Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social care, whether he has held recent discussions with the African Diaspora Malaria Initiative partnership.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency and the Malaria Reference Laboratory work closely together and are in regular communication with the African Diaspora Malaria Initiative. The initiative is a diaspora-led charitable initiative whose primary objective is the eradication of malaria in the United Kingdom’s African diaspora.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of treating patients who have contracted malaria in each of the last five years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) holds data on all malaria cases diagnosed in the United Kingdom by the Malaria Reference Laboratory and Public Health Scotland. The UKHSA publishes annual reports on malaria in the UK, which are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/malaria-in-the-uk-annual-report
The UKHSA does not collect data on the cost to the National Health Service of treating patients who have contracted malaria.
NHS England captures and publishes aggregated costs, the average unit cost of providing defined services to NHS patients in England, and patient-level costs, a cost based on the specific interactions a patient has and the events related to their healthcare activity, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/costing-in-the-nhs/national-cost-collection/
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of treating patients who have contracted tuberculosis in each of the last five years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally. NHS England captures and publishes aggregated costs, namely the average unit cost of providing defined services to NHS patients in England, and patient-level costs/PLICS, a cost based on the specific interactions a patient has, and the events related to their healthcare activity, which are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/costing-in-the-nhs/national-cost-collection/
This provides cost information about patients who have been admitted to a hospital for treatment with a primary diagnosis of tuberculosis, rather than patients who have contracted tuberculosis in the last five years.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many admissions there have been to hospital due to (a) treatment-resistant tuberculosis and (b) complications from treatment-resistant tuberculosis in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those admissions were due to tuberculosis contracted outside of the UK.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes in the Hospital Episode Statistics database that would allow treatment-resistant tuberculosis and complications from treatment-resistant tuberculosis to be identified. ICD-10 codes are used to classify and identify diagnoses.
The UK Health Security Agency uses epidemiological tools, such as whole genome sequencing, to better understand the transmission of tuberculosis. However, it is not possible to determine the proportion of the individuals admitted to hospital who contracted tuberculosis outside of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that opportunities to talk about future travel plans are being taken up with people potentially susceptible to contracting malaria (a) at new patient checks, (b) at childhood immunisation appointments and (c) outside a specific travel health consultation.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency publishes malaria-specific migrant health guidance for healthcare practitioners. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/malaria-migrant-health-guide
This calls for all practitioners to raise awareness of the risk of malaria by asking non-United Kingdom born patients from malarious countries whether they will be returning home to visit friends and relatives, and to advise how and when they should seek travel advice. The guidance reinforces that anyone visiting a malarious area can become infected regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, or country of birth, and that malaria is particularly dangerous for pregnant women.
Travellers are advised to get advice before they travel to areas where malaria is found. Pre-travel health services are available from private travel clinics, pharmacies, and some general practices. Further information on the pre travel health services that are available can be found at the following link:
There are no current plans to ensure that opportunities to talk about future travel plans are being taken up with people that are potentially susceptible to contracting malaria at new patient checks or childhood immunisation appointments, or outside of specific travel health consultations.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that malaria cases reported to the Malaria Reference Laboratory are also notified to a proper officer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Malaria is designated as a notifiable disease under the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010, which places a statutory duty on all registered medical practitioners in England to notify a proper officer if they treat a patient they know, or suspect to be, infected with malaria. Further information on the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010 is available at the following link:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/659/contents
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) produces guidance for medical practitioners to support their compliance with these regulations, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/notifiable-diseases-and-how-to-report-them
A malaria-specific report form is used by health professionals to refer suspected cases to the Malaria Reference Laboratory at the UKHSA. The UKHSA acts as the proper officer for receiving notifications of suspected and confirmed malaria cases in England. Equivalent notification regulations are in place in the devolved administrations, with further information on the notification regulations for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland available, respectively, at the following three links:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2008/5/schedule/1
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2010/1546/contents
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2022/181/made
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that UK visitors to malaria-infected countries are aware of the need to take chemoprophylaxis effectively.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency undertakes proactive communications with the public to raise awareness of the risk of malaria and to promote consultation with an appropriate healthcare professional before travel. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/travel-associated-infections-approaching-pre-pandemic-levels
Travellers to malaria-endemic areas are encouraged to have a pre-travel consultation with a healthcare expert in travel health. This enables an individualised risk assessment and personalised advice to be given on measures to reduce the risk of malaria and other health risks.
The National Travel Health Network and Centre provides information for United Kingdom travellers on safe and healthy travel and effective strategies to prevent infection, including chemoprophylaxis. Further information is available at the following link:
https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/factsheet/52/malaria
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many admissions there have been to hospital due to (a) tuberculosis and (b) complications from tuberculosis in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those admissions were due to tuberculosis contracted outside of the UK.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally. NHS England collects and publishes data on the causes of hospital admissions, however there is no routine reporting on tuberculosis admissions. NHS England makes hospital admission data available in the National Health Service’s Hospital Episode Statistics publication, which is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/hospital-episode-statistics
The UK Health Security Agency uses epidemiological tools, such as whole genome sequencing, to better understand the transmission of tuberculosis. However, it is not possible to determine the proportion of the individuals admitted to hospital who contracted tuberculosis outside of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many admissions there have been to hospital due to (a) malaria and (b) complications from malaria in each of the last five years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) holds data on all malaria cases diagnosed in the United Kingdom by the Malaria Reference Laboratory and Public Health Scotland. The UKHSA publishes malaria statistics in an annual report, the latest version of which, covering 2023, is available at the following link:
The UKHSA does not routinely publish data on hospital admissions due to malaria or complications from malaria.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 17.7 of the NHS Standard Contract 2024/25 Service Conditions, published in February 2024, what steps her Department is taking to offer reusable period products.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the importance of women and girls being able to access the care they need for their reproductive health, including period products.
Since 2019 it has been a requirement in the NHS Standard Contract that the National Health Service must offer period products to every hospital patient who needs them.
Paragraph 17.7 places an obligation on providers to ensure that supplies of appropriate sanitary products are available and are, on request, provided promptly to inpatient service users free of charge. It is for individual providers to decide what products to provide and how best to meet their obligations.