Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programme does not include people who are 80 or older.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination programme for adults turning 75 years old began on 1 September 2024 in England, alongside a one-off catch-up programme to rapidly vaccinate all those already aged 75 to 79 years old. Older adults will remain eligible until the day before their 80th birthday, except for people who turn 80 years old in the first year, who have until 31 August 2025 to get vaccinated.
When a new vaccination programme is introduced, the Government must make difficult decisions on who to offer the vaccine to. These decisions are based on advice the Department receives from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which includes evidence of the impact a vaccination has in different groups, as well as the capacity of the system to deliver the programme alongside all other healthcare priorities.
The structure of an immunisation programme is dynamic and the JCVI will continue to review the data available on who should be offered an RSV immunisation. It was noted in the JCVI’s advice from June 2023 that ‘an extension to the initial programme would be considered when there is more certainty about protection in the very elderly and the real-world impact of the programme in the 75- to 80-year-olds’. The JCVI’s statement on the introduction of an RSV vaccination programme is available at the following link:
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 assessment of the potential impact of providing annual ECGs to young people on the number of victims of sudden cardiac death; and if he will hold discussions with his Italian counterpart on lessons that could be learned from that country.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee reviewed screening young people for sudden cardiac death in 2019. They found there was insufficient evidence to support the introduction of whole population screening in the United Kingdom. However, this issue is kept under review.
The review found that there continued to be uncertainty regarding the number of people affected, that there is not a good predictive test, and that there is no agreement about who to treat and how people should be treated. There are currently no plans to talk with the Italian Minister of Health on the matter of sudden cardiac death.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential risk of people with partial trisomy experiencing heart complications following an mRNA vaccine; and if his Department will take steps to ensure that the decision of Mr Justice Hayden in the Court of Protection is communicated to all health service professionals.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There has been no formal review of the potential risk of people with partial trisomy experiencing heart complications following an mRNA vaccine, although the safety of vaccines is continually monitored by the independent Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA conducted detailed analysis of all Yellow Card reports of heart inflammation, specifically myocarditis and pericarditis, which occurred following an mRNA vaccine. Details of these analyses were published weekly in the MHRA’s Coronavirus Vaccine - Summary of Yellow Card Reporting, which is available at the following link:
These analyses did not identify a specific safety concern in relation to patients with congenital conditions, such as trisomy, who received an mRNA vaccine.
In relation to the judgement of the Hon. Mr Justice Hayden, there are currently no plans to communicate the decision from this specific case to all healthcare professionals. As with all vaccines, should any information indicate a possible new safety concern, the system is well placed to rapidly and thoroughly investigate this, with advice for healthcare professionals and patients updated where appropriate.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Prime Minister's Written Statement of 18 July 2024 on the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Module 1 Report, HCWS11, whether the Prime Minister's personal commitment to each and every family who lost loved ones includes those who lost loved ones as a result of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the Prime Minister’s written ministerial statement to Parliament, he said that ensuring that the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a “top priority” for his government and that the Government is determined to learn the lessons from this Inquiry.
Further to this, on the 19 July, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster made an oral statement in the House of Commons in response to the Module 1 report where he said “this government’s first responsibility is to keep the public safe. We cannot rebuild our national resilience overnight. But we will learn the lessons from this Inquiry – from this Module and every Module that follows”.
The issue of Covid-19 vaccines will be discussed in Module 4 of the Covid-19 Inquiry, where the hearings are planned to start from 14 January 2025 to 30 January 2025.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 performance of Integrated Care Boards in England in fulfilling their duty to commission palliative and end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. The hospice sector is an important part of the range of providers and services needed.2023/24 was the final year of the Children’s Hospice Grant, which commenced in 2007. In 2024/25, however, NHS England provided an additional £25 million of funding for children and young people’s hospices, maintaining the level of grant funding from 2023/24. This funding was distributed, for the first time, via ICBs, in line with National Health Service devolution. The Department does not hold data on how much funding each ICB has provided to children’s hospices and other hospices over 2024/25.
