Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of asylum applicants who have epilepsy.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not have estimates of the number of asylum applicants with epilepsy in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to provide funding for research on the potential health risks of night-shift working.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including the health effects of night shift working. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has made an assessment of the effectiveness of measures to mitigate health impacts of night time shift working.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of measures to mitigate health impacts of night time shift working. The Working Time Regulations provide protections to night workers. Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment and on a regular basis after that.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities have made of the potential health impacts of disrupted sleep.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Through ‘Advancing Our Health: Prevention in the 2020s’, the Government committed to review the evidence on sleep and health, and that review was completed by Public Health England. The review looked at the relationship between sleep and physical and mental health, optimum levels of sleep for children and adolescents, and factors that can both hinder and promote healthy sleep.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of asylum seekers with epilepsy in the UK.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not have estimates of the number of asylum seekers with epilepsy in the United Kingdom. People seeking asylum can access National Health Service healthcare services.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of asylum seekers with epilepsy in each of the four UK nations.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not have estimates of the number of asylum seekers with epilepsy in the United Kingdom. People seeking asylum can access National Health Service healthcare services.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
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 asylum seekers who have epilepsy.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not have estimates of the number of asylum seekers with epilepsy in the United Kingdom. People seeking asylum can access National Health Service healthcare services.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
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 discourage underage vaping.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government is clear that vaping should only be used to help people quit smoking, vapes should not be used by people under 18 years old or non-smokers.
We have some of the strongest regulations in place to discourage underage vaping. The law protects children through restricting sales of vapes to over 18 years old only, limiting nicotine content, refill bottle and tank sizes, labelling requirements and through advertising restrictions.
We have recently updated information and advice on the Better Health and Talk to Frank websites to raise awareness of the risks of vaping to children.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications of proposed changes to the General Dental Council (Overseas Registration Examination Regulations) on dental staffing numbers.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department has worked with the General Dental Council (GDC) to develop and consult on legislative proposals to allow the regulator greater flexibility to amend its existing international registration processes and explore alternative registration pathways as appropriate. The resulting draft Order was debated in the House of Commons on 6 December 2022. It is scheduled for debate in the House of Lords on 9 January 2023. Subject to the completion of the Parliamentary approvals process, we aim to introduce the legislative changes in February 2023.
The Department has not made any assessment of the implications of the proposed changes on dental staffing numbers. It will be for the GDC, as an independent regulator, to decide how best to use the flexibility that these proposals allow. Following the legislative changes, we understand the GDC will consult on changes to how its Overseas Registration Exam operates, which would enable it to increase the number of dentists it can assess, potentially allowing overseas dentists to join its register more quickly.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
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 economic impact of sight loss.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No recent assessment has been made.
In August 2021, Deloitte Access Economics estimated that in 2019, the total economic cost of sight loss was £36 billion per year in England. This included an estimated £3.4 billion in healthcare system costs, £7.8 billion in productivity losses and other financial costs, and £24.8 billion in reduced wellbeing.
Local authorities maintain information on individuals registered with a visual impairment and have an obligation to assess them promptly and provide support. There are also more than 300 eye charities in the United Kingdom which provide support for those with sight loss and many hospital eye clinics have liaison officers and optometrists specialising in low vision. The development of integrated care systems and the National Ophthalmic Eye Care Recovery and Transformation Programme is ensuring coordinated social and clinical care from prevention and screening to accessible treatment and support for visual impairment.