Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
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 help improve the process for families to obtain a diagnosis for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a quality standard in England for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), to help the health and care system improve both diagnosis and support for people affected by FASD. The quality standard also covers support during pregnancy, to improve awareness and prevent the disorder. It was published in March 2022, and is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs204
The Department has also taken a number of steps to help prevent FASD. The UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines, published in 2016, provide clear advice to women not to drink alcohol if they are planning for a pregnancy or are pregnant, and these are available at the following link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a80b7ed40f0b623026951db/UK_CMOs__report.pdf
The National Health Service’s website offers advice on the use of alcohol during pregnancy and sources of support, which includes speaking to a general practitioner, midwife, or local treatment service, or contacting the Government’s Talk to Frank website. The NHS’s website and the Talk to Frank website are available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/drinking-alcohol-while-pregnant/
www.talktofrank.com/contact-frank
The Department will soon be publishing the first ever clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment for the United Kingdom. The aim of the guidelines is to promote and support good practice. The guidelines will set out how maternity, alcohol treatment, and other healthcare professionals should support women to reduce or stop their alcohol use as quickly and safely as possible, to reduce the ongoing exposure of the foetus to alcohol and the risk and severity of future disability.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
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 potential merits of including people with learning disabilities in the spring Covid-19 booster vaccination programme.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme, covering vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026. This advice is available at the following link:
The Government is considering this advice carefully and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase awareness of urinary tract infections (UTIs); and if he will (a) take steps to support research on the (i) diagnosis and (ii) treatment of UTIs and (b) have discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on raising awareness of UTIs in schools.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has a number of existing partnerships to help promote awareness of urology conditions. NHS England is partnering with P-Wave for a campaign targeted at men, specifically focussing on blood in urine as a possible symptom of cancer. The partnership has seen more than 430,000 P-Wave urinal mats distributed around the United Kingdom since its launch, with the awareness message appearing in pubs, workplaces, and sporting and music venues. Further information is available at the following link:
NHS England has been focusing on improving the diagnosis and treatment of urological conditions. NHS England is undertaking a programme of work as part of its antimicrobial resistance programme focusing on prevention, diagnostics, and treatment of chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs).
Through funding the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Department has invested and supported multiple studies investigating the diagnosis and treatment of UTIs. Some examples of NIHR-funded UTI diagnosis and treatment research are: investigating the application of novel diagnostic tests to improve the symptom-treatment cycle time of UTIs; improving the diagnosis of recurrent UTIs; and the use of antimicrobial-impregnated catheters to reduce episodes of catheter-associated UTIs.
More specifically, the NIHR has recently invested £3.1 million into the Improving Primary Care Antibiotic Prescribing UTI programme, a research programme investigating improvements to primary care prescribing, to reduce antibiotic resistant urine infections. NIHR-funded research into UTI diagnosis and treatment has proven to benefit UK patient treatment, and in 2022 research funded by the NIHR found methenamine to be as good as and therefore an alternative to antibiotics, at preventing UTIs, and may reduce the incidence on antibiotic-resistant UTIs.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published the guideline Urinary tract infection in under 16s: diagnosis and management in 2007, and reissued in 2022, following an update. The guideline covers diagnosing and managing first or recurrent upper or lower UTI in babies, children, and young people under 16 years old. It aims to achieve more consistent clinical practice, based on accurate diagnosis and effective management. We have not held any discussions with my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education about UTI diagnosis in schools.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking to steps to protect soft facilities management employment in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service trusts are independent employers who need to determine how best their services are delivered, which includes the provision of soft facilities management.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to update the guidance on Use of e-cigarettes in public places and workplaces, published by Public Health England in July 2016; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of further restrictions on vaping in public spaces.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is concerned about the worrying rise in vaping among children, and there are legitimate concerns about the unknown long-term harms from vaping. Whilst the evidence base on second-hand vaping is still developing, and is less strong than smoking, the degree of harm is unlikely to be 0%. There are no current plans to update the guidance on the use of e-cigarettes in public places and workplaces, published by Public Health England in July 2015.
