Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what stocks of (a) midazolam, (b) morphine and (c) fentanyl are held in (i) the essential medicines buffer stock and (ii) the UK stockpile of medicines for covid-19 preparedness.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The essential medicines buffer stock program is no longer active and there are no stocks held under this. Some medicines that were previously held for COVID-19 preparedness, including midazolam 50 milligram/10 millilitre ampoules, are in the process of being transitioned into centralised stockholdings of countermeasures for broader emerging infectious disease and pandemic preparedness. Stocks of morphine 10 milligram/millilitre and 10 milligram/2 millilitre and fentanyl 500 microgram/10 millilitre remain, but will not be retained centrally. The countermeasures programme is informed by scientific and clinical assessment of the evidence base and is kept under review, building on lessons learned from COVID-19 and other outbreaks.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure women accessing telemedicine abortion services are given sufficient time and advice on which to base a decision.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Women requesting a telemedicine abortion should have access to objective information and, if required, counselling and decision-making support about their pregnancy options.
In line with the Department’s Required Standard Operating Procedures for approved independent sector abortion providers in England (RSOPs) and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists clinical guideline on the Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion, when a woman requests an abortion, careful and sensitive enquiry as to the reasons should be made. There should be the opportunity for further discussion, especially where the woman expresses any doubts. Women who are certain of their decision to have an abortion should not be subjected to delay or compelled to have counselling.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) trials and (b) tests were conducted to ensure the (i) safety and (ii) efficiency of mixing and matching covid-19 vaccines and boosters from different manufacturers; and when those trials and tests were conducted.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government-funded, world-first studies on the safety and efficacy of interchanging different COVID-19 vaccines include the Com-COV1, Com-COV2 and Com-COV3 studies led by the University of Oxford, and the COV-Boost study led by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. Com-COV1 was launched in February 2021 and completed in June 2022. Com-COV2 was launched in April 2021 and is still ongoing. Com-COV3 was launched in January 2022 and is still ongoing. COV-Boost was launched in May 2021 and completed in April 2023. More information on these studies is available at the following links:
https://comcovstudy.web.ox.ac.uk/about-com-cov1
https://comcovstudy.web.ox.ac.uk/about-com-cov2
https://comcovstudy.web.ox.ac.uk/about-com-cov3
https://covboost.web.ox.ac.uk/about
All these studies have found interchanging vaccines to be safe and, in some cases, more likely to produce a stronger immune response. These findings have helped to inform the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 vaccination programme as well as vaccine policy around the world. Preliminary data from these studies was shared with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, Vaccine Taskforce and the Department as it became available.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has his Department allocated to process compensation claims caused by Covid-19 vaccines; and how much of that budget has been spent as of 16 August 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Department has identified contingent liabilities relating to the COVID-19 vaccines and reports on these to Parliament on a confidential basis due to commercial sensitivities. Any spend incurred against these liabilities will be reported in the usual way in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of patients who were moved from hospitals to (a) care and (b) nursing homes subsequently died of (i) covid-19 and (ii) other causes within (A) 7, (B) 14, (C) 28, (D) 56 and (E) 112 days of being moved.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients were moved from hospitals to (a) care and (b) nursing homes to create space for anticipated covid-19 patients in England and Wales in (i) March and (ii) April 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, (a) with reference to NICE guideline NG163, published 3 April 2020, by what process that guideline was commissioned, (b) by what processes the NHS decided to procure Midazolam for use in patient care, including end-of-life care and (c) by what process the NHS decided on the quantity of Midazolam it would procure in each of the last four years.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline NG163 published in 2020 was commissioned in accordance with an established agreement between NHS England and NICE. The focus at that time was given to providing rapid guidance on the management of affected patients with COVID-19. A number of NICE’s COVID-19 rapid guidelines were incorporated into a single guideline for the management of COVID-19 in children and adults (NG191).
During the pandemic there was an increase in demand for, and consequently in the United Kingdom’s purchase of a number of medicines, including midazolam, to support the care of COVID-19 patients in intensive care and at the end of life. National Health Service purchasing decisions are made by individual trusts against national procurement frameworks. Volumes are calculated based on their forecast consumption.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what budget provision his Department has made for costs associated with vaccine harms in the next five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme amount included in the Annual Report and Accounts, was £9,889,743 as of 31 March 2022. The information can be found in ‘Note 16 Provisions for liabilities and charges’ on page 353. The £9,889,743 is contained in the ‘other’ value of £4,078,443,000. As the amount is not material to the accounts, it was contained in the ‘other’ category with other provisions.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department holds data on the vaccine status of people who died after 31 May 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) does hold data on the vaccine status of people who died after 31 May 2022.
UKHSA uses the data on the vaccination status of people who have died to produce monthly COVID-19 Vaccine Surveillance reports which can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-weekly-surveillance-reports
This covers an extensive range of measures of vaccine effectiveness, including demonstrating effectiveness against infection, transmission, hospitalisation and mortality.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of clinical NHS staff have received a covid-19 booster vaccination in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The United Kingdom Health Security Agency publish monthly reports on seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccine uptake in frontline healthcare workers. Data published to the end of November 2022 showed that in 165 NHS trusts providing a return, 338,602 frontline healthcare workers had had a COVID-19 vaccine since 1 September 2022, an uptake of 36.3%.