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Written Question
General Practitioners: Hackney South and Shoreditch
Tuesday 25th October 2022

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices were open in Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency on (a) 20 October 2022 and (b) in 2013.

Answered by Will Quince

In September 2013, there were 20 practices registered in Hackney South and Shoreditch, with 18 practices registered in October 2022.

Practices close for a variety of reasons, including practice mergers or retirement. A reduction in practice numbers does not indicate a reduction in the quality of care. When a practice closes, patients are informed and advised to register at another local practice of their choice. Practices and commissioners must put in place appropriate measures to ensure that affected patients have access to general practitioner services.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Disease Control
Monday 21st September 2020

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will publish the daily recovery rates for confirmed covid-19 cases.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

This information is not available in the format requested.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Protective Clothing
Wednesday 10th June 2020

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the process by which Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits for Personal Protective Equipment are set in his Department.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Department is not aware of the Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit being referred to.

At the Budget on 11 March 2020 the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, “… whatever extra resources our NHS needs to cope with coronavirus – it will get.”

On 13 April, the Chancellor announced COVID-19 funding of £14.5 billion, of which £6.6 billion related to health services.

To date, the Department has been allocated COVID-19 revenue funding of £3,373 million and capital funding of £40 million in the Main Supply Estimate. Due to the timing of Main Estimates, it was agreed that further budget cover would be provided at Supplementary Estimates. The Government continues to support the National Health Service to access the resources it needs to tackle COVID-19.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Protective Clothing
Wednesday 10th June 2020

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits were for Personal Protective Equipment set by his Department on 25 March 2020.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Department is not aware of the Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit being referred to.

At the Budget on 11 March 2020 the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, “… whatever extra resources our NHS needs to cope with coronavirus – it will get.”

On 13 April, the Chancellor announced COVID-19 funding of £14.5 billion, of which £6.6 billion related to health services.

To date, the Department has been allocated COVID-19 revenue funding of £3,373 million and capital funding of £40 million in the Main Supply Estimate. Due to the timing of Main Estimates, it was agreed that further budget cover would be provided at Supplementary Estimates. The Government continues to support the National Health Service to access the resources it needs to tackle COVID-19.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Protective Clothing
Wednesday 10th June 2020

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the (a) evidence and (b) modelling that indicated that the Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit for Personal Protective Equipment set on 25 March 2020 was sufficient for his Department’s needs.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Department is not aware of the Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit being referred to.

At the Budget on 11 March 2020 the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, “… whatever extra resources our NHS needs to cope with coronavirus – it will get.”

On 13 April, the Chancellor announced COVID-19 funding of £14.5 billion, of which £6.6 billion related to health services.

To date, the Department has been allocated COVID-19 revenue funding of £3,373 million and capital funding of £40 million in the Main Supply Estimate. Due to the timing of Main Estimates, it was agreed that further budget cover would be provided at Supplementary Estimates. The Government continues to support the National Health Service to access the resources it needs to tackle COVID-19.


Written Question
Protective Clothing: EU Action
Wednesday 20th May 2020

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he was first made aware of EU's personal protective equipment procurement scheme.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Owing to an initial communication problem, the United Kingdom did not receive an invitation in time to take part in the European Union Joint Procurement schemes for personal protective equipment launched to date, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, no briefing was provided to the Secretary of State on these schemes prior to them being launched.

The Secretary of State has subsequently been briefed on the issues related to EU Joint Procurement and now receives regular updates and advice on current and possible current future EU schemes.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Intensive Care
Thursday 14th May 2020

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he was notified that the number of critical care beds would be inadequate to deal with the predicted number of cases of covid-19.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Secretary of State held a series of meetings in February and March to review critical care bed capacity within the National Health Service (NHS) and COVID-19 case number projections provided by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.

There is currently enough capacity in the critical care network to look after all coronavirus patients and others who need care, and this is being kept under constant review. The NHS is continuing to build on that capacity, which has included building new Nightingale Hospitals and agreeing a landmark deal with the independent sector to alleviate pressure on Intensive Care Unit departments when and where needed.


Written Question
Ventilators: Business
Monday 11th May 2020

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Answer of 21 April 2020 to Question 34931 on Medical equipment: business, whether (a) his Department and (b) NHS England approached businesses to produce additional ventilators for the NHS between 1 December 2019 and 13 March 2020.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in March there were more than 8,000 mechanical ventilators in hospitals across the United Kingdom. These were mainly procured by National Health Service trusts through NHS Supply Chain which manages a framework contract with a number of manufacturers for the supply of mechanical ventilators into the NHS.

In March the decision was taken to move to a centralised model of procurement for the whole of the UK. All suppliers of non-invasive and invasive (mechanical) ventilators on the NHS Supply Chain framework were approached between 3 and 10 March, with a view to purchase any available ventilators. So far over 1,000 mechanical ventilators have been procured and made available to the NHS in the UK through this route, with thousands more on order and due to arrive in coming weeks.

These are in addition to ventilators made available from the private sector and those manufactured under the PM’s Ventilator Challenge programme. Including these, the NHS in the UK now has around 10,900 mechanical ventilators available for it to use in total.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Intensive Care
Tuesday 21st April 2020

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of whether there was any scenario used in routine pandemic planning where the number of critical beds would meet increased demand.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Planning for pandemics, like all civil emergencies, is based on a Reasonable Worst-Case Scenario (RWCS). The UK Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy 2011 sets out a United Kingdom-wide strategic approach to planning for and responding to the demands of a future RWCS scale influenza pandemic within which 50% of the population become ill.

The 2011 Strategy recognises that, without mitigation, critical care capacity might be insufficient in some scenarios. Influenza pandemic preparedness is therefore based on a ‘defence in depth’ strategy to minimise spread of infection and treat individual cases. In addition to plans to surge National Health Service provision, including critical care, this includes measures to reduce the demand on those NHS services by reducing the risk of transmission and minimising serious illness.


Written Question
Ventilators: Business
Tuesday 21st April 2020

Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what dates his Department approached businesses to produce more ventilators for the NHS between 1 December 2019 and 24 March 2020.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Work preparing the National Health Service has been ongoing and we have already doubled ventilator capacity. New and existing suppliers are being asked to build as many as they can. The Prime Minister has issued a call to United Kingdom industry to produce additional ventilators and the Department asked appropriate potential manufacturers on Friday 13 March to come forward with proposals for ramping up the production of existing designs or new ventilation machines.

Nearly 4,000 companies have responded and around a dozen potential prototypes have now been presented to the Department which we are currently pursuing.