Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) undertaken an assessment of the scientific evidence in relation to the effect of lower levels of vitamin D on susceptibility to infection with covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England (PHE) commissioned the Scientific Advisory Commission on Nutrition (SACN) to examine new evidence on whether vitamin D supplementation could reduce the risk of Acute Respiratory Tract Infections (ARTIs). SACN’s review concluded that evidence currently does not support vitamin D supplementation to prevent ARTIs in the general United Kingdom population. The review reiterates the importance of vitamin D for bone and muscle health. This can be accessed at the following link:
https://app.box.com/s/g0ldpth1upfd7fw763ew3aqa3c0pyvky
PHE supported National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to review emerging evidence on vitamin D and the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. NICE’s review concluded that there is currently no evidence to support taking vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk or severity of COVID-19. This can be accessed at the following link:
www.nice.org.uk/advice/es28/evidence/evidence-review-pdf-8777674477
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if the Government will publish the reasons for the higher number of deaths from covid-19 among BAME people; and what steps she plans to take to reduce that higher number of deaths.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
On 4 June the Government announced the next steps to address the disparities identified in the Public Health England (PHE) Report. As Minister for Equalities, I will be working with the Race Disparity Unit (RDU) and the Department for Health and Social Care to further understand the drivers of disparities. This includes commissioning further data, research and analytical work by the Equality Hub to clarify the scale, and drivers, of the gaps in evidence highlighted by the Report. This vital work will help the government take appropriate evidence-based action to address the disparities.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of minimum unit pricing of alcohol on social inequalities related to alcohol misuse.
Answered by Steve Brine
Public Health England published an evidence review on the public health impact of alcohol and the effectiveness of policies for reducing alcohol-related harm in December 2016. The review concluded that reducing the affordability of alcohol is the most effective way of reducing alcohol harm and targeted pricing measures are particularly effective at reducing harm in those groups most at risk. The review also found that targeting price increases at the cheapest alcohol is very effective and cost-effective and is able to substantially reduce harm in heavy drinkers without affecting moderate drinkers or the price of alcohol sold in pubs and bars. Modelling studies by the University of Sheffield on the impact of minimum unit price was shown to have a positive impact in closing the health inequalities gap between those in the highest and those in the lowest socioeconomic groups. These studies are available at:
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.661445!/file/Final_mup_iba_report.pdf
Minimum unit pricing and its effects will continue to remain under review pending the impact of its implementation in Scotland.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of minimum unit pricing of alcohol on heavy drinkers from low income groups.
Answered by Steve Brine
Public Health England published an evidence review on the public health impact of alcohol and the effectiveness of policies for reducing alcohol-related harm in December 2016. The review concluded that reducing the affordability of alcohol is the most effective way of reducing alcohol harm and targeted pricing measures are particularly effective at reducing harm in those groups most at risk. The review also found that targeting price increases at the cheapest alcohol is very effective and cost-effective and is able to substantially reduce harm in heavy drinkers without affecting moderate drinkers or the price of alcohol sold in pubs and bars. Modelling studies by the University of Sheffield on the impact of minimum unit price was shown to have a positive impact in closing the health inequalities gap between those in the highest and those in the lowest socioeconomic groups. These studies are available at:
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.661445!/file/Final_mup_iba_report.pdf
Minimum unit pricing and its effects will continue to remain under review pending the impact of its implementation in Scotland.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will increase the value of the children's hospice grant in England.
Answered by David Mowat
NHS England is continuing to prioritise the Children’s Hospice Grant at the current level. NHS England has been engaging with children’s hospices through Together for Short Lives prior to a consultation on the allocation method for the 2017/18 grant.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost was of emergency admissions for bladder and bowel problems amongst children and young people aged 19 and under in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Health is a devolved matter in Scotland, and the information is not available in the format requested for England.
Such information as is available is from reference costs, which are the average unit cost to National Health Service hospital trusts in England of providing defined services to patients in a given financial year. Reference costs for acute care are collected by healthcare resource group (HRG), a secondary classification system which groups similar treatments that use similar resources and which is organised into chapters and sub-chapters that cover different body areas or systems. Chapter FZ covers the digestive system and includes, but is not limited to, HRGs for bowel problems. Sub-chapter LB covers the urinary tract and male reproductive system and includes, but is not limited to, bladder disorders. Many, but not all, HRGs make use of patient age to differentiate between children and adults. In addition to being collected by HRG, reference costs for acute care are also collected by admission method, including non-elective admissions. Non-elective admissions predominantly comprise of emergency admissions but also other admission methods as defined by the NHS data dictionary at:
http://www.datadictionary.nhs.uk/data_dictionary/attributes/a/add/admission_method_de.asp?shownav=1
Reference costs are published annually, most recently for 2014-15. The national reference cost schedule summarises all the costs submitted by NHS hospital trusts as national average unit costs. The following links are to each schedule for the last five years:
NHS reference costs: financial year 2011 to 2012 - Publications - GOV.UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/215298/dh_131145.xls
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of inappropriate referrals to hospital settings for bladder and bowel problems in children and young people aged 19 and under.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Whenever possible, children and young people with bladder and bowel problems should be able to access community based assessment and treatment services.
In November 2015, NHS England published the Commissioning Framework for Continence Services Excellence in Continence Care which covers children and adults and outlines a pathway including assessment, diagnosis and treatment to recovery where possible. The framework sets out a number of principles for a good design of service including integration across primary, secondary and tertiary services, health, education and social care.
The framework references the Paediatric Continence Commissioning Guide (Paediatric Continence Forum, September 2014) which provides a specification for paediatric continence services and in particular community based services.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people who died by suicide were social security claimants in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The data requested is not collected centrally.