Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the difference is between (a) emissions, (b) concentrations, (c) human exposures, (d) health impacts and (e) death outcomes when referring to air pollution in health statistics.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
When referring to air pollution in health statistics, emissions is the term used to describe the gases and particles that are released into the air or emitted by various sources, for example road transport. The concentration of a specific air pollutant is the amount of material per unit volume of air. Concentrations are most commonly expressed as mass per unit volume (for example, micrograms per cubic meter, µg/m3). Human exposure refers to any contact between an airborne contaminant and a surface of the human body, either outer, for example the skin, or inner, for example the respiratory tract. Health impacts are negative changes in health resulting from exposure to a source of pollution, such as exacerbation of asthma, increases in respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions and mortality.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance entitled The two-week wait skin cancer pathway: innovative approaches to support early diagnosis of skin cancer as part of the NHS COVID-19 recovery plan, published by NHS England on 4 April 2022, whether (a) his Department and (b) NHS England are taking steps to monitor implementation of service delivery models in the guidance by integrated care boards.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England are responsible for monitoring the implementation of teledermatology services via several routes. Where possible, data has been collected directly from dermatology services by Cancer Alliances. In the 2023/24 financial year, NHS England are asking National Health Service trusts in England to collect and submit data on implementation of teledermatology in cancer pathways through a quarterly snapshot audit. NHS England continues to work with key partners, particularly the British Association of Dermatologists, who also have considerable intelligence on the extent to which teledermatology services have been implemented so far
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 14 March (HL5987), what assessment they have made of the impact of the difficulty of assessing bruises on darker skin on (1) documenting and prosecuting cases of domestic violence, and (2) providing treatment and support to victims of domestic violence.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government recognises that Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), including domestic abuse, affects a wide range of people. Some victims, especially those with specific needs and vulnerabilities, including ethnic minority victims, may experience additional barriers to identifying, disclosing, seeking help or reporting abuse.
That is why in tackling domestic abuse a “one size fits all” approach is not appropriate to support all victims. We also understand the importance of specialist and ‘by and for’ services in providing tailored support and understanding that ethnic minority victims and survivors of VAWG offences and domestic abuse need. These are services that are led, designed and delivered ‘by and for’ the users and communities they aim to serve. As a result, these organisations have the necessary skills and experience to provide appropriate support.
On 22 November 2022, we commenced an open commercial competition (VAWG Specialist and Support Services Fund) for ‘by and for’ and specialist services. This will enable vital services, who are based in the communities they serve, to support victims often facing the greatest barriers to getting the help they need. We are able to fund this competition with up to £8.4 million (in total) to run over financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25, with up to £6 million ring-fenced grant funding for ‘by and for’ services over the two years.
Whilst there is current international research on how colorimetry can assist the assessment of bruising in adults and children with darker skin this has yet to impact on NICE Guidance on bruising as of March 2021, or contemporary Royal College of Emergency Medicine Guidance.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of disparities in the response to, and treatment of, domestic abuse and domestic violence on the basis of race or ethnicity.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government recognises that Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), including domestic abuse, affects a wide range of people. Some victims, especially those with specific needs and vulnerabilities, including ethnic minority victims, may experience additional barriers to identifying, disclosing, seeking help or reporting abuse.
That is why in tackling domestic abuse a “one size fits all” approach is not appropriate to support all victims. We also understand the importance of specialist and ‘by and for’ services in providing tailored support and understanding that ethnic minority victims and survivors of VAWG offences and domestic abuse need. These are services that are led, designed and delivered ‘by and for’ the users and communities they aim to serve. As a result, these organisations have the necessary skills and experience to provide appropriate support.
On 22 November 2022, we commenced an open commercial competition (VAWG Specialist and Support Services Fund) for ‘by and for’ and specialist services. This will enable vital services, who are based in the communities they serve, to support victims often facing the greatest barriers to getting the help they need. We are able to fund this competition with up to £8.4 million (in total) to run over financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25, with up to £6 million ring-fenced grant funding for ‘by and for’ services over the two years.
