Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the European Medicines Agency on patients' ability to access breast cancer drugs.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
From 30 March 2019, the United Kingdom will no longer be a Member of the European Union. However, under the terms of the implementation period agreement regulatory standards and market access for all medicines, will continue on current terms.
Regarding the future relationship, the Prime Minister's Mansion House speech outlined that we will also explore the terms on which the UK could remain part of the European Medicines Agency. While it would not be appropriate to pre-judge the outcome of the negotiations, we will discuss with the EU and Member States how best to continue cooperation in medicines regulation.
Our overall aim is to ensure that patients in the UK and across the EU continue to be able to access the best and most innovative medicines, including breast cancer drugs, and be assured that their safety is protected through the strongest regulatory framework and continued sharing of data.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to undertake a review of the cost of call charges to the Healthy Start voucher helpline.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Calls to the Healthy Start Issuing Unit cost no more than calls to standard United Kingdom landline phone numbers. An e-mail contact form is also available.
The Department is currently exploring the options for the digitisation of the Healthy Start scheme. As part of this, we will consider the cost of call charges to the Healthy Start Issuing Unit.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking in response to the finding of the National Maternity Review that 90 per cent of women stopped breastfeeding before they wanted to.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Government is committed to supporting breastfeeding, as the health benefits are clear for mothers and their babies. We would still like to see more mothers breastfeeding and doing so for longer.
Breastfeeding is one of the six high-impact areas for health visiting outlined in the Healthy Child Programme which mandates that all parents receive five universal health visitor checks before their child reaches two and a half years old.
Support and information is also available to parents and health professionals through NHS Choices, the National Breastfeeding Helpline, UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative, the Start4Life Information Service for parents which includes an interactive Facebook Messenger ‘chatbot’ that provides live breastfeeding support to new mums at any time of day, and local peer support parents.
Later this year, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition will publish its report on Feeding in the First Year of Life and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will update its guidelines on maternal and infant feeding. This will provide us with opportunities to review current actions and identify further measures.
Public Health England (PHE) is working with Yale University on a global research project that involves working with Governments to scale up their breastfeeding strategies and is supported by World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. This work will help inform PHE’s work to improve breastfeeding rates through the Maternity Transformation Programme, the Best Start in Life programme and PHE/WHO’s Public Health Collaborating Centre.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that all (a) maternity and (b) neo-natal units have an adequate provision of breast pumps.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
No assessment has been made centrally. It is for local healthcare providers to commission services and equipment to meet the needs of their population, including the provision of breast pumps in maternity and neo-natal units.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of breast pumps in (a) maternity and (b) neo-natal units.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
No assessment has been made centrally. It is for local healthcare providers to commission services and equipment to meet the needs of their population, including the provision of breast pumps in maternity and neo-natal units.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential merits of fully implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations 2007 implements European Commission Directive 2006/141/EC on infant formulae and follow-on formulae, which gives effect to the principles and aims of the 1981 World Health Organization Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes dealing with marketing, information and responsibilities of health authorities. There are no plans to review this legislation after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of human milk bank provision across the UK.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a guideline on the safe operation of milk banks. This was published in 2010, reviewed in 2014 and is next due for review in 2019. The guideline covers how donor milk banks should recruit, screen and support women who donate breast milk. It also covers how milk banks should handle and process the breast milk they receive from donors. This is available at:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/CG93
There are no plans to change the way milk banks are funded, which is through a mix of National Health Service funding and public donations.
There is already a network of 16 milk banks across the United Kingdom (14 are in England, with one each in Northern Ireland and one in Scotland). Further information is available on the website of the UK Association for Milk Banking at:
http://www.ukamb.org/milk-banks/
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of human milk bank provision across the UK. Local initiatives are underway to maximise provision – for example, milk banks in Glasgow and Oxford are piloting the use of a novel traffic light system so that the babies at most need are prioritised when milk stocks run low. Also, the NICE guideline includes recommendations that have led to improvements in how milk banks operate. Revised criteria for the microbiological acceptance of donor breast milk have led to higher volumes being available due to lower discard rates.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what consideration he has given to establishing a network of human milk banks.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a guideline on the safe operation of milk banks. This was published in 2010, reviewed in 2014 and is next due for review in 2019. The guideline covers how donor milk banks should recruit, screen and support women who donate breast milk. It also covers how milk banks should handle and process the breast milk they receive from donors. This is available at:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/CG93
There are no plans to change the way milk banks are funded, which is through a mix of National Health Service funding and public donations.
There is already a network of 16 milk banks across the United Kingdom (14 are in England, with one each in Northern Ireland and one in Scotland). Further information is available on the website of the UK Association for Milk Banking at:
http://www.ukamb.org/milk-banks/
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of human milk bank provision across the UK. Local initiatives are underway to maximise provision – for example, milk banks in Glasgow and Oxford are piloting the use of a novel traffic light system so that the babies at most need are prioritised when milk stocks run low. Also, the NICE guideline includes recommendations that have led to improvements in how milk banks operate. Revised criteria for the microbiological acceptance of donor breast milk have led to higher volumes being available due to lower discard rates.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to fund human milk banks.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a guideline on the safe operation of milk banks. This was published in 2010, reviewed in 2014 and is next due for review in 2019. The guideline covers how donor milk banks should recruit, screen and support women who donate breast milk. It also covers how milk banks should handle and process the breast milk they receive from donors. This is available at:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/CG93
There are no plans to change the way milk banks are funded, which is through a mix of National Health Service funding and public donations.
There is already a network of 16 milk banks across the United Kingdom (14 are in England, with one each in Northern Ireland and one in Scotland). Further information is available on the website of the UK Association for Milk Banking at:
http://www.ukamb.org/milk-banks/
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of human milk bank provision across the UK. Local initiatives are underway to maximise provision – for example, milk banks in Glasgow and Oxford are piloting the use of a novel traffic light system so that the babies at most need are prioritised when milk stocks run low. Also, the NICE guideline includes recommendations that have led to improvements in how milk banks operate. Revised criteria for the microbiological acceptance of donor breast milk have led to higher volumes being available due to lower discard rates.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will produce guidelines to regulate the sharing of human breast milk.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a guideline on the safe operation of milk banks. This was published in 2010, reviewed in 2014 and is next due for review in 2019. The guideline covers how donor milk banks should recruit, screen and support women who donate breast milk. It also covers how milk banks should handle and process the breast milk they receive from donors. This is available at:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/CG93
There are no plans to change the way milk banks are funded, which is through a mix of National Health Service funding and public donations.
There is already a network of 16 milk banks across the United Kingdom (14 are in England, with one each in Northern Ireland and one in Scotland). Further information is available on the website of the UK Association for Milk Banking at:
http://www.ukamb.org/milk-banks/
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of human milk bank provision across the UK. Local initiatives are underway to maximise provision – for example, milk banks in Glasgow and Oxford are piloting the use of a novel traffic light system so that the babies at most need are prioritised when milk stocks run low. Also, the NICE guideline includes recommendations that have led to improvements in how milk banks operate. Revised criteria for the microbiological acceptance of donor breast milk have led to higher volumes being available due to lower discard rates.