Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jane Ellison and Margot James

Tuesday 15th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

T4. Now that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has concluded its consultation on the use of generic asthma inhalers by schools in cases of emergency when a child does not have his or her own inhaler, will my hon. Friend update the House on the next steps? In particular, does she expect schools to be allowed to keep these inhalers in the new school year?

[Jane Ellison]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her great campaigning on this issue, and on the really good results that she has had. As she says, we have recently consulted on changing the regulations under the Medicines Act 1968 to allow schools to hold inhalers in the way that she has described. There was overwhelming support for such a change, and we will lay the necessary statutory instrument this week to enable the change to come into force on 1 October.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jane Ellison and Margot James

Tuesday 25th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Jane Ellison]

As I have just said, there is guidance for CCGs on how to operate in the area of alternative and complementary therapies and we have no current plans to add to that guidance.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to tackle female genital mutilation.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Jane Ellison)]

We recently announced that all NHS acute hospitals must provide information on patients who have undergone female genital mutilation, but that is just one element of a wider-ranging programme of work that is under way in order, most importantly, to improve the way in which we care for girls and women who have undergone FGM and to follow up on, respond to and prevent FGM. I will make further announcements in due course.

[Margot James]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on all the work she has done to combat this abhorrent crime since she entered Parliament. Will she confirm that the data reported to her Department will be used to mount educational campaigns to stamp out FGM in the vicinity of hospitals reporting patients who have been abused in this way?

[Jane Ellison]

We anticipate that we will be able to share the data collected with all appropriate Government Departments and partner organisations. On local education campaigns, I see no reason why requests to access the data would not be approved. We want to build a proper national picture of what is going on with FGM so that we can do all we can both to care for victims and to stamp out this abuse.