Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England have taken to tackle increases in respiratory health conditions in the context of recent changes to GP contracts.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
General Practices (GPs) are required to provide services, termed ‘essential services’, to meet the reasonable needs of their registered and temporary patients. This includes providing consultations, referrals and ongoing treatment and care as necessary and appropriate.
Some GP practices may opt into providing additional services over and above this. The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is a voluntary reward and incentive scheme to help improve the quality of care across GPs. This incentivises practices to undertake specific activities in order to improve prevention and long-term condition management, including tackling respiratory health conditions. In the 2023/24 GP contract, nine QOF indicators (16%) will target tackling respiratory health conditions.
Vaccination against COVID-19 and flu can also support a reduction in cases of respiratory virus during the winter, both amongst the general public and the healthcare workforce. Over 17.4 million doses of an autumn COVID-19 booster were delivered in England over winter 2022/23 and as of 28 February, more than 21.1 million people in England have had their flu jabs.
The vaccine programmes provide necessary protection to those at higher risk of severe illness and are keeping more people out of hospital. The Government encourages all of those who are eligible for vaccinations to come forward.
The Department continues to work with tripartite partners to deliver improvements to vaccinations, including acquiring data to allow for timely and targeted action, and to identify and provide advice on reducing disparities in vaccination coverage.
The tripartite is committed to improving childhood and adult immunisation programmes, driving maximum uptake, and working hard towards re-gaining the United Kingdom’s measles elimination status, and sustaining our rubella and polio status.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
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 to conduct equality, diversity, and inclusion assessments of (a) vaccine delivery programmes and (b) their impact on health inequalities.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department undertakes equality analyses of all policy decisions to assess the impact of these on protected characteristics under the Public Sector Equality Duty and is committed to delivering vaccines to everyone who is eligible.
This includes targeted campaigns for communities known to have lower vaccine uptake as well as providing clear and accurate information about vaccine benefits and eligibility, including in braille and multiple languages. General practices (GPs) and provider incentives are also in place to find local solutions and diversification mechanisms are being developed to make getting vaccinated easier for all. The UK Health Security Agency also publish reviews of disparities in vaccine uptake and its relation to other health disparities as part of their Immunisations Inequalities Strategy.
It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations to which they are entitled, for themselves, their families, and wider society. Anyone unsure about their eligibility or vaccination status should contact their GP for advice.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he had discussions with the Secretary of State for Home Affairs on taking steps to help tackle the potential risk of diptheria infection in Slough ahead of the Home Office's decision to place diptheria-positive people in Slough hotels; and whether he plans to take steps to help increase the rate of diptheria innoculations in Slough.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care meets regularly with other Cabinet colleagues, and ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published on GOV.UK. Officials attended a meeting chaired by the Home Office, alongside the East Berkshire Director of Public Health, Slough Local Authority colleagues and integrated care board partners, about people who had been placed in hotels who were diphtheria positive, where local concerns about this decision were raised with the Home Office.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has made recommendations for all new arrivals to receive a diphtheria containing vaccine as part of the ongoing outbreak response amongst asylum seekers. In addition, there are long-standing recommendations in place for migrants to be registered with primary care, and to have an assessment to check that they are up to date with the routine vaccinations and receive the recommended vaccines according to the United Kingdom schedule. To support the diphtheria outbreak response, UKHSA has produced a range of materials including information leaflets translated in a range of languages.
UKHSA published supplementary guidance on 1 February 2023 for cases and outbreaks in asylum seeker accommodation settings. This can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason learning disabled adults have not been included in the covid-19 spring booster 2023 programme.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the independent body made up of scientific and clinical experts who advise Government on which authorised vaccines the United Kingdom should use and which groups in the population should be offered initial or further doses of a particular vaccine.
The primary aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease (hospitalisation and mortality) arising from COVID-19. The JCVI advice is that older persons, residents in care homes for older adults and those who are immunosuppressed continue to be at highest risk of severe COVID-19.
For spring 2023 the JCVI has recommended that an extra booster vaccine dose should be offered to adults aged 75 years old and over, residents in a care home for older adults and individuals aged five years old and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in tables three or four in the COVID-19 chapter of the UK Health Security Agency Green Book. This can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-the-green-book-chapter-14a
Those in any risk group, as defined in tables three or four of the Green Book, were eligible for a booster as part of the recent autumn 2022 COVID-19 booster programme. This included all those aged five years old or above who have a learning disability.
The JCVI advice published on 27 January 2023 advises that there should be a further booster programme in autumn 2023 for those at higher risk of severe COVID-19. The Government has accepted this advice and the National Health Service is planning for a further COVID-19 booster programme this autumn. Detailed advice from JCVI on which groups should be included is expected to follow in due course.
The Government continues to be guided by the JCVI on COVID-19 vaccine deployment and on who should be offered COVID-19 vaccinations. The JCVI regularly reviews its advice in relation to the COVID-19 vaccination programme, considering new data, evidence on the effectiveness of the programme and the epidemiological situation.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has held recent discussions with medical advisers on covid-19 vaccination roll outs; and what steps he is taking to use medical evidence to inform decisions on future vaccination roll outs.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Each COVID-19 vaccine candidate is assessed by teams of scientists and clinicians on a case-by-case basis and is only authorised once it has met robust standards of effectiveness, safety and quality set by Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The independent Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) is the expert body set up to provide advice on national vaccination and immunisation programmes to all four United Kingdom health departments. The JCVI considers vaccines once they are authorised by the MHRA.
