Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the causes of the outbreak of COVID-19 at meat processing plants; and what measures they plan to take (1) to address such outbreaks, and (2) to prevent any such recurrence. [T]
Answered by Lord Bethell
Public Health England (PHE) local health protection teams respond to notifications of suspected outbreaks in food processing plants by undertaking a risk assessment, providing public health advice, including on infection prevention and control and social distancing measures, and advising on the testing of employees. In doing so, an assessment is made as to whether transmission may be occurring in or outside the workplace.
An enhanced outbreak investigation protocol has been developed which will allow PHE to further understand the factors relating to infection transmission in meat-related food production settings to ascertain potential routes of transmission: within the workplace through a more detailed understanding of the workforce, the working environment and working practices; staff and environmental biological sampling; factors outside the workplace, such as transport arrangements, housing, employment conditions.
The learning from such investigations can identify measures that may help prevent outbreaks from occurring in these settings.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that NHS England implements the Electronic Prescription Service in dispensing practices to benefit rural patients.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The majority of dispensing practices are live with the prescribing functionality of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS). In the next round of general practitioner contract negotiations, the Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement will look at what further support can be provided to dispensing practices to implement the EPS.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with NHS England about why it has not triggered Regulation 61 of the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/349) to allow for the flexible provision of pharmaceutical services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department is in regular discussions with NHS England and NHS Improvement over the provision of services during this pandemic.
The Secretary of State has enabled Regulation 61 of the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013. Regulation 61 allows NHS England and NHS Improvement to commission a dispensing doctor to provide pharmaceutical services to patients to whom the dispensing doctor is not otherwise entitled to provide pharmaceutical services during an emergency.
The prerequisite is the temporary closure of pharmacy premises which results, in NHS England and NHS Improvement’s opinion, in inadequate provision of pharmaceutical services in an area. There are currently few pharmacies closed across England and whether this extra provision is needed, in any particular area, is an operational decision for NHS England and NHS Improvement’s regional teams.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect personal protective equipment in storage areas to be distributed to front line medical practitioners in hospitals and GP surgeries
Answered by Lord Bethell
As of 14 April, since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak we have delivered over 923 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to 58,000 different health and care settings including National Health Service trusts, general practitioners, pharmacies and community providers. We have provided PPE equipment to over 26,000 care homes including home care and hospices across the country. Over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, over 48 million PPE items were delivered.
We are working around the clock to give the NHS and the wider social care sector the equipment and support they need to tackle this outbreak. We have brought together the NHS, industry and the armed forces to create a new nationwide PPE distribution network, delivering critical PPE supplies to those who need it.
We have a 24 hours a day, seven days a week helpline for those experiencing supply disruption with business as usual ordering channels. Where there may be any shortages, we act on this immediately. Local Resilience Forums are also supporting care homes, hospices, home care and primary care in getting hold of PPE equipment.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that COVID-19 will be listed as a qualifying disease for insurance payouts.
Answered by Lord Bethell
On 5 March 2020, the Government added COVID-19 to its list of notifiable diseases.
Insurers’ policies that cover notifiable diseases will typically only cover a specific subset of notifiable diseases (such as cholera or anthrax) that the insurer will reference in the policy documentation. These policies will exclude any notifiable disease not on the insurer’s list, as well as future/unknown diseases such as COVID-19. The price that the insurer charges for the policy is modelled against the risk posed by this set list of diseases.
Some businesses will have purchased add-ons for their insurance that cover for ‘unspecified notifiable diseases’. These policies effectively cover any disease listed as a notifiable disease, enabling the business to claim for losses for all notifiable diseases as well as from diseases that are unknown at the point the policy is written.
The effect of the Government adding COVID-19 to its list of notifiable diseases is to ensure that businesses with unspecified notifiable disease cover are able to make a claim – subject to the terms and conditions in their policy. For example, someone infected with COVID-19 may need to have been on the premises.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of medical supplies following the outbreak of Wuhan coronavirus and the closure of manufacturing facilities in China; and what contingencies they have in place in the event of any shortages of supplies.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The National Health Service and wider health system are extremely well prepared for these types of outbreaks and follow tried and tested procedures of the highest standards to protect staff, patients and the public. The Department has stepped up its efforts to assess risks to the availability of medical supplies and put in place contingencies to help ensure uninterrupted supply.
These efforts have included:
- a response group has been established to evaluate the potential impacts of this situation on continuity of supply of medical goods;
- asking suppliers to conduct a full risk assessment of the impact of the situation on their supply chains;
- requesting that suppliers who still retain some or all of their European Union exit stockpiles, should hold on to them, while the Department considers more targeted approaches;
- directing NHS Supply Chain to pause ramp-down activity of the centralised stock-build of medical devices and clinical consumables; and
- contacting all known medical suppliers trading from or via China.
Working closely with industry, the NHS and others in the supply chain, we continue to monitor the situation to help prevent shortages and minimise the risks to patients.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resources available to the Food Standards Agency to prepare for any additional responsibilities it may assume post-Brexit.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government has provided £14 million of funding in 2018/19 to support the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) workstreams relating to the consequences of leaving the European Union, to help the FSA ensure there is a robust regulatory system in place to guarantee food safety, expand the National Food Crime Unit and deliver replacements for EU programmes which carry out food safety risk management functions.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to bring into force all aspects of the Falsified Medicines Dirctive (EU2016/161); and if so, when.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The United Kingdom will still be a Member State of the European Union until 29 March 2019 and, in line with our existing obligations, will therefore be required to implement the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) Delegated Regulation before 9 February 2019.
When the UK exits the EU, the Withdrawal Bill will convert existing EU law into UK law and preserve the laws we have made in the UK to implement our EU obligations. This means that the duties of the regulations under the FMD would continue to apply, unless specifically revoked.
Furthermore, on 19 March 2018, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union confirmed that the UK and EU have agreed a fixed implementation period of 21 months, lasting until December 2020. During this time, access to each other’s markets will continue on current terms, including all aspects of FMD, providing certainty for businesses and citizens across the EU and UK, and time to prepare for the future.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the UK food and drink industry will maintain access to the risk assessment expertise of the European Food Safety Authority until a UK scientific risk assessment body is fully functioning.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The United Kingdom has a long tradition of close scientific collaboration with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) which we greatly value and hope to continue in the future. A range of options are being considered for the future of risk assessment and scientific advice in the UK. The nature of the UK’s future relationship with EFSA will be subject to forthcoming negotiations. After the UK has left the European Union, our priority will be to maintain the UK’s high standards of food and feed safety.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to seek to become an associate member of the European Food Safety Authority after Brexit.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
As the Prime Minister said in her speech at Mansion House, we are exploring the terms on which we could remain part of European Union agencies for sectors where close collaboration is critical.
A range of options are being considered for the future of risk assessment and scientific advice in the United Kingdom. After the UK has left the EU, our priority will be to maintain the UK’s high standards of food and feed safety.
The UK has a long tradition of close scientific collaboration with the European Food Safety Authority which we greatly value and hope to continue in the future.