To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish the Regulatory Policy Committee's original opinion on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill submitted to her Department on 12 February 2024; if she will outline the changes she has made to that Bill since receiving that opinion; and what discussions she has had with the Regulatory Policy Committee on the expected timetable for their submission of the revised opinion.

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

Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom, and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year, and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. That is why we have introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to create the first smokefree generation, and enable us to further crack down on youth vaping. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is available at the following link:

https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3703

On 12 February 2024 the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) gave opinion on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill impact assessment and rated it green (fit for purpose). However, on 19 March 2024, ahead of the introduction of the bill, a revised version was sent to the RPC for comment. This included changes to reflect the inclusion of Northern Ireland in the bill, following the formation of a Northern Ireland Executive, and a power in the bill to enable the current notification system for nicotine vapes to also cover non-nicotine vapes and other consumer nicotine products, for instance nicotine pouches. The RPC have publicly stated that they welcome the resubmission of the revised impact assessment, and we expect a revised opinion to be issued shortly. The statement from the RPC is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-tobacco-and-vapes-bill-statement-from-the-rpc


Written Question
Heart Diseases: Research
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she has taken to support (a) research into and (b) treatment of heart disease in (i) England and (ii) Romford constituency.

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

The Department supports research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including those relating to heart disease. Over the past five financial years, the NIHR has spent over £64 million on heart-disease related research projects. In addition, the NIHR infrastructure provides clinical expertise, specialist facilities, workforce, and support services to support research across a range of clinical areas, including heart disease.

The Be Part of Research campaign makes it easier for people to find out about, and take part in, health and care research. Currently, there are seven high quality studies related to heart and circulation, which are being supported by the NIHR and are within five miles of Romford.

The NHS Long Term Plan sets out that by 2028 the proportion of patients accessing cardiac rehabilitation will be amongst the best in Europe, with up to 85% of those eligible accessing care. This will prevent up to 23,000 premature deaths and 50,000 acute admissions over 10 years. The NHS Health Check programme is a core component of England's cardiovascular diseases prevention pathway. Over 15 million people are eligible for an NHS Health Check every five years, and it delivers 1.3 million checks a year, preventing an estimated 500 heart attacks and strokes.


Written Question
Bereavement Counselling: Departmental Coordination
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress the cross-government bereavement working group has made on ensuring support is available to bereaved people.

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

The cross-Government bereavement group was established in preparation for publication of the UK Commission on Bereavement’s (UKCB), Bereavement is Everyone’s Business report, from October 2022. The group includes representatives from over 10 Government departments.

The cross-Government bereavement group enables Government departments to share the best practice about bereavement support in the sectors for which they are responsible. The UKCB Steering Group has presented to the cross-Government working group on several occasions, and last attended a meeting of the group in September 2023.


Written Question
Dental Services: Contracts
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number of dental practices that have announced that they plan to withdraw from NHS contracts since 7 February 2024.

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

Monthly data on the Units of Dental Activity (UDA) delivered is published by the NHS Business Services Authority, although this data has an approximate two-month time lag, and therefore we expect data for February 2024 to be published around Mid-May. Otherwise, UDA delivery data is available at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-contractor-monthly-general-dental-activity


Written Question
Dental Services
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many units of dental activity her Department (a) had estimated would be and (b) have been undertaken between 7 February and 22 March 2024.

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

Monthly data on the Units of Dental Activity (UDA) delivered is published by the NHS Business Services Authority, although this data has an approximate two-month time lag, and therefore we expect data for February 2024 to be published around Mid-May. Otherwise, UDA delivery data is available at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-contractor-monthly-general-dental-activity


Written Question
Dental Services: Contracts
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dental contracts have been changed following a request from dental practices since 7 February 2024.

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

Monthly data on the Units of Dental Activity (UDA) delivered is published by the NHS Business Services Authority, although this data has an approximate two-month time lag, and therefore we expect data for February 2024 to be published around Mid-May. Otherwise, UDA delivery data is available at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-contractor-monthly-general-dental-activity


Written Question
Dental Services: Contracts
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dental contracts have been handed back 7 February 2024.

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

Monthly data on the Units of Dental Activity (UDA) delivered is published by the NHS Business Services Authority, although this data has an approximate two-month time lag, and therefore we expect data for February 2024 to be published around Mid-May. Otherwise, UDA delivery data is available at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-contractor-monthly-general-dental-activity


Written Question
Rare Diseases: Health Services
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure equitable access to specialised care and support for patients with rare diseases across England.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In January 2021, the Government published the UK Rare Diseases Framework, providing a national vision for how to improve the lives of those living with rare diseases. The framework lists four priorities, collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, which are: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatment, and drugs. The principles of the UK Rare Diseases Framework commit the four nations to ensuring that any impacts on health inequalities are considered when developing action plans.

Each year since 2021 we have published an England Rare Diseases Action Plan, with health equity highlighted as a focus area. On 29 February 2024 we published the third England Rare Diseases Action Plan, which is working to address these priorities. Several actions have been committed to in this year and previous year’s action plans, that relate to equitable access to specialised care and support for patients with rare diseases.


Written Question
Haemochromatosis: Research
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support research and development of treatments for patients with haemochromatosis.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Research is currently directly funding one ongoing study on haemochromatosis, and over the last five years, has funded infrastructure to support seven others.


Written Question
Dental Services
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many extra (a) appointments and (b) treatments will be delivered through each element of the dentistry recovery plan.

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

We want to make sure that everyone needing a National Health Service dentist can access one. Our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for patients and will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment.

The methodology underpinning this modelling has been shared with the Health and Social Care Select Committee and has also been placed in the libraries for both Houses. This includes information on the estimated number of treatments and appointments delivered by each of the interventions in our dentistry recovery plan.