Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which categories of health and social care providers are eligible for antibody testing for covid-19.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
NHS England has made antibody tests available to all its staff including those working on National Health Service premises but not directly employed by the NHS, and those in primary, community, and mental health care including community pharmacists. Further information is available at the following link:
Antibody testing is also being made available for all paid social care staff in England.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
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 allow family members to visit relatives in residential care homes; on what date will those visits be allowed to resume; and if he will publish updated guidance to support those visits.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
On 22 July 2020 the Government published updated guidance on visiting arrangements for care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visiting-care-homes-during-coronavirus
Our priority has been to enable residents to be reunited safely with their loved ones. This guidance will be updated as the risk posed by COVID-19 continues to change.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
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 (a) improve the supply of testing kits to care homes, (b) put in place a system which allows for testing kits to routinely and automatically be provided to care homes at regular intervals; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the current application process for covid-19 tests for a care home.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department has rolled out whole home testing to all care homes registered on the portal. Since its launch we have been able to provide whole home testing to over 13,500 care homes in England.
On routine testing, we have launched this in care homes from 3 July. From 6 July onwards, we will start to roll out weekly testing of staff and testing of residents every 28 days in all care homes without outbreaks through Pillar 2. Bank, agency and visiting staff such as social workers and Allied Health Professionals working in care homes should be included in the weekly staff tests in care homes.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether hospice (a) staff and (b) patients are eligible for antibody testing for covid-19.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We are rolling out millions of antibody tests to help us better understand how COVID-19 is spreading across the country which will be vital for future decisions about how to best control the virus. We are now testing National Health Service and care staff as well as patients where there is an identified clinical need.
For care staff, the antibody testing programme is being rolled out in a phased way across regions in England.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish on a daily basis the number of deaths from covid-19 in care home settings.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
On 29 April 2020 the Government introduced a new method of reporting daily COVID-19 deaths so that it now includes reporting of deaths in all settings, including care homes. More information can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/daily-death-reporting-now-includes-all-positive-covid-19-deaths
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes all deaths registered with COVID-19 in each week including in care homes. More information can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
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 effect on patient care of the variation in prescribing policies for coeliac disease across clinical commissioning groups.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Department has made no such assessment.
A wide range of gluten-free (GF) products are available in most supermarkets and online.
Following consultation with major stakeholders such as Coeliac UK, changes were made to legislation in 2018. As a result, gluten free bread and mixes can be prescribed on the NHS to support people with established coeliac disease. This ensures the best use of NHS resources while maintaining availability of staple GF foods for patients on prescription.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which clinical commissioning groups provide funding for prescriptions for the purchase of food for patients diagnosed with coeliac disease; and what proportion of clinical commissioning groups that equates to.
Answered by Jo Churchill
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken since 11 February 2020 to maintain the supply of over the counter non-prescription medicines during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Weaver Vale on 13 March to Question 27668:
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of full-time equivalent (a) general practitioners, (b) other doctors and (c) nurses employed by the NHS in Bedfordshire in (a) 2010 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioner (GP) surgeries, local authorities or other providers.
The following table shows the full time equivalent (FTE) number of doctors, and nurses and health visitors employed in the Bedfordshire area as at October 2019, the latest available data, compared to October 2010.
| October 2010 | October 2019 | Change | % Change |
Doctors | 303 | 360 | 57 | 19 |
Nurses and health visitors | 905 | 698 | 207 | 23 |
The Bedfordshire area is defined as those working at Bedford Hospital NHS Trust or NHS Bedfordshire CCG in 2019, and at Bedford Hospital NHS Trust or Bedfordshire Primary Care Trust in 2010.
The following table shows the number of GPs and nurses employed in the area covered by NHS Bedfordshire CCG as at September 2019 compared to September 2015, FTE.
- | - | All Regular GPs (excludes Locums) | All Nurses |
NHS Bedfordshire CCG | September 2019 | 245 | 138 |
September 2015 | 227 | 133 |
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the public purse was of carrying out the GP Patient Survey in each of the last three years.
Answered by David Mowat
The GP Patient Survey is conducted by an independent contractor on behalf of NHS England. The current contract (2016-19) is being delivered by Ipsos MORI, as was the previous contract (2013-16). It is not appropriate to provide the precise costs paid to the survey provider, as this is commercially sensitive information. Over the contract period 2013-16, the budget of the GP Patient Survey was approximately £4 million per year. For the current contract, which began in July 2016, the budget is approximately £3.5 million per year.