Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
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 effect of the forthcoming EU Medical Devices Regulation on the movement of medical devices from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is committed to helping ensure there is no disruption to the supply of medical devices into Northern Ireland. The Department of Health and Social Care, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland have been working closely with industry to support them in their preparations to comply with the European Union Medical Device Regulation (MDR), which will come into effect in Northern Ireland from 26 May this year.
The Government is not seeking any mitigations from the European Commission regarding the MDR. Following feedback from industry stakeholders and in recognition that guidance from the EU is pending, on 5 March 2021 the MHRA published guidance on importation requirements to assist with compliance in moving medical devices from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. On 10 May 2021, the MHRA wrote to industry to provide further support and clarification on the implementation of the MDR in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether EU citizens and non-EU family members eligible for the EU Settlement Scheme who do not make an application by the 30 June 2021 deadline will be chargeable for NHS treatment (a) after the deadline until a late application is submitted and (b) after a late application is submitted.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
An individual who is eligible to apply to the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) but who has not submitted an application by 30 June 2021 will be chargeable. If they receive and pay for relevant services and then later make a late application which is granted, they will not be refunded for the earlier treatment.
Where the Home Office accepts a late application to the EUSS and grant a person status under that scheme, the person is non-chargeable from the date on which the late application was made. Primary medical care is free of charge to all overseas visitors. Health services are not withheld from anyone in urgent need.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether unpaid NHS charges of over £500 from EU citizens and non-EU family members who do not apply to the EU Settlement Scheme by the 30 June 2021 deadline will be reported to the Home Office; and whether such unpaid fines will affect EU Settlement Scheme application decisions.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Unpaid National Health Service debts will not affect European Union Settlement Scheme applications.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government made an assessment of the effect of the introduction of covid-19 hotel quarantine rules on UK citizens with loved ones in red list countries prior to the introduction of those new rules.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
People should be staying at home unless they have a valid reason to travel. All of these measures will be kept under constant review, including the impact on individuals with family ties in other countries.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that covid-19 hotel quarantine rules are compatible with international health commitments outlawing the levying of charges for quarantine with regard to (a) UK citizens with loved ones overseas and (b) human rights legislation on the right to a family life.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Countries around the world are charging for quarantine costs, including, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada and Singapore. People should stay at home unless they have a valid reason to travel. For those facing significant financial hardship as a result of the managed quarantine charge, there will be an opportunity to apply for a deferred repayment plan when booking. This is available for individuals who already receive income-related benefits and they will be required to pay back the charge in 12 monthly instalments.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Government's planned timescale is for allowing UK residents to reunite with loved ones in red list countries during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
People should be staying at home unless they have a valid reason to travel. We keep all our measures under constant review and they will remain in place as long as is required in order to protect public health, reduce transmission of the virus and to reduce the risk posed by new variants. The managed quarantine and testing measures have been introduced in Regulations that have a sunset date of 8 June 2021.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the UK's (a) financial and (b) vaccine transfer commitments are to the World Health Organisation’s COVAX programme.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The United Kingdom remains committed to ensuring equitable access to effective vaccines as demonstrated by our £548 million contribution to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment - the international initiative to support global equitable access to vaccines. Through match funding, the commitment was leveraged to encourage other donors to commit $1 billion in 2020. The COVAX facility will aim to begin delivery by the end of February 2021 and we are working with international partners to support its rollout.
It is too early to determine how many doses of the vaccines that the UK has ordered will not be needed for domestic use. We are working through multilateral institutions, such as the United Nations and G20, as well as the World Health Organization and other international partners like the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Gavi the Vaccine Alliance to support vaccine development, manufacturing scale-up and distribution to meet domestic and international needs both now and in the future.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference the findings in the report published by Public Health England on 2 June 2020 entitled Disparities in the risk and outcomes of covid-19, what steps he plans to take to reduce health inequalities for BAME groups.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Racial disparities in the health of the nation are unacceptable. Following the publication of Public Health England (PHE)’s report, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities (Kemi Badenoch MP) has been asked to urgently review the findings and better understand the drivers behind them. As part of this, we will look very closely at the health inequalities aspects of PHE’s report and further action needed to address them.
We remain committed to levelling up and spreading opportunity around this country, which will be an essential part of the economic and social recovery from this crisis.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the Rapid Resolution and Redress Scheme to the number of cases of new birth injuries and deaths.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
From March 2017, the Department ran a public consultation into the potential parameters of a ‘Rapid Resolution and Redress’ (RRR) scheme for severe avoidable birth injuries. The three main objectives of which were to reduce the number of severe avoidable birth injuries by promoting a ‘no-blame’ learning culture; to ensure a better experience for children who have been injured, their families and affected clinicians; and to address the high and increasing cost of such cases on the National Health Service budget when fully litigated.
Following consultation, we decided not to introduce the RRR scheme but instead to pursue the above objectives as part of broader, cross-system work to improve the safety culture in maternity services and to provide rapid information and care to families who have experienced an avoidable fatality or injury of their baby during birth. The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch is now investigating all cases in which a term baby was considered to be alive and healthy at the onset of labour, but the birth outcome was severe brain damage, stillbirth, or neonatal death, as well as maternal deaths, to identify common themes and influence systemic change. NHS Resolution’s Early Notification scheme is providing a more rapid, caring response to families in cases of severe harm, supporting a learning culture, and providing support for staff involved in traumatic births.