Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of trends in health visitor recruitment in (a) the UK, (b) Teesside, and (c) Stockton South constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Health visitors are often employed by organisations outside of the National Health Service, meaning data about total workforce numbers is not held centrally. At a national level, this means we do not make assessments on local health visitor numbers. However, we are working with partners on the NHS interim People Plan to ensure that we have access to the staff we need across England, including areas such as Teesside and Stockton South.
Health visitor education, training and recruitment in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland is a matter for the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to work with the NHS and other partners in primary and community care to increase health visitor numbers in (a) the UK, (b) Teesside, and (c) Stockton South constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Health visitors are often employed by organisations outside of the National Health Service, meaning data about total workforce numbers is not held centrally. At a national level, this means we do not make assessments on local health visitor numbers. However, we are working with partners on the NHS interim People Plan to ensure that we have access to the staff we need across England, including areas such as Teesside and Stockton South.
Health visitor education, training and recruitment in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland is a matter for the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to ensure adequate staffing levels in the social care sector in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government hugely values the contribution of the 104,000 European Union staff who work in the social care sector. The Prime Minister has made it clear that we not only want them to stay, but also to feel welcomed and encouraged to do so. The EU Settlement Scheme has now fully opened, is free and will allow EU nationals employed in the social care sector to secure their long-term status in the United Kingdom.
The Department continues to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels across both the health and social care sectors and we have been monitoring leaver and joiner rates of European Union staff on a regular basis since the 2016 referendum. We are not complacent and have plans in place to ensure there will continue to be enough staff to deliver the high-quality services on which the public relies.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with organisations in the flu vaccine supply chain on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Flu vaccine cannot be stockpiled in advance as it is a seasonal vaccine. However, additional planning to ensure supplies of the flu vaccines has been undertaken. The Department, Public Health England and NHS England have been in regular discussion with vaccine suppliers to minimise the risk of supply disruption following European Union exit, and to ensure that contingency plans are in place.
Officials continuously monitor the flu vaccine supply landscape to enable timely and appropriate action to be taken in the event of supply issues.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to work with the NHS and other partners in primary and community care to increase health visitor numbers in (a) the UK, (b) Teesside, and (c) Stockton South constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what tariff will EEA visitors be charged for NHS services in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Government has made it clear that European Union citizens living in the United Kingdom on or before exit day will remain eligible for free National Health Service care as long as they remain ordinarily resident here. Should an EU citizen not be entitled to free NHS care, the Government has announced that they will continue to be charged at 100% of the standard NHS tariff.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to sustain and develop cross-border services between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Healthcare is devolved, and it is therefore the Northern Ireland Department of Health that will lead in this area.
The United Kingdom Government supports continued cooperation between Ireland and Northern Ireland, as provided for by the Belfast Agreement.
To help facilitate such cooperation we have been negotiating with the Irish Government under the auspices of the Common Travel Area, which will maintain a variety of reciprocal rights for British and Irish citizens when travelling or resident in one another’s jurisdictions.
Health and care professionals possessing dual registration in Ireland and Northern Ireland will continue to work across the border should we leave the European Union without a deal.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to support healthcare providers through winter 2019 in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Department is working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to support National Health Service healthcare providers ahead of winter. This includes £240 million of funding that has been made available to help patients with adult social care needs leave hospital when ready and free-up hospital capacity.
As part of a responsible Government, the Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for European Union exit. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the supply of medicines and medical products remains uninterrupted when we leave the EU on 31 October.
The Department continues to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels in the NHS and we have been monitoring leaver and joiner rates of EU staff on a regular basis since the 2016 referendum. We are not complacent and have plans in place to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver the high-quality services on which the public relies. Our overall programme of work is comprehensive, thorough and continuously updated and will stand irrespective of the terms in which the United Kingdom leaves the EU.
The Department is also working more broadly with delivery partners to ensure that the health and care system as a whole is prepared and ready to respond to disruption caused by EU exit.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether people with active but incomplete applications for settled and pre-settled status will be entitled to free NHS treatment after 31 October 2019.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
European Union citizens living in the United Kingdom on or before exit day will remain eligible for free National Health Service care as long as they remain ordinarily resident here. Being ordinarily resident broadly means living here on a lawful and properly-settled basis for the time being.
It is not currently necessary for an EU citizen to demonstrate that they have status under the EU Settlement Scheme in order to access the NHS. The European Settlement Scheme secures the residency rights for EU citizens who have been residing in the UK prior to the day we leave the EU. EU citizens already living in the UK on exit day have up until 31 December 2020 to apply for Settled Status, but their access to healthcare will remain the same regardless of whether they apply for Settled Status up to then.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to support NHS providers who do not have full contingency plans in place if the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
As part of a responsible Government, the Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for European Union exit. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the supply of medicines and medical products remains uninterrupted when we leave the EU on 31 October.
The Department is implementing a multi-layered approach, which consists of stockpiling where possible, securing freight capacity, changing or clarifying regulatory requirements, procuring additional warehousing, working closely with industry to improve trader readiness and putting in place the National Supply Disruption Response to manage potential shortages.
As part of this we are working closely with partners across the health and care system and industry, including the National Health Service and NHS Supply Chain, on robust preparations for EU exit.