Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government who is responsible for reducing the risk of the public receiving fraudulent calls or emails purporting to come from the local authority and other teams involved in the NHS test and trace service.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government launched its new NHS Test and Trace service on 28 May 2020. This includes enhanced contact tracing.
NHS Test and Trace has been developed to government security standards and we have been working with the National Cyber Security Centre, on measures to keep the public safe. The NHS Test and Trace service uses text messages, email or phone. All text or emails will ask people to sign into the NHS Test and Trace contact tracing website with a set of unique characters provided alongside a secure link to the site. For those people that are unable to respond via email or text, perhaps because they do not have those options available to them, a phone-based service will contact them and support them through the process.
If the public are concerned about whether a call or email they receive comes from NHS Test and Trace service they can visit GOV.UK and view a page which lists the official phone numbers used by this service and can also check what is and is not going to be asked.
If anyone thinks they have been sent a scam message, they can report it to Action Fraud. If people receive an email which they are not quite sure about, they can forward it to the National Cyber Security Centre’s Suspicious Email Reporting Service and to report a spam text, they can forward the message to Ofcom’s spam texting service on 7726.
Any action to investigate reports of potential fraud will fall to the police / National Crime Agency and if prosecuted it will be for the courts to decide sentencing.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the penalties under civil or criminal law for (1) those organising frauds relating to the NHS test and trace service, () those aiding and abetting them, and (3) those who fail to take reasonable steps to protect their customers against such fraud; and what are the penalties for those employed in the NHS test and trace service, whether as individuals or as organisations, for misusing the information to which they have access.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government launched its new NHS Test and Trace service on 28 May 2020. This includes enhanced contact tracing.
NHS Test and Trace has been developed to government security standards and we have been working with the National Cyber Security Centre, on measures to keep the public safe. The NHS Test and Trace service uses text messages, email or phone. All text or emails will ask people to sign into the NHS Test and Trace contact tracing website with a set of unique characters provided alongside a secure link to the site. For those people that are unable to respond via email or text, perhaps because they do not have those options available to them, a phone-based service will contact them and support them through the process.
If the public are concerned about whether a call or email they receive comes from NHS Test and Trace service they can visit GOV.UK and view a page which lists the official phone numbers used by this service and can also check what is and is not going to be asked.
If anyone thinks they have been sent a scam message, they can report it to Action Fraud. If people receive an email which they are not quite sure about, they can forward it to the National Cyber Security Centre’s Suspicious Email Reporting Service and to report a spam text, they can forward the message to Ofcom’s spam texting service on 7726.
Any action to investigate reports of potential fraud will fall to the police / National Crime Agency and if prosecuted it will be for the courts to decide sentencing.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the process for reporting suspicious texts, emails and phone calls purporting to relate to the NHS test and trace service; to whom should such reports be made; whether Action Fraud and the Suspicious Email Reporting Service are involved; and, if so, whether there any plans for a separate, simpler process accessed from the main page of Action Fraud.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government launched its new NHS Test and Trace service on 28 May 2020. This includes enhanced contact tracing.
NHS Test and Trace has been developed to government security standards and we have been working with the National Cyber Security Centre, on measures to keep the public safe. The NHS Test and Trace service uses text messages, email or phone. All text or emails will ask people to sign into the NHS Test and Trace contact tracing website with a set of unique characters provided alongside a secure link to the site. For those people that are unable to respond via email or text, perhaps because they do not have those options available to them, a phone-based service will contact them and support them through the process.
If the public are concerned about whether a call or email they receive comes from NHS Test and Trace service they can visit GOV.UK and view a page which lists the official phone numbers used by this service and can also check what is and is not going to be asked.
If anyone thinks they have been sent a scam message, they can report it to Action Fraud. If people receive an email which they are not quite sure about, they can forward it to the National Cyber Security Centre’s Suspicious Email Reporting Service and to report a spam text, they can forward the message to Ofcom’s spam texting service on 7726.
Any action to investigate reports of potential fraud will fall to the police / National Crime Agency and if prosecuted it will be for the courts to decide sentencing.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
The Senior Deputy Speaker, further to the Written Answer by Lord McFall of Alcluith on 27 May (HL4295), whether he will supply full details of the regular surveys and other measures proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives to tackle bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct.
Answered by Lord McFall of Alcluith
The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, which constitutes a Parliament-wide regime for tackling bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct, was subject to a review after six months of operation, which has been published on the UK Parliament website, and a further review (the ’18-month review’) is planned for later this year, which is also expected to be published. This will be led by an independent reviewer, supported by an advisory panel, and will be an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the Scheme, as well as to consider specific policy changes as directed by the 6-month review. The Codes of Conduct for Lords Members and Lords Members’ Staff now include the ICGS provisions on bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct, and these are kept under active review by the Conduct Committee.
