Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times his Department has made an estimate of the savings to the public purse attributable to charity air ambulance services in the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
We recognise the vital role the air ambulance service plays in providing life-saving treatment to patients across the country.
The National Health Service does not directly fund air ambulances, which are operated by independent charities. No such estimate has been made by the Department.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing immunocompromised people with personalised tests for Covid-19 antibodies.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
An antibody testing study has been funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to establish if antibody testing can identify which immunosuppressed individuals remain at greatest risk of severe COVID-19 infection after vaccinations. The Stratification of Clinically Vulnerable People for COVID-19 Risk Using Antibody Testing (STRAVINSKY) study will receive £2.8 million and involve 3000 immunocompromised participants over two years. 2600 participants will receive a finger-prick antibody test, with 400 receiving more detailed immune analyses. The study will include the analysis of pooled existing antibody testing evidence from several studies to develop an understanding of how each patient group responds to the programme of COVID-19 vaccinations.
It is hoped the findings will provide clinicians, policymakers and members of the public with up-to-date information on the incremental impact of the programme of booster vaccinations and inform future advice and targeted medicines for people who are immunosuppressed, including the use of antibody testing. We will continue to communicate to people most vulnerable to COVID-19 about available clinical interventions, including vaccination and treatments, as well as testing and public health advice.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to purchase AstraZeneca’s COVID antibody treatment AZD3152 to treat immunocompromised individuals who are unable to receive vaccines; and when he expects AZD3152 to be made available to patients.
Answered by Will Quince
Subject to the medicine becoming licensed for use in Great Britain, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will evaluate AZD3152 through its technology appraisal programme and will aim to issue guidance for the National Health Service as close as possible to licensing. NICE has been in discussion with the manufacturer and is preparing for the evaluation of the medicine. If it is recommended as clinically and cost effective by NICE, the NHS in England will be under a statutory requirement to fund it for eligible patients, in line with NICE’s recommendations.
There are no plans for the NHS to fund the medicine routinely ahead of it achieving a licence and an associated positive technology appraisal recommendation from NICE.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment has the Government made of the effectiveness of the processes for evaluating Covid-19 treatment drugs.
Answered by Will Quince
As we move out of the pandemic response, it is right that existing processes for understanding the clinical and cost-effectiveness of medicines are used to inform routine commissioning arrangements, including for new COVID-19 drugs and treatments. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent, expert body that develops authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources.
To support the transition to routine commissioning, NICE has been evaluating the clinical and cost effectiveness of the licensed treatments for COVID-19 and published final guidance on 29 March that recommends three medicines as options for treating COVID-19 in adults which will be made routinely available to NHS patients in line with NICE’s recommendations. Because new COVID-19 variants develop over time, NICE is also introducing a new review process to update its recommendations on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of COVID-19 treatments so they can be made available more quickly to patients, if they show promise against new variants and are found to be cost-effective.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet with representatives of the charity DEBRA UK to discuss its campaign for £10 million of NHS funding for drug repurposing trials to find treatments to alleviate the severe pain caused by the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We encourage DEBRA to propose candidate medicines for consideration for support from the Medicines Repurposing Programme. The programme provides a tailored package of support to priority repurposed medicines, potentially including support for research, licensing, and implementation. The programme is keen to work in partnership with external organisations including research charities and patient organisations. The eligibility criteria and proposal form are available on request from england.repurposing@nhs.net.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the adequacy of treatment options for the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa (EB); and if he will make an assessment of whether drug repurposing trials might allow for more effective treatments whilst reducing the cost to the NHS of treating EB.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. We encourage the proposal of candidate medicines for consideration for support from the Medicines Repurposing Programme. The multi-agency Medicines Repurposing Programme identifies and progresses opportunities to use existing medicines in ways not included in the current licence. The work includes horizon scanning for trials in rare diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa (EB). The eligibility criteria and proposal form are available on request from england.repurposing@nhs.net.
NHS England is aware from routine horizon scanning that a number of innovative treatments for EB are either in trials or being considered by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NHS England is working with NICE on the evaluation of two products for EB, birch bark extract for skin wounds and the gene therapy Beremagene geperpavec. If any of these treatments are given a positive recommendation by NICE, NHS England will ensure that service provision is in place to deliver these treatments in line with the terms of the NICE mandate.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of repurposing already licenced drugs for the treatment of the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. We encourage the proposal of candidate medicines for consideration for support from the Medicines Repurposing Programme. The multi-agency Medicines Repurposing Programme identifies and progresses opportunities to use existing medicines in ways not included in the current licence. The work includes horizon scanning for trials in rare diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa (EB). The eligibility criteria and proposal form are available on request from england.repurposing@nhs.net.
NHS England is aware from routine horizon scanning that a number of innovative treatments for EB are either in trials or being considered by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NHS England is working with NICE on the evaluation of two products for EB, birch bark extract for skin wounds and the gene therapy Beremagene geperpavec. If any of these treatments are given a positive recommendation by NICE, NHS England will ensure that service provision is in place to deliver these treatments in line with the terms of the NICE mandate.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the rates of covid-19 (a) vaccination and (b) booster uptake are for people in all age groups as of 9 December 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes weekly data for COVID-19 vaccine uptake in England by age and gender. A table showing provisional data on the cumulative number of people vaccinated with any dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the last three months, three to to six months and vaccinated more than six months ago as of 15 December is attached.
The information on booster doses is not held in the format requested. However, the following table shows the provisional cumulative number of people vaccinated by age group with a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine in England from 1 September 2022 to 15 December 2022. Data on the autumn booster programme is reported for those aged 50 years old and over, as those aged under 50 years old are only eligible if in a clinical risk group.
| People in the National Immunisation Management Service cohort who are living and resident in England | Vaccinated with an autumn booster since 1 September 2022 | Percentage vaccine uptake % |
Over 80 years old | 2,980,919 | 2,421,167 | 81.2 |
75 years old to under 80 years old | 2,414,218 | 1,968,564 | 81.5 |
70 years old to under 75 years old | 2,736,073 | 2,142,267 | 78.3 |
65 years old to under 70 years old | 3,030,885 | 2,155,912 | 71.1 |
60 years old to under 65 years old | 3,681,823 | 2,201,803 | 59.8 |
55 years old to under 60 years old | 4,197,819 | 2,112,127 | 50.3 |
50 years old to under 55 years old | 4,253,349 | 1,725,333 | 40.6 |
Sources:
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) NHS and (b) social care workers took sick leave due to a covid-19 infection in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
This information is not held in the format requested. However, data on the number of staff absent due to any COVID-19 related reasons, including the need to self-isolate, is available.
As of 30 November 2022, there were 6,865 National Health Service hospital trust staff in England reporting absences for COVID-19 related reasons. As of 14 November 2022, there were 2,128 of directly employed care home staff and 2,043 of domiciliary care home staff with face-to-face contact absent due to COVID-19 related reasons in England.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 7 March 2022 to Question 132393 on civil service staff networks, what recognised staff groups have been running in his Department over the last three years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.