Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
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 merits of nationalising air ambulances during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Air ambulance organisations are independent charities with their own governance arrangements and operating models.
Whilst air ambulances are helping with the national response, through loaning of staff and equipment, they are also continuing with the delivery of life-saving services to non-COVID-19 patients. The charitable model gives the air ambulance charities independence to deliver specialised services to meet the specific needs of the populations they serve.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to extend the small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief to charities in receipt of charity rate relief.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has provided a comprehensive, coordinated and coherent package of measures to support all businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19, including one-off grants for small businesses that pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief or rural rate relief, to help meet their continuing business costs.
Charities operating in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will also benefit from the business rates holiday for these sectors, and grant funding for properties with a rateable value below £51,000.
On 8 April, the Chancellor announced a £750m support package for charities providing key services and supporting vulnerable people during the COVID-19 crisis. £360m will be allocated by central government to charities in England based on evidence of service need. This will include up to £200m support for hospices, with the rest going to organisations such as the St John Ambulance and the Citizens Advice Bureau, as well as charities supporting vulnerable children, victims of domestic abuse, or disabled people. £370m will support smaller, local charities working with vulnerable people.
Charities will also be able to benefit from the range of other measures to support all businesses, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure the provision of emergency ambulance services to people who are self isolating.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The National Health Service has expert teams in every ambulance service and a number of specialist hospital units with highly trained staff and equipment ready to receive and care for patients with any highly infectious disease.
The NHS practises and prepares its response to disease outbreaks and follow tried and tested procedures, following the highest safety standards possible for the protection of NHS staff, patients and the public.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has in place to ensure paramedics and ambulance workers are adequately supported and protected in the event of a large scale outbreak of covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All guidance is published on GOV.uk and standard operating procedures are published on NHS England and NHS Improvement’s website. Guidance is also available to healthcare professionals on NHS England and NHS Improvement’s website, with specific guidance for those in ambulance services. This includes information on personal protective equipment (PPE) as well as infection prevention and control guidance. More information can be found at the following link:
The United Kingdom maintains stockpiles of protective equipment for healthcare staff who may come into contact with patients with the virus.
These stocks are being monitored daily, with additional stocks being ordered where necessary.
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 he is taking to minimise the risk to clinical professionals of contracting covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England have published guidance for clinical professions and includes specific guidance on infection prevention and control at the following link:
All guidance is published on gov.uk and standard operating procedures are published on NHS England and NHS Improvement’s website. There is also guidance for National Health Service staff in primary care, secondary care, community based health and social care and ambulance services at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/