Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
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 (a) the sufficiency of the supply of covid-19 vaccines during winter 2025/26 and (b) whether there will be sufficient supply of covid-19 vaccines to meet the expected demand from people eligible for a free NHS covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Vaccine availability is monitored as part of standard operational practice by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), NHS England, and the devolved administrations.
The UKHSA collects and analyses data from the vaccination programmes to understand the impact, the effectiveness, and any inequalities.
The UKHSA has procured COVID-19 vaccines for the upcoming season in line with uptake forecasts received from all four nations. Based on procured volumes, it is expected that there is sufficient COVID-19 vaccine available for those eligible to receive a vaccine across the current autumn/winter campaign. People aged 75 years old and over, those in older adult care homes, and those aged six months and over who are immunosuppressed are eligible.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure parity of pay between staff employed by (a) independent sector providers of NHS services and (b) the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service staff pay is set by the Government and usually informed by recommendations made by pay review bodies (PRBs). The PRBs are independent advisory bodies made up of industry experts who carefully consider evidence submitted to them by a range of stakeholders, including the Government and trade unions, to make recommendations for headline pay awards and on related matters.
PRBs make recommendations to the Prime Minister and ministers for most staff working in the NHS. The PRBs do not advise on the pay or terms and conditions for staff employed by independent sector providers of NHS services such as social enterprises.
Independent organisations, such as social enterprises, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment. This includes the pay scales that they use and the provision of any non-consolidated pay awards.
It is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate and how to recoup any additional costs they face.