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Written Question
Coronavirus: Disease Control
Wednesday 19th August 2020

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of health passports as part of its covid-19 recovery strategy.

Answered by Nadine Dorries

We first need to improve our understanding of the science around immunity in order to fully understand the potential of certification in the next phase of our response to this pandemic.

In order to gain answers to critical questions, the United Kingdom Government is conducting some of the biggest seroprevalence surveys in the world. This includes using lab-based tests to monitor the number of people that are presenting an antibody response and how this response changes over time. The UK Government is also closely monitoring the results from clinical trials of candidate COVID-19 vaccines to determine their efficacy and the immune response they generate.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Disease Control
Saturday 15th August 2020

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of introducing health passports as part of its (a) economic recovery strategy and (b) pre-second covid-19 wave contingency planning.

Answered by Nadine Dorries

We first need to improve our understanding of the science around immunity in order to fully understand the potential of certification to facilitate a return to the ‘new normal’ and as part of pre-second COVID-19 wave contingency planning.

In order to gain answers to critical questions, the United Kingdom Government is conducting some of the biggest seroprevalence surveys in the world. This includes using lab-based tests to monitor the number of people that are presenting an antibody response and how this response changes over time. The UK Government is also closely monitoring the results from clinical trials of candidate COVID-19 vaccines to determine their efficacy and the immune response they generate.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Disease Control
Saturday 15th August 2020

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of introducing a documented immunity and vaccination status for covid-19 via a health passport on (a) the operation of the Government's air-bridge system and (b) the UK's economic resilience and efficiency as it recovers from the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Nadine Dorries

We first need to improve our understanding of the science around immunity in order to fully understand the potential of certification to facilitate a return to the ‘new normal’ – including to enable increased travel without the need to quarantine and increased economic activity.

In order to gain answers to critical questions, such as those relating to immunity to COVID-19 following infection with the virus, the United Kingdom Government is conducting some of the biggest seroprevalence surveys in the world. This includes using lab-based tests to monitor the number of people that are presenting an antibody response and how this response changes over time. The UK Government is also closely monitoring the results from clinical trials of candidate COVID-19 vaccines to determine their efficacy and the immune response they generate.


Written Question
Pharmacy: Finance
Tuesday 14th June 2016

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the final decisions on the Pharmacy Integration Fund.

Answered by Alistair Burt

NHS England is responsible for the oversight of the Pharmacy Integration Fund. Initial priorities for the Fund in 2016/17 will be to support urgent care services and enhancing the health of care home residents. NHS England will publish further details throughout the five-year period of the Fund.


Written Question
Health Services: Costs
Thursday 12th November 2015

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he has any plans to inform NHS users of the actual costs of visits, treatments and prescriptions.

Answered by Alistair Burt

The Government intends to publish the indicative medicine costs to the National Health Service on the dispensing label of all medicines dispensed in the community in England costing more than £20 from late 2016.


Reference costs, which show the average unit costs to National Health Service hospital trusts of treatments and visits, are published annually by the Department on the Government website. There are no plans to inform patients of these costs each time they use the service.


Written Question
King's College Hospital
Thursday 27th November 2014

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the forecast of a £29 million deficit for Kings College Hospital; and what steps he is taking to protect health services in Bromley.

Answered by Dan Poulter

We are advised that Monitor has held several meetings with King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and has requested information from the trust to help identify the reasons for the current year-end deficit forecast. The Trust has commissioned external support to assist in the development of a robust recovery plan which will ensure the trust’s mid-term financial sustainability.

We also understand that Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is working closely with the Trust to ensure that the Trust’s financial issues do not adversely affect the quality of care for patients.

The CCG is investing nearly £20 million in additional out-of-hospital services in Bromley through the Better Care Fund. Increased investment of £2.5 million has also been made available for out-of-hours care in Bromley during the winter period.


Written Question
Health Services: Veterans
Tuesday 25th November 2014

Asked by: Bob Stewart (Independent - Beckenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to check on the health of service personnel who were wounded or hurt in the Second World War and subsequent conflicts.

Answered by Dan Poulter

The Government continues to improve the health services available to veterans, investing over £22 million in providing enhanced mental health and prosthetic services. This includes the provision of nine prosthetic centres for veterans who have lost a limb as a result of their service, ten veterans’ mental health teams, a 24 hour helpline, an online counselling service and the funding of specialist post-traumatic stress disorder services through Combat Stress.

The Department and NHS England have increased communications with general practiontioners and others in the National Health Service, to highlight the health needs of veterans and the wider Armed Forces community.