Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
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 the (a) equitable and (b) transparent distribution of the covid-19 vaccine throughout the East of England.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
To ensure equitable and transparent distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, the National Health Service have an allocations committee that reviews and monitors distribution. Allocations to all regions in England, including the East of England, are made on a population proportionate basis factoring in the priority cohorts identified by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
Each Primary Care Network site, including those in the East of England, receives their own supply and work has been carried out with local clinical commissioning groups to ensure that vaccine supply aligns with the number of registered patients in the priority cohort groups.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when a vaccine for covid-19 will be available to high priority patients in (a) Bedford and (b) Kempston.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The phased vaccination programme commenced on 8 December 2020. The NHS has now offered the COVID-19 vaccine to everyone in the top four priority cohorts which includes people aged 70 years old and over, care home residents and staff, health and care staff and clinically extremely vulnerable patients.
From 15 February 2021, we have been inviting people aged 65 to 69 years old and those who are defined as clinically vulnerable and are therefore thought to be at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19 to book their vaccination. The target to reach all those in priority cohorts five to nine is 15 April 2021.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, following the publication in December 2020 of the MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Mortality Surveillance Report for births in 2018, which showed that since 2016 the rate of neonatal deaths for twins had increased and the gap between the stillbirth rate for multiples compared to singletons had widened, what steps he is taking to tackle that inequality.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We are on track to surpass the 2020 ambition for a 20% reduction in the stillbirth rate and the neonatal mortality rate for babies born after 24 weeks gestation.
Through the Maternity Safety Strategy, we are working to understand the causes of stillbirths and neonatal deaths to prevent avoidable deaths.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the preparation and roll-out of a covid-19 mental health recovery strategy for children and young people.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
On 23 November 2020, we published our Wellbeing and Mental Health Support Plan for COVID-19, which set out the support available for individuals, including children and young people. The Government will publish an action plan setting out further measures to respond to and mitigate the impacts on mental health of COVID-19 across the population, including children and young people, in due course.
We have announced that in 2021/22 the National Health Service will receive around an additional £500 million, to address waiting times for mental health services, give more people the mental health support they need and invest in the NHS workforce.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
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 potential merits of including unpaid carers on the priority list for the covid-19 vaccination in England.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine/s the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. The JCVI has advised that the vaccine should be given to care home residents and staff, followed by people over 80 years old and health and social care workers.
We recognise the vital role unpaid carers play in caring for vulnerable individuals. JCVI recommends that carers who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill, should also be offered vaccination alongside people with underlying health conditions.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children have had to wait six months or more for a CAMHS appointment in Bedford and Kempston in the most recent period for which that information is available; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The information is not collected in the format requested. A national access and waiting times standard for child and adolescent mental health services has not yet been defined.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will prioritise Bedford and Kempston residents for local access to the second tranche of covid-19 vaccination; and what his timetable is for the roll-out of the vaccination for for the highest priority patients.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The National Health Service is working to ensure a COVID-19 vaccine is available to clinically prioritised groups as soon as possible. Over 200 Primary Care Network-led sites started vaccinating patients this week in England. Over the coming weeks and months, the rate of vaccinations will increase as more doses become available and the programme continues to expand.
For the first phase, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors. Included in this are those with underlying health conditions, which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality. It will likely take until at least spring until all high-risk groups, estimated at over 25 million people in England, have been offered a COVID-19 vaccine.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Public Health England's guidance entitled, Personal protective equipment (PPE) – resource for care workers working in care homes during sustained COVID-19 transmission in England, for what reasons the advice was changed from wearing vinyl gloves to wearing nitrile, neoprene or latex when providing personal care and when exposure to body fluids or blood is likely; and what evidence base was used to inform that updated guidance.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Public Health England (PHE) guidance on personal protective equipment (PPE) was amended to state that vinyl gloves should not be worn if it is anticipated that there will be contact with bodily fluids or blood. This was informed by Health Protection Scotland’s Standard Infection Control Precautions Literature Review on PPE. We recognise that as this review was undertaken in clinical settings, the findings are not wholly applicable to adult social care settings. We are working closely with PHE and adult social care providers to amend and clarify the guidance.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the covid-19 testing facility located at Borough Hall in Bedford will reduce from seven to four days a week during a period in which the infection rate in the borough is increasing.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Demand for testing is increasing and as such some test sites will have reductions of testing capacity, so we can keep maximum capacity in highest risk areas. Allocation decisions are frequently and systematically reviewed to ensure we are using our testing where it can be most effective. We are working to develop more sophisticated approaches, based on the latest evidence to manage the prioritisation process to ensure that we are able to provide appropriate testing for both outbreak management and surveillance purposes.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the covid-19 testing facility located at Borough Hall in Bedford is reducing its service provision from seven to four days a week.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Demand for testing is increasing and as such some test sites will have reductions of testing capacity, so we can keep maximum capacity in highest risk areas. Allocation decisions are frequently and systematically reviewed to ensure we are using our testing where it can be most effective. We are working to develop more sophisticated approaches, based on the latest evidence to manage the prioritisation process to ensure that we are able to provide appropriate testing for both outbreak management and surveillance purposes.