Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that specialised training is provided to emergency services on providing emergency care to people with osteoporosis.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Health Education England (HEE) provides a range of technology enhanced programmes on osteoporosis which are available to all healthcare staff. The paramedics e-learning programme also includes specific training on osteoporosis.
HEE will be making funding available in 2022/23 to support National Health Service trusts to provide advanced and enhanced-level training to all allied health professionals, including diagnostic radiographers, to support bone density scan training. It is the responsibility of individual NHS trusts to invest in post-registration training to increase the number of staff trained to undertake DEXA scans.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department plans to provide training to NHS staff on specific care for people with osteoporosis.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Health Education England (HEE) provides a range of technology enhanced programmes on osteoporosis which are available to all healthcare staff. The paramedics e-learning programme also includes specific training on osteoporosis.
HEE will be making funding available in 2022/23 to support National Health Service trusts to provide advanced and enhanced-level training to all allied health professionals, including diagnostic radiographers, to support bone density scan training. It is the responsibility of individual NHS trusts to invest in post-registration training to increase the number of staff trained to undertake DEXA scans.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide more funding to train healthcare professionals in using Bone density scans (DEXA) for patients with osteoporosis.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Health Education England (HEE) provides a range of technology enhanced programmes on osteoporosis which are available to all healthcare staff. The paramedics e-learning programme also includes specific training on osteoporosis.
HEE will be making funding available in 2022/23 to support National Health Service trusts to provide advanced and enhanced-level training to all allied health professionals, including diagnostic radiographers, to support bone density scan training. It is the responsibility of individual NHS trusts to invest in post-registration training to increase the number of staff trained to undertake DEXA scans.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 help ensure the provision of consistent and sensitive antenatal care after baby loss for parents across the UK.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Perinatal mental health services around England are being expanded to include new mental health hubs for new, expectant or bereaved mothers. These hubs will offer physical health checks and psychological therapy in one location.
We have funded Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to develop a National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) to reduce the variation in the quality of bereavement care provided by the National Health Service for those who have experienced baby loss. The NBCP project provides the national framework, guidance and tools to support the implementation of high-quality bereavement care. Over 70% of NHS trusts in England are implementing the pathway, with the remaining trust having expressed an interest in joining the programme.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that loop-mediated isothermal amplification covid-19 tests are provided in all special needs settings.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The UK Health Security Agency trialled the use of direct loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), the most mature saliva test that is validated and available to deploy, for individuals with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in a small number of restricted pilots. It was also considered for other appropriate settings.
Results of the trials showed that this was not appropriate for national use in SEND settings. We continue to work with select SEND settings to provide LAMP testing where appropriate
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 the difficulty of undergoing covid-19 PCR testing for disabled and neurodivergent children.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has explored tests where saliva is collected through spitting into a receptacle or with a ‘lollypop’ absorbing swab, rather than from nose or throat swabbing, through a usability study in special educational needs settings. However, these types of tests were not accurate enough for our symptomatic testing requirements. The UKHSA continues to review and evaluate the usability of emerging technologies for those in vulnerable settings and populations.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 ensure that people who do not have access to technology needed to provide proof of a negative lateral flow test are not excluded from hospitality venues and other settings requiring an NHS covid pass.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Those who cannot access the digital NHS COVID Pass can display a text message or email, which can also be printed, to provide proof of COVID-19 status. Free rapid lateral flow tests are available through NHS.UK, 119 and at most pharmacies. The 119 service can also support those who require assistance with ordering, accessing and using test kits, registering their test result and for language support if English is not their first language. Once the result is registered, the person will receive a confirmation via email or by text. The confirmation will include:
- their name;
- their age or date of birth;
- the date the test sample was collected or received by the test provider;
- confirmation that the test was either a polymerase chain reaction test or a rapid lateral flow device test; and
- confirmation that the test result was negative.
This constitutes proof of COVID-19 status for accessing domestic venues and events where certification applies. It can be displayed either by showing the text or presenting a printed copy of the email. In addition, a non-digital NHS COVID Pass letter is also available demonstrating that an individual has completed a full primary course of an approved United Kingdom vaccine. However, the COVID Pass letter does not include test status.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 improve waiting times for covid-19 PCR test results.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Laboratories in the network have target turnaround times from kit registration to communicated result of 80% within 24 hours for physical test sites and 60% within 48 hours for satellite sites. Performance metrics are tracked daily and any issues are investigated to restore performance to minimum target levels as quickly as possible. To minimise waiting times, we have designed a dynamic COVID-19 laboratory network to ensure samples can be processed as effectively as possible, minimising sample waiting time through a regional allocation model to factor in travel times, laboratory capacity and testing rates.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 require school-age contacts of Omicron variant cases to self-isolate.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Individuals notified by NHS Test and Trace or a public health official that they are a close contact of someone confirmed or suspected to have the COVID-19 Omicron variant are legally required to self-isolate, regardless of their age, or vaccination status or negative test result. This change came into force on 30 November 2021.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish updated guidance on the symptoms of covid-19 experienced by people who are vaccinated.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Evidence on the symptomatology of COVID-19 is regularly reviewed and monitored. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the symptoms of COVID-19 are significantly different in a vaccinated or unvaccinated person once they become infected.
Vaccinated individuals who contract the virus can be asymptomatic or present with the same range of symptoms as those who have not received the vaccine but are less likely to be hospitalised or die.