Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to ensure that healthcare professionals receive updated training and resources for the accurate and timely diagnosis of motor neurone disease.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All health professionals involved in assessing, caring for and treating people with motor neurone disease (MND) should have sufficient and appropriate training and competence. Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their medical and nursing staff are trained and competent to carry out their role and to invest in the future of their staff through providing continuing professional development (CPD) funding.
To supplement local employer investment for CPD, the Government announced in September 2019 a £210 million funding boost to provide every nurse, midwife, and allied health professional (AHP) working in the National Health Service in England with a personal budget of £1,000 over three years to 2022/23.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out NHS England’s commitment to continue national CPD funding for nurses, midwives and AHPs. The operation of this scheme will be kept under review, to ensure subsequent funding is in line with workforce growth and inflation, well-targeted and achieving the desired outcomes.
To support the diagnosis of MND, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a clinical guideline on the assessment and management of MND (NG42).
NHS England commissions specialised neurology services for the assessment, diagnosis and care of patients with a range of neurological conditions, including MND, as set out in the published service specification. A copy of this specification is attached.
NHS England currently has a National Transformation Programme for Neurosciences, which is undertaking considerable work to review and develop optimal care pathways, including early diagnosis and model of care for patients with a range of neurological conditions, including MND.
Additionally, the National Neurosciences Advisory Group, a collaboration of specialist clinicians, allied health professionals and charity representatives, developed a clinical pathway for MND, published in June 2023. A copy of the pathway is attached.
The pathway is being used to inform the proposed changes to the neurology service model, which will in turn be used to revise the service specification for neurology.
NHS England does not currently monitor or evaluate rates of diagnosis of neurological conditions, including MND, nor does it have metrics in place to assess diagnostic rates.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their current assessment of coordination of motor neurone disease research via the MND Collaborative Partnership, co-funded by the medical research charity LifeArc and the motor neurone disease patient charities MND Association, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and MND Scotland.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The MND Collaborative Partnership is monitored by the funding partners via quarterly reporting. The Partnership was launched to bring researchers together to speed the development of effective treatments for motor neurone disease. The Government, via the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is co-funding the £4.25 million collaborative alongside LifeArc, My Name’5 Doddie, MND Association and MND Scotland. The Government is contributing a further £2 million to focus on gathering and analysing existing data.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government (1) what is their assessment of the effectiveness of their efforts to enhance early motor neurone disease diagnosis, specifically in terms of reducing diagnostic delays, (2) how they are monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of their efforts to enhance motor neurone disease diagnosis, and (3) what metrics they are using to assess progress in this area.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All health professionals involved in assessing, caring for and treating people with motor neurone disease (MND) should have sufficient and appropriate training and competence. Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their medical and nursing staff are trained and competent to carry out their role and to invest in the future of their staff through providing continuing professional development (CPD) funding.
To supplement local employer investment for CPD, the Government announced in September 2019 a £210 million funding boost to provide every nurse, midwife, and allied health professional (AHP) working in the National Health Service in England with a personal budget of £1,000 over three years to 2022/23.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out NHS England’s commitment to continue national CPD funding for nurses, midwives and AHPs. The operation of this scheme will be kept under review, to ensure subsequent funding is in line with workforce growth and inflation, well-targeted and achieving the desired outcomes.
To support the diagnosis of MND, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a clinical guideline on the assessment and management of MND (NG42).
NHS England commissions specialised neurology services for the assessment, diagnosis and care of patients with a range of neurological conditions, including MND, as set out in the published service specification. A copy of this specification is attached.
NHS England currently has a National Transformation Programme for Neurosciences, which is undertaking considerable work to review and develop optimal care pathways, including early diagnosis and model of care for patients with a range of neurological conditions, including MND.
Additionally, the National Neurosciences Advisory Group, a collaboration of specialist clinicians, allied health professionals and charity representatives, developed a clinical pathway for MND, published in June 2023. A copy of the pathway is attached.
The pathway is being used to inform the proposed changes to the neurology service model, which will in turn be used to revise the service specification for neurology.
NHS England does not currently monitor or evaluate rates of diagnosis of neurological conditions, including MND, nor does it have metrics in place to assess diagnostic rates.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to collaborate with the NHS to (1) identify, and (2) prioritise, areas of research with the highest potential for successful translation into tangible benefits for patients and the healthcare system.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds and enables research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NHS England Demand Signalling teams aim to identify, prioritise, and outline the most important research questions and innovation challenges that need addressing to deliver the NHS Long Term Plan. The NIHR works closely with NHS England to explore commissioning new research addressing the priorities identified through the demand signalling work.
