Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment on the use of oral nicotine pouches, what his planned timeline is for the regulation of oral nicotine pouches; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There are no current plans to make a statement on the timeline for the regulation of oral nicotine pouches. They remain regulated by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of community mental health nurses have had training on dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
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 (a) ensure that the necessary clinical guidelines are in place to identify adverse reactions to the covid-19 vaccines and (b) ensure that NHS staff in contact with potential patients with adverse reactions receive adequate training.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Every vaccine deployed in the United Kingdom is assessed by teams of scientists and clinicians and only authorised once it has met robust standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness set by Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Whilst severe adverse reactions are extremely rare, it is important that clinicians are fully trained in identifying and treating patients within their care. To ensure this, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published various pieces of guidance for healthcare workers, which provides detailed information regarding adverse reactions following vaccination, available at the following link:
UKHSA and other professional groups have also developed a comprehensive training package to ensure vaccines are administered safely, including how to deal with possible adverse reactions to a vaccine. Safety is the utmost priority of any public health vaccination programme and all healthcare workers administering vaccines are trained to the highest standards and are expected to follow all required clinical considerations via the NHS and UKHSA approved training programme.
Guidance on COVID-19 vaccination training to support healthcare workers involved in delivering the programme is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccinator-training-recommendations
A competency assessment tool is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccinator-competency-assessment-tool
NHS England guides sites to use this training. Accountability for staff being trained sits with the organisation delivering the service alongside an individual’s professional responsibility.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of conducting a national awareness campaign on (a) the possible symptoms of adverse reactions to vaccines and (b) removing potential stigma towards adverse reactions to vaccines.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the National Health Service and Medicines Health Regulations Agency (MHRA) carry out work to ensure the public are aware of common and rare side effects from different vaccines. This information is on publicly available materials is available at the following link:
The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with UKHSA, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, media, social media and technology companies on innovative ways to tackle the proliferation of anti-vaccine messaging, limit misinformation, promote positive messages about vaccination and ensure that reputable sources such as NHS.UK are the most prominent. The Government uses extensive and targeted multi-channel communications, using trusted voices, and sharing accurate information about vaccination, informed by clinical expertise and analysis from UKHSA.
Anyone can report suspected side effects of vaccines to the MHRA to ensure safe and effective use.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the eligibility criteria for the Vaccine Damage Payment.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are currently no plans to review the eligibility criteria for the vaccine damage payment scheme.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of GP surgeries in England that have sent patients directly for brain imaging through head (a) MRI and (b) CT scans in each of the last five years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
NHS England holds data for four years 2018/19 to 2021/22 but only partial data for 2022/23. The following tables shows the number of general practices in England for which patients received Magnetic Resonance Imaging of head or Computed Tomography of head via a general practitioner (GP) direct access.
2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | |
MRI of head | 5,458 | 5,379 | 5,173 | 5,218 |
CT of head | 5,348 | 5,424 | 4,872 | 5,005 |
Source: Diagnostic Imaging Dataset, https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostic-imaging-dataset/.
The Government is not aware of whether local health bodies have data on the number of GP surgeries across England who refer patients directly for brain imaging.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether local health bodies hold data on how many GP surgeries across England have sent patients directly for brain imaging through head (a) MRI and (b) CT scans in each of the last five years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
NHS England holds data for four years 2018/19 to 2021/22 but only partial data for 2022/23. The following tables shows the number of general practices in England for which patients received Magnetic Resonance Imaging of head or Computed Tomography of head via a general practitioner (GP) direct access.
2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | |
MRI of head | 5,458 | 5,379 | 5,173 | 5,218 |
CT of head | 5,348 | 5,424 | 4,872 | 5,005 |
Source: Diagnostic Imaging Dataset, https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostic-imaging-dataset/.
The Government is not aware of whether local health bodies have data on the number of GP surgeries across England who refer patients directly for brain imaging.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to create a national framework for a diabetes pathway to support people with learning difficulties.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England have no plans to create a national framework for a diabetes pathway to support people with learning difficulties.
Integrated care boards are responsible for planning and commissioning diabetes care locally, in line with local population need and diabetes care pathways, these will vary by local systems and so cannot be nationally prescribed.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to recent reports on e-cigarette manufacturers overfilling e-cigarette devices, if he will bring forward changes to the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 to increase penalties on manufacturers found to be in breach of those regulations.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There are no current plans to increase the penalties beyond those set out in regulation 51 of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that local Trading Standards are (a) investigating e-liquid capacity in notified e-cigarette devices and (b) removing from the market any products above the 2ml e-liquid volume limit.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Local enforcement agencies are responsible for ensuring that e-cigarettes, vapes, comply with The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 in the United Kingdom. The Department continues to work with enforcement agencies to ensure these regulations are enforced in England, including related to restrictions on e-liquid capacity and volume.