Imvanex is the only one licensed in the United Kingdom by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and in the European Union by the European Medicines Agency, for active immunisation against smallpox, Mpox, and other diseases caused by the vaccinia virus in adults.
Imvanex is the only currently available vaccine with real world evidence of protection against Mpox. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has agreed that the evidence it has reviewed is consistent with protection from Imvanex being maintained for approximately 10 years.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, since the PALM007 study has shown the antiviral ingredient tecovirimat does not always reduce the duration of mpox lesions, a mixed stockpile of antiviral agents for mpox is being considered.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In addition to the ongoing efforts to control Mpox clade IIb in the United Kingdom, there is widespread planning underway across the Government, including work by the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and the National Health Service, to prepare for any potential cases of the high consequence infectious disease clades Ia or Ib of Mpox in the UK, and to help prevent onward transmission should any cases be imported.
An established clinical countermeasures programme is a core component of our pandemic preparedness and response capability. These clinical countermeasures include personal protective equipment and hygiene consumables, vaccines, and therapeutics, such as antivirals. The programme, including the balance of antivirals stockpiled, is informed by scientific and clinical assessment of the evidence base and is kept under review, building on lessons learned from previous outbreaks and emerging evidence on efficacy from ongoing clinical trials in epidemic hotspots.
The Department has noted the recent PALM007 study. The NHS in England has a duty to make available to patients in England any treatment or product recommended as clinically and cost effective by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of the impact of extended waiting times to access NHS-commissioned mental health and paediatric services on the ability for young people to access support at the specialist gender services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In August, NHS England published a service specification for the National Referral Support Service for Specialist Services for Children and Young People with Gender Incongruence. Now referrals can only be made by a National Health Service-commissioned, secondary care-level paediatric service, or a Children and Young Person mental health service. This will ensure that healthcare professionals with the relevant expertise conduct the assessment and help determine any co-existing mental health or other health needs of these children and their onward care, ultimately ensuring a holistic approach to care for these children and young people.
The impacts of the new arrangements for referral into the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services were considered in detail by NHS England through a process of public consultation, which included publication of an impact assessment. The impact assessment concluded that the new access arrangements are unlikely to increase the waiting time into the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services for the majority of individuals, as the referral date from primary care to the secondary care service will be honoured for determining an individual’s place on the waiting list for the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Service, and waiting times for local mental health services and paediatric services are likely to be lower for the majority of individuals than the current waiting time for the first appointment with the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Service. NHS England expects waiting times into the NHS Children and Young People's Service to fall as clinical capacity is increased through the establishment of new regional providers, in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review. The consultation materials and the impact assessment are available at the following link:
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to all members of the House of Lords on 8 August, who will be conducting the observational research study; who will be included within this study; how long will the study run for; and when they expect results from the study to be published.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A study into the potential benefits and harms of puberty suppressing hormones being used as one of the treatment options for children and young people with gender incongruence is being developed through a joint programme between NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care (NIHR), the research arm of the Department. The research will be co-sponsored by King’s College London and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. It is planned that recruitment into the study will be through specialist National Health Service gender services, ensuring that individuals accessing hormone suppression through the study do so following a holistic multidisciplinary assessment within the services above. The study team has submitted their research application, which is currently undergoing scientific review.
Subject to the study achieving the necessary approvals, including ethics approval, the NIHR will publish details of the award, including the planned trial duration and study completion date, on its website. The study forms part of a wider joint programme of research and evaluation underpinning the delivery of new services for children and young people with gender incongruence. Further research will be needed to continue to build the evidence base, and our understanding of best practice in this important clinical area, including for psychosocial interventions. Work will continue with a broad range of stakeholders, to inform further study priorities.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - 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 implementing a targeted hygiene approach in the health sector and its applicability to wider societal settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
No specific assessment has been made.
The Government will continue to monitor the impact of implementing non pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic and consider any further actions required.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their LGBT Action Plan 2018: Improving the lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people, published on 3 July 2018, what progress they have made in reviewing the blood donation deferral period for men who have sex with men; who is leading that review; when they estimate that review to publish its recommendations; and what plans they have to ensure that the recommendations are relevant to all of the countries in the UK.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS Blood and Transplant are working collaboratively with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups on the criteria for blood donation, through the FAIR (For Assessment of Individualised Risk) steering group. The FAIR group is using an evidence-based approach to explore if a more individualised blood donation risk assessment can be safely and practically introduced, while ensuring the safe supply of blood and blood products to patients.
The work of FAIR was slightly delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the group has now submitted their report to the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) that advises United Kingdom ministers and health departments from the devolved administrations. The guidance provided by SaBTO is now being considered by Ministers and we will publish the conclusions in due course.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they estimate that their proposals to abolish the Immigration Health Surcharge currently paid by care workers and NHS staff will be implemented.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Work by Department of Health and Social Care and Home Office officials is now underway on how to implement the change, and further details will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had on access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), and the Department of Health’s role in ensuring that NHS England provides continuity of access to PrEP to those currently using the drug.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The PROUD trial participants continue to receive pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) at the current time. We are working with Public Health England to ensure that the on-going needs of these individuals are taken into account in planning for the PrEP trial sites in which NHS England has agreed to invest up to £2 million.