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Written Question
Nurses: Training
Tuesday 7th March 2023

Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of nurses dropped out of (1) all nurse training, (2) paediatric nurse training, (3) adult nurse training, and (4) mental health nurse training, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Higher Education Statistics Agency publish the proportion of nursing entrants to undergraduate courses that are no longer in higher education. The following table shows the proportion of United Kingdom domiciled undergraduate nursing entrants who are no longer in higher education 2019/20. The rates in will not include students that have transferred to a course in another subject. Non-continuation rates are not available at the level of specific nursing professions.

Proportion of entrants that are no longer in higher education

Young students (21 years old and under)

4.70%

Mature students (over 21 years old)

7.10%

Source: The Higher Education Statistics Agency Non-continuation rates 2022.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Vaccination
Tuesday 8th November 2022

Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the COVID-19 vaccine programme is (1) resilient, and (2) stable, in terms of vaccine supply and product diversity; and whether they will avoid overreliance on one COVID-19 vaccine technology.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The United Kingdom has received sufficient supply of vaccines to meet the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s current advice for the autumn booster vaccination programme. This includes Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, with Novavax where no other UK-approved COVID-19 vaccine is deemed clinically suitable. These vaccines, which the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has approved for use in the UK, are currently in deployment.

The majority of the Government’s contracts with developers contain flexibilities to ensure that the UK can receive updated vaccines being produced, including the recently regulated bivalent mRNA vaccines, which provide broader protection against variants and variant-specific vaccines. We remain in regular contact with the vaccine manufacturers to ensure the future supply of vaccines to the UK.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Vaccination
Tuesday 8th November 2022

Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timeline for future Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (1) deliberations, and (2) decisions, on the COVID-19 vaccine booster programme; and whether those decisions will be published in full.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) continues to monitor COVID-19 epidemiology and evaluate data from the United Kingdom and globally in order to provide advice to the Government on potential vaccination programmes. However, as this is an ongoing process, we are unable to confirm a specific timetable.

The minutes of the JCVI’s meetings, where advice to the Government is discussed, is published in an online only format at GOV.UK.


Written Question
Vaccination
Tuesday 8th November 2022

Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to maximize the use of vaccines that are ready to be deployed in England and Wales this winter.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The United Kingdom’s national immunisation programmes are co-ordinated to improve access at general practices, clinics and pharmacies through working with stakeholders. NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are working with regional teams on communications to support higher vaccine uptake, including under-served communities; people with long term health conditions; and pregnant women. Those eligible for COVID-19 and flu vaccines include people over 50 years old, health and social care workers and those aged from six months for flu and five years old for COVID-19 in the relevant clinical risk groups. The flu vaccine is also being offered to healthy children aged two to 11 years old and some secondary school children.

From 5 September to 17 October 2022, over 8.5 million COVID-19 autumn booster doses have been administered in England. We are ensuring that COVID-19 vaccination appointments being offered 3,100 sites, including more than 1,680 community pharmacies and 80 hospital hubs.


Written Question
Obesity: Health Services
Thursday 8th October 2020

Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 20 August (HL7568), what the format of the planned stakeholder engagement will be; which stakeholders will be involved; and whether there will be a public consultation as part of that process.

Answered by Lord Bethell

We will set out further details about measures on weight management later in the year.


Written Question
Obesity
Thursday 20th August 2020

Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will (1) measure, and (2) report on, the success of the policies outlined in their strategy Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives, published on 27 July.

Answered by Lord Bethell

We are committed to reducing obesity. The National Child Measurement Programme and Health Survey for England provide prevalence data which will be important in understanding the levels of obesity in England. Importantly, alongside reports such as the National Diet and Nutrition Survey which enables us to measure changes to the population’s diet, we will also be putting in place evaluation of our legislative action so we can understand its impact.

Government departments work very closely on reducing obesity and have shared responsibility in delivering these policies.


Written Question
Obesity
Thursday 20th August 2020

Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be (1) the process, and (2) the timeline, for the expansion of weight management services available through the NHS announced in their strategy Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives, published on 27 July; and whether this will include expansion of (a) tier 3, and (b) tier 4, weight management services.

Answered by Lord Bethell

Through the new obesity strategy, published on 27 July, we are delivering a range of measures on weight management including a National Health Service 12-week weight loss plan app, expanding weight management services to help more people get the support they need, accelerating the expansion of the NHS diabetes prevention programme and making conversations about weight in primary care the norm. Further details about these measures will be available later in the year and we will engage stakeholders throughout this process.

A copy of Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives is attached.


Written Question
Obesity
Thursday 20th August 2020

Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which government departments will be accountable for the implementation of their strategy Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives, published on 27 July.

Answered by Lord Bethell

We are committed to reducing obesity. The National Child Measurement Programme and Health Survey for England provide prevalence data which will be important in understanding the levels of obesity in England. Importantly, alongside reports such as the National Diet and Nutrition Survey which enables us to measure changes to the population’s diet, we will also be putting in place evaluation of our legislative action so we can understand its impact.

Government departments work very closely on reducing obesity and have shared responsibility in delivering these policies.


Written Question
Obesity
Thursday 20th August 2020

Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to involve people with relevant lived experiences in (1) the campaign, and (2) the implementation of policies, associated with their strategy Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives, published on 27 July.

Answered by Lord Bethell

Through the new obesity strategy, published on 27 July, we are delivering a range of measures on weight management including a National Health Service 12-week weight loss plan app, expanding weight management services to help more people get the support they need, accelerating the expansion of the NHS diabetes prevention programme and making conversations about weight in primary care the norm. Further details about these measures will be available later in the year and we will engage stakeholders throughout this process.

A copy of Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives is attached.


Written Question
Epilepsy: Cannabis
Thursday 7th May 2020

Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to fund private prescriptions for whole plant cannabis pharmaceutical medicines for children with severe drug resistant epilepsy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answered by Lord Bethell

The costs of medicines associated with treatment sought privately remain the responsibility of patients. No additional public funding is being provided beyond the financial package to provide additional support for public services, individuals and businesses experiencing financial difficulties during COVID-19.

The latest National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines on the National Health Service, and we are working hard with the health system, industry and researchers to improve the knowledge base.