Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Maria Caulfield and Carolyn Harris

Tuesday 11th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Maria Caulfield]

I absolutely pay tribute to Tom and to his father. I reassure him that we have many campaigners. Only last week, we received the baton of hope at No. 10 from those campaigning to reduce the number of suicides in this country. We are working on the suicide prevention plan and hope to be able to publish it very soon.

[Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab)]

14. What steps he is taking to tackle shortages in hormone replacement therapy.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)]

We continue to engage regularly with our suppliers to prevent and mitigate supply issues in the short term. We have over 70 HRT products. The vast majority are available. We have two that have serious shortage protocols attached to them, but we are hoping to improve supply on those very soon.

[Carolyn Harris]

Although shortages of Utrogestan are ongoing, there is no alternative progesterone product recommended on the serious shortage protocol. Taking oestrogen without progesterone can be dangerous. Provera is a synthetic progesterone alternative to Utrogestan, but it is not included on the HRT prepayment certificate. Will the Minister commit to placing Provera on the list of products covered by the prepayment certificate as a priority and issue a public health warning highlighting the risks of taking oestrogen without progesterone?

[Maria Caulfield]

We are in the process of issuing another bulletin to both GPs and pharmacists on the serious shortage protocols and to make clear the alternatives available. That is a clinical decision. I will certainly look at the issue of Provera because medicines have to tick off a number of criteria to be eligible for the prepayment certificate. I will certainly look into that particular drug on the hon. Lady’s behalf.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Maria Caulfield and Carolyn Harris

Wednesday 25th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab)]

T2. [R] Despite the 11th-hour response to my letter about the hormone replacement therapy repayment certificates, which arrived in my inbox just an hour ago, there still appears to be some ambiguity about what the certificate will cover. In her letter, the Minister says that changes to the drug tariff are being finalised to add “eligible items”, with no indication whether that will cover all HRT products. For the benefit of women across the country and as a matter of urgency, can the Minister please provide a comprehensive list of eligible products?

[The Minister for Women (Maria Caulfield)]

I thank the hon. Lady for her work in this space. I responded to her letter last week as quickly as possible and I am glad she has received the response. I just want to confirm that from April the HRT prepayment certificate will be available to women—at £18.70 for a whole year—saving women hundreds of pounds on HRT prescriptions every year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Maria Caulfield and Carolyn Harris

Tuesday 1st November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab)]

10. When he plans to respond to the all-party parliamentary group on menopause’s report on the impact of menopause.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)]

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for all her work on issues around the menopause and to all those on the all-party group on menopause for their work. I have read her report and the 13 recommendations. The Government are already working on many of those, from the cost of hormone replacement therapy through to supporting women in the workplace.

[Carolyn Harris]

The lack of information about symptoms is a recognised barrier to diagnosis. As a result, only 14% of the 13 million menopausal women in the UK have a diagnosis and are accessing treatment. More resource, training and awareness are urgently needed. Will the Government listen to the APPG’s recommendations and commit to a menopause-specific health check for all women?

[Maria Caulfield]

The hon. Lady is right about the lack of awareness. Awareness is increasing through her campaign and the campaigns of many others. That is why we are seeing a significant rise in the number of women being prescribed HRT, but there is more work to be done. I am looking through the 13 recommendations from her report, and I am very happy, when we meet regularly, to discuss that further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Maria Caulfield and Carolyn Harris

Wednesday 8th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab)]

10. What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on access to support and treatment for menopausal women in the prison estate.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)]

I can reassure the hon. Lady that Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service is working with NHS England to improve the treatment and support available to women in the prison service, including menopausal women, as part of the national women’s prison health and social care review.

[Carolyn Harris]

The latest figures show that 39% of female prisoners are over 40, and a further 38% are aged between 30 and 39. Many of them will either be menopausal or perimenopausal already, or reach that stage during their sentence. As we know that menopause can have a significant impact on physical and mental health, including influencing behaviours, does the Minister agree that a menopause strategy within Her Majesty’s prisons would be both productive and beneficial?

[Maria Caulfield]

I thank the co-chair of the menopause taskforce. We discussed this in our taskforce meeting yesterday, and we have agreed to invite Ministers from the Justice team to work on this issue. The Secretary of State for Justice is sitting beside me, and I am sure he has heard the hon. Lady’s words.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Maria Caulfield and Carolyn Harris

Wednesday 11th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Maria Caulfield]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question, and I am sure that we welcome the Bill. In 2019, the Department for International Development announced a global campaign of action on this very issue—to end period poverty globally by 2030. The global campaign was kick-started with an allocation of up to £2 million for the small and medium-sized charities working on period poverty in DFID’s priority countries.

[Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab)]

A recent report by Women’s Aid shows that almost half of domestic abuse survivors living in refuges do not have enough money to pay for essentials. Schools, prisons and hospitals now provide free sanitary products for women and girls, so when can we expect victims of domestic abuse living in refuges, and their daughters, to be extended the same courtesy?

[Maria Caulfield]

The hon. Lady makes an absolutely essential point. The tampon tax fund has dealt with a number of these points; it was established in 2015 to allocate funds generated from VAT on period products to protect vulnerable women and girls on this very issue.