Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 implications for his Department's policies of the decision of the Office for National Statistics to end updates to its Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights publications as of 24 March 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will continue to publish regular reports on COVID-19 which will contribute to our situational awareness. These include weekly surveillance reports, which provide data on infection rates and hospitalisation numbers. UKHSA also maintains the ability to track the latest variants through its genomics capabilities, which assess the risks posed by different strains of the virus.
The approach to COVID-19 surveillance is being actively reviewed to ensure it is proportionate, cost effective and considered alongside how we monitor a range of other infectious diseases that present a similar threat.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) care homes and (b) residents of care homes there were in April 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 1 April 2020, there were 15,517 active care home locations registered with Care Quality Commission. Whilst the Department does not have an exact number of residents in care homes in April 2020, we would expect the number to be similar to the Office for National Statistics estimate of 391,927 care home residents in England in 2019/20.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many deaths there were in care homes in April 2020 that (a) received transfers and (b) did not receive transfers from NHS Hospitals.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to publish a 10-year mental health plan instead of the major conditions strategy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government announced on 24 January 2023 that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy. Increasing multimorbidity and complexity of conditions means it is important to ensure strategies are joined up, with care and support centred around people. A joined up Major Conditions Strategy instead of a standalone mental health strategy will ensure that mental ill health is also considered alongside other physical health conditions, meaning the interactions between them are reflected in the resulting plans. We know that many of the risk factors that contribute to mental ill-health are cross-society in nature, and we will therefore be working closely with departments across Government.
We are grateful to everyone who responded to our mental health call for evidence. The responses we received have been processed and will feed into the development of mental health and suicide prevention policies we include in the Major Conditions Strategy and the Suicide Prevention Strategy.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many care homes received transfers from NHS hospitals in April 2020; and how many of those patients were tested for Covid before transfer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
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 the security of NHS data held by Palantir Technologies.
Answered by Will Quince
Data processes and systems within the Palantir Foundry software platform are required to comply with the Technology Code of Practice, Government Digital Services standards, the Department’s Guide to good practice for digital and data-driven health technologies, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the United Kingdom's implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation, Information Commissioner’s Office guidance and associated regulations, standards and guidance.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which consultations published by their Department are awaiting a response; and when each of those responses (a) were initially planned to and (b) will be published.
Answered by Will Quince
Policy teams across the Department consult regularly during the policy development and implementation cycle. Information is available on GOV.UK about all open and closed consultations published by the Department, including the closing date for open consultations and, where available, the Government's response. The Cabinet Office has published best practice ‘consultation principles’ for Government departments.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2023 to Question 147198 on Surgery: Private Sector, if he will provide a regional breakdown of NHS funded procedures carried out by non-NHS providers in 2021-22.
Answered by Will Quince
This information is not collected in the format requested. Data on the procedures performed by non National Health Service providers and the associated cost is not held by the department.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2023 to Question 147198 on Surgery: Private Sector, what the total cost to the public purse was of the 1,891,632 NHS-funded procedures carried out by non-NHS providers in the financial year 2021-22.
Answered by Will Quince
This information is not collected in the format requested. Data on the procedures performed by non National Health Service providers and the associated cost is not held by the department.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2023 to Question 121016 on NHS: Agency Workers, what estimate he has made of when the 2021-22 data will be available.
Answered by Will Quince
While the NHS Consolidated Accounts have been published, this does not include an explicit figure for agency spend as it is bundled together with other spend items. We expect the agency data for 2021/22 to be published this spring.