Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS Digital's publication on Hospital Outpatient Activity 2019-20, how many patients with (a) psoriasis and (b) atopic dermatitis attended outpatient appointments in (i) England and (ii) each commissioning region.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information is not available in the format requested.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) the opening date and (b) the life expectancy of each building constructed as part of a Best Buy Hospital.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Best Buy hospitals were launched in 1967. They include:
- Frimley Park 1974;
- West Suffolk 1974;
- James Paget 1981 and 1984;
- Hinchingbrooke 1984; and
- Queen Elizabeth 1980.
The life expectancy of buildings will depend on their original construction and this will be affected by many parameters, including the quality of the maintenance such as water tightness and adaptions or refurbishment made during their usage. Individual National Health Service organisations are responsible for maintaining the estates that they own.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much capital funding has been allocated to Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn Trust to manage reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete plank issues in each year since 2015.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust has been allocated £20.695 million in 2021-22 to directly address the most immediate problems on its estate with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) planks. The Standing Committee on Structural Safety first issued an alert regarding RAAC planks in May 2019 and National Health Service trusts subsequently undertook survey work in 2020. Therefore, no other central funding was allocated for this specific purpose prior to this date.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2020 to Question 99137, on Hospitals: Construction, when he plans to publish the (a) selection criteria and (b) bid process for schemes to be included in the new hospitals building programme.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are currently finalising the process and selection criteria for the additional eight schemes that will be part of our new hospitals programme and plan to announce further detail in the coming weeks.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which covid-19 vaccines are available to people who cannot accept a vaccine which is derived from or tested against cell lines derived from aborted fetuses.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has confirmed that the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, which have all received regulatory approval, do not contain any components of animal origin and no foetal material is present in the final vaccines.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients with (a) psoriasis and (b) atopic dermatitis were waiting longer than 18 weeks for care at the end of (i) 2018 (ii) 2019 and (iii) 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data is not held centrally in the format requested.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the effect of the delay in accepting the Migration Advisory Council recommendation to include senior care workers in the Shortage Occupancy List.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on a range of matters, including immigration. The Government continues to consider the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations on the Shortage Occupations List carefully in light of recent changes to the immigration system and the economic impact of COVID-19.
It should be noted that senior care workers do not need to be on the Shortage Occupations List to qualify for the Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Route, so long as sponsors are offering a salary of at least £25,600, or £20,480 if they qualify as a new entrant.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 vacancy rate in the social care sector in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The most recent monthly data from Skills for Care indicates that the vacancy rate of directly employed staff in social care has reduced to 6.9% in January 2021 from 8.0% in February 2020.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the efficacy of Vitamin C in boosting immunity to covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2020, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) conducted a rapid scoping exercise on nutrition and immune function in relation to COVID-19, which included consideration of vitamin C and found a lack of robust evidence to suggest that specific nutrients or supplements can prevent individuals from catching COVID-19 or mitigate its effects.
Public Health England and the SACN are continuing to monitor evidence as it is published and will review and update guidance if necessary.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment Public Health England has made of implications for its policies of the literature review entitled Vitamin C: An Adjunctive Therapy for Respiratory Infection, Sepsis and Covid-19, published on 7 December 2020.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England has not formally assessed this review.
The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) considered nutrition and immune function in relation to COVID-19 at its meeting in June 2020. The SACN agreed that their scoping exercise indicates a lack of robust evidence at this current time to suggest that specific nutrients such as vitamin C can reduce the risk or severity of COVID-19. This scoping exercise may be updated, or a more formal assessment undertaken, if robust evidence becomes available. The SACN noted that there was currently no new evidence that would change current dietary advice in relation to immune function.