In addition to the work to review the effectiveness of the ICGS, additional formal mechanisms are in place or planned which will help to assess progress on improving the broader workplace culture in the House of Lords and specific progress on addressing the recommendations made by Naomi Ellenbogen QC in 2019 in her review of bullying and harassment in the House of Lords. These include the Steering Group for Change, composed of staff and peer representatives, tasked with monitoring progress of implementation of Naomi Ellenbogen QC ’s report on bullying and harassment in the House of Lords, and providing advice and support to the Management Board and House of Lords Commission on their response to the report. There will also be a 12-month review of progress in implementing the recommendations of that report.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the tweet by the Department of Health and Social Care on 4 May that “There is emerging evidence to suggest that coronavirus may be having a disproportionate impact on some ethnic groups, as well as certain genders”, on what evidence they base their statement that gender affects the impact of COVID-19; what is their definition of gender when making that statement; how many affected genders they believe there to be; which are those affected genders; what consideration they gave to using the phrase “male” in place of “certain genders”; and what plans they have to use such a formulation in future.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government is concerned by the apparent disparities in how COVID-19 is affecting people. We have asked Public Health England to complete a rapid review to understand how COVID-19 may be having an impact on different groups of concern.
Short descriptions of the terms ‘sex’, ‘gender’, ‘transgender’ and ‘gender identity’ have been published by the Government Equalities Office.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 17 March (HL2178), whether NHS patients in England can request to have intimate examinations carried out by a doctor of a specified biological sex; and whether such requests are always adhered to.
Answered by Lord Bethell
National Health Service organisations set their own policies on patients’ ability to specify the gender of the staff treating them.
One of the NHS Constitution’s founding values is that of respect and dignity for patients, carers and staff in accordance with their needs and priorities and ensuring these are considered when designing and delivering services.
The General Medical Council guidance to doctors states that, when proposing to carry out an intimate examination, doctors should offer the patient the option of having an impartial observer (a chaperone) present wherever possible. This applies whether or not the doctor is the same gender as the patient, and they must treat patients as individuals and respect their dignity and privacy.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 17 March (HL2718), whether the NHS issues any guidance to NHS organisations related to policies on patients' ability to specify the sex or gender of the staff treating them; and whether such policies are (1) co-ordinated, or (2) compared in any way.
Answered by Lord Bethell
National Health Service organisations set their own policies on patients’ ability to specify the gender of the staff treating them.
One of the NHS Constitution’s founding values is that of respect and dignity for patients, carers and staff in accordance with their needs and priorities and ensuring these are considered when designing and delivering services.
The General Medical Council guidance to doctors states that, when proposing to carry out an intimate examination, doctors should offer the patient the option of having an impartial observer (a chaperone) present wherever possible. This applies whether or not the doctor is the same gender as the patient, and they must treat patients as individuals and respect their dignity and privacy.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the competence of people under the age of 16 to give informed consent to medical procedures which may affect their fecundity; how they decide who is competent to record and assess such consent; whether that person performing those functions is independent of the person proposing the medical procedure; and if not, why not.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The issue of informed consent by people under the age of 16 is currently the subject of legal proceedings and therefore the Department is unable to comment pending judicial ruling.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what research they are conducting to improve the medical (1) assessment, and (2) treatment of, children presenting with gender dysphoria.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Last year the National Institute for Health Research funded a £1.3 million longitudinal research study, titled Outcomes and Predictors of Outcome for Children and Young People Referred to UK Gender Identity Development Services. The results of the study will be made available via articles and publications.
In parallel to this work NHS England has also asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to deliver guidelines that will define referral criteria into the Gender Identity Development Service. NICE will also undertake a thorough review of the latest clinical evidence to help inform NHS England and Improvement’s review of the service specification for gender identity development services for children and young people.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what policies the NHS has in place for patients who require to be treated and cared for by staff of a particular sex.
Answered by Lord Bethell
As stated in the NHS Constitution, patients have the right to express a preference for using a particular doctor within their general practitioner practice, and the practice must try to meet this request. In other instances, National Health Service organisations set their own policies on patients’ ability to specify the gender of the staff treating them.
In addition, the General Medical Council guidance to doctors states that, when proposing to carry out an intimate examination, doctors should offer the patient the option of having an impartial observer (a chaperone) present wherever possible. This applies whether or not the doctor is the same gender as the patient.