Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, if any, of the annual cost to the NHS of providing free prescriptions to those with (1) asthma, and (2) long-term health conditions.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Department has made no such estimate. Extensive arrangements are already in place to help people access National Health Service prescriptions. These include a broad range of NHS prescription charge exemptions.
To support those with greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption, cost of the prescription pre-payment certificates were frozen for another year. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just £2 per week.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received about prescription charges for people with lifetime health conditions in the last two years; whether they record the health conditions each such representation related to; and how many people in England they estimate are subject to prescription charges for such conditions.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
We have received a number of representations from Parliamentarians, stakeholders, individuals and other interested parties on prescription exemptions for people with long term health conditions. Whether any specific health condition was mentioned in each such representation is not recorded centrally and to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost. Furthermore, the Department has made no estimate of the number of people in England that are subject to prescription exemptions for such conditions. However, around 89% of National Health Service prescription items are dispensed in the community free of charge.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they published the terms of reference and membership of the working group of experts set up to consider the recommendations from the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee’s report E-cigarettes, published on 17 August 2018, that impact the licensing of e-cigarettes as medicines; if so, when and where they were published; whether they will publish details of that working group’s first meeting; and if so when and where they will be published.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The terms of reference and membership of the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) ad hoc working group of experts on e-cigarettes, set up to consider the recommendations from the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee’s E-cigarettes report, has not yet been published.
The first meeting of the working group is scheduled for 26 April 2019 and its terms of reference and membership will be published after the first meeting of the group on the CHM website.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has made in setting up an expert group to provide advice on streamlining the medicinal licensing process for e-cigarettes; whether that expert group has been convened yet; and if not, what steps they will take to expedite that process.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
In December 2018, the Commission of Human Medicines (CHM) endorsed the formation of an ad hoc working group of experts to consider the recommendations from the Science and Technology Select Committee on e-cigarettes that impact licensing of e-cigarettes as medicines. In March 2019, the CHM endorsed the terms of reference and membership of the ad hoc working group and the appointment of the chair. The first meeting is expected to be held in late April 2019, subject to availability of the members.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people are accessing diabetes prevention (1) methods and (2) programmes in each clinical commissioning group area in the most recent year for which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Manzoor
Healthier You: The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme started in 2016. The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme reports, as of November 2018, 312,002 at risk individuals have been referred into the service and 143,962 individuals have now had an initial assessment. These are cumulative data since the programme became operational.
There are two key methods of referral into the NHS Healthier You Diabetes Prevention Service: via general practitioners (GPs) and through NHS Health Checks. Health Checks are often undertaken by GPs and data is not routinely collected on whether referral via a GP was made following a GP Health Check.
Data is not routinely collected at clinical commissioning group (CCG) level as the contracts/geographies are different to CCG boundaries. However, data is available at contract level and is attached, due to the size of the data. Internal NHS England reports have been used to monitor performance of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme.
The attached table is based on validated data up to and including November 2018. It provides the total number of referrals received and initial assessments completed at contract level.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people are using (1) real-time continuous glucose monitors and (2) insulin pumps in each clinical commissioning group area in the most recent year for which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Manzoor
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) adults and (2) children are (a) obese or (b) overweight in each clinical commissioning group area in the most recent year for which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Manzoor
The information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people with (1) Type 1 and (2) Type 2 diabetes have (a) been offered and (b) attended structured education courses in each clinical commissioning group area in the most recent year for which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Manzoor
Tables showing data detailing the number of people who were offered/attended structured education within 12 months of being diagnosed with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in each clinical commissioning group in the year 2016 are attached, due to the size of the data.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the prevalence of (1) Type 1 and (2) Type 2 diabetes (a) in England and (b) in each clinical commissioning group area in the most recent year for which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Manzoor
A table showing data detailing the prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in England and in each clinical commissioning group area in the year 2017/18 is attached, due to the size of the data.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the publication of Prevalence and economic burden of medication errors in the NHS in England, funded by the Department of Health Policy Research Programme, what estimate they have made of (1) the number of cases, and (2) the costs, of adverse drug events associated with (a) aspirin, (b) diuretics, (c) warfarin, and (d) non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, medication errors in primary and secondary care.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The report did not make estimates on the numbers and costs of adverse drug events associated with specific drugs. The report found 36 studies which reported error rates in primary care, care homes and secondary care, and at the various stages of the medication pathway. The researchers used these studies to estimate error rates and burden. In their estimates however, the researchers used a study by Pirmohamed et al. Adverse drug reactions as cause of admission to hospital: prospective analysis of 18 820 patients which found that the drugs most commonly implicated in causing hospital admissions were low dose aspirin, diuretics, warfarin, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. A copy of the study is attached.