Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Merron on 11 September (HL Deb col 1562) that they propose that 250 micrograms of folic acid per 100 grams should be added to non-wholemeal wheat flour, what scientific advice they have received on the maximum volume of folic acid per 100 grams that could be added to non-wholemeal wheat flour without damaging the health of patients who are advised not to take folic acid.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pregnant women with folate deficiency are at greater risk of neural tube defects (NTDs). Currently government advice recommends that women who could become pregnant take a daily supplement of folic acid before conception and up until the 12th week of pregnancy. However, we know that around 50% of pregnancies in the UK are unplanned. Government is therefore looking at this UK-wide measure to mandate the fortification of flour with folic acid to reduce the number of NTDs in pregnancies as a priority.
The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) have considered the proposed level of fortification in depth.
The proposed policy is to fortify non-wholemeal wheat flour at 250 micrograms per 100 grams. Fortification above this level would allow for greater reductions in NTD risk but would increase the risk of people exceeding the recommended upper level of folic acid intake.
An upper limit of 1 milligram per day was set in the UK by the UK Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals in 2003, which was later reviewed and agreed by COT in 2018. In 2006 and 2009, SACN concluded that it was also necessary to minimise exposure to high intakes of folic acid because there was still uncertainties regarding folic acid and cancer risk at high intakes.
The UK Government and devolved governments addressed concerns on the interaction of folic acid with treatments and medications for different conditions, such as cancer and epilepsy, in the consultation on the policy proposal in 2021. In addition, information on the presence of folic acid will be included on the ingredients list on product labels to inform consumers. In 2023, COT published a risk assessment of the potential risks of allergic reaction (hypersensitivity) to folic acid if flour is fortified with folic acid at 250 micrograms per 100 grams.
There is agreement from both SACN and COT that the proposed levels of fortification are appropriate and provide a balanced approach to fortification.
The level of folic acid fortification will be kept under review as part of the monitoring and evaluation of the policy, which would assess both positive and postulated negative impacts.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House (1) the data protection impact assessment for the Privacy Enhancing Technology contract for NHS England's Federated Data Platform, and (2) NHS England's template data protection impact assessment for each nationally commissioned product in the Federated Data Platform.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has published on its website an overarching National Health Service Federated Data Platform (FDP) data protection impact assessment (DPIA), an overarching NHS FDP information governance framework, and overarching NHS FDP privacy notice and privacy notices, for each national FDP product.
NHS England plans to publish an overarching NHS Privacy Enhancing Technology DPIA, and a DPIA for each national FDP product on the NHS England website in autumn 2024. These will be placed in the library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 1 August (HL348), what percentage of GP surgeries and primary care centres currently offer an online booking option for GP appointments.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information on what percentage of general practice (GP) surgeries and primary care centres currently offer an online booking option for GP appointments.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what lessons the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS have learned from the recent global IT outage, and what plans they have to issue guidance to ensure that hospitals, primary care centres and care homes have local computer or analogue back-ups to avoid appointments and operations being cancelled in the event of a recurrence.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While this was an IT outage, not a cyber security incident, the National Health Service has robust cyber security measures in place, and is increasing cyber resilience across health and social care.
Health and care organisations are required to have business continuity plans in place, which we will continue to strengthen, to minimise disruption in the event of an IT outage or cyber incident. As outlined in The King’s Speech, the Government’s new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will strengthen our defences and ensure that essential digital services are protected by expanding the remit of the existing regulation, putting regulators on a stronger footing, and increasing reporting requirements, to build a better picture in Government of cyber threats.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 26 July (HL259), by which date they expect to issue a response to the Hughes Report, and whether they plan to offer compensation as the report recommends.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Hughes Report and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plan they have to ensure that all GP surgeries and primary care centres offer an online booking option for appointments, and what progress has been made to date.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of April 2024, 97% of general practices in England have cloud-based telephony systems in place. The Government has pledged to deliver a modern appointment booking system to end the 8:00am scramble, and ensure that there is an online booking option for all that wish to use it.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (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 recommendations of England’s Patient Safety Commissioner in the 'Hughes Report' on the sodium valproate and mesh implant scandals; when they intend to respond to that report; and when they anticipate the first payments arising under the recommended redress scheme may be made.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is considering the recommendations of The Hughes Report, and to prevent future harm, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NHS England, and others have taken action to strengthen oversight of valproate prescribing and mesh procedures. For example, nine specialist mesh centres are in operation across England, ensuring that women with complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse get the right support in every region, and we have maintained the national pause on the use of pelvic mesh, which has been in place since July 2018.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further the Local Government Association analysis identifying “dental deserts”, how (1) they, and (2) NHS England, work with dental charities to deliver dental hygiene education in areas with relatively low numbers of NHS dentists.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
NHS England engages with dental charities, including on the promotion of existing services, seeking engagement from service users or the commissioning of services.
On 19 July 2022, we announced amendments to the National Health Service dentistry contract, including fairer remuneration for dentists to improve care for patients with more complex needs, supporting practices to deliver additional NHS care and improving information for patients. The Department and NHS England are working with the dental sector on further improvements to NHS dentistry to consider new payment models and encouraging dentists to work in areas of need. Further information on these measures will be available in 2023.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they and NHS England work with dental charities to deliver dental services in areas seen as ‘dental deserts’.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
NHS England engages with dental charities, including on the promotion of existing services, seeking engagement from service users or the commissioning of services.
On 19 July 2022, we announced amendments to the National Health Service dentistry contract, including fairer remuneration for dentists to improve care for patients with more complex needs, supporting practices to deliver additional NHS care and improving information for patients. The Department and NHS England are working with the dental sector on further improvements to NHS dentistry to consider new payment models and encouraging dentists to work in areas of need. Further information on these measures will be available in 2023.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has had with the Department of Health and Social Care about ensuring that analogue telecare devices continue to work safely after the digital switchover has been completed in 2025.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department of Health and Social Care has had frequent discussions with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on this issue. On 7 September 2022, the Department of Health and Social Care chaired a meeting on the switchover and on 24 November, we wrote to telecare service providers and device manufacturers to request the results of testing of analogue devices on digital telephone networks. On 5 December, the Department of Health and Social Care published the online only ‘Telecare stakeholder action plan: preparations for the analogue to digital switchover’ which co-ordinates actions to support telecare service providers and encourages further testing.