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 percentage of the UK’s supply of insulin is manufactured in the UK.
Answered by Lord Bethell
All medicines require a licence approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. This includes information about the sites where the medicine may be manufactured and where components may be sourced. There may be multiple sites associated with each licence, which is gives manufacturers resilience in their supply chains, but means that it is not possible for the Department to determine accurately the proportion of medicines manufactured in any one country at any particular time. In addition, any information of this nature that suppliers do share with the Department is commercially confidential.
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 review the number of people who can meet indoors ahead of the Christmas period.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are taking early action, at the beginning of autumn and as infections are starting to rise. By taking this action now we hope we can control the virus so as we get into winter, we will not have to take more drastic action.
Christmas is three months away and we keep all aspects of our response to COVID-19 under review and responsive to the changing number and composition of cases in the country.
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 sufficient personal protective equipment is available for purchase by the general public.
Answered by Lord Bethell
To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet PPE - note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library.
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 steps they are taking to reduce the number of diabetic patients whose eyesight may be damaged due to delayed care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England and NHS Improvement have put extra measures in place during the COVID-19 pandemic so that people living with diabetes can continue to receive care. Diabetic Eye Screening (DES) services have not been paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the availability of screening facilities, and in some cases the need to redeploy staff, has led to rescheduling of DES appointments.
DES providers are now working to restore full screening services, prioritising those most at risk of sight loss, followed by those who attended their last screening invitation and for whom there were no signs of eye damage.
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 assessment they have made of the Noctura 400 Sleep Mask as a treatment for diabetic retinopathy patients.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published a Medtech Innovation Briefing (MIB) on the Noctura 400 Sleep Mask for diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular oedema in April 2018 [reference number MIB144]. MIBs provide information to National Health Service and care commissioners and staff who are considering using new medical devices and other medical or diagnostic technologies.
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 how much personal protection equipment the NHS has (1) received, and (2) purchased, from other countries.
Answered by Lord Bethell
In March 2020 a new, dedicated unit was set up to focus on securing supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE). This unit identified PPE suppliers from across the globe to meet the increasing demand for a growing list of PPE products. We have now contracted with over 150 suppliers able to deliver at the scale and pace the United Kingdom requires.
The central database system for these new PPE contracts, implemented by Cabinet Office colleagues, does not identify non-UK suppliers by individual country; and many of the UK-based suppliers also import supplies from other countries for which the information is not held centrally. It is therefore not possible to supply complete information on how much PPE has been received or purchased from non-UK countries. Procurement Regulations require the publication of Contract Award Notices in the Official Journal of the European Union and certain information will be published on Contracts Finder about the contracts awarded.
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 how they will ensure that there is sufficient insulin available when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January and is now in a Transition Period until 31 December 2020. During this time, it remains our objective to negotiate a future relationship with the EU and in our respective published negotiating documents, we have both stated objectives to reach an agreement on trade in goods. The UK’s published approach sets out how we want to facilitate trade in medicinal products and support high levels of patient safety.
The Government, pharmaceutical industry and National Health Service will always work closely together to help ensure patients continue to have access, to the medicines and treatments they need, including insulin, under all scenarios.
The Department has well-established procedures to deal with medicine shortages and is working closely with industry, the NHS and others in the supply chain to reduce the likelihood of future shortages resulting from any cause.
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 assessment they have made about whether any drugs or medicines will be in short supply after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January and is now in a Transition Period until 31 December 2020. During this time, it remains our objective to negotiate a future relationship with the EU and in our respective published negotiating documents, we have both stated objectives to reach an agreement on trade in goods. The UK’s published approach sets out how we want to facilitate trade in medicinal products and support high levels of patient safety.
The Government, pharmaceutical industry and National Health Service will always work closely together to help ensure patients continue to have access, to the medicines and treatments they need, including insulin, under all scenarios.
The Department has well-established procedures to deal with medicine shortages and is working closely with industry, the NHS and others in the supply chain to reduce the likelihood of future shortages resulting from any cause.
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 diagnosed diabetics in the UK will have sufficient medication to prevent diabetic ketoacidosis, in the event that the UK leaves the transition period without a trade agreement with the EU on 31 December.
Answered by Lord Bethell
As part of our concerted national efforts, we will continue doing everything we can to ensure patients continue to access safe and effective medicines in all scenarios.
It remains the Government’s objective to negotiate a future relationship with the European Union before the end of the Transition Period and to make sure that patients reap the rewards. Both the United Kingdom and EU, in their published negotiating documents, have stated objectives to reach an agreement on trade in goods. The UK’s published approach sets out how we want to facilitate trade in medicinal products such as diabetic medicines and medical radioisotopes and support high levels of patient safety.
The Department will continue to work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, the National Health Service and others in the supply chain to help ensure patients can access the medicines they need, and precautions are in place to reduce the likelihood of future shortages.
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 there will be no delay (1) to the supply of radiopharmaceuticals, and (2) to the treatment of patients with serious conditions, in the event that the UK leaves the transition period without a trade agreement with the EU on 31 December.
Answered by Lord Bethell
As part of our concerted national efforts, we will continue doing everything we can to ensure patients continue to access safe and effective medicines in all scenarios.
It remains the Government’s objective to negotiate a future relationship with the European Union before the end of the Transition Period and to make sure that patients reap the rewards. Both the United Kingdom and EU, in their published negotiating documents, have stated objectives to reach an agreement on trade in goods. The UK’s published approach sets out how we want to facilitate trade in medicinal products such as diabetic medicines and medical radioisotopes and support high levels of patient safety.
The Department will continue to work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, the National Health Service and others in the supply chain to help ensure patients can access the medicines they need, and precautions are in place to reduce the likelihood of future shortages.