Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
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 potential merits of introducing conditions on the receipt of any new funding for social care by private care providers, to require that funds are spent only on care delivery.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We are currently considering a range of options across Government. Further detail on all the adult social care system reform commitments will be published in a white paper later this year.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many doses of covid-19 vaccines have been destroyed as a result of expiring before their use.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The information requested is not currently held centrally.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason he has not published the internal review conducted by civil servants on lessons learned from the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are unable to provide the information requested as it relates to the ongoing formulation of Government policy.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has undertaken an impact assessment on public health implications for the UK in the event that the proposed World Trade Organisation TRIPS Waiver is not approved.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government has made no such assessment and does not consider waiving intellectual property rights to be an appropriate course of action to boost the manufacturing of safe, effective and quality vaccines. The existing intellectual property framework has mobilised research and development to deliver a host of new medicines and technologies, to detect, treat and defend against COVID-19.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to provide the covid-19 vaccination to (a) school staff and (b) other key workers.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine/s the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. The JCVI has advised that the first priorities for any COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of COVID-19 mortality and the protection of health and social care staff and systems.
Therefore, in line with the recommendations of the JCVI, the vaccine will be initially rolled out to the priority groups including care home residents and staff, people over 80 years old and health and care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and risk, including those who are clinically extremely vulnerable and all individuals aged 16-64 years old with underlying health conditions. Phase 2 of the roll out may include further reduction in hospitalisation and targeted vaccination of those at high risk of exposure and/or those delivering key public services.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps he has taken to prepare the NHS for winter 2020-21.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
As is the case every year, the Government has worked closely with the National Health Service to prepare for winter pressures, including in those arising from COVID-19.
Those preparations include, but are not limited to, additional funding announced in July of £3 billion to support NHS capacity this winter; alongside £450 million of funding for accident and emergency department and urgent and emergency care upgrades, expansion and infection control measures.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to provide covid-19 vaccinations to teachers and other school staff.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine(s) the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. The JCVI has advised that the first priorities for any COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of COVID-19 mortality and the protection of health and social care staff and systems.
Therefore, in line with the recommendations of the JCVI, the vaccine will be initially rolled out to these priority groups, including care home residents and staff, people over 80 years old, and health and care workers. The vaccine will then be prioritised amoungst the rest of the population in order of age and risk, including those who are clinically extremely vulnerable, and all individuals aged 16-64 years old with underlying health conditions.
As the first phase of the programme is rolled out in the UK, additional data will become available on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. This data will provide the basis for consideration of vaccination in groups that are at lower risk of mortality from COVID-19.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the planned timescale is for the NHS pay review body to commence work on the recommendations for the next pay round.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government intends to issue a remit letter to the NHS Pay Review Body shortly. This will formally commence the pay round.
The NHS Pay Review Body will report as usual next spring and the Government will carefully consider their recommendations before responding.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State, what plans he has to implement an (a) early and (b) significant pay rise for Agenda for Change staff.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Agenda for Change Staff are in their third and final year of a multi-year pay and contract reform deal, 2018/19 to 2020-21, agreed with National Health Service trade unions and employer representatives. The deal has seen the pay of those below the top of their pay band increase by at least 9% and pay for most staff at the top of their pay band increase by 6.5%.
To protect jobs, pay rises in much of the public sector will be paused next year. However, the Government will provide pay rises for over 1 million NHS workers. We will also prioritise the lowest paid, with 2.1 million public sector workers earning less than the full time equivalent £24,000 receiving a minimum £250 increase. This will include a number of NHS staff employed on Agenda for Change contracts. The NHS Pay Review Body will report next year and the Government will take their recommendations into account in setting Agenda for Change pay.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the correlation between the UK accounting for (a) 10 per cent of global covid-19 deaths and (b) 1 per cent of the global population.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is difficult to compare COVID-19 deaths numbers for different countries as different countries measure deaths in different ways, reporting on very different health and care systems.
A full assessment of international comparisons may not be possible until much later in the epidemic, but we will draw on the full range of international experience to learn the lessons from our response to this virus.