Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the levels of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator training being taught in (a) privately funded schools and (b) higher and further education settings.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All state funded schools in England are required to teach first aid as part of statutory Health Education, which includes basic first aid. Pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid, including how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators. Schools may also incorporate further defibrillator awareness and training materials to support this as part of the wider curriculum.
In 2022, the Department announced it would provide automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to schools in England to plug local gaps and provide more schools and local communities access to first aid equipment. Since the start of the programme, over 9,300 devices have been delivered to state funded schools in England.
The Department has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of CPR and AED training in schools and is undertaking an evaluation of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) generally. The Department has contracted IFF Research to undertake quantitative and qualitative research into the quality of the implementation of RSHE, including teacher confidence in teaching the statutory requirements. The Department anticipates that the final report from IFF Research will be published in early 2024. Details of the IFF Research contract are available at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0cc4d6b1-d266-459e-aaee-f5e22e4ad4c6.
As part of the Ofsted assessment of a school’s support for pupils’ personal development, inspectors make a professional judgement on whether the school is providing appropriate and effective teaching in the range of curriculum subjects, including RSHE. Schools are accountable for what they teach and should ensure that all RSHE content is factual, age appropriate, and suitable for their pupils. As part of their personal development judgement, inspectors would consider whether schools are teaching content in line with the RSHE statutory guidance.
Independent or fee paying schools are regulated by the Independent School Standards. Schools not meeting the Standards face regulatory action up to and including de-registration, or effective closure. Independent schools are not required by the Standards to provide CPR and AED training, so no such assessment has been made of the degree to which they do so. Independent schools are required to teach Health Education as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic education and it is good practice to follow the statutory Health Education curriculum.
Further education colleges and Higher Education Institutions are autonomous organisations and as such are responsible for matters of health and safety training in their organisations.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the implementation and effectiveness of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator training in state-funded schools since its inclusion in the national curriculum in 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All state funded schools in England are required to teach first aid as part of statutory Health Education, which includes basic first aid. Pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid, including how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators. Schools may also incorporate further defibrillator awareness and training materials to support this as part of the wider curriculum.
In 2022, the Department announced it would provide automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to schools in England to plug local gaps and provide more schools and local communities access to first aid equipment. Since the start of the programme, over 9,300 devices have been delivered to state funded schools in England.
The Department has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of CPR and AED training in schools and is undertaking an evaluation of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) generally. The Department has contracted IFF Research to undertake quantitative and qualitative research into the quality of the implementation of RSHE, including teacher confidence in teaching the statutory requirements. The Department anticipates that the final report from IFF Research will be published in early 2024. Details of the IFF Research contract are available at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0cc4d6b1-d266-459e-aaee-f5e22e4ad4c6.
As part of the Ofsted assessment of a school’s support for pupils’ personal development, inspectors make a professional judgement on whether the school is providing appropriate and effective teaching in the range of curriculum subjects, including RSHE. Schools are accountable for what they teach and should ensure that all RSHE content is factual, age appropriate, and suitable for their pupils. As part of their personal development judgement, inspectors would consider whether schools are teaching content in line with the RSHE statutory guidance.
Independent or fee paying schools are regulated by the Independent School Standards. Schools not meeting the Standards face regulatory action up to and including de-registration, or effective closure. Independent schools are not required by the Standards to provide CPR and AED training, so no such assessment has been made of the degree to which they do so. Independent schools are required to teach Health Education as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic education and it is good practice to follow the statutory Health Education curriculum.
Further education colleges and Higher Education Institutions are autonomous organisations and as such are responsible for matters of health and safety training in their organisations.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of increasing societal awareness of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator use to improve survival rates in response to cardiac arrest in (a) homes, (b) workplaces and (c) public spaces.
Answered by Helen Whately
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of improving access to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation training and Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in more deprived areas of the country where incidences of cardiac arrest are higher. Similarly, no assessment has been made of the potential merits of increasing societal awareness of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and AED use to improve survival rates in response to cardiac arrest in homes, workplaces and public spaces.
The Government has agreed to provide funding of £1 million to design a grant scheme for the expansion of AEDs that expands the number and accessibility of publicly supported access to defibrillators.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of improving access to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation training and Automated External Defibrillators in more deprived areas of the country where incidences of cardiac arrest are higher.
Answered by Helen Whately
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of improving access to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation training and Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in more deprived areas of the country where incidences of cardiac arrest are higher. Similarly, no assessment has been made of the potential merits of increasing societal awareness of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and AED use to improve survival rates in response to cardiac arrest in homes, workplaces and public spaces.
The Government has agreed to provide funding of £1 million to design a grant scheme for the expansion of AEDs that expands the number and accessibility of publicly supported access to defibrillators.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of medicines that were prescribed by doctors that were not available on local formularies in the last 12 months; and if he will make an assessment of the impact of medicine availability on prescriptions made by doctors.
Answered by Will Quince
No estimate has been made as the information requested is not held centrally. The purpose of a formulary is to guide prescribers to preferred products rather than mandating what they can and cannot prescribe. Prescribers are still able to prescribe medicines that are not listed on a formulary.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the speech by the Prime Minister to the Conservative Friends of Israel on 16 December 2022, what recent progress his Department has made on assessing the potential merits of supporting the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK Government remains in close contact with the US Government about the US Middle East Partnership for Peace Act and how existing peace-building projects and funding can better support the goals of this Act. We share the objective of advancing economic, social, and political connections, and peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians. We stand ready to collaborate and coordinate further.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of products approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence did not appear on local formularies within 90 days of its approval in the last 12 months.
Answered by Will Quince
Information on the inclusion of products recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on local formularies is not held centrally.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to reduce regional variations in the availability of hormone replacement therapies.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Regional information is not held centrally, however, there are over 70 hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products available in the United Kingdom and the vast majority are in good supply. We are regularly engaging with individual suppliers to prevent and mitigate supply issues in the short and long term. The HRT supply position has improved considerably since last Spring.
Local or system level formularies have been established in some areas to support integrated care boards (ICBs) in making the best use of resources based on local population needs. Where they are in place, local formularies guide prescribers to preferred products rather than mandating what they can and cannot prescribe. Prescribers are still able to prescribe medicines that are not listed on a formulary.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the average administrative time spent by healthcare professionals on updating local formularies to include hormone replacement therapies in the last 12 months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
No estimate has been made as this information is not held centrally.
Local formularies guide prescribers to preferred products rather than mandating what they can and cannot prescribe. Prescribers are still able to prescribe medicines that are not listed on a formulary. Formularies do not always include medicines from all clinical areas, as they are tailored towards areas where support is felt to be helpful and or necessary for a local area.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have bought an HRT pre-payment certificate since its introduction.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
From 1 to 30 April 2023 there were 130,623 successful applications for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescription pre-payment certificates. Information on the number of people who have bought prescription pre-payment certificates for HRT and who are accessing HRT for the first time is not held.