Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a day case unit in Hinckley.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
NHS England works with local systems to prioritise bids for future community diagnostic centre (CDC) sites and assesses business cases. The locations of further CDCs will be announced in due course, with completion dates dependent on the nature of each project. The Department and NHS England continue to develop plans to increase the number of CDCs to 160 by March 2025.
Local health system planners are responsible for determining local health infrastructure in collaboration with NHS England. From 2022/23 to 2024/25, £12 billion of operational capital will be provided to the National Health Service. NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board will consider how this funding is allocated in the local area, including any assessment of the merits of a day case unit at Hinckley.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a community diagnostics centre in Hinckley.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
NHS England works with local systems to prioritise bids for future community diagnostic centre (CDC) sites and assesses business cases. The locations of further CDCs will be announced in due course, with completion dates dependent on the nature of each project. The Department and NHS England continue to develop plans to increase the number of CDCs to 160 by March 2025.
Local health system planners are responsible for determining local health infrastructure in collaboration with NHS England. From 2022/23 to 2024/25, £12 billion of operational capital will be provided to the National Health Service. NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board will consider how this funding is allocated in the local area, including any assessment of the merits of a day case unit at Hinckley.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 assessment of the effectiveness of joint working between the (a) Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, (b) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, (c) NHS England and (d) NHS Improvement in the context of supporting access for patients to products licenced through Project Orbis.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We routinely work with system partners to assess the effectiveness of processes to support access to new medicines for National Health Service patients. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England ensure there is an integrated approach to enable access to new medicines, including those licensed through Project Orbis. NICE commits to publishing draft recommendations on new medicines approximately at the time of licensing, with final guidance within three months of licensing wherever possible. NHS England and NICE have also agreed principles to allow potential interim access ahead of NICE’s guidance where timely guidance is not possible, which has supported early access for a number of medicines licensed through Project Orbis.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 ensure that immunosuppressed individuals who test positive for covid-19 are able to urgently access monoclonal antibody and antiviral treatments in (a) Leicestershire and (b) England.
Answered by Maggie Throup
In all regions in England, including Leicestershire, eligible patients who test positive for COVID-19 will be contacted by a clinician from a COVID Medicines Delivery Unit (CMDU) to discuss treatment suitability. The clinician will be responsible for assessing the patient and deciding which treatment option is most appropriate for them and their existing condition/s.
If a CMDU clinician has not contacted the patient within 24 hours, they can seek further advice and information from their general practitioner (GP), hospital specialist or NHS 111 and arrange an urgent referral to a CMDU for assessment, where appropriate. Guidance has been provided to GPs, NHS 111 and hospital doctors to ensure information is available to support patients.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 increase (a) research into and (b) awareness of migraines and migraine prevention.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR spent £40.3 million on neurological research in 2020/21, which includes research on migraines. While it is not usual practice to ring-fence funding for particular topics or conditions, the NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including migraines.
Guidance is available to patients, health care professionals and commissioners on the diagnosis, prevention and management of migraines. This includes guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the RightCare Headache and Migraines Toolkit. The RightCare toolkit should be used by local clinical commissioning groups to ensure that patients are supported effectively. In addition, the National Neurosciences Advisory Group is currently revising its headache and facial pain optimal clinical pathway.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 (a) monitor and (b) tackle potential market distortions in the sale of covid-19 lateral flow tests.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Government is engaging with retailers to support the development of a strong private market for testing. Further information will be made available in due course. We will ensure that private lateral flow device (LFD) testing is appropriately regulated in line with comparable products. Manufacturers and retailers of devices will have autonomy to set pricing for sales of LFDs. It is in the interest of the manufacturers and retailers to set affordable prices so that a private market exists and flourishes.