Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the debate on the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review on 8 July 2021, Official Report, columns 1148 to 1187, what steps he plans to take to research new and improved techniques for removal of eroded surgical mesh implants; and if he will make it his policy to establish a unit for developing such techniques in order to train a new generation of mesh-removal specialists to treat people experiencing the effects of failed mesh implants in the future.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
There are no current studies specifically relating to new and improved techniques for the removal of eroded surgical mesh. However, there are five studies ongoing on surgical mesh implants and the National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including on the removal or implantation of vaginal mesh. There are currently no plans to establish a unit in order to train mesh removal specialists.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what checks his Department carried out to ensure that surgeons awarded NHS contracts for the removal of failed vaginal mesh implants had not previously been responsible for (a) originally implanting them, and subsequently (b) denying that anything had gone wrong with them; and whether any personnel awarded NHS contracts to work at mesh remediation specialist centres are known by his Department to be currently facing legal proceedings for implanting mesh which injured women who are now seeking its removal at such centres.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
It is the responsibility of the employing organisations to ensure that the staff undertaking mesh implantation and/or dealing with mesh complications are qualified and competent to do so. NHS England’s procurement process to identify the specialist centres to deal with the complications of mesh considered a range of clinical and service quality issues. No assessment was undertaken regarding National Health Service contracts or staff facing legal proceedings.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral contribution of 7 June 2021, Official Report 685, what progress his Department has made towards publishing on a daily basis the number of patients in hospital with covid-19 who have previously had (a) one, (b) two and (c) no injections of vaccine; and if he will publish a similar analysis of the daily number of covid-19 fatalities.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
There are currently no plans to publish this data on a daily basis.
However, the information requested is published weekly in Public Health England’s technical briefings, which form part of ongoing surveillance and vaccine effectiveness monitoring activity and are available at the following link:
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of current techniques for the removal of failed vaginal mesh implants; what support the Government is providing to research on how to remove that mesh (a) more completely and (b) less traumatically than at present; and whether that research includes any technique for dissolving mesh prior to removal.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
There is very little published evidence linked to the efficacy on the removal of failed vaginal mesh implants. In order to effectively monitor outcomes of the procedures carried out, the specialist mesh services will be required to record data on a central patient–identifiable database, subject to patient consent.
NHS England has published a service specification to support the delivery of specialised services for women with complication of mesh, which sets out the standards for these services. The specification requires that all mesh services are to meet annually in a clinical summit to present data and discuss surgical and non-surgical outcomes. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Pelvic Floor Health Programme is to establish a research and education group to promote pelvic floor health research and education. This will include mesh complications and removal.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to release to the media, on a daily basis, the numbers of people hospitalised with covid-19 who are (a) vaccinated and (b) unvaccinated against the virus.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The data requested is not currently held centrally in the format requested.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been (a) recorded as infected and (b) hospitalised with the Indian variant of the covid-19 virus; and how many people in each of those categories had previously been vaccinated against the virus.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The statistics for infections for each variant of concern, including the Indian variant, are available at the following link:
Data on hospitalisations and vaccination status are not currently available in the format requested.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance the NHS has given to General Practitioners on the (a) necessity of and (b) timetable for reinstating face-to-face meetings with NHS patients; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
General practice is open and has been throughout the pandemic. Practices must ensure they offer face to face appointments and respect patient preferences for face to face care where clinically appropriate, in line with the NHS England and Improvement letter to general practice on 13 May 2021.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason data on the number of people admitted to hospital with covid-19 more than three weeks after having been vaccinated against covid-19 (a) once and (b) twice is not being collected; and if he will take immediate steps to implement a system for the (i) collection and (ii) daily publication of that data.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Data on the number of people admitted to hospital with COVID-19 more than three weeks after having been vaccinated with either one dose or two doses is being collected through Public Health England’s (PHE) Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Watch surveillance system. These data are used for vaccine effectiveness studies and for vaccine impact analysis.
PHE has published early data on vaccine effectiveness based on pillar two positive results in those who are over 80 years old which is linked to the national emergency care dataset. This analysis differentiates those who are unvaccinated, those who are within two weeks of first dose and those who are more than two weeks on from their first dose. This analysis is available at the following link:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/phe-monitoring-of-the-effectiveness-of-covid-19-vaccination
PHE has no plans to publish data on a daily basis as there is a lag before hospitalisations are observed. In addition, analysis needs to allow for a vaccine induced immune response to be able to measure risk of hospitalisation from time since first and second dose of a vaccine.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the NHS has for the use of Ovestin cream in preference to mesh removal surgery for the future treatment of victims of the vaginal mesh scandal; whether advocates of that alternative method of treatment include surgeons who previously supported the implantation of vaginal mesh; what evidence base there is for the use of Ovestin cream to diminish symptoms arising from mesh implantation; and what assessment has been made of possible harmful side-effects of using cream as a substitute for mesh removal surgery.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
NHS England has not considered Ovestin cream as an alternative to mesh removal surgery, nor the evidence behind its use to diminish symptoms arising from mesh implantation. However, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines NG123 recommend that non-surgical treatment options for mesh removal can include the use of vaginal oestrogen cream, including Ovestin cream, for patients who have a single area of vaginal mesh exposure that is smaller than 1 cm2.
Side-effects relating to Ovestin cream can be found in the accompanying leaflet to the medicine which is available at the following link:
https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/5384/pil
No assessment made of whether advocates for the use of Ovestin cream include surgeons who previously supported the implantation of vaginal mesh.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy, in response to data that some covid-19 vaccines significantly reduce transmission rates, that people sharing households with extremely vulnerable individuals for whom vaccination may not give full protection, should receive their vaccination at an early stage, regardless of age or other factors, in order to protect their shielding fellow-residents.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government continues to follow the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which agrees priority groupings for vaccination. The Interim advice has been published by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommending an age-based approach which the Government has accepted in principle.