Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) early access use for NHS patients for Omaveloxolone (Skyclarys) and (b) making Omaveloxolone (Skyclarys) a candidate for the innovative medicines fund.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Further to the answer provided in the House of Lords on 19 October in response to Question HL3794, Biogen must confirm that it is willing to re-engage with the evaluation process before further action on access to Omaveloxolone for National Health Service patients can be considered.
The Early Access to Medicines Scheme and Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway exist to support the development of medicines before they are licensed, which is not applicable in this case. Nor can NHS England consider providing funding through the Innovative Medicines Fund, in a situation where a company has failed to engage with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, as doing so would circumvent and undermine the established and independent appraisal process in a damaging way.
Health is devolved, and decisions on access to medicines in Scotland and Wales are matters for the respective devolved administrations.
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on establishing Neighbourhood Health Centres in every community.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neighbourhood Health Centres will make it easier for people to access joined-up care closer to home, bringing GP services together with community, council and voluntary services. Nationwide coverage will take time, so we are starting where need is greatest. We have committed to 250 centres, with the first 120 by 2030 and have announced the first 27 sites, backed by £50million. ICBs have put forward proposals for future centres, which we are now reviewing with NHS regions.Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
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 reduce the number of people waiting for NHS treatment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know how important it is to patients and clinicians that they receive and deliver treatment faster.
Our Elective Reform Plan is working. Waiting lists are down over 225,000 since we came to office. We delivered 5.2 million extra appointments in our first year; double what we promised.
The NHS is on the road to recovery, saving and transforming more lives through record investment, innovation and modernisation.
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
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 merits of allowing paramedics to (a) carry and (b) use fentanyl as an analgesic agent.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals. This will support the aim that patients are cared for, and treated by, the most appropriate healthcare professional to meet their needs, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. Many regulated healthcare professionals have already received extended medicine responsibilities and the Department is committed to assessing the impact that these changes have had on patient care.
Regarding the extension of paramedics’ medicine responsibilities, there is a process in place for making changes to ensure proposals are safe and beneficial for patients. Officials are carefully considering proposals relating to a range of healthcare professionals, including paramedics, and the use of fentanyl as an analgesic agent, as part of wider work.
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP surgeries in England have a vaccination rate for (a) Diptheria, (b) Tetanus and (c) Polio for babies under 8 months of age of (i) less than 90 per cent, (ii) 90-93 per cent, (iii) 94-95 per cent and (iv) greater than 96 per cent.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB vaccine protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, also known as whooping cough, polio, haemophilus influenzae type b, and hepatitis B. The number and percentage of general practices (GPs) in England with a vaccination rate of less than 90%, 90 to 93%, 94 to 95%, or more than 96% for diptheria, tetanus, and polio, for babies under eight months of age, is as follows:
The above data is drawn from the latest published annual GP vaccine coverage data for April 2023 to March 2024 for the DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB vaccine, measured at 12 months of age. GPs that submitted zero data for this indicator and GPs with fewer than five patients, whose data was suppressed to protect patient identifiable information, were excluded from the above response. Further information regarding the coverage data is available in the tables attached.