Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of exempting seafarers from the requirement for anyone travelling to the UK from a country on the travel ban list to quarantine in a government-approved facility for 10 days during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Seamen and masters, maritime pilots and inspectors and surveyors of ships, where they have travelled to the United Kingdom in the course of their work and live in the UK, do not need to self-isolate. If they live overseas, they must self-isolate in their accommodation while in England, except while undertaking the exempt activity or travelling as part of their work. They are permitted to enter the UK and do not need to quarantine in a Government approved hotel, even if they have been in any country on the travel ban ‘red list’ in the previous 10 days. This is to reflect the critical role that seafarers play in ensuring the continued supply of goods in and out of the UK.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many GP surgeries in the Folkestone area are not delivering a full range of services; whether this is occurring in other parts of the country; and whether such surgeries not delivering a full range of services is puruant to any NHS strategy.
Answered by Lord Bethell
General practitioner (GP) practices in Kent and elsewhere across the country have been allowed to reduce delivery of some services as part of the health system’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some contractual requirements were suspended from March 2020 onwards to free up time in general practice, with GPs advised that they could defer some types of routine care, where needed. To reduce pressures on GPs we have simplified requirements for medical evidence and found alternative ways to provide information required for various services.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 13 May (HL3564) and Lord True on 1 June (HL4540), whether there is a record of total government spending on preparations to counter the risk of a pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The United Kingdom’s influenza pandemic preparedness is based on a ‘defence in depth’ strategy to minimise spread of infection and treat individual cases. In addition to plans to surge National Health Service provision, including critical care, the strategy involves measures to reduce the demand on those NHS services by reducing the risk of transmission and minimising serious illness, including through the stockpiling of personal protective equipment and antivirals.
As this strategy is multi-faceted and it involves many organisations and departments, including the NHS, it is not possible to identify a single source of expenditure that accurately represents our pandemic preparedness. Since 2016-17, NHS England’s funding has increased every year in real terms. NHS England’s mandate is £129.7 billion this year, reaching £137.5 billion in 2023-24.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures that were recommended following the Swine flu pandemic in 2009 relating to future pandemics were subsequently implemented in the UK.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The United Kingdom Government commissioned a publicly available, independent review of the 2009 pandemic response chaired by Dame Deirdre Hine, reflecting on what aspects of the response worked well and what would have had to change in the event of a more severe pandemic. The report of this review made 28 recommendations to the Government on how the response to a future influenza pandemic might be strengthened.
These recommendations, along with robust clinical, scientific and operational advice, were considered and reflected in The UK Pandemic Preparedness Strategy 2011. This Strategy sets out how the UK will treat individual cases of influenza and minimise the spread of infection in the event of a future pandemic.