Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of findings from (a) the report by the Anscombe Institute entitled Suicide prevention: does legalising assisted suicide make things better or worse?, published on 21 April 2022, and (b) other suicide prevention organisations.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It remains the Department’s view that any change to the law in this sensitive area is a matter for Parliament to decide, and an issue of conscience for individual parliamentarians rather than one for Government policy. The Department as no such plans to make any formal assessment.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of legalising assisted dying on suicide prevention programmes.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It remains the Department’s view that any change to the law in this sensitive area is a matter for Parliament to decide, and an issue of conscience for individual parliamentarians rather than one for Government policy. The Department as no such plans to make any formal assessment.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of legalising assisted suicide on palliative care.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made of the impact of legalising assisted suicide on palliative care. The Government recognises that access to high-quality, personalised palliative and end of life care can make a significant difference to individuals and their families, at a sensitive time.
While the National Health Service has always been required to commission appropriate palliative and end of life care services to meet the reasonable needs of their population, as part of the Health and Care Act 2022, palliative care services were added to the list of services an integrated care board must commission, promoting a more consistent national approach and supporting commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will issue guidance to her Department on using the term (a) assisted suicide when referring to procedures that involve ingesting poison prescribed by a doctor with the intent to die and (b) euthanasia when referring to the delivery of a lethal injection by a doctor.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are currently no plans to issue guidance on using the terms assisted suicide, when referring to procedures that involve ingesting poison prescribed by a doctor with the intent to die, and euthanasia, when referring to the delivery of a lethal injection by a doctor.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the independent report entitled JCVI statement on the COVID-19 vaccination programme for 2023, updated on 27 January 2023, on what evidential basis the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has proposed including children over the age of (a) 12 who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression and (b) 16 who are carers in the targeted primary course covid-19 vaccination programme in 2023, in the context of the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing transmission.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) report does not contain any evidential basis for proposed cohorts, as it was interim advice. The considerations for any future decisions will be part of future JCVI reports and meeting minutes.
Current COVID-19 vaccines may provide some short-term protection against infection and onwards transmission, weekly surveillance reports can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-weekly-surveillance-reports
This may reduce the risk of transmission from household contacts to immunosuppressed individuals who are at high risk of complications, and who may not directly benefit from vaccination. It will also reduce the risk of serious disease in carers, which, if they were to fall ill, may compromise the welfare of those they care for.
The advice within the JCVI interim statement of 25 January 2023 is that primary course COVID-19 vaccination should move, over the course of 2023, towards a more targeted offer to protect those persons at higher risk of severe COVID-19. The vaccination programme can be found at the following link:
Since the JCVI interim statement of 25 January 2023, the JCVI published a statement on 7 March 2023, which contained detail of the spring 2023 booster programme which can be found at the following link:
The JCVI advice for the spring 2023 booster programme does not include primary or booster vaccinations for the groups referred to in this question.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
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 estimate of the (a) vaccine, (b) resourcing, (c) other direct, (d) marketing and promotional and (e) other indirect costs of vaccinating children under the age of 18 for covid-19 in 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England manages the costs of the COVID-19 vaccine programme across each campaign, rather than on a vaccine-by-vaccine basis. This funding covers the direct cost of vaccinating as well as additional central programme costs. No marketing has been specifically directed at vaccinating under 18s in 2023 to protect against COVID-19. Other indirect costs are not specific to vaccinating under 18s; they are for the wider vaccination programme and support vaccinating under 18s only where relevant. The price that the Government has paid for any COVID-19 vaccine is commercially sensitive. Disclosure would breach the Government’s confidentiality obligations.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason children who turned five before 1 September 2022 remain eligible for a primary course covid-19 vaccination, in the context of the risk of severe covid-19 symptoms in this age group.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government continues to be guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) on who should be offered COVID-19 vaccinations.
The primary aim of the universal primary vaccination offers to children aged five to 11 years old, was to increase the immunity of vaccinated individuals against severe COVID-19 in advance of a potential future wave during the pandemic. When formulating advice in relation to childhood immunisations, JCVI has consistently maintained that the focus should be on the potential benefits and harms of vaccination to children and young people themselves, with prevention of severe COVID-19 (hospitalisations and deaths) in children and young people the primary aim.
As we transition away from a pandemic emergency response towards pandemic recovery, the JCVI advised on 25 January 2023, that the offer of a primary (initial) course of COVID-19 vaccination should be removed from those aged five to 49 years old who are not in an at-risk group. This will move to a more targeted offer during seasonal campaign periods to those at higher risk of serious outcomes from COVID-19 or of transmitting the virus to those vulnerable to serious outcomes. The JCVI advice to target the initial vaccination offer to those at higher risk only is available at the following link:
The Government is considering when during 2023 this recommendation should be implemented, and an announcement will be made in due course.