Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of civil servants on temporary contracts in his Department are women.
Answered by Will Quince
As of 30 September 2023, 62% of the Department’s workforce on temporary contracts were women.
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of civil servants (a) at grade senior civil servant 2 and (b) on full-time equivalent contracts in his Department are women.
Answered by Will Quince
The following table shows the gender split of senior civil servant (SCS) 2 civil servants within the Department as of 30 September 2023. 47% of our SCS 2 cadre are female. Of that 47% that are female, 43% are full-time.
SCS 2 | Male | Female | Grand Total |
Full-time | 45% | 43% | 88% |
Part-time | 8% | 4% | 12% |
Grand Total | 53% | 47% | 100% |
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the needs of children and young people with cancer are met in the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Major Conditions Strategy will look at the treatment and prevention of cancer in people of all ages, covering the patient pathway. The strategy will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes and experience for cancer patients.
This Strategy will draw on previous work on cancer, including over 5,000 submissions provided to the Department as part of our Call for Evidence last year. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders, citizens and the National Health Service in the coming weeks to identify actions for the Strategy that will have the most impact.
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the Major Conditions Strategy will address the psychological needs of children, teenagers and young adults with cancer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Major Conditions Strategy will look at the treatment and prevention of cancer in people of all ages, covering the patient pathway. The strategy will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes and experience for cancer patients.
This Strategy will draw on previous work on cancer, including over 5,000 submissions provided to the Department as part of our Call for Evidence last year. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders, citizens and the National Health Service in the coming weeks to identify actions for the Strategy that will have the most impact.
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
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 improve the (a) medium-term and (b) long-term sustainability of the supply of (i) Molybdenum-99 generators, (ii) Iodine-131medical grade radioisotopes and (iii) other medical grade radioisotopes.
Answered by Will Quince
We are working closely with officials in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero who are leading a £6 million funded Medical Radionuclide Innovation Programme. This is focused on safeguarding the provision and development of radiopharmaceuticals for United Kingdom patients in the medium and long-term and encouraging innovation in technologies and techniques that could support access to radioisotopes in order to increase the UK’s resilience in times of global supply constraints or shortages. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has commissioned a landscape assessment to inform Government action in this area.
We routinely monitor short-term threats to the supply of medical grade radioisotopes, including through regular contact with UK suppliers, and has well-established processes which aim to prevent supply issues occurring in the first instance, and to manage or mitigate them when they occur. There are currently no active UK supply issues with medical radioisotopes.
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
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 trends in the level of medical grade radioisotopes in the UK including (a) Molybdenum-99 generators and and (b) Iodine-131.
Answered by Will Quince
We are working closely with officials in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero who are leading a £6 million funded Medical Radionuclide Innovation Programme. This is focused on safeguarding the provision and development of radiopharmaceuticals for United Kingdom patients in the medium and long-term and encouraging innovation in technologies and techniques that could support access to radioisotopes in order to increase the UK’s resilience in times of global supply constraints or shortages. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has commissioned a landscape assessment to inform Government action in this area.
We routinely monitor short-term threats to the supply of medical grade radioisotopes, including through regular contact with UK suppliers, and has well-established processes which aim to prevent supply issues occurring in the first instance, and to manage or mitigate them when they occur. There are currently no active UK supply issues with medical radioisotopes.
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
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 impact of the price of sunscreen on the rate of people wearing sunscreen and the risk of cancer among those who do not wear it.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
No specific assessment has been made.
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of public funding for the research of (a) adult- and (b) juvenile-onset Huntington’s disease.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government primarily funds research into rare conditions, such as Huntington’s disease and Juvenile-onset Huntington’s disease, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
From 2017/18 to 2021/22, funding for research into Huntington’s disease was £32.6 million and in 2021/22, expenditure was £4.9 million. The NIHR and UKRI welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including adult Huntington’s disease and Juvenile-onset Huntington’s disease. While it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions, the NIHR and UKRI award funding through open competition to ensure the highest quality research is funded.
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has held discussions with the devolved administrations on developing consistent guidance and support for people with Huntington's disease.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
While there have been no specific discussions, we regularly engage with the devolved administrations on support for people with rare conditions, such as Huntington’s disease.
The UK Rare Diseases Framework, published in January 2021, sets out the ambition to improve the lives of those with rare diseases. The nation-specific action plans provide details on how each administration will meet the shared priorities of the Framework.
Asked by: Amy Callaghan (Scottish National Party - East Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to procure the Evusheld drug for treatment of covid-19 for clinically extremely vulnerable people.
Answered by Maggie Throup
On 17 March 2022, Evusheld was granted conditional marketing approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). However, the MHRA highlighted uncertainty over the appropriate dose needed for protection against the Omicron variant. Understanding its efficacy is necessary prior to any procurement or deployment decisions. The UK Health Security Agency is currently undertaking further testing on the treatment’s effectiveness against the Omicron variant to inform any such decisions.