Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
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 that members appointed to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority reflect a diversity of ethical viewpoints on research on human embryos.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Non-executive members are appointed to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in accordance with legislative requirements, and the skills, experiences and personal qualities that have been judged to meet the needs of the HFEA in discharging its responsibilities. The appointment process reflects the requirements of the Cabinet Office Code of Governance for Public Appointments.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much Barts NHS Foundation Trust spent on legal fees in relation to the case of Tafida Raqeeb v Barts NHS Foundation Trust and others in the High Court.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department does not issue guidance on legal action in best interests cases. Decisions around withdrawal of treatment in such difficult circumstances are never easy. It is important that families and medical experts communicate and, where possible, reach agreement on the best interest of the child. Medical ethics committees and mediation services are often involved in such cases, but each case will be different and must be considered on its own unique circumstances by those who are involved – the National Health Services trust, clinicians and parents/patients. Health care professionals have a duty to act in the best interests of their patients and when doctors and families do not agree about the best interests of a child the Courts can been asked, by either party, to make an independent judgement, as in the case of Tafida Raqeeb.
The Department does not collect information on the cost of best interest cases.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the High Court judgment of 3 October 2019 on Tafida Raqeeb v Barts NHS Foundation Trust and others, if his Department will undertake a review of the guidance issued to NHS Trusts on taking legal action in the best interests of patients.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department does not issue guidance on legal action in best interests cases. Decisions around withdrawal of treatment in such difficult circumstances are never easy. It is important that families and medical experts communicate and, where possible, reach agreement on the best interest of the child. Medical ethics committees and mediation services are often involved in such cases, but each case will be different and must be considered on its own unique circumstances by those who are involved – the National Health Services trust, clinicians and parents/patients. Health care professionals have a duty to act in the best interests of their patients and when doctors and families do not agree about the best interests of a child the Courts can been asked, by either party, to make an independent judgement, as in the case of Tafida Raqeeb.
The Department does not collect information on the cost of best interest cases.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress (a) his Department and (b) the NHS has made since February 2017 on preventing and reducing neonatal sepsis.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The NHS England and NHS Improvement Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement Programme works with every NHS maternity and neonatal service in England, to support a culture of continuous learning and better multi-professional working.
The programme provides structured support for local teams to develop innovative plans for measurable improvements. This includes improving the early recognition and management of deterioration with suspected sepsis in mothers and babies, during or soon after birth.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS trust was involved in the case on forced abortion heard at the Court of Appeal on 24 June 2019.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Department does not hold this information. An order was made by the Court of Protection and upheld by the Court of Appeal which prevents the naming of the National Health Service trust involved in this case.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the case heard at the Court of Protection on 21 June 2019 and Court of Appeal on 24 June 2019 on forced abortion, what the total cost of that case was to the NHS trust.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Department does not hold this information. An order was made by the Court of Protection and upheld by the Court of Appeal which prevents the naming of the National Health Service trust involved in this case.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the case heard at the Court of Protection on 21 June 2019 and Court of Appeal on 24 June 2019 on forced abortion, what guidance is provided to NHS trusts on deciding whether to take legal action in the best interests of patients.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
National Health Service guidance on the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which is designed to protect and empower people who may lack the mental capacity to make their own decisions about their care and treatment, is available on the NHS website at the following link:
The Mental Capacity Act is supported by an accompanying statutory Code of Practice, to which people making decisions under the Act must have regard. The Code provides guidance to anyone working with and or caring for adults who may lack capacity to make particular decisions. The Code of Practice is available on the GOV.UK website at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-capacity-act-code-of-practice
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Court of Appeal hearing on 24 June 2019, how many women have been forced to have an abortion, as decided in their best interests, by NHS trusts in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
This information is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the Government has made of the merits of a regulatory environment in which (a) advertising rules, (b) taxes and (c) other regulations reflect the relative health impacts of (i) e-cigarettes, (ii) heat-not-burn tobacco and (iii) other reduced harm smoking products.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The Government seeks to ensure that the regulatory and environment reflects the relative harms of different tobacco and nicotine products. The European Union Tobacco Products Directive 2014 placed limits on the sale and merchandising of tobacco and tobacco related products. This was transposed in to United Kingdom law through the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR) 2016 and forms part of comprehensive regulatory framework to reduce public health harms caused by smoking. This framework acknowledges e-cigarettes are not tobacco products and has fewer restrictions than them.
To reduce the affordability of tobacco, HM Treasury continue to apply the Tobacco Duty Escalator to cigarettes at 2% above inflation as outlined in the Budget 2018, with hand rolling tobacco increasing by an additional 1%.
The Government has a statutory obligation to conduct a Post Implementation Review of the TRPR by May 2021. The Government will review where the UK’s exit from the EU offers opportunities to re-appraise current regulation to ensure this continues to protect the nation’s health.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward the commencement date to before 2021, of the review of the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
There are no plans to do so. The Government remains committed to undertake the post implementation review of the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 by May 2021 in accordance with its legal duties.