Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people on home dialysis who do not receive reimbursement of the energy costs of that dialysis; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that number on the ability of his Department to shift care from hospital to community.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Increasing access to home therapies is a priority for NHS England, and this is reflected in its inclusion in the Renal Transformation toolkit that was published in 2023, which recommends that 20% of all patients on kidney replacement treatment should receive treatment at home.
Commissioned renal clinical networks across England have included improving access to home therapies in their work plans as per the recommendations within the toolkit. NHS England’s national team supports renal clinical networks with the implementation of home dialysis transformation.
Commissioned renal providers in England have a contractual obligation to reimburse the additional utility costs for patients who receive home haemodialysis therapy, as stipulated within the Haemodialysis to treat established renal failure performed in a patients home national service specification and the Paediatric medicine renal service specification. Reimbursement costs are managed directly between providers and patients, and therefore there is no central record of how many patients seek reimbursement. Further information on the Paediatric medicine renal service specification is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/paediatric-medicine-renal-service-specification/
Renal clinical networks are working towards increasing home dialysis rates in line with the Renal Service Transformation Programme toolkit recommendations.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ensure a minimum of 20% of dialysis patients in renal centres receive home dialysis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Increasing access to home therapies is a priority for NHS England, and this is reflected in its inclusion in the Renal Transformation toolkit that was published in 2023, which recommends that 20% of all patients on kidney replacement treatment should receive treatment at home.
Commissioned renal clinical networks across England have included improving access to home therapies in their work plans as per the recommendations within the toolkit. NHS England’s national team supports renal clinical networks with the implementation of home dialysis transformation.
Commissioned renal providers in England have a contractual obligation to reimburse the additional utility costs for patients who receive home haemodialysis therapy, as stipulated within the Haemodialysis to treat established renal failure performed in a patients home national service specification and the Paediatric medicine renal service specification. Reimbursement costs are managed directly between providers and patients, and therefore there is no central record of how many patients seek reimbursement. Further information on the Paediatric medicine renal service specification is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/paediatric-medicine-renal-service-specification/
Renal clinical networks are working towards increasing home dialysis rates in line with the Renal Service Transformation Programme toolkit recommendations.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 increase the number of patients receiving dialysis at home.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Increasing access to home therapies is a priority for NHS England, and this is reflected in its inclusion in the Renal Transformation toolkit that was published in 2023, which recommends that 20% of all patients on kidney replacement treatment should receive treatment at home.
Commissioned renal clinical networks across England have included improving access to home therapies in their work plans as per the recommendations within the toolkit. NHS England’s national team supports renal clinical networks with the implementation of home dialysis transformation.
Commissioned renal providers in England have a contractual obligation to reimburse the additional utility costs for patients who receive home haemodialysis therapy, as stipulated within the Haemodialysis to treat established renal failure performed in a patients home national service specification and the Paediatric medicine renal service specification. Reimbursement costs are managed directly between providers and patients, and therefore there is no central record of how many patients seek reimbursement. Further information on the Paediatric medicine renal service specification is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/paediatric-medicine-renal-service-specification/
Renal clinical networks are working towards increasing home dialysis rates in line with the Renal Service Transformation Programme toolkit recommendations.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with his (a) Egyptian and (b) Israeli counterparts about the expedition of exit permits for Gazans seeking urgent medical evacuations.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We engage routinely on the importance of addressing health needs within Gaza. An immediate ceasefire is just the first step towards a lasting solution to this crisis. The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains catastrophic, with many in need of urgent medical assistance. Israel should ensure that there is a sustained passage for patients who need treatment not available in Gaza, by reopening routes and increasing the approval rate for medical evacuations.
We have announced £1 million for the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population, delivered through the World Health Organization Egypt, to support medically evacuated Palestinians from Gaza. The UK is also supporting the provision of essential healthcare to civilians in Gaza, including support to UK-MED for operating their field hospitals.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Iraqi counterpart on the case of Elizabeth Tsurkov.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains concerned over the kidnapping of Israeli-Russian dual national Elizabeth Tsurkov. The Government of Iraq's investigation into her kidnapping is ongoing. Those suspected of criminal responsibility of her kidnapping should be brought to justice in fair trials. The Government has not had any discussion with the Government of Iraq regarding the kidnapping.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help secure the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains concerned over the kidnapping of Israeli-Russian dual national Elizabeth Tsurkov. The Government of Iraq's investigation into her kidnapping is ongoing, and we await the findings. Those suspected of criminal responsibility of her kidnapping should be brought to justice in fair trials. The Government has not had any discussion with the Government of Iraq regarding the kidnapping.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to (a) humanitarian organisations and (b) his Israeli counterpart on the expedition of Habiba Al Askari's medical evacuation from Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The case of Habiba Al Askari is tragic and underlines why we need to see more medical evacuation routes open during the first phase of the ceasefire. While we have not discussed this individual case with Israel, we engage routinely on the importance of addressing health needs within Gaza and enabling medical evacuations for all patients needing medical care not available in Gaza.
The UK has announced £1 million for the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population, delivered through World Health Organization Egypt, to support medically evacuated Palestinians from Gaza. The UK is also supporting provision of essential healthcare to Palestinians including funding UK-Med to operate field hospitals in Gaza, where they have established an operating theatre and an emergency department for urgent care.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made a comparative assessment of the potential impact of (a) E5 and (b) E10 fuel on (i) fuel consumption and (ii) emissions.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The legislation which introduced E10 across Britain in September 2021 is the Motor Fuel (Composition and Content) and the Biofuel (Labelling) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021.
The impact assessment accompanying these regulations estimates that moving from E5 to E10 will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 .8%, saving around 750,000 tonnes of CO2 per year from petrol vehicles. Ethanol contains less energy than fossil petrol and so increasing the ethanol content of petrol increases fuel consumption. The impact assessment estimates E10 will decrease the energy content of petrol by 1.7% compared to E5 and assumes fuel consumption will increase by that amount.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made for the potential implications for her Department's policies of the report entitled Move to Universal Credit Non-claimants (formerly tax credits customers) Research, published on 17 December 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our research with former tax credit customers who did not claim UC found that the majority of respondents did not intend to claim UC in the future and customers were generally making an informed decision. The report did identify potential barriers for some groups claiming UC. DWP sets out the range of support available for making a claim to Universal Credit within the Migration Notice, including independent support through Help to Claim. This support is also available online and has been highlighted through our extensive media campaign. Our published official statistics show that those receiving a DWP legacy benefit or Housing Benefit are claiming at a higher percentage, in line with Discovery claim rates.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2024 to Question 20962 on NHS: Staff, whether the engagement on the NHS workforce plan will include (a) a formal consultation separate to that on the 10 year health plan and (b) health charities as a key stakeholder group.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan will deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and ensure patients get the treatment they need, when and where they need it.
No formal statutory public consultation is planned. In the development of the plan, we will engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including health charities and trade unions, to ensure needs of staff and patients are considered.