Caroline Johnson

Public Health England does not publish data on the infection fatality rate or the case fatality rate of COVID-19.

We published a personal protective equipment (PPE) plan on 10 April, setting out clear guidance on who needs PPE and in what circumstances they need to use it, how sufficient supplies will be secured and distributed to the front line.

The Government recognises the vital services that hospices provide across the United Kingdom. Distribution routes for PPE are constantly reviewed to strengthen and expand capacity, and efforts are currently being undertaken to boost the service to hospices.

We have provided local resilience forums with supplies of PPE to help them respond to urgent local spikes in need across front-line services, including hospices.

The National Supply Disruption Response exists as an emergency escalation route who handle queries including the supply of PPE as a last resort.

Working with key stakeholders, NHS England and NHS Improvement have developed a standard operating procedure (SOP), for palliative care for children and young people in community and hospice settings during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is due to be published shortly.

The SOP is aimed at supporting staff who are providing care or supporting children and young people, and their families, who have palliative and/or end of life care needs in the community, including home and hospice care. Palliative care will include some children and young people who have life-limiting long-term conditions and complex health needs. It encourages all providers of children’s palliative care (statutory and voluntary sector) to work collaboratively and flexibly across health settings to support this group of children and young people and keep them safe during the pandemic.

The recent consultation on the proposed mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid to help reduce neural tube defects in foetuses did specifically ask people to highlight any potential impact of this policy on small and medium businesses. People who responded to the consultation did not have to identify themselves or any sector they may be representing. However, of those who did, 50 identified themselves as working in the heritage/artisan milling sector. Officials from the Department have met with representatives from the The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) Mills Section and the Traditional Cornmillers Guild and visited wind and watermills to understand at first hand the practicalities around fortification in those premises. We have only the publicly available data on the number of traditional mills; noting that not all buildings manufacture flour as some are museums. Ministers are currently considering the consultation response analysis and further information will be provided in due course.

The recent consultation on the proposed mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid to help reduce neural tube defects in foetuses did specifically ask people to highlight any potential impact of this policy on small and medium businesses. People who responded to the consultation did not have to identify themselves or any sector they may be representing. However, of those who did, 50 identified themselves as working in the heritage/artisan milling sector. Officials from the Department have met with representatives from the The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) Mills Section and the Traditional Cornmillers Guild and visited wind and watermills to understand at first hand the practicalities around fortification in those premises. We have only the publicly available data on the number of traditional mills; noting that not all buildings manufacture flour as some are museums. Ministers are currently considering the consultation response analysis and further information will be provided in due course.