Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency plans next to review the list of priority conditions which determine the speed with which applications for licenses for new medicines are considered.
Answered by Will Quince
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) does not have a specific list of conditions to which it gives priority when reviewing applications for new medicine licenses. However, it does prioritise applications where there is a public health need, for instance a new medicine which offers a treatment which is not yet available or a generic medicine where there might otherwise be a risk to supply. When deciding whether to prioritise a medicine, the MHRA collaborates with the Department and National Health Service to make sure its decisions align with their priorities.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which conditions are considered a priority by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency when assessing applications for new licences for medicines.
Answered by Will Quince
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) does not have a specific list of conditions to which it gives priority when reviewing applications for new medicine licenses. However, it does prioritise applications where there is a public health need, for instance a new medicine which offers a treatment which is not yet available or a generic medicine where there might otherwise be a risk to supply. When deciding whether to prioritise a medicine, the MHRA collaborates with the Department and National Health Service to make sure its decisions align with their priorities.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how priority conditions are determined when the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency considers applications for licensing of new medicines.
Answered by Will Quince
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) does not have a specific list of conditions to which it gives priority when reviewing applications for new medicine licenses. However, it does prioritise applications where there is a public health need, for instance a new medicine which offers a treatment which is not yet available or a generic medicine where there might otherwise be a risk to supply. When deciding whether to prioritise a medicine, the MHRA collaborates with the Department and National Health Service to make sure its decisions align with their priorities.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has mechanisms which allow blood bank supplies from non-covid-19-vaccinated donors available to non-covid-19-vaccinated patients who stipulate that preference.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Blood bank supplies are not identified based on the donor’s COVID-19 vaccination status. The Joint United Kingdom Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) provides guidelines for the blood transfusion services in the UK. In July 2021, JPAC published a position statement, which was updated in November 2022, stating that blood services cannot provide information on the COVID-19 vaccine status of donors to recipients and it is not necessary from a safety or efficacy perspective.
This is based on advice from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency that no additional blood and plasma safety measures are recommended in relation to the occurrence of suspected adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines. Individuals vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines may be accepted as donors, provided they feel well.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the timeframe for the provision of technology to tallow for annual prescriptions for HRT.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The technology already exists to allow prescribers to issue annual prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The estimated timeframe for the introduction of the HRT prescription prepayment certificate is 1st April 2023.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will relax the restrictions on dispensing pharmaceuticals in GP surgeries to enable more patients to obtain their medication from the surgery.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There are no plans to do so. These measures are in place to protect the viability of community pharmacies and the provision of services.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans she has to use provisions of the Health and Care Act 2022 to regulate non-surgical cosmetic procedures; and whether that regulation is a policy priority.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are committed to improving the safety of cosmetic procedures by ensuring that the regulatory framework allows consumers to make informed and safe choices. Officials are considering how a future licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England may be implemented. Any future licensing requirements would be subject to both stakeholder engagement and public consultation to inform the scope and details of the scheme.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) clinical commissioning groups and (b) integrated care systems that have (i) time limits, (ii) restrictions on balancing surgery, (iii) limits on the number of procedures and (iv) other local restrictions on breast reconstruction in place as of 14 June 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Information on specific funding allocated for breast reconstruction services is not held in the format requested. However, to support the recovery of elective services, including breast reconstruction, we are providing more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund made available in 2021/22.
No estimate has been made of the number of clinical commissioning groups and integrated care systems where local restrictions may be in place. The NHS Cancer Programme has reiterated that no local time limits should be applied to reconstructive surgery, particularly where reconstructive surgery has been delayed due to the pandemic. Cancer Alliances have been asked to ensure that wherever possible surgery with immediate breast reconstruction takes place and to seek opportunities to accelerate reconstruction for those women who have not yet undergone the procedure following previous breast surgery during the pandemic.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many delayed breast reconstructions have taken place since March 2020; and what proportion of those delayed reconstructions have used (a) free flap and (b) autologous breast reconstruction.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The data is not available in the format requested.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his timeline is for the new cervical screening IT system going live, as a minimum viable product; and by what date will the schedule and contents of subsequent releases, including the expected scope of the system on completion, be ready.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The new NHS Cervical Screening Management System (CSMS) will provide multiple benefits to both staff and patients and replace outdated technology. The new system will connect to the NHS Personal Demographics Service to provide a single source of national patient demographic information. National Health Service staff will be able to track a patient’s screening history more easily and patients will be able to manage their screening appointments online.
The launch date for the new CSMS minimum viable product has not yet been confirmed. The Digital Transformation of Screening Programme Board aims to confirm a deployment date during 2022/23. The schedule and contents of subsequent releases has yet to be agreed and will be considered as part of the implementation plan.