Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made in recent years with regard to implementing the principle of equivalence of healthcare received by prisoners with that received by the general public; and in particular, what steps they have taken to reduce the turnover of health personnel in prisons, thus reducing the need for agency personnel.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has a mandated responsibility to support the equivalence of healthcare across the detained estate. Since 2013, a number of measures have been introduced to ensure this equivalence. This includes people in contact with the justice system being a part of the CORE20+5 initiative to reduce health inequalities, as well as identifying areas for service improvement across the detained estate.
In 2020, NHS England and the Ministry of Justice introduced the Inclusive Workforce Programme, which has been designed to support regional commissioners with recruitment and retention across the health and justice workforce. This included a national benchmarking exercise to ensure that actions taken by the regions and services are informed by data and included the development of career and competence frameworks for all roles within prison healthcare, including online courses introducing people to the career options available in this setting.
The Inclusive Workforce Programme has recently undertaken a range of online events to promote and help address a range of recruitment and retention issues. There is also currently a marketing campaign being developed, under the larger ‘We are the NHS’ recruitment campaign, targeting student nurses to encourage them into prison healthcare services. There is ongoing work by Health and Justice commissioners to support retention of staff with all providers as well as market engagement to generate quality provider and staff capacity across England.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that prisoners in England and Wales have access to healthcare of equivalent quality to that received by the general public.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As a signatory to the National Partnership Agreement for Prison Healthcare, the Department of Health and Social Care is committed to working with the Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service, NHS England and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities to ensure safe, legal, decent and effective care which improves health outcomes and reduces health inequalities for prisoners.
As of October 2022, 96% of new arrivals in the adult custodial estate, excluding Immigration Removal Centres and short-term holding facilities, received an initial health screening and 83% received a further health assessment within seven days.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to ensure that the mental health of those sentenced to imprisonment is professionally checked before their sentence starts to ensure that they receive appropriate treatment; and whether they will consult the Prison Advice and Care Trust and other voluntary groups on this issue.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Liaison and diversion services operate at police stations and criminal courts to identify and assess people with vulnerabilities, such as substance misuse and mental ill-health and refer them to appropriate services and where appropriate, away from the justice system. The assessments assist magistrates and judges in sentencing decisions. We are also working with health and justice partners to increase the use of community sentence treatment requirements to reduce reoffending and custodial sentences by offering drug or alcohol treatment as part of a community sentence.
Voluntary organisations and groups representing those with lived experience are regularly consulted by NHS England on decisions relating to offender health policy and have participated in developing policy on liaison and diversion services and Community Sentence Treatment Requirements.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, what are the latest figures for the number of vacancies NHS England has for (1) doctors, (2) nurses, (3) other medically qualified staff, (4) clerical staff, and (5) other ancillary workers.
Answered by Lord Kamall
NHS Digital publishes vacancy data for National Health Service hospital trusts for doctors, registered nurses including nurses, health visitors and midwives and other staff. Information on other staff groups is not collected centrally.
The latest available data for December 2021 shows there are 8,158 doctor vacancies, 39,652 nursing and midwifery vacancies and 62,382 other staff.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements are in place for regular consultation between the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care with regards to health and care staff of all grades; whether these include regular meetings; and who is responsible for assessing the effectiveness of any such arrangements.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Officials from the Home Office attend the Department for Health and Social Care’s Cross Whitehall International Recruitment Steering Group which meets every four months. Officials liaise regularly on cross cutting issues, including the Shortage Occupation List. There has been no assessment of the efficacy of these meetings.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many persons (1) subject to no recourse to public funds under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and (2) who are undocumented, are being denied access to the NHS; and what guidance they have provided to healthcare providers on the provision of services for these individuals.
Answered by Lord Kamall
No specific estimate has been made. The duty to establish eligibility for free secondary care lies with providers of relevant services and the information is not held centrally. The Department is clear that relevant bodies must never delay or prevent treatment which is classed as immediately necessary or urgent by the treating clinician irrespective of whether or not the patient has paid or agreed to pay charges. The Department works with NHS England and NHS Improvement to provide guidance and training for the National Health Service to ensure they are correctly and consistently identifying overseas visitors who are chargeable or exempt from charge.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the annual cost of providing translations of NHS communications, particularly on COVID-19; and what assessment they have made of the impact of providing such translations.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether those who arrived as (1) refugees, and (2) migrants, in the UK in the past year are receiving priority for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Vaccination against COVID-19 is offered to every adult living in the United Kingdom free of charge, regardless of immigration status. This includes those who arrived as refugees and migrants, providing they are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination. Entitlement to free National Health Service treatment is generally based on ordinary residence in the UK. A person who can show they have taken up ordinary residence in the UK can access all NHS services immediately, including COVID-19 vaccinations, based on clinical need. No immigration checks are needed to receive these services and the NHS is not required to report undocumented migrants to the Home Office.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to coordinate health restrictions on travel (1) within Europe, and (2) more widely.
Answered by Lord Kamall
We are frequently reviewing new intelligence, including measures introduced by other countries. G7 Health Ministers met on 29 November to discuss developments related to the Omicron variant.
The UK Health Security Agency continues to monitor the situation in partnership with scientific and public health organisations across the world, including working with the countries currently on the United Kingdom’s ‘red list’ to understand the virus and possible mitigations.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the report by the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response’s COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic, published on 12 May, and (2) the proposal by the governments of South Africa and Pakistan for publicly funded epidemic protections.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The findings and recommendations of the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR) and the other review processes have informed the United Kingdom’s positions on strengthening pandemic preparedness and response. We are taking a leading role on reform of the global health architecture through the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Executive Board and the G7 presidency. This includes many of the recommendations made by the IPPPR, such as working with international partners on a proposal for a Pandemic Treaty, implementing a stronger early warning system and reducing the risk of zoonotic diseases through better surveillance.
We welcome proposals to improve pandemic preparedness and response from all states, including any proposal from South Africa and Pakistan. We will assess these when formally received, including through the World Health Assembly, the WHO Executive Board or the Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies.