Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2024 to Question 20081 on Gender Dysphoria: Children, what information her Department holds on the number of children of each biological sex that were prescribed puberty blockers for treatment of gender dysphoria each year since 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department does not hold information on the number of children of each biological sex who were prescribed puberty blockers for treatment of gender dysphoria.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials from her Department have met Stonewall to discuss puberty blockers in the last five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Ministers have not met Stonewall to discuss puberty blockers. Information on how many times officials have met with Stonewall is not available, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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, what discussions she has had with community pharmacists on supporting people with (a) smoking and (b) vaping (i) addiction and (ii) dependency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Quitting smoking is the best thing a smoker can do for their health and smokers are three times as likely to succeed with stop smoking services (SSS) when compared to an unsupported quit attempt. As announced in Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation, published in October 2023, the Government is investing an additional £70 million per year for five years to support local authority-led SSS, around doubling current spend and supporting 360,000 people to set a quit date each year. Local authorities commission a variety of settings, including community pharmacy, to deliver SSS. In 2022/23, 12,165 of the 176,566 quit dates set through SSS were in a pharmacy setting. Since March 2022, hospitals have been referring patients to community pharmacy to continue the stop smoking journey they started in hospital as part of the NHS Smoking Cessation Service in community pharmacies agreed by the Department, NHS England and Community Pharmacy England. Across the country, 4841 community pharmacies have signed up to deliver the service.
In addition, we are establishing a financial incentives scheme to help pregnant smokers and their partners to quit smoking, with smoking cessation support. This evidence-based intervention will encourage pregnant women to give up smoking, and remain smokefree throughout pregnancy and beyond, helping to improve the health and wellbeing of both mother and baby.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Orpheopolis system of French orphanages for the orphaned children of police officers; and what assessment they have made of the benefits of introducing such a facility in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government has no plans to introduce a facility specifically for orphaned children of police officers.
The death of an officer is devastating for all in policing, but most deeply felt by their loved ones and children. It is important that bereaved families have access to the appropriate support, primarily from the police force. Depending on the particular circumstances, there is a range of benefits payable to children on the death of an officer under both the occupational pension and injury benefit schemes. There are also a number of police charities providing support for bereaved families and children, which provide access to counselling and peer support.
This Government also introduced the Police Covenant, to support the police workforce and their families, recognising the risks and demands that can be involved. We have funded the National Police Wellbeing Service to develop and launch the first national family support package, providing advice for the families of officers on mental health and fatigue, as well as practical resources for those with young children to help them understand the role of policing.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report Antibiotic underdosing and disposal in NHS organisations across Great Britain, published in November 2023; and what discussions they have had with the Care Quality Commission on integrating line flushing policies and practices into the assessment framework for care provided in England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Officials are aware of, and have considered, the findings of the report Antibiotic underdosing and disposal in NHS organisations across Great Britain. Officials from the Department have not had any recent discussions with the Care Quality Commission on integrating line flushing policies and practices into the assessment framework for care provided in England.
General guidance on prescribing and the use of medicines is published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in an online-only format. Good clinical practice is to flush an intravenous line with saline after a medicine has been administered, to ensure the full dose is delivered to the patient. This is not unique to antibiotics.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the transmission of H5N1 bird flu to humans.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with partners to monitor, investigate, and periodically assess the risk to human health of avian influenza (influenza A(H5N1)). This includes monitoring human cases, patterns of transmission of influenza A(H5N1) in animals, surveillance of humans exposed to infected birds, and assessing how well circulating viruses are matched to vaccines.
Our assessment of the risks of A(H5N1) to the United Kingdom is kept under regular review and is revised when new evidence is identified. Updates to this work are published in the UKHSA’s avian influenza technical briefings. The UKHSA also contributes to the World Health Organization’s global assessments.
There continues to be sporadic human cases of A(H5N1) detected globally, including both mild and severe infections. The UK does not currently have outbreaks of influenza A(H5N1) in poultry or other captive birds, although sporadic detections continue in wild birds. The UK has self-declared zonal freedom from highly pathogenic avian influenza for Great Britain with effect from 29 March 2024.
Asked by: Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to strengthen the privacy and dignity of female patients in NHS hospitals.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to upholding the rights of women and girls and ensuring they are properly represented in healthcare services, communications, and guidance.
That is why we are currently consulting on updates to the NHS Constitution for England to shape the principles and values of the National Health Service and ensure the privacy, dignity and safety of all patients, including women, are embedded in how it operates.
Our proposed changes to the NHS Constitution reinforce the NHS’s commitment to providing single-sex wards and will empower patients to request that intimate care is carried out by someone of the same biological sex, where reasonably possible.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to fund the national roll-out of mental health support teams across all schools and colleges in England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Mental health support teams now cover approximately 44% of pupils in England and we are working to increase this coverage to 50% of pupils by March 2025. The further rollout of mental health support teams will be subject to future spending decisions.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many NHS boards have included sustainability in their assurance framework.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the legal duty for integrated care boards (ICBs) and their partner National Health Service foundation trusts under section 14Z44 of the NHS Act 2006 to consider sustainability when exercising their functions. ICBs and their partner NHS foundation trusts must consider section 1 of the Climate Change Act 2008, concerning United Kingdom net zero emission targets, and section 5 of the Environment Act 2021, concerning environmental targets. ICBs and their NHS foundation trusts must also adapt to any current or predicted impact of climate change identified in the most recent report under section 56 of the Climate Change Act 2008.
NHS England does not collect data on how many ICBs have included sustainability in their assurance framework.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his planned timetable is for responding to the findings and recommendations from the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman report into the changes to Women’s State Pension Age, published on 21 March 2024.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.