Whilst there is current international research on how colorimetry can assist the assessment of bruising in adults and children with darker skin this has yet to impact on NICE Guidance on bruising as of March 2021, or contemporary Royal College of Emergency Medicine Guidance.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cows were slaughtered because of Bovine TB in Shropshire in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Shropshire | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Total number of cattle slaughtered | 2047 | 2099 | 1981 |
The total number of cattle slaughtered include:
- TB test positive animals: animals compulsorily slaughtered because they responded to the tuberculin skin test, interferon-gamma test, or antibody test in a way that was consistent with Mycobacterium bovis infection
- inconclusive reactor animals: compulsory slaughtered animals that showed positive reactions to bovine tuberculin that were not strong enough for the animals to be deemed reactors
- direct contacts of positive animals: animals that, although not test reactors, were considered to have been exposed to Mycobacterium bovis and compulsorily slaughtered
The information required is currently published at GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain
Additional information is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/incidence-of-tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain/quarterly-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain-statistics-notice-december-2022: ‘total cattle slaughtered’ tab.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have issued to police and forensic nurses regarding the use of Alternative Light Sources to detect bruising on dark skin; and what steps they are taking to support the use of this process.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office has not issued any official guidance.
The identification and interpretation of bruising is medical opinion and well established (see for example Assessment of bruise age on dark-skinned individuals using tristimulus colorimetry - PubMed (nih.gov)) in terms of amount of force, type of impact and longevity. Darker skin makes it more difficult but not impossible to examine. Various light sources and other means can be used to reveal or enhance the information which is a branch of forensic photography.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the two-week wait cancer referral target on referral waiting times for inflammatory skin conditions.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no current plans to make an assessment. The two-week cancer referral target for cancer reflects the importance of early diagnosis and treatment for that particular disease. Patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks for all other non-urgent, consultant-led treatments, including for inflammatory skin conditions.
NHS England published ‘The two-week wait skin cancer pathway: innovative approaches to support early diagnosis of skin cancer as part of the NHS COVID-19 recovery plan’ in April 2022, which emphasises that providers should not prioritise skin cancer targets to the detriment of the timely care of people with rashes and long-term skin conditions.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential health impacts of Opzelura for patients on the treatment of vitiligo and eczema.
Answered by Will Quince
Opzelura (ruxolitinib), is currently not approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA has noted that the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use issued a positive opinion for this on the 23 of February 2023 and is currently pending European Commission (EC) approval.
Should an application for Opzelura be received by the MHRA, we have processes in place to review this and, if appropriate, issue a licence in line with an EC decision.
Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by NHS England entitled The two-week wait skin cancer pathway, published on 4 April 2022, if he will make an estimate of the median cost to trusts of establishing a teledermatology service.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Outpatient Recovery and Transformation (OPRT) programme has delivered a series of webinars and processes to raise awareness of various outpatient improvement initiatives to support Integrated Care Systems, with signposting to online resources and contacts for support in implementation.
The OPRT in collaboration with the National Cancer team and other stakeholders have published the Implementing a timed skin cancer diagnostic pathway guidance for local health and care systems (in October 2022), including for teledermatology pathways to support two week wait skin cancer delivery.
NHS England provide support, funding and guidance to help cancer alliances improve outcomes and reduce variation. This includes programme management to support delivery and implementing guidance for achieving best practice. Estimates of costs of establishing teledermatology services are the remit of commissioner and provider organisations.
Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by NHS England entitled The two-week wait skin cancer pathway, published on 4 April 2022, whether his Department plans to take steps to help tackle regional variations in the use of teledermatology within dermatology services in England; whether his Department has provided funding for the implementation of new pathways proposed within that guidance; and whether accountability mechanisms have been put in place to help ensure that integrated care systems implement those pathways in England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Outpatient Recovery and Transformation (OPRT) programme has delivered a series of webinars and processes to raise awareness of various outpatient improvement initiatives to support Integrated Care Systems, with signposting to online resources and contacts for support in implementation.
The OPRT in collaboration with the National Cancer team and other stakeholders have published the Implementing a timed skin cancer diagnostic pathway guidance for local health and care systems (in October 2022), including for teledermatology pathways to support two week wait skin cancer delivery.
NHS England provide support, funding and guidance to help cancer alliances improve outcomes and reduce variation. This includes programme management to support delivery and implementing guidance for achieving best practice. Estimates of costs of establishing teledermatology services are the remit of commissioner and provider organisations.