Asked by: Lord Naseby (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 doctors who are on strike do not take up locum shifts during strike days at another hospital.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the High Court ruling last year it is now unlawful for employment businesses to supply workers, including doctors, to carry out the duties of striking workers. It is not unlawful however for a doctor to take up a locum shift, and current blacklisting legislation does not allow only striking doctors to be targeted and prevented from taking up local shifts.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of why there are over 90 empty care homes in England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not monitor or publish data on the number of empty care homes within England. Adult social care services are provided through a largely outsourced market of commercial organisations and charities. Local authorities have a duty to promote the efficient and effective operation of their local adult social care market and are best placed to understand and plan for the care needs of their populations.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the illicit vaping enforcement squad will commence work.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Trading Standards, who are delivering the vaping enforcement work, have already commenced work on data collection and intelligence analysis of the illicit vaping market. Other activity, for example at the border, test purchasing and testing of illicit products, is likely to commence in the Autumn.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they have denied funding for domestic students at the Three Counties Medical School at the University of Worcester.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government continues to keep the number of medical school places that it funds under review. NHS England has been commissioned to produce a long-term workforce plan. The Government has committed to publishing the plan shortly and this will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity. The workforce plan is for the whole of the NHS workforce.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ban the importation into the UK of vapes with over 800 puffs.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
For a producer wishing to supply nicotine containing vapes in the United Kingdom market they need to comply with the requirements set out in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 which includes notifying the products to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Products that do not comply with the regulations may be subject to enforcement actions.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have that fumes from motor vehicles cause (1) stunted lung growth in children, and (2) premature death.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Exposure to traffic related air pollution is associated with both effects on lung growth and mortality, with a number of organisations contributing to evidence. For example, the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants highlighted in their statement from March 2015, Statement on the evidence for differential health effects of particulate matter according to source or components, that adverse health effects, including changes in lung function, are associated with exposure to traffic-derived pollutants. A copy of this statement is attached.
Additionally, The Royal College of Physicians’ and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health reported evidence in February 2016 in Every Breath We Take: The Lifelong Impact Of Air Pollution that lung function growth in children is suppressed by long-term exposure to air pollution. A copy of this report is also attached.
The UK Health Security Agency has estimated that exposure to air pollution in the United Kingdom has an annual burden equivalent to 29,000 to 43,000 deaths.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (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 reasons why the new medical schools at Worcester, Brunel, and Chester universities are primarily recruiting foreign students rather than UK-based applicants.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made. The Government has committed to publishing a workforce plan next year, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will review their pension "abatement" rules for (1) nurses, (2) midwives, (3) physiotherapists, and (4) mental health officers, who wish to keep working due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The pension measures in Section 45 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 allow retired and partially retired staff to return to work or increase their working commitments without the risk of having their pension benefits suspended.
Since March 2020, abatement of ‘Special Class’ members of the 1995 Section, including nurses, midwives and physiotherapists and mental health officers with the reserved right to retire at 55 years old with pension enhancements, has been suspended. Abatement recognises that ‘Special Class’ members have a significant benefit not available to other staff in the National Health Service. Once abatement is resumed, these staff can continue working for the NHS, typically at least half time. Other staff are not subject to abatement after taking their pension.
These measures are set to expire on 24 March 2022, with the NHS Pension Scheme rules returning to business as usual arrangements. The Department is reviewing this position.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why all new starters to the NHS do not have to meet the same vaccination conditions as in the social care sector.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) (No.2) Regulations 2021, were laid on 9 November. These draft regulations would amend the previously made care home regulations to ensure a consistent approach to vaccination requirements for new employees deployed to undertake Care Quality Commission regulated activities in health and social care.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to set a maximum retail price for PCR COVID-19 tests, in addition to the standards for such tests.
Answered by Lord Kamall
While there are no plans to introduce a cap on the price of such tests, we are committed to working with private testing providers to reduce the cost of testing.