Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 reduce variations in the level of the uptake of routine vaccination programmes.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department works with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England to improve immunisation coverage for all, including those from under-vaccinated communities, through a range of initiatives. This includes data to better identify under-served individuals and populations, training for healthcare professionals and communication with the public, offering alternative delivery routes and local outreach efforts to connect with communities with historically lower uptake are informed of the benefits of vaccines. It also includes ensuring everyone can access through provision of immunisation leaflets available in over 15 languages as well as being available in braille, BSL, large print and audio versions.
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: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the level of healthcare needs that residents at the proposed new asylum accommodation centre at MDP Wethersfield will have; what healthcare provision will be available on-site; whether residents will be registered with local GPs off-site; what estimate she has made of the number of GP practices in the local area; and what assessment she has made of the (a) capacity of those practices to take on new patients and (b) levels of experience in working with asylum seekers and refugees.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The first group of asylum seekers is now at Wethersfield.
We will be using a phased approach, gradually increasing the number of asylum seekers accommodated at the site over time and with the site under constant review. The site will be able to accommodate 1700 individuals when fully operational.
The maximum length of stay at the site is currently between six and nine months, except where the Secretary of State is unable to find suitable onward dispersed accommodation despite reasonable efforts to do so.
Furthermore, we have been applying the lessons learned at Napier Barracks to ensure that the Wethersfield site runs efficiently. We appreciate that there are fewer people at Napier but the principles of running a large accommodation site remain the same.
In addition to the checks against policing and immigration databases, at Manston, those individuals identified for the site will be subject to a suitability assessment. Guidance on the suitability criteria used can be found at Allocation of accommodation. Each person’s suitability will be assessed at regular intervals and if they are no longer suitable for any reason, they will be moved to alternative accommodation.
All asylum seekers in the UK may contact Migrant Help 24 hours a day, 365 days a year if they need help, advice, or guidance, that includes raising issues relating to safeguarding.
The asylum seekers selected to move to Wethersfield were new arrivals. These asylum seekers had been placed in short stay accommodation pending completion of the asylum registration process and an onward move to contingency accommodation to be arranged. The applicants selected were notified of the transport arrangements by the accommodation provider, and around 24 hours notice was given.
An Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) for Wethersfield has been completed and is currently under a routine review. The EqIA will be monitored and reviewed quarterly.
All the asylum seekers staying at the Wethersfield site will receive appropriate access to legal advice provisions, and legal representatives will be made available through both in-person visits and online videoconferencing. The site will facilitate pre-booked access for legal representatives to visit, including out of hours visits where required, with provision of dedicated space for in-person conversations with asylum seekers, and appropriate videoconferencing technology will also be provided on-site to facilitate virtual meetings. Migrant Help will signpost all asylum seekers to the relevant Legal Providers. Due to the virtual provisions for legal access on site, access to sufficient legal representation for Wethersfield will not be constrained by the capacity nor expertise of legal providers within the local area alone.
Small boat crossings are dangerous, unnecessary and put lives at risk. There have been appalling and preventable tragedies in the English Channel which must stop. We aim to deter illegal entry to the UK, break the business model of people smugglers and protect the lives of those they endanger. Migrants are intercepted by Border Force and brought to facilities in Dover to begin processing their asylum claims.
Full screening of people’s identity, security checks, initial asylum screening and processing is undertaken at Western Jet Foil in Dover and Manston, Kent. Migrants are then moved to suitable accommodation locations as quickly as possible.
In terms of healthcare, extensive work has been undertaken with local and national health partners, including the Multi Agency Forum (MAF) to work through the specifics of healthcare provision being provided on the site. The health subgroup of the MAF was set up specifically to look at how we minimise the impact on local health services and facilitate primary health care on site which has now been established. Financial support is being provided to NHS Mid and South Essex, and the onsite primary health care service will register residents so that is no need to register with local GP practices.
Upon arrival in the UK, all individuals are offered a health check at Western Jet Foil in Dover and Manston, Kent. If necessary, healthcare practitioners at Manston administer medical care. On arrival at Manston, individuals are offered a diphtheria vaccination in line with current UKHSA recommendations in response to the outbreak in this population.
The Home Office has procedures in place to support individuals with potential symptoms of an infectious disease, including isolation spaces within Wethersfield and a designated isolation hotel. The Home Office receives advice and guidance where needed from the local UKHSA Health Protection Team on management of individuals and contacts with a suspected infectious disease. Anyone with symptoms of an infectious disease is made to isolate and can only enter the asylum system once assessed by doctor and deemed to be non-infectious.
The onsite provider has prior experience in meeting the health needs of asylum seekers.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a legal advice provision is available at the new asylum accommodation centre at MDP Wethersfield; and whether she has made an (a) estimate of the number of legal firms in the local area and (b) assessment of whether local legal firms have the (i) capacity and (ii) necessary expertise to take on clients from that centre.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The first group of asylum seekers is now at Wethersfield.
We will be using a phased approach, gradually increasing the number of asylum seekers accommodated at the site over time and with the site under constant review. The site will be able to accommodate 1700 individuals when fully operational.
The maximum length of stay at the site is currently between six and nine months, except where the Secretary of State is unable to find suitable onward dispersed accommodation despite reasonable efforts to do so.
Furthermore, we have been applying the lessons learned at Napier Barracks to ensure that the Wethersfield site runs efficiently. We appreciate that there are fewer people at Napier but the principles of running a large accommodation site remain the same.
In addition to the checks against policing and immigration databases, at Manston, those individuals identified for the site will be subject to a suitability assessment. Guidance on the suitability criteria used can be found at Allocation of accommodation. Each person’s suitability will be assessed at regular intervals and if they are no longer suitable for any reason, they will be moved to alternative accommodation.
All asylum seekers in the UK may contact Migrant Help 24 hours a day, 365 days a year if they need help, advice, or guidance, that includes raising issues relating to safeguarding.
The asylum seekers selected to move to Wethersfield were new arrivals. These asylum seekers had been placed in short stay accommodation pending completion of the asylum registration process and an onward move to contingency accommodation to be arranged. The applicants selected were notified of the transport arrangements by the accommodation provider, and around 24 hours notice was given.
An Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) for Wethersfield has been completed and is currently under a routine review. The EqIA will be monitored and reviewed quarterly.
All the asylum seekers staying at the Wethersfield site will receive appropriate access to legal advice provisions, and legal representatives will be made available through both in-person visits and online videoconferencing. The site will facilitate pre-booked access for legal representatives to visit, including out of hours visits where required, with provision of dedicated space for in-person conversations with asylum seekers, and appropriate videoconferencing technology will also be provided on-site to facilitate virtual meetings. Migrant Help will signpost all asylum seekers to the relevant Legal Providers. Due to the virtual provisions for legal access on site, access to sufficient legal representation for Wethersfield will not be constrained by the capacity nor expertise of legal providers within the local area alone.
Small boat crossings are dangerous, unnecessary and put lives at risk. There have been appalling and preventable tragedies in the English