Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many officials in his Department in (a) Liverpool, Walton constituency and (b) the UK have applied for ill-health retirement as a result of long covid in each of the last three years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP does not request nor obtain evidence to assess applications for ill health retirement due to long covid.
The Department does monitor levels and trends in short- and long-term sickness absence across all types of sickness absence recorded on DWP’s own HR data system, including short- and long-term sickness absence generally that may be attributed to Covid, but we do not receive any personal data that will help assess IHR applications.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what evidence his Department requests in order to assess applications for ill health retirement due to long covid.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP does not request nor obtain evidence to assess applications for ill health retirement due to long covid.
The Department does monitor levels and trends in short- and long-term sickness absence across all types of sickness absence recorded on DWP’s own HR data system, including short- and long-term sickness absence generally that may be attributed to Covid, but we do not receive any personal data that will help assess IHR applications.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 financial support for medical research into post-viral conditions.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In recent years, the NIHR has made major strategic investments in long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome) and is exploring additional research in these areas. No specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of financial support for medical research into post-viral conditions as a whole.
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including post-viral conditions. These applications are subject to peer review and judged through open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the likelihood of a connection between myalgic encephomyalitis and long covid.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made. Whilst myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID are similar in presentation, they are distinct conditions.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence currently recommends separate pathways for the assessment, treatment, and management of ME/CFS and the long-term effects of COVID-19.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 reduce the impact of (a) covid-19, (b) flu and (c) other respiratory infections on people with (i) cystic fibrosis and (b) other long-term lung conditions in winter 2023.
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 an independent group of experts which advises the Government health departments on immunisations and the prevention of infectious disease in all four nations of the United Kingdom. For both the COVID-19 and flu vaccination programmes, the JCVI has advised a targeted approach to protect the most vulnerable from severe disease, namely hospitalisation and death, including older individuals and individuals with specified existing clinical conditions. In autumn 2023, individuals with chronic respiratory disease, including cystic fibrosis, are eligible for a COVID-19 and flu vaccination in all nations of the UK, as advised by JCVI. It is also important that these individuals also take up any of the national immunisations for which they are eligible, as this is the best way to protect themselves, their families and wider society.
NHS England wrote on 27th July to integrated care boards (ICBs) and trusts setting out the approach to winter planning and the key steps needed to deliver operational resilience across the National Health Service this winter. The NHS England letter includes a summary of ICBs’ responsibilities in relation to high-impact actions to prevent avoidable emergency admissions, including frailty services, virtual wards, urgent community response services, single point of access for urgent care, and acute respiratory infection hubs, and support timely and effective hospital discharge including care transfer hubs. Acute Respiratory Infection Hubs should continue prioritising acute respiratory infection and provide same day urgent assessment with the benefit of releasing capacity in accident and emergency and general practice to support system pressures.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with departments in Northern Ireland on the potential impact of (a) covid-19, (b) flu and (c) other respiratory infections on people with (i) cystic fibrosis and (ii) other long-term lung conditions in Northern Ireland in winter 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department is only responsible for these matters in England as health is a devolved matter. We have therefore had no such discussions with the relevant departments in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Multi-billion pound investment as government unveils new long-term plan to tackle flooding, published on 14 July 2020, how much of the up to £170 million she planned to spend to accelerate work on shovel-ready flood defence schemes that would begin construction in 2020 or 2021 (a) has been spent and (b) remains to be spend as of November 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The £170m investment for work on shovel-ready schemes was commenced in 2021, as part of a package of investment measures by Government to boost the economic recovery following the covid pandemic. All 23 projects that form part of this scheme are underway and funding is being invested into these. Between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2022 the Government invested £87m into these schemes. The data from 1 April 2022 has not been classified to the sufficient level of detail to provide a response in the time frame of a Parliamentary Question. Please write to the Environment Agency directly if you still require this information.
Further details on the current investment programme and projects completed can also be found in the Flood and coastal erosion risk management report: 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
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, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on the value of data it collects on long covid clinic (a) waiting lists and (b) patient outcomes.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No such discussions have taken place. Plans for 2024/2025 will be set out in NHS England’s Operational Planning Guidance by the end of this calendar year.
No assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the services provided by long COVID clinics.
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, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the services provided by long covid clinics.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No such discussions have taken place. Plans for 2024/2025 will be set out in NHS England’s Operational Planning Guidance by the end of this calendar year.
No assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the services provided by long COVID clinics.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2023 to Question 189628 on Long Covid: Clinics, what discussions his Department has had with long covid clinics to help inform funding decisions for those clinics for 2024-25.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No such discussions have taken place. Plans for 2024/2025 will be set out in NHS England’s Operational Planning Guidance by the end of this calendar year.
No assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the services provided by long COVID clinics.