Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to section 2.1 of the 2021-22 priorities and operational planning guidance: Implementation guidance 25 March 2021, what the criteria is for determining exceptions to the proposal that Integrated Care System boundaries are changed to be consistent with upper tier boundaries from April 2022; and whether Herts and West Essex Integrated Care System meets those criteria for exception due to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow being on the Essex and Hertfordshire boundary.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Following discussions between the Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement, integrated care system (ICS) boundaries which are not aligned with local authority boundaries are being reviewed to ensure future arrangements can support effective partnership working between the National Health Service and local government. Hertfordshire and West Essex ICS has been identified as one of the areas included in this boundary review. NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently undertaking this boundary review exercise and no final decisions have yet been made.
As this work progresses engagement with local areas will take place including with NHS bodies, local authorities and other stakeholders in the affected areas in order to appropriately assess any potential effects a change of ICS boundaries in an area may have, this will include consideration of any potential impact on service providers.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 for the boundaries of the Herts and West Essex Integrated Care System to remain unchanged on 1 April 2022 as one of the national exceptions to the proposal to align integrated care systems with upper tier local authority boundaries set out in the White Paper on Integration and innovation: working together to improve health and social care for all.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Following discussions between the Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement, integrated care system (ICS) boundaries which are not aligned with local authority boundaries are being reviewed to ensure future arrangements can support effective partnership working between the National Health Service and local government. Hertfordshire and West Essex ICS has been identified as one of the areas included in this boundary review. NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently undertaking this boundary review exercise and no final decisions have yet been made.
As this work progresses engagement with local areas will take place including with NHS bodies, local authorities and other stakeholders in the affected areas in order to appropriately assess any potential effects a change of ICS boundaries in an area may have, this will include consideration of any potential impact on service providers.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason data on the uptake of Healthy Start vouchers is no longer publicly available; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making that data available online prior to the value of that scheme increasing in April 2021 so that local teams may assess their progress in promoting that scheme and increasing uptake.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The NHS Business Services Authority launched a new Healthy Start website on 18 March 2021 in compliance with current accessibility standards and regulations. The previous uptake reports could not be made compliant with these accessibility standards and have been temporarily removed from the new website. The NHS Business Services Authority is prioritising work to re-publish the uptake data on the Healthy Start website.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason data on the uptake of Healthy Start vouchers is no longer publicly available; and if he will make that data available again online ahead of the increase in value of Healthy Start payments in April 2021 to allow local teams to assess their progress in promoting the scheme and increasing uptake.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The NHS Business Services Authority launched a new Healthy Start website on 18 March 2021 in compliance with current accessibility standards and regulations. The previous uptake reports could not be made compliant with these accessibility standards and have been temporarily removed from the new website. The NHS Business Services Authority is prioritising work to re-publish the uptake data on the Healthy Start website.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's pilot of transparent face masks, what evidence on the (a) effectiveness and (b) safety of those masks has been provided to other Government departments.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The ClearMask transparent mask used in the pilot undertaken in September has received approval from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for use during the COVID-19 pandemic and can be used in the National Health Service supply chain in healthcare settings, subject to a number of limitations. It is currently the only transparent mask that has been approved.
A transparent mask working group has been set up by NHS England and NHS Improvement. They are producing a new technical specification which gives testing, design and performance requirements for single-use transparent face masks which are intended to provide comparable protection to that of a Type IIR medical mask. It is intended that the technical specification, which has been informed by clinical usability assessments, can be used as part of the assessment of a broader scope of transparent facemask products. The technical specification will be published online once completed.
Work is also underway to evaluate Type IIR transparent masks for procurement, which will be assessed against the prevailing Type IIR standards.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the pilot by his Department of transparent face masks for use by NHS staff and care workers, which types of transparent masks have been approved; and for which settings the use of those masks has been approved.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The ClearMask transparent mask used in the pilot undertaken in September has received approval from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for use during the COVID-19 pandemic and can be used in the National Health Service supply chain in healthcare settings, subject to a number of limitations. It is currently the only transparent mask that has been approved.
A transparent mask working group has been set up by NHS England and NHS Improvement. They are producing a new technical specification which gives testing, design and performance requirements for single-use transparent face masks which are intended to provide comparable protection to that of a Type IIR medical mask. It is intended that the technical specification, which has been informed by clinical usability assessments, can be used as part of the assessment of a broader scope of transparent facemask products. The technical specification will be published online once completed.
Work is also underway to evaluate Type IIR transparent masks for procurement, which will be assessed against the prevailing Type IIR standards.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the new public health science campus in Harlow will be supported with multi-year 2021 Spending Review approval.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government confirmed in 2015 its intention to proceed with development of the planned Public Health England science campus and headquarters in Harlow. This allowed the purchase of the site and considerable planning, design development and early enabling works to take place. Most recently, the 2020 Spending Review provided funding for the 2020/2021 financial year in excess of £120 million. Major construction could begin within a few months.
Multi-year approval, and commitment to the delivery of the programme in full, will be considered in the light of the design work for the National Institute for Health Protection and the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 support (a) Public Health England and (b) its replacement the National Institute for Health Protection to tackle the covid-19 outbreak and future pandemics.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has committed over £37 billion to support the essential work of NHS Test and Trace and Public Health England in tackling COVID-19. We have already brought this work together under unified leadership and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will be established formally very shortly.
In addition, The Department of Health and Social Care has made available more than £6 billion to develop, manufacture and procure COVID-19 vaccines and continues to provide free personal protective equipment (PPE) to testing and vaccination centres to ensure frontline workers remain protected.
Future resourcing for the UKHSA will be determined in the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 the support the delivery of public health solutions at the new public health science campus at Harlow.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government confirmed in 2015 its intention to proceed with development of the planned Public Health England science campus and headquarters in Harlow. This allowed the purchase of the site and considerable planning, design development and early enabling works to take place. Most recently, the 2020 Spending Review provided funding for the 2020/2021 financial year in excess of £120 million. Major construction could begin within a few months.
Multi-year approval, and commitment to the delivery of the programme in full, will be considered in the light of the design work for the National Institute for Health Protection and the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 support the delivery of the new public health science campus at Harlow.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government confirmed in 2015 its intention to proceed with development of the planned Public Health England science campus and headquarters in Harlow. This allowed the purchase of the site and considerable planning, design development and early enabling works to take place. Most recently, the 2020 Spending Review provided funding for the 2020/2021 financial year in excess of £120 million. Major construction could begin within a few months.
Multi-year approval, and commitment to the delivery of the programme in full, will be considered in the light of the design work for the National Institute for Health Protection and the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.