Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps she has taken to help ensure that chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients on active monitoring have the support they need for their (a) mental and (b) physical well-being.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Plan states that, where appropriate, every person diagnosed with cancer will have access to personalised care, including needs assessment, a care plan and health and wellbeing information and support. This includes provision of end of treatment summaries, empowering people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer.
NHS England is supporting adults experiencing cancer with access to NHS Talking Therapies mental health services, formerly known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, which provide evidence-based psychological therapies for people with anxiety disorders and depression.
In 2022/23, Cancer Alliances mapped out locally driven improvements in psychosocial support provision, which is work that will continue in 2023/24.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Patient safety boost as medical associates to be regulated, published on 11 December 2023, for what reasons the General Medical Council was appointed as the regulator.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The assessment of the appropriate regulatory body for physician associate (PA) and anaesthesia associate (AA) regulation was completed in 2019. On 7 February 2019, the Government published its response to the consultation on the Regulation of Medical Associate Professions in the United Kingdom, confirming its decision to introduce statutory regulation for PAs and AAs. The majority of respondents to the consultation were in favour of the General Medical Council (GMC) taking on regulation.
Following further work by the Department, on 18 July 2019, the Government announced that it would be asking the GMC to regulate both roles.
Regulation by the GMC will mean that the organisation will have responsibility and oversight of doctors, AAs and PAs, allowing them to take a holistic approach to the education, training and standards of all three roles. This will enable a more coherent and co-ordinated approach to regulation and, by making it easier for employers, patients, and the public to understand the relationship between these roles and doctors, help to embed them in the workforce.
On 13 December 2023, the Department laid draft legislation in both Houses and in the Scottish Parliament that will empower the GMC to commence regulation for AAs and PAs by the end of 2024.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people who received the Oxford-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine experienced serious adverse events since it was introduced.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Reports of suspected adverse reactions are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) via the Yellow Card scheme. Data received through the scheme is published on the Yellow Card website including COVID-19 vaccine reports. MHRA has received over 350,000 spontaneous suspected adverse reaction reports in the United Kingdom for all COVID-19 vaccines; 192,945 of these suspected adverse reaction reports are for COVID-19 Astra Zeneca specifically, up to and including 29 November 2023.
Reporters are asked to submit Yellow Card reports even if they only have a suspicion that the vaccine may have caused the adverse reaction. The existence of an adverse reaction report does not necessarily mean that the vaccine has caused the reaction. It is not possible to compare the safety of different vaccines by comparing the numbers of reports. Reporting rates can be influenced by many factors including the seriousness of the adverse reactions, their ease of recognition and the extent of use of a particular vaccine. Reporting can also be stimulated by promotion and publicity about a product.
Official vaccination data shows that, as of 11 September 2022, an estimated 24.9 million first doses and 24.2 million second doses of the Oxford-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine had been administered. Official vaccination data is no longer routinely published for all UK nations, with data for first and second doses no longer reported beyond 11 September 2022 as regional data was no longer available. As of 22 February 2023, 60,900 third or booster doses of the Oxford-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine had been administered.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in the UK have suffered from serious adverse events from covid-19 vaccines as of 11 December 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Reports of suspected adverse reactions are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) via the Yellow Card scheme. Data received through the scheme is published on the Yellow Card website including COVID-19 vaccine reports. MHRA has received over 350,000 spontaneous suspected adverse reaction reports in the United Kingdom for all COVID-19 vaccines; 192,945 of these suspected adverse reaction reports are for COVID-19 Astra Zeneca specifically, up to and including 29 November 2023.
Reporters are asked to submit Yellow Card reports even if they only have a suspicion that the vaccine may have caused the adverse reaction. The existence of an adverse reaction report does not necessarily mean that the vaccine has caused the reaction. It is not possible to compare the safety of different vaccines by comparing the numbers of reports. Reporting rates can be influenced by many factors including the seriousness of the adverse reactions, their ease of recognition and the extent of use of a particular vaccine. Reporting can also be stimulated by promotion and publicity about a product.