NIHR’s funding committees recommend which research projects to fund or prioritise, with input from those who use, work in and manage health and care services. The NIHR has also established networks, such as the NIHR Translational Research Collaborations, to facilitate the identification of areas of patient need with NHS trusts along with the United Kingdom’s leading universities and research centres.
The NIHR also works with the National Health Service’s Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC), to promote the adoption and diffusion of proven innovations and the decommissioning of ineffective or superseded interventions. The NIHR is partnering with the AAC as it enters into agreements with commercial companies to align research, manufacturing, and innovation deployment activities.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to increase funding to deliver innovative immunisation delivery models to increase capacity and uptake among hard-to-reach groups.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is NHS England’s responsibility to apportion funds to optimise the delivery of the vaccination programmes. The Department works with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England to improve immunisation delivery, capacity, and uptake for all. This includes looking at innovative delivery routes to make getting vaccinated easier for under-served and under-vaccinated communities.
It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations to which they are entitled; for themselves, their families, and wider society. Anyone unsure about their eligibility or vaccination status should contact their general practitioner for advice.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have undertaken of the future implementation of the Tobacco and Related Products (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2023.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A full Impact Assessment has not been prepared for this instrument because the amounts involved on business fall below the threshold for producing one. An internal assessment was made however by The Office for Health Improvements and Disparities (OHID) to help understand the impact.
Our internal assessment enabled us to conclude that the use of heated tobacco products is low at around 0.5% of adults in Northern Ireland. They are produced and manufactured outside the United Kingdom by the tobacco industry. The characterising flavour ban will limit the products that can be produced and supply on the Northern Ireland market which may limit the volume of sales.
Our assessment also judged that there will be no significant impact on the public sector. Each district council in Northern Ireland will enforce the new requirements. These new requirements are not expected to be a significant burden on district councils, given the low use of heated tobacco products in Northern Ireland.
OHID, working with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland, has communicated the proposed changes to the tobacco industry, the Northern Ireland retail representatives, and the relevant enforcement agencies.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 22 June (HL8406), how many manufacturers of flu vaccinations they have identified to provide recommended vaccines to the UK for (1) those aged 65 and over, and (2) those aged 18 to 64 years in eligible groups; and how many manufacturing sites will each of those manufacturers use to supply the UK.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Adult flu vaccines are purchased locally by individual general practices and community pharmacies. A list of manufacturers of flu vaccines available for the 2023/4 season, including vaccine and age licensed from, was published alongside the annual flu letter, and is shown in the following table.
Vaccine | Manufacturer | Licensed from age |
Cell-based Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (QIVc) Egg-free | CSL Seqirus | licensed from 2 years of age |
Fluenz Tetra, live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) | AstraZeneca | licensed from 2 years to under 18 years of age |
Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine, egg-grown (QIVe) | Sanofi | licensed from 6 months of age |
Influvac sub-unit Tetra, Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine, egg-grown (QIVe) | Viatris (formerly Mylan) | licensed from 6 months of age |
Supemtek, recombinant Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (QIVr) | Sanofi | licensed from 18 years of age |
Adjuvanted Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (aQIV) | CSL Seqirus | licensed from 65 years of age |
The Department does not hold information on where locally procured vaccines are manufactured.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 29 June 2023 (HL8408), what reasons they have identified for the fall in seasonal flu vaccine uptake in NHS Trust-based frontline healthcare workers in England for 2022 to 2023 compared with 2021 to 2022.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting people most vulnerable to seasonal flu through vaccination as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Feedback from regions was sought by NHS England in May 2023 with trusts to explore the reasons for a reduction in seasonal flu vaccine uptake in National Health Service-based frontline healthcare workers from 2022 to 2023 compared with 2021 to 2022.
This work identified that the fall arose because of vaccine fatigue amongst staff following numerous vaccination campaigns over the last two years. Some staff also reported ‘choosing’ a winter vaccination and favouring COVID-19 over flu vaccination.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 22 June (HL8406), what contingency plans they have made for a major manufacturer of flu vaccinations being unable to supply the UK for the 2023/24 season.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom Health Security Agency maintains oversight on adult flu supplier distribution activity during season to ascertain whether there are any manufacturing problems which could impact the running of the programme at a national level, such as the number of doses available across the United Kingdom or significant delays to deliveries.
If there are factors that are sufficiently serious to significantly affect the implementation of the vaccination programme, guidance will be issued to the National Health Service to minimise the impact, for example by advising the prioritisation of particular eligible groups over others.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that sufficient (1) funding, and (2) staff resources, are put in place to ensure the implementation of a universal programme for Respiratory Syncytial Virus vaccinations for infants and older adults.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Policy options based on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice on a potentially expanded respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination programme are being developed. This includes engaging with HM Treasury to seek budgetary support for a potential programme, and with NHS England and UK Health Security Agency regarding the required resources and capacity to deliver a potential programme.