Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is taking steps to investigate the potential effect of valproate on men and their fertility.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Valproate is a medicine authorised for the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder. The product information for all medicines is approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The product information for valproate containing medicines has listed male infertility as a possible side effect since 2011.
In 2021, the MHRA reviewed the totality of data on the risk of male infertility associated with valproate including evidence for reversibility of effects. Although the data are limited, the valproate product information was updated in 2021 to advise that male infertility is usually reversible after treatment discontinuation and may be reversible after dose reduction. However, in some cases, the reversibility of male infertility was unknown.
The underlying biological mechanism is currently uncertain, but animal data on valproate show toxicity to testicular tissue structure and function. MHRA keeps all data under review and is investigating the clinical relevance of these data with the marketing authorisation holders.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington 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 hours of Time Off In Lieu accrued by staff working in the Customer and Corporate Operations directorate at the Care Quality Commission in each of the last 18 months..
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-department public body of the Department. The information requested about the CQC’s staffs’ working patterns is not held centrally.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington 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 hours of Time Off In Lieu accrued by staff working in the Technology Data and Insight directorate at the Care Quality Commission in each of the last 18 months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-department public body of the Department. The information requested about the CQC’s staffs’ working patterns is not held centrally.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 implications for his policies of the Care Quality Commission's independent review on Listening, Learning and Responding to Concerns, published in March 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department welcomed the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) independent review report on Listening, Learning and Responding to Concerns. On 24 May 2023, CQC’s board discussed the outcome of the review and committed to placing the recommendations of the review into its new ways of working and the imminent adoption of the regulatory platform and single assessment framework. CQC will set up an independent panel to evaluate whether the changes CQC will have a positive impact. The Department will also assess CQC’s progress against the review’s recommendations through its usual assurance process.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington 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 hours of Time Off In Lieu accrued by staff working in the Engagement Strategy & Policy directorate at the Care Quality Commission in each of the last 18 months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-department public body of the Department. The information requested about the CQC’s staffs’ working patterns is not held centrally.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington 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 hours of Time Off In Lieu accrued by staff working in the Regulatory leadership directorate at the Care Quality Commission in each of the last 18 months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-department public body of the Department. The information requested about the CQC’s staffs’ working patterns is not held centrally.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington 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 reduce the average waiting time for patients to receive a blood test result; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
To help increase the volume of diagnostic activity and reduce patient waiting times, the Department has committed £2.3 billion to transform diagnostic services. This includes the roll out of up to 160 Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) by March 2025, 108 of which are already operational. Large and standard CDCs provide pathology services, including phlebotomy services. This funding will also improve digital infrastructure, which will help the National Health Service speed up turnaround times of tests.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington 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 commission chemosaturation as a treatment for cancer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and integrated care boards (ICBs) have responsibility for the commissioning of healthcare services which respond to population health needs including in relation to the treatment of cancer. Therefore, any decisions on commissioning chemosaturation would be a decision for NHS England and the relevant ICB, not for the Department. NHS England and ICBs are guided by the recommendations made by the National Institute for Healthcare Excellence.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2023 to Question 174463 on NHS: Microsoft, whether NHS Digital has assessed Microsoft Teams for compliance with the digital technology assessment criteria for health and social care since its introduction in 2021.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS Digital, now part of NHS England, manage the national contractual arrangements for Microsoft, which includes the provision of Microsoft Teams. NHS Digital undertake a national level assessment to DCB159, an Information Standards Notice for Secure Email Standards, which include some of the requirements of the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC). They have not undertaken a full assessment against the DTAC.
As each National Health Service organisation’s Office 365 tenant is configured individually, each NHS organisation is also required to undertake assessments including clinical safety and cyber security, which also form part of the DTAC.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2023 to Question 174463 on NHS: Microsoft, whether Microsoft Teams has been assessed for compliance with the digital technology assessment criteria in the period since 2021.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS Digital, now part of NHS England, manage the national contractual arrangements for Microsoft, which includes the provision of Microsoft Teams. NHS Digital undertake a national level assessment to DCB159, an Information Standards Notice for Secure Email Standards, which include some of the requirements of the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC). They have not undertaken a full assessment against the DTAC.
As each National Health Service organisation’s Office 365 tenant is configured individually, each NHS organisation is also required to undertake assessments including clinical safety and cyber security, which also form part of the DTAC.