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Written Question
Parkinson's Disease: Drugs
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on the average licensing approval decision timelines for (a) generic and (b) biosimilar medicines to treat Parkinson's disease.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is taking urgent action to deliver improvements to decision timescales in established medicines, including those indicated to treat Parkinson’s disease. Last week we approved additional licences for this critical area. Whilst no specific discussions have taken place between the MHRA and my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on this matter, we are taking significant steps to assess applications for medicine approval within statutory timeframes and will always prioritise applications according to public health need.

We are working to reduce timelines by bringing in additional resources and developing processes that will result in significantly improved response times, while protecting patient safety. The measures we are putting in place are already resulting in significant improvements, and we will continue to publish monthly updates providing applicants with transparent information on expected timescales. As an effective regulator, we are committed to the highest of standards of performance and delivering the right outcomes for patients and public health.


Written Question
Parkinson's Disease: Drugs
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to reduce the time taken to license (a) generic and (b) biosimilar medicines to treat Parkinson's disease.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is taking urgent action to deliver improvements to decision timescales in established medicines, including those indicated to treat Parkinson’s disease. Last week we approved additional licences for this critical area. Whilst no specific discussions have taken place between the MHRA and my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on this matter, we are taking significant steps to assess applications for medicine approval within statutory timeframes and will always prioritise applications according to public health need.

We are working to reduce timelines by bringing in additional resources and developing processes that will result in significantly improved response times, while protecting patient safety. The measures we are putting in place are already resulting in significant improvements, and we will continue to publish monthly updates providing applicants with transparent information on expected timescales. As an effective regulator, we are committed to the highest of standards of performance and delivering the right outcomes for patients and public health.


Written Question
Drugs: Shortages
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment she has made of trends in the total number of medicine shortages recorded by her Department in January (a) 2021, (b) 2022, (c) 2023 and (d) 2024.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are around 14,000 licensed medicines, and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. However, the medicine supply chain is highly regulated, complex and global, and supply disruption is a common issue which affects countries all around the world.

The Department’s medicine Discontinuations and Shortages portal has been collecting notifications from suppliers of potential supply issues since October 2020, and shows that there were approximately:

- 90 supply issue notifications in January 2021;

- 110 supply issue notifications in January 2022;

- 170 supply issue notifications in January 2023; and

- 160 supply issue notifications in January 2024.

Although reporting does vary each month, annual notifications have remained fairly stable at approximately 1,600 supply issue notifications in 2022 and 2023. It is important to note that not all supply issue notifications will lead to a medicine shortage.


Written Question
Drugs: Shortages
Monday 5th February 2024

Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle medicine shortages.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are around 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. However, the medicine supply chain is highly regulated, complex, and global, meaning there can sometimes be supply issues which affect the United Kingdom, along with other countries around the world.

Medicine supply problems can occur for several reasons such as manufacturing difficulties, regulatory non-compliance, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues.

While it is not always possible to prevent supply issues from occurring, there is a team within the Department that has a range of well-established tools and processes to manage them when they arise, working closely with the pharmaceutical industry, the National Health Service, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and others operating in the supply chain to help mitigate the risks to patients.


Written Question
Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
Friday 26th January 2024

Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the list of medical conditions which meet the criteria for a medical exemption certificate.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Approximately 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge. People on a low income who do not qualify for an exemption from prescription charges can seek help under the NHS Low Income Scheme, which provides help with health costs on an income-related basis. For those who do not qualify for an exemption, prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) allow people to obtain as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost. A three-monthly PPC or an annual PPC will save people money if they need four or more items in three months or 12 or more items in 12 months.


Written Question
NHS: Databases
Thursday 30th March 2023

Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)

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 ensure data held on the proposed NHS Federated Data Platform is protected.

Answered by Will Quince

Data processes and systems within the Federated Data Platform (FDP) will need to comply with the Technology Code of Practice, Government Digital Service 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 General Data Protection Regulation, Information Commissioner’s Office guidance and associated regulations, standards and guidance.

To ensure that the FDP complies, the data sharing approach will consist of: a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) for the procurement of the FDP solution; overarching DPIA to articulate the data security and protection principles and lawful bases for deployment; purpose-specific DPIAs, which will be drafted for each use case and will go through the formal approval routes within NHS England prior to roll-out; and a legal mechanism for the sharing and processing of data, to be agreed in consultation with NHS England Information Governance and legal counsel.

The above activities will be concurrent and aligned with the procurement process to ensure data protection by design and default principles are embedded, and there is co-production of the final data sharing approach.  This will ensure that the lawful basis for the data sharing is identified, and Common Law Duty of Confidentiality is adhered to for all of the use cases.


Written Question
NHS: Cygnet Healthcare
Wednesday 22nd February 2023

Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average daily cost to the NHS was for a person receiving mental health support in a hospital ward owned by Cygnet Health Care in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The information requested is not held centrally.


Written Question
Cancer: Radiology
Tuesday 26th April 2022

Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)

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 encourage the use by radiologists of UK guidelines for the management of soft tissue sarcomas, published in 2016 by Clinical Sarcoma Research.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

We have no plans to do so. As a direct commissioner of both soft tissue and bone sarcoma services, NHS England and NHS Improvement require that all commissioned providers must meet the standards contained within national service specifications and comply with associated clinical commissioning policies, which set out access to specific interventions.

Where clinicians consider that there is evidence which supports making amendments to national service standards or access policies, they are encouraged to submit proposals to NHS England and NHS Improvement.


Written Question
Cancer: Diagnosis
Wednesday 6th April 2022

Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)

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 increase the number of sarcoma cancers that have been staged to track the NHS Long Term Plan’s target of having 75 per cent of all cancers diagnosed at stage one or two by 2028.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The ‘Help us help you’ encourages more people to consult their general practitioner if they experience symptoms which could be a sign of cancer. The current phase of the campaign focuses on the barriers to seeking advice, such as fear or anxiety, rather than on specific set symptoms. Previous phases of the campaign have included symptoms which could be indicative of sarcoma, such as abdominal discomfort or a persistent cough.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are committed to improving the completeness of staging data. The NHS England and NHS Improvement’s cancer programme is working with the National Disease Registration Service to identify trusts and tumour sites where staging data requires improvement.


Written Question
Cancer
Wednesday 6th April 2022

Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his strategy is for increasing public awareness of sarcoma cancer.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The ‘Help us help you’ encourages more people to consult their general practitioner if they experience symptoms which could be a sign of cancer. The current phase of the campaign focuses on the barriers to seeking advice, such as fear or anxiety, rather than on specific set symptoms. Previous phases of the campaign have included symptoms which could be indicative of sarcoma, such as abdominal discomfort or a persistent cough.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are committed to improving the completeness of staging data. The NHS England and NHS Improvement’s cancer programme is working with the National Disease Registration Service to identify trusts and tumour sites where staging data requires improvement.