However, the Government will soon introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which will reduce the appeal, access, and availability of vapes to children, including by banning vape advertising and branding. We will set out more details very soon.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the evidential basis is for not including household members of people who are clinically vulnerable within the eligibility criteria for covid-19 booster vaccinations.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As with all United Kingdom vaccination programmes, the decision of which groups are eligible for a particular part of the programme is made following careful consideration of the groups most at risk of illness, severe illness, or death, as a consequence of infection.
As currently available COVID-19 vaccines provide limited protection against transmission and mild or asymptomatic disease, the focus of the programme is on offering vaccination to those most likely to directly benefit, particularly those with underlying health conditions that increase their risk of hospitalisation following infection.
The benefit of vaccinating an individual to reduce the risk of severe disease in other people is much less evident now compared with previous years. For this reason, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation did not advise an offer of COVID-19 vaccinations in autumn 2024 for household contacts of people with immunosuppression.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support (a) children and (b) other people with long covid.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has invested significantly in supporting people with long COVID. This includes setting up specialist post-COVID services nationwide for adults, and children and young people, developing digital self-management tools, and investing in ensuring general practice teams are equipped to support people affected by the condition. As of 1 April 2024, there were over 90 adult post-COVID services across England along with an additional 10 children and young people’s hubs.
From April 2024, in line with the National Health Service’s operating framework and the establishment of integrated care systems, commissioning of post-COVID services has been the responsibility of integrated care boards. This is being supported by ongoing funding, and the expectation is that dedicated services should continue to be offered to support people with long COVID. The Government has also invested over £50 million in research through two specific funding calls to better understand long COVID and how to treat it.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to (a) support research for and (b) raise awareness of Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department funds research into rare diseases such as ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Over the last five years, NIHR infrastructure has supported 13 research awards on ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. Raising awareness of rare diseases such as ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency among healthcare professionals is a priority of the 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework, and the 2024 England Rare Diseases Action Plan.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to (a) publicise and (b) promote the maternity exemption to prescription charges; and what steps she is taking to ensure (i) rapid reimbursement and (ii) the removal of fines when the forms for patients entitled to the exemption are not correctly filed.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Both the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) and the National Health Service promote maternity exemption certificates to raise awareness amongst midwives, general practitioners, and other healthcare practitioners of their obligations to apply for maternity exemption certificates on behalf of the patient. They’ve also taken action to raise awareness amongst eligible individuals of their entitlement by promoting the certificates through social media, online resources, media releases, and through healthcare bulletins. Information on how to apply for a maternity exemption certificate is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/check-if-you-have-nhs-exemption/maternity-exemption-certificates
A maternity exemption certificate can be applied for as soon as a healthcare professional has confirmed the pregnancy or that the patient has given birth, including still-birth, in the previous 12 months. The certificate is automatically backdated one month from the date the application is received by the NHS BSA. Where a Penalty Charge Notice has been issued because a patient has claimed the maternity exemption without holding a valid maternity exemption certificate, the patient is given 60 days to pay the prescription charge and apply for an exemption certificate. The penalty charges will only then be removed.
The reimbursement of prescription charges usually takes place through a community pharmacy using the NHS FP57 receipt and refund form. In specific circumstances a refund request may require input from NHS BSA, these are processed and returned to the patient to take to the pharmacy within five working days.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support research into thyroid diseases; and what steps she is taking to support patients with hypothyroidism.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including thyroid disease. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions.
NIHR funds and supports research into hyperthyroidism through its research infrastructure and research programmes, a current example being a study investigating the risks of developing obesity, cardio-metabolic conditions, and risk of death in a cohort of 25,000 newly diagnosed patients with hyperthyroidism, and to compare the risks of these outcomes between all three modalities used to treat hyperthyroidism.
Health services for people with hypothyroidism are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), which are best placed to make decisions regarding the provision of health services to their local population subject to local prioritisation and funding. In doing so, we expect ICBs to have due regard to relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and other guidance when commissioning services.