Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of free lateral flow test kits issued in England in each week to date since 1 August 2021.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The following table shows the number of lateral flow device tests dispatched in England in each week since 1 August 2021.
Week commencing | Number of tests dispatched |
2 August 2021 | 17,960,791 |
9 August 2021 | 17,389,240 |
16 August 2021 | 18,779,998 |
23 August 2021 | 26,567,961 |
30 August 2021 | 22,026,148 |
6 September 2021 | 24,938,138 |
13 September 2021 | 24,938,138 |
20 September 2021 | 22,022,613 |
27 September 2021 | 19,666,937 |
4 October 2021 | 21,799,478 |
11 October 2021 | 23,554,088 |
18 October 2021 | 23,554,088 |
25 October 2021 | 14,625,627 |
1 November 2021 | 21,422,729 |
8 November 2021 | 18,433,336 |
15 November 2021 | 22,120,400 |
22 November 2021 | 22,900,000 |
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 test sites have stopped providing free home lateral flow test kits for collection.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Lateral flow device (LFD) tests are no longer available from local tests sites in England, as home testing has become the preferred method. As with polymerase chain reaction test kits, these are sent free of charge to the home or the address specified. Home testing enables those who are shielding, self-isolating, have mobility issues, live in very rural areas or are waiting for elective surgery and key workers, to order LFD tests from GOV.UK to take in their own home.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason some covid-19 test sites have stopped providing free home lateral flow test kits for collection.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Lateral flow device (LFD) tests are no longer available from local tests sites in England, as home testing has become the preferred method. As with polymerase chain reaction test kits, these are sent free of charge to the home or the address specified. Home testing enables those who are shielding, self-isolating, have mobility issues, live in very rural areas or are waiting for elective surgery and key workers, to order LFD tests from GOV.UK to take in their own home.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
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 effect of the change in uptake of free lateral flow tests in England since the introduction of collect codes to pick up tests from pharmacies.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We are monitoring the impact of this change with a view to making an assessment in the new year, allowing us to take into account the impact of the Omicron variant.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many computerised tomography scanners there are in NHS hospitals in England as of 8 November 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested for 8 November 2021 is not yet available. However, the most recent data collected for 2020/21 shows 579 computerised tomography scanners in National Health Service hospitals.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many magnetic resonance imaging units there are in NHS hospitals in England as of 8 November 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested for 8 November 2021 is not yet available. However, the most recent data collected in 2020/21, shows 488 magnetic resonance imaging units in National Health Service hospitals.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
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 effect of the Immensa Wolverhampton laboratory false testing results on the rates of covid-19 the South West.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Investigations are ongoing.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
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 (a) NHS leaders and (b) representatives of the social care sector on reducing the number of delayed transfers of care in hospitals over winter 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data on delayed transfers of care has not been collected since March 2020. Since April 2020, COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness Resilience and Response Acute and Community Daily Discharge Situation Report data has been collected. This measures delays in hospital and the reasons for these delays for patients with a length of stay of more than 14 and 21 days. NHS England and NHS Improvement are improving the data quality of this new collection and exploring the potential to publish the data in future. The Department continues to work closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement, local government and social care providers to monitor and address the underlying causes which contribute to delayed discharges. This includes a network of weekly regional and national cross-sector meetings which inform regular Ministerial meetings with NHS England and NHS Improvement on winter pressures.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department holds data on the average number of people delayed per day as part of delayed transfers of care in hospital for (a) August 2021, (b) September 2021 and October 2021; and if he will publish those data.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data on delayed transfers of care has not been collected since March 2020. Since April 2020, COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness Resilience and Response Acute and Community Daily Discharge Situation Report data has been collected. This measures delays in hospital and the reasons for these delays for patients with a length of stay of more than 14 and 21 days. NHS England and NHS Improvement are improving the data quality of this new collection and exploring the potential to publish the data in future. The Department continues to work closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement, local government and social care providers to monitor and address the underlying causes which contribute to delayed discharges. This includes a network of weekly regional and national cross-sector meetings which inform regular Ministerial meetings with NHS England and NHS Improvement on winter pressures.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
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 improve uptake of routine eye care check-ups via community optometry.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Free National Health Service sight tests are available for eligible groups, including children, people aged 60 years old and over, people on low incomes and those at risk of eye disease. NHS.UK sets out the importance of regular sight tests and provides information about entitlement to free tests. The Department also used social media to promote the importance of sight tests during National Eye Health week in 2021.