Official vaccination data shows that, as of 11 September 2022, an estimated 24.9 million first doses and 24.2 million second doses of the Oxford-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine had been administered. Official vaccination data is no longer routinely published for all UK nations, with data for first and second doses no longer reported beyond 11 September 2022 as regional data was no longer available. As of 22 February 2023, 60,900 third or booster doses of the Oxford-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine had been administered.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what methods (a) GPs and (b) other healthcare providers use to register adverse events following immunisation; and what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of those methods in accurately reflecting the (a) number and (b) type of adverse events following immunisation.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Since the start of the COVID-19 vaccines campaign, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been working in close collaboration across the healthcare system to ensure healthcare professionals and patients are aware of the Yellow Card scheme and how they can report to us. The Yellow Card scheme relies on voluntary reporting of suspected side effects or medical device incidents. The reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is considered a healthcare professionals’ duty and is supported by their various regulators and their respective professional guidance.
Information on Yellow Card reporting has been included in National Health Service training materials, as well as the materials available to individuals both before and after vaccination. Both vaccine recipients and healthcare professionals are strongly encouraged to report any suspicion of a side effect to the MHRA. Additionally, the MHRA have worked to actively promote reporting on COVID-19 vaccines from the public, patients and healthcare with a targeted marketing campaign. Healthcare professionals can also report to the scheme via their clinical systems, reporting of ADRs to the Yellow Card Scheme is available in at least 93% of primary medical care practices in the United Kingdom.
The reporting rate for spontaneous adverse drug reactions (ADR) is variable and can depend on a multitude of factors. For the COVID-19 vaccines, MHRA assessments show that there is a higher-than-normal public awareness of Yellow Card reporting and therefore the reporting rate for these products is expected to be higher. The World Health Organization’s Uppsala Monitoring Centre latest annual report shows that globally, the UK is the third largest contributor of reports, behind the USA and Germany, and also one of the highest reporting countries per million inhabitants in its global database.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has recently taken steps to (a) expand and (b) strengthen research into the treatment of people negatively affected by vaccines.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including vaccine side effects.
The NIHR has allocated over £110 million in funding for COVID-19 vaccine research that has included consideration of vaccine safety, including intensive monitoring of adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines. It is also funding a specific study to understand thrombosis and thrombocytopenia in COVID-19 and with COVID-19 vaccines.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were given the Covishield covid-19 vaccine in the UK.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Covishield is another product name for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, and it was authorised for use in other countries under that name, but not in the United Kingdom. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine approved for use in the UK is Vaxzevria. Some people in the UK will be recorded as have received Covishield, but they would have received the vaccine only in countries where it was authorised.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) strengthen the infrastructure of GP surgeries and (b) ensure that GP surgeries have the (i) space and (ii) capacity to train new GPs.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government has allocated over £4 billion annually in capital funding to systems to invest in maintaining the National Health Service estate and address safety issues. In addition, in our primary care recovery plan we committed to changing local authority planning guidance to raise the profile of primary care facilities when planners are considering how developer contributions and funds from new housing developments are allocated.
We want general practitioners (GPs) to deliver the best quality of care to patients and will continue our work to assess what is needed to enable them to deliver services effectively in GP premises. As part of the ambitions set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan and the planned recruitment drive, we will consider the best use of GP premises to meet the needs of growing and ageing populations and the expanding healthcare teams needed to support them.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds of the level of supply of Utrogestan; and what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) pharmacies and (b) hospitals without access to that medicine as of 30 June 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
Utrogestan (progesterone) 100mg capsules will be unavailable for short periods of time until late 2023. The supplier is taking steps to increase supply and the Department continues to work closely with them to monitor and drive progress. In addition, a Serious Shortage Protocol has been issued which allows pharmacists to limit dispensing of Utrogestan to a maximum of two months’ supply per prescription, to help support access to available stock, and we have provided management guidance to the NHS where supplies are unavailable.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to secure the supply of Utrogestan; and on what date his Department expects the national supply of that medication will meet demand.
Answered by Will Quince
Utrogestan (progesterone) 100mg capsules will be unavailable for short periods of time until late 2023. The supplier is taking steps to increase supply and the Department continues to work closely with them to monitor and drive progress. In addition, a Serious Shortage Protocol has been issued which allows pharmacists to limit dispensing of Utrogestan to a maximum of two months’ supply per prescription, to help support access to available stock, and we have provided management guidance to the NHS where supplies are unavailable.