Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will supply a decision on behalf of the Government on each of the 25 recommendations made by the select committee on Health and Social Care in its Eighth Report, Children and Young People's Mental Health, HC 17, published on 9 December 2021; and if he will make a statement on that matter at the first available opportunity.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We welcome the Committee’s report. In our response to the Health and Social Care Committee’s report, we set out where we agreed with its recommendations or where we are taking forward the recommendations in part or in full. We will be considering the recommendations in full during the development of a new long term cross-Government plan for mental health. We are launching a wide-ranging discussion paper and call for evidence to support development of the plan. The Committee’s inquiry and evidence from witnesses will be considered during this process.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what accountability and scrutiny measures are in place to ensure that private companies endorsed by the Government to carry out covid-19 PCR testing are supplying customers with tests and test results promptly.
Answered by Maggie Throup
All providers must complete a declaration stating that their testing services meet certain minimum standards. We monitor the performance, including delivery and testing services, of private providers to ensure a high quality service. This includes issues raised by the public, data submitted by the provider and reports from regulatory and oversight bodies where applicable.
Where the UK Health Security Agency becomes aware that a provider is no longer meeting the minimum standards or that its activities may be putting public safety at risk, the provider will be required to undertake remedial action. We reserve the right to remove a provider’s listing from GOV.UK in the interim whilst remedial action is being undertaken.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase funding for mental health research.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the largest funder of mental health research in the United Kingdom. In 2019-20, the NIHR spent £93.4 million on mental health research, which is a significant year on year increase in investment in mental health. While it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions, the NIHR’s funding is available through open competition and we encourage researchers to submit applications in this area.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government plans to take to help ensure that social care is affordable for people with a terminal illness and their carers.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Under the Care Act 2014, charging is based on a several principles including that people should not be charged more than it is reasonably practicable for them to pay and is based on care needs. Those care needs could include increased support for a carer or for someone with a terminal illness. A means tested financial assessment determines what the care recipient can afford to contribute towards care and support costs. The Government has announced a more generous means testing threshold, allowing more people to become eligible for financial support towards meeting care costs from October 2023.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 potential benefits of increased investment in motor neurone disease research for other neurological conditions.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific assessment has been made. The Government makes funding available for research but does not generally ring-fence funds for particular disease areas. Research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 support the Spending Review submission from the Motor Neurone Disease Association, MND Scotland and the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation which calls for £50 million of funding for motor neurone disease-specific research.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The next Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for health and social care for future years.
Over the past five years, the Department has spent over £10 million on motor neurone disease (MND) research through the National Institute for Health Research. Additionally, UK Research and Innovation, through the Medical Research Council, has spent £49.5 million on MND research over the past five years. This includes research which aims to increase our understanding of the causes and genetic mechanisms of MND. We are currently working on ways to significantly increase further research on dementia and neurodegeneration including medical and care interventions.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will commit £50 million over five years to establish and operate a motor neurone disease translational research institute.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The next Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for health and social care for future years.
Over the past five years, the Department has spent over £10 million on motor neurone disease (MND) research through the National Institute for Health Research. Additionally, UK Research and Innovation, through the Medical Research Council, has spent £49.5 million on MND research over the past five years. This includes research which aims to increase our understanding of the causes and genetic mechanisms of MND. We are currently working on ways to significantly increase further research on dementia and neurodegeneration including medical and care interventions.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to support earlier engagement and horizon scanning between NHS England and the pharmaceutical industry, to identify solutions to drug pricing challenges that may be faced by new innovative treatments exceeding the Budget Impact Test threshold.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The 2019 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access made a joint commitment between the Government and the pharmaceutical industry for the National Health Service to have complete and accurate information about the products coming through the development pipeline. NHS England and NHS Improvement and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) committed to working together and with industry to develop and implement a joined-up approach to earlier engagement and case management. On 23 February 2021, NHS England and NHS Improvement published the NHS commercial framework for new medicines setting out the opportunities for companies to engage with NHS England and NHS Improvement and NICE and the commercial options available.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 (a) the covid-19 vaccines affect fertility and (b) those vaccines can safely be taken by pregnant women; and if he will publish available research on those issues.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is supporting the first United Kingdom COVID-19 vaccine study for pregnant women, funded by Pfizer. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including COVID vaccination and fertility or pregnancy. There is also a breadth of research supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on COVID-19 and vaccines.
In the United States of America over 90,000 pregnant women have been vaccinated, mainly with Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, with data collected via the “v-safe COVID-19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry”; these data have subsequently been analysed and the findings published in The New England Journal of Medicine (see Shimabukuro et al., 2021 and can be found at the following link: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2104983). This concluded that no obvious safety signals were observed among pregnant persons who received these COVID-19 vaccines. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation have therefore advised that pregnant women should be offered COVID-19 vaccines at the same time as people of the same age or risk group. There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines have any effect on fertility or your chances of becoming pregnant.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to publish the Government’s Vaccine Strategy.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The vaccine strategy is being refreshed to reflect new developments from the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and the extended National Health Service flu programme. The vaccine strategy will be published in due course.