Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that patients will continue to receive essential care and services in the event of any industrial action amongst staff in the National Health Service.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Employers and trade unions should discuss local derogations, which will identify those services exempt from strike action in order to protect patient safety. The Department is working with NHS England which is accountable for operational planning and assurance in the event of any industrial action.
Exercise ‘Arctic Willow’, a multi-day exercise for integrated care boards (ICBs) and trusts, is currently taking place. This will test the system to ensure services can respond to multiple, concurrent events. Data from this exercise will be coordinated through ICBs and returned to NHS England. Findings will be complete by mid-December.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many NHS staff to date have died as a result of contracting COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Office for National Statistics’ data shows that from 9 March 2020 to 31 March 2022, there were 796 registered deaths involving COVID-19 among healthcare workers in England aged 20 to 64 years old, using their last known occupation. The definition of healthcare workers includes those employed in the National Health Service and healthcare sector workers.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the procurement process for personal protective equipment purchased during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular the contract awarded to PPE Medpro.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has stated that it will review the response to procurement during the pandemic and learn lessons. PPE Medpro Ltd were awarded its contracts at the height of the pandemic in 2020. The new Procurement Bill will introduce new, transparent arrangements for how procurement should be conducted in an emergency, such as the pandemic. A new system for declaration of ‘when action is necessary to protect life’ will ensure confidence that contracts are let appropriately. These new rules will allow buyers to conduct a rapid informal competition in situations of extreme urgency.
All contracts, including those awarded in exceptional circumstances, are subject to the Department’s contract management operating standards, which include a range of governance requirements.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign nationals employed within the National Health Service left the UK after its departure from the EU.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy intention in capping the number of trainee medical professionals in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
Decisions on the number of trainee medical professionals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. While the Government currently has no plans to increase the cap on medical school places in England, we continue to keep this under review.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will list the 40 new hospitals they have promised to build; how much building work has been completed on each new hospital; and when they expect each new hospital to admit its first patients.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Government has committed to build 40 new hospitals by 2030, in addition to eight previously announced schemes.
The schemes are grouped into five cohorts for delivery by 2030, based on an assessment of readiness to progress and the extent to which schemes can realise the benefits of the national programme. This assessment is subject to continuous review and the timescales for individual schemes may change. A list of schemes and cohorts is attached, due to the size of the data. This includes where schemes are in construction and projected opening dates where this information is held centrally. There are eight schemes in cohort five, which refers to schemes yet to be confirmed and currently subject to an ongoing selection process.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are stockpiling COVID-19 tests in advance of any new variant becoming prevalent; and if so, whether they will be in a position to reinstate free tests for the public in such circumstances.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Government has retained the ability to reinstate widespread COVID-19 testing in the event of a new, serious variant. This includes a stock of lateral flow device tests and increasing testing capacity in laboratories and delivery channels. A decision on how these contingency arrangements would be used and who would be provided with free tests, would be made in view of the circumstances and the risks posed by the variant.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that people who have family members with terminal illness will be eligible for free lateral flow tests after 1 April.
Answered by Lord Kamall
From 1 April 2022, free universal access to lateral flow device tests for the public in England will end. We will continue to make testing available for a small number of at risk groups. Further details on eligible groups will be made available in due course.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether those individuals classed as high risk will still be able to obtain free lateral flow tests from 1 April; and if so, who will be considered high risk.
Answered by Lord Kamall
From 1 April 2022, free universal access to lateral flow device tests for the public in England will end. We will continue to make testing available for a small number of at risk groups. Further details on eligible groups will be made available in due course.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they had with the governments of the devolved nations regarding the decisions to end COVID-19 restrictions in England.
Answered by Lord Kamall
There are ongoing discussions across multiple Government departments and the devolved administrations.