Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure future NHS genomic testing publications include data on access to different cancer tests based on an individual's (a) ethnicity, (b) socioeconomic status and (c) type of cancer test.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
National Health Service genomic testing activity data, collected from all seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs, is available on the NHS England website. NHS England will continue to publish this data on a quarterly basis. The published data indicates the total volume of genomic testing activity completed per month, broken down into cancer and rare and inherited disease. The cancer data is further separated into nine different categories of cancer. NHS England is looking into separating this further if there are other specific categories of cancer test type which would be of interest. The published data does not currently include data broken down by ethnicity or socioeconomic status, but NHS England’s ambition is to improve and expand future publications of the data, which may include areas relating to health inequalities.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care during the Westminster Hall debate on Healthcare Services: Carshalton and Wallington on 23 May 2023, Official Report, Column 71WH, what progress her Department has made on producing a radical dentistry plan.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will address how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make National Health Service work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.
Our Dentistry Recovery Plan will build upon the first package of reforms agreed in July 2022, which included changes to banding and the introduction of a minimum Units of Dental Activity value. Our plan will include addressing how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver NHS care.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral statement from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on Community Pharmacies, Official Report, Column 450WH, whether his Department's PrEP roadmap will include plans to make PrEP accessible (a) online, (b) in pharmacies and (c) in GPs surgeries.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group (ISG) is developing a roadmap to help guide our efforts to improve equitable access, uptake and use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to meet the needs of key populations at significant risk of HIV. This forms part of the group’s work to monitor and drive forward the implementation of the HIV Action Plan.
HIV PrEP is currently only prescribed at specialist sexual health services, but as we work towards our 2030 ambitions, we will explore opportunities for making it available in a variety of settings. The PrEP roadmap takes into consideration actions needed to improve HIV PrEP access pathways in settings other than specialist sexual health services, including online, general practitioner services and pharmacies, to enable potential future delivery in other settings. The roadmap is expected to be made available by the HIV Action Plan ISG before the end of the year.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle inequalities in access to PrEP.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group (ISG) is developing a roadmap to help guide our efforts to improve equitable access, uptake and use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to meet the needs of key populations at significant risk of HIV. This forms part of the group’s work to monitor and drive forward the implementation of the HIV Action Plan. The roadmap is expected to be made available by the HIV Action Plan ISG before the end of the year.
HIV PrEP is routinely available in specialist sexual health services throughout the country since March 2020 and we have invested more than £34 million in PrEP in 2020/21 and 2021/22. PrEP funding has been fully included within the public health grant since 2022/23 and funds appointments and testing in sexual health services, whilst NHS England covers the costs of the drug itself. The PrEP monitoring and evaluation framework was published by the UK Health Security Agency in March 2022 and consists of a series of indicators to support local authorities and inform service improvement in PrEP commissioning and delivery, providing local areas with information that can help them address inequalities in uptake of PrEP.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to make PrEP available (a) online, (b) in pharmacies and (c) in GP surgeries.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group (ISG) is developing a roadmap to help guide our efforts to improve equitable access, uptake and use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to meet the needs of key populations at significant risk of HIV. This forms part of the group’s work to monitor and drive forward the implementation of the HIV Action Plan.
HIV PrEP is currently only prescribed at specialist sexual health services, but as we work towards our 2030 ambitions we will explore opportunities for making it available in a variety of settings. The PrEP roadmap considers actions needed to improve HIV PrEP access pathways in settings other than specialist sexual health services, including online, general practitioner services and pharmacies, to enable potential future delivery in other settings. The roadmap is expected to be made available by the ISG by the end of the year.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the (a) impact of migraines on levels of economic inactivity and (b) potential impact of reducing migraine diagnosis times on levels of economic inactivity.
Answered by Will Quince
To reduce the time taken to diagnose conditions such as migraines, NHS England has published a delivery plan for recovering access to primary care. As part of this plan, the National Health Service will deliver on the commitment of 26,000 more direct patient care staff and 50 million more appointments in general practice by March 2024.
To step up our focus on tackling rising economic inactivity due to long-term sickness, including those living with migraine, the Government announced a further wide-reaching package at the Spring Budget to support disabled people and people with health conditions to work. Initiatives include a work coach support for disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as introducing a new supported employment programme (Universal Support) which focuses on providing faster access to joined-up work and health support.
The Department does not hold specific information on the impact of migraines on levels of economic activity.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy is on whether (a) trans women with a gender recognition certificate will be banned from and (b) trans men will be expected to use female wards; and whether this policy will apply in all (i) healthcare settings and (ii) circumstances.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
It is imperative that National Health Service trusts respect the privacy and dignity of patients. The Government has been clear that patients should not have to share sleeping accommodation with others of the opposite sex and should have access to segregated bathroom and toilet facilities. NHS England’s Delivering Same-Sex Accommodation Guidance outlines the approach that should be taken to placing trans patients on single-sex wards. The guidance is being updated and a revised version will be published in due course.
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, recently announced that proposals to protect the privacy, dignity and safety of patients will be brought forward later this year as part of the routine update of the NHS Constitution and its Handbook. Any measures consulted on will be fully in line with the Equality Act 2010, respecting the rights of all patients in hospital settings.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what horizon scanning for vaccines against infectious diseases is conducted by (a) the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, (b) the UK Health Security Agency, (c) the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, (d) his Department and (e) NHS England; and whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of current approaches for supporting immunisation policy development and implementation.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Horizon scanning at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) aims to future-proof the agency by identifying emerging opportunities and challenges, to ensure it remains an enabling regulator capable of supporting safe innovation with respect to healthcare products.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with national and international partners to assess the risks posed by infectious diseases. Horizon scanning for vaccines is conducted against disease threats identified by the National Security Risk Assessment. Other criteria covered in UKHSA’s horizon scanning for vaccines include the risk of an outbreak occurring, burden of disease and feasibility of vaccine development.
UKHSA also works closely with global vaccine developers and manufacturers and with vaccine funders to ensure knowledge is constantly provided to support policy decisions on vaccine procurement and deployment.
The Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) identifies gaps relating to immunisations or immunisation programmes where further research and/or surveillance should be considered.
NHS England works closely with JCVI, the Department and UKHSA to operationalise decisions made by Government on vaccinations and immunisation programmes across England.
The Department provides investment through the National Institute of Health and Care Research Innovation Observatory in health innovation futures scanning. This provides awareness and access to intelligence to support national decision making around health care innovation, in particular supporting National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Accelerated Access Collaborative within the National Health Service.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 the role of pharmacists in increasing access to routine vaccinations.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department continues to work with NHS England and UK Health Security Agency to explore ways to increase uptake of the national immunisation programmes, including how pharmacies can contribute further to vaccination delivery, alongside other providers.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce variations in the level of the uptake of routine vaccination programmes.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Department works with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England to improve immunisation coverage for all, including those from under-vaccinated communities, through a range of initiatives. This includes data to better identify under-served individuals and populations, training for healthcare professionals and communication with the public, offering alternative delivery routes and local outreach efforts to connect with communities with historically lower uptake are informed of the benefits of vaccines. It also includes ensuring everyone can access through provision of immunisation leaflets available in over 15 languages as well as being available in braille, BSL, large print and audio versions.
It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations to which they are entitled; for themselves, their families, and wider society. Anyone unsure about their eligibility or vaccination status should contact their GP for advice.