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.
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 the terms of reference are for her Department's review of the vaccine damage compensation scheme; which body is responsible for undertaking the review; and what estimate she has made of when the review will be completed.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
All routine policy, including the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), is reviewed on a regular basis. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is currently looking into aspects of the scheme, following recent meetings with interested stakeholders.
Separately, work is underway with the scheme’s administrator, the NHS Business Service Authority, to review processes and make administrative changes, to improve the scheme within the current legislative framework. Formal consideration of whether any reforms to the VDPS are necessary will form part of Module 4 of the COVID-19 Inquiry, chaired by the Rt Hon Baroness Heather Carol Hallett DBE.
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, whether (a) his Department and (b) the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has received data from Astra Zeneca on the potential serious adverse effects of its covid-19 vaccine for a small number of recipients.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Department has not directly received data from AstraZeneca regarding potential adverse effects of their COVID-19 vaccine Vaxzevria, as it is not the appropriate body to receive this information. It instead relies on the expert advice of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
All vaccine manufacturers have a legal responsibility to mitigate risk and monitor the safety and performance of vaccines throughout the product lifecycle. This includes a legal responsibility to transmit reports of suspected adverse reactions received directly to the MHRA. Following the MHRA’s receipt of the first Yellow Card reports of suspected thrombosis and associated thrombocytopaenia associated with the Vaxzevria vaccine in February 2021, AstraZeneca provided the Commission on Human Medicines’ Vaccine Benefit Risk Expert Working Group an analysis of the age stratified risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. This was assessed by the Commission on Human Medicines, with the Patient Information updated to state the risks of these events.
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, when the NHS England South West Complaints Team plans to provide a substantive response to the complaint made by the hon. member for Christchurch on behalf of a constituent under reference 2312-2050136; for what reason there has been no response to the complaint from the South West dental commissioning team; and what the contact details are for the person in charge of that team.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
I thank the hon. Member for Christchurch for bringing this matter to my attention. NHS England has advised that the trust has received the hon. Member's correspondence, and will respond in due course. In July 2023, the responsibility for primary care complaints, including dentistry, moved to local integrated care boards.
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 complaints have been received by the NHS England South West Complaints Team in each of the last six months; how many emanated from the Dorset Integrated Care Board; and how many of those have been outstanding for more than two months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The South West Complaints Team transferred from NHS England to the NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board (ICB), who now host the NHS South West Collaborative Commissioning Hub, on 1 July 2023. This followed the delegation of pharmacy, optometry, and dentistry associated complaints on 1 April 2023. The following table shows the number of complaints the South West Complaints Team received, and the proportion that were investigated for NHS Dorset ICB, each month from October 2023 to March 2024:
Month | Total received | Number from NHS Dorset ICB |
October 2023 | 181 | 25 |
November 2023 | 196 | 31 |
December 2023 | 119 | 21 |
January 2024 | 208 | 29 |
February 2024 | 191 | 44 |
March 2024 | 156 | 32 |
Total | 1,051 | 182 |
Of the 1,051 total complaints, 86 have been outstanding for more than two months. Of the 182 complaints from NHS Dorset ICB, 14 have been outstanding for more than two months.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the public consultation on fairer food labelling which closes on 7 May 2024 does not include labelling the method of slaughter used in respect of meat products.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter, and legislation sets out the main requirements to protect the welfare of animals when being slaughtered. The Government expects the industry, whether food producer or food outlet, to provide consumers with all the information they need to make informed choices. Where any information is provided on the method of slaughter it must be accurate and not misleading to the consumer.
We are currently consulting on proposals to improve and extend current mandatory method of production labelling, including options for the production standards behind them. Our proposed standards initially focus on the period of time the animal spends on farm. We are seeking views through consultation on these standards, including the period of life which they should cover.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to write to the hon. Member for Christchurch on the potential impact of the level of phosphates in the River Avon on housing developments in Christchurch.
Answered by Robbie Moore
I refer the hon. Member to my letter issued on 7 May 2024.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to write to the hon. Member for Christchurch on the Avon Valley footpath between Burton and Christchurch.
Answered by Robbie Moore
Following our recent meeting on the Avon Valley footpath, I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many responses were received to the consultation entitled Public Sector Exit Payments : A New Controls Process for High Exit Payments which closed on 17 October 2022; and for what reason a response has not yet been issued.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government received 32 responses to the consultation on 'Public Sector Exit Payments: A New Controls Process for High Exit Payments'. HM Treasury will publish the government response in due course.