Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the number of cases of domestic abuse and coercion connected with the home use of early medical abortion pills since March 2020.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
The Department recognises safeguarding as an essential aspect of abortion care and officials are working with the Domestic Abuse Commissioners Office to understand issues related to domestic abuse and coercion and home-use of early medical abortion (EMA).
All abortion providers are required to have effective arrangements in place to safeguard women and girls accessing abortion services who may be experiencing domestic abuse or coercion. Following Parliament’s decision to make provisions for at home early medical abortion to be made permanent from 30 August, the Department is ensuring that robust safeguarding systems and processes for home use of EMA are embedded in all abortion services.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women have required hospital treatment following the home use of early medical abortion pills since March 2020.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
The information requested is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether residents in Northern Ireland will participate in the PANORAMIC study of antiviral and antibody treatments for covid-19 announced by his Department on 8 December 2021.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Oral antiviral treatments are available through the PANORAMIC national study, run by the University of Oxford. The study is open to individuals across the United Kingdom. General practitioner practices in Northern Ireland are expected to begin contacting patients eligible to enrol in the PANORAMIC study directly to increase recruitment.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what studies have been undertaken on the (a) side effects of Gardasil used in the HPV Vaccination programme and (b) the long term effect of Gardasil on the health of girls and young women.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), with advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, has closely evaluated the safety of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine since the vaccination programme was first introduced in the United Kingdom in 2008 and since Gardasil has been in routine use from 2012. Extensive reviews of Gardasil vaccine safety have also been undertaken by other independent health bodies/authorities worldwide, including the European Medicines Agency, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. This continuous surveillance has found no evidence of serious harm or chronic illness caused by any HPV vaccine and is supported by published epidemiological studies from health authorities, including the MHRA and other independent academic researchers.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many notification forms were received where the second abortion pill only was taken at home after 10 weeks, in 2019.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2019, the number of abortions where the Department was notified that prostaglandin was provided for home use is as follows:
- 52,309 at three to nine weeks gestation; and
- 37 at 10 weeks gestation and above.
The information presented is based on information contained in abortion notification forms (HSA4) submitted by clinics and hospitals to the Chief Medical Officer at the Department.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 27 December 2018 approval of the home of a pregnant woman in England who is undergoing treatment for termination of pregnancy as a class of place where the second stage of treatment for early medical abortion may be carried out, how many maternal deaths occurred under the 27 December 2018 approval as a result of the second abortion pill taken at home in (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020 to date.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is not possible to identify the type of abortion performed from the mortality statistics. Mortality statistics published by the Office of National Statistics, show that for there was one death in 2018 where abortion was listed as the underlying cause of death on the death certificate. There were no deaths recorded in 2019. Data for 2020 is not available.
The Department is aware of reports of two women who died after seeking abortion treatment earlier this year. Both deaths have been appropriately investigated and in one case investigations are continuing. For the other case, the coroner concluded that there was no evidence to suggest the pregnancy or abortion contributed to the death either directly or indirectly. Both women attended an abortion service in person and based on information provided to the Department, at least one of these women was supplied with pills to take at home under the 2018 approval.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings the Government has had with the Care Quality Commission to monitor the evidence on the safety of abortion pills taken at home since 30 March 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has had four meetings with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to monitor the evidence on the safety of abortion pills taken at home since 30 March 2020.
The Department continues to closely monitor the impact of the temporary approval for women’s homes to be classed as a place where both sets of medication for early medical abortion can be taken up to 10 weeks gestation. Officials have regular meetings on abortion issues more generally at which the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the CQC and abortion service providers are present and the evidence on the safety of abortion pills taken at home may have been discussed at these meeting in addition to the meetings outlined.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what procurement arrangements he is putting in place for businesses wishing to provide logistical support to the planned covid-19 vaccination programme.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The National Health Service is ready to deliver a COVID-19 vaccination programme as soon as it is authorised for use by the medicines’ regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. As part of the extensive planning, the NHS is working with all stakeholders, including the United Kingdom logistics industry, to be ready to mobilise when a vaccine becomes available. NHS England and NHS Improvement are utilising existing Crown Commercial Services and NHS procurement frameworks to identify suppliers for all goods and services required to support delivery of non-vaccine goods and services to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s cohorts.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings the Government has had with abortion providers to monitor the safety of abortion pills being taken at home since 30 March 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government have had eleven meetings with abortion providers to monitor the safety of abortion pills taken at home since 30 March 2020.
The Department continues to closely monitor the impact of the temporary approval for women’s homes to be classed as a place where both sets of medication for early medical abortion can be taken up to 10 weeks gestation. Officials have regular meetings on abortion issues more generally at which the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Care Quality Commission and abortion service providers are present and the safety of abortion pills taken at home may have been discussed at these meetings in addition to the meetings outlined.
Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Independent - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the publication on 1 October 2020 of supplementary analysis of the January-June 2020 abortion statistics, what gestation was reported on the notification form for each of the cases where abortion pills were taken after 10 weeks for (a) the 40 cases where the second pill only was taken at home and (b) the 10 cases where both pills were taken at home.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Further breakdowns of the provisional data by gestation and home use are not currently available as we are reviewing and assuring the underlying data in advance of the annual National Statistics publication in summer 2021.