As set out in the Living with COVID strategy published in 2021 the Government intends to continue to be guided by JCVI advice on which groups should be offered vaccination for COVID-19 and when and to whom any booster doses should be offered.
The most recent advice from JCVI on COVID-19 announced on 7 March 2023 was to offer a precautionary spring booster to those in the population most vulnerable to serious outcomes from COVID-19, including older people and those who are immunosuppressed.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of children aged between two and 18 years old have received the flu vaccination in each region during the 2022-23 winter period.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We do not hold the information in the format requested. Data for two and three year old children is not available in the format requested. However, it is available by local authority, grouped by National Health Service region here available at the following link:
Data for eligible at risk 17 and 18 year olds is not available in the format requested.
The following table shows the percentage vaccine uptake, number registered and number vaccinated in NHS region of all eligible school age children aged four to 16 years old.
NHS Region | Percentage vaccine uptake | Number registered | Number vaccinated |
East of England | 48.3 | 942,745 | 455,731 |
London | 33.2 | 1,164,446 | 387,090 |
Midlands | 43.4 | 1,511,057 | 655,318 |
North East and Yorkshire | 47.1 | 1,147,216 | 540,117 |
North West | 43.6 | 964,475 | 420,346 |
South East | 49.3 | 1,304,640 | 643,553 |
South West | 47.8 | 737,216 | 352,082 |
Source: UK Health Security Agency
Note:
Monthly data was published in February 2023 and includes all vaccinations from 1 September 2022 to 31 January 2023.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his policy to develop a strategy for the elimination of cervical cancer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In England, we are increasing the uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) target of 90% through dedicated immunisation teams in schools where a 100% offer is made to all school-aged children eligible for these vaccinations. Annually, HPV vaccines are promoted to university students as they start the Autumn term, and NHS England are planning a further HPV awareness campaign.
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme already aligns with the WHO’s target of 70% of women screened using a high-performance test by 35 and 45 years old. Work is ongoing to improve this beyond the WHO target, through exploration into screening self-sampling via the YouScreen and HPValidate research.
A range of improvements and innovations have been brought in to help improve uptake in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. For example, in some Primary Care Network areas, appointments can now be made in any Primary Care setting, during evenings and on weekends, via integrated sexual health clinics.
There is currently no intention to publish a plan detailing these programmes.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation that future flu vaccinations be provided for all 2-18-year-olds in England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation published advice on 30 November 2022 regarding the 2023/24 seasonal flu vaccination programme. The Government is considering this advice for England, noting the approach to vaccinating children against flu in the other United Kingdom nations. Details about which cohorts will be offered a free seasonal flu vaccine in England in 2023/24 and which vaccines they will be offered will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
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 ensure that people who are eligible for Covid-19 booster vaccinations have access to local vaccination clinics.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are many vaccination sites available for eligible individuals including walk-in centres. We continue to do everything to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccination is convenient and easy for all who are eligible. The network of vaccination sites has been designed to deliver the expected vaccine supply at pace and ensure safe and easy access for the whole population.
Flexible delivery models such walk-in and mobile vaccination clinics have been used to increase access and convenience of the vaccination offer, particularly for those in deprived communities where ethnic minority groups tend to be overrepresented. Additionally, for those in highly rural areas, where a vaccination site may be more difficult to reach there is a standard operating procedure for roving and other mobile delivery models to go directly to these communities.
The Government has worked closely with the National Health Service to make it as easy as possible to get a vaccine, including through ‘grab a jab’ pop-up vaccine sites across the country. 99% of the population in England live within 10 miles of at least one COVID-19 vaccination site.
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, whether his Department plans to continue providing a covid-19 vaccination programme for (a) all people and (b) people classified as vulnerable under the age of 50; and whether he plans to introduce an alternative to the covid-19 vaccination programme for those people.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Everyone, who was five years old or older on 31 August 2022, is currently eligible for primary vaccination and those aged 16 years old or over are also entitled to an initial booster (third dose). Those who are at higher risk of serious outcomes from COVID-19 are eligible for a further seasonal booster under the current autumn campaign.
The autumn booster campaign will close in England on 12 February, as will the offer of an initial booster (third dose) for persons aged 16 to 49 years old who are not in a clinical risk group. We encourage everyone currently eligible to come forward before these offers close.
In line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI’s) advice, the primary (initial) course offer of COVID-19 vaccination will now move towards a more targeted offer limited to vaccination campaigns for those at higher risk of severe COVID-19. This means that the offer of primary vaccination will continue for at-risk groups including those aged between five and 49 years old who are either at higher clinical risk or at high risk of transmitting the virus to vulnerable people and will end for those aged under 50 years old who are not in an at-risk group. The Government is considering when during 2023 this recommendation should be implemented.
The JCVI will continue to review evidence and will provide further advice regarding the 2023 vaccination programmes in due course. The Government continues to be guided by the independent JCVI on who should be offered COVID-19 vaccinations. The offers of primary course vaccination have been widely available since 2021. A more targeted offer of primary course vaccination during vaccination campaign periods will enable vaccination efforts to be more focused and allow more efficient use of National Health Service resources. The Government has no plans to offer an alternative to the COVID-19 vaccination programme for groups where COVID-19 vaccination is not advised by the JCVI.