To support ICBs in their duty to commission palliative and end of life care services, NHS England has published statutory guidance, as well as service specifications for adults, and children and young people, all of which are available, respectively, at the following three links:
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much grant funding each Integrated Care Board in England is providing for hospice funding for (a) children's and (b) other hospices over the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. The hospice sector is an important part of the range of providers and services needed.2023/24 was the final year of the Children’s Hospice Grant, which commenced in 2007. In 2024/25, however, NHS England provided an additional £25 million of funding for children and young people’s hospices, maintaining the level of grant funding from 2023/24. This funding was distributed, for the first time, via ICBs, in line with National Health Service devolution. The Department does not hold data on how much funding each ICB has provided to children’s hospices and other hospices over 2024/25.
To support ICBs in their duty to commission palliative and end of life care services, NHS England has published statutory guidance, as well as service specifications for adults, and children and young people, all of which are available, respectively, at the following three links:
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
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 assessment of the potential impact of fee setting and de-recognition procedures on the (a) cost and (b) availability of private medical insurance.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Insurers make commercial decisions about pricing and the terms of cover they offer based on their assessment of the relevant risks. This is usually informed by the insurer’s claims experience and other industry-wide statistics. The respective capabilities of insurers to assess risk is a key element on which they compete, and the Government does not intend to intervene in these commercial decisions, as this could damage competition in the market. This competition is important and should lead to better products and lower prices for consumers overall.
Price is an important factor on which insurers compete to win customers, and that competition should push insurers to continuously improve their assessment of risks in order to lower prices and create better products for consumers. The Government intervening in insurance markets could damage that competition and, therefore, we do not generally intervene in the commercial pricing decisions of insurers.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications were made under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme for redress arising from the administration of covid-19 vaccines as at 1 July 2024; and how many and what proportion of those applications were (a) decided, (b) successful and (c) rejected on the grounds that the 60% disability threshold had not been reached.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 1 July 2024, the NHS Business Services Authority had received 14,088 claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) relating to COVID-19. Following medical assessment, 6,850 claims, or 48.6% of the total number of claims, had received an initial outcome, with 181 claims, or 1.3%, being successful and 6,062 claims, 45.1%, being unsuccessful. A further 607 claims, or 4.3%, were found invalid, due to being either outside the scope of the VDPS or a duplicate claim. Of the 6,062 unsuccessful claims, 360 claims, or 2.6%, were rejected on the grounds that the 60% disability threshold had not been reached.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date NHS England informed patients receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine that there were safety risks of vaccine-induced thrombosis with thrombocytopenia associated with the vaccine.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
To ensure informed consent was given by patients who received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, all vaccination sites were instructed to follow consent guidance in line with the recommendations set out in chapter two of the UK Health Security Agency Green Book on vaccinations and immunisations.
Healthcare organisations administering any COVID-19 vaccinations are responsible for drawing up their own policies for obtaining informed consent, and health professionals overseeing or administering COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for ensuring that valid consent has been obtained. This would normally involve a discussion with the clinician prior to the administration of the vaccine, and individuals will also have had access to guides and patient information leaflets which provided details about the vaccine, how it is administered, possible side effects, and other warnings and precautions to take.
Regarding the very rare adverse events of concurrent thrombosis and thrombocytopenia associated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, NHS England notified healthcare organisations administering the COVID-19 vaccinations immediately following the updated advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation published on 7 April 2021, and then again following updated advice on 7 May 2021. In these updates, sent via system letters, NHS England set out the next steps for healthcare organisations and clinicians, including on the consent process.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England took to ensure that informed consent was given by recipients of the Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
To ensure informed consent was given by patients who received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, all vaccination sites were instructed to follow consent guidance in line with the recommendations set out in chapter two of the UK Health Security Agency Green Book on vaccinations and immunisations.
Healthcare organisations administering any COVID-19 vaccinations are responsible for drawing up their own policies for obtaining informed consent, and health professionals overseeing or administering COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for ensuring that valid consent has been obtained. This would normally involve a discussion with the clinician prior to the administration of the vaccine, and individuals will also have had access to guides and patient information leaflets which provided details about the vaccine, how it is administered, possible side effects, and other warnings and precautions to take.
Regarding the very rare adverse events of concurrent thrombosis and thrombocytopenia associated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, NHS England notified healthcare organisations administering the COVID-19 vaccinations immediately following the updated advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation published on 7 April 2021, and then again following updated advice on 7 May 2021. In these updates, sent via system letters, NHS England set out the next steps for healthcare organisations and clinicians, including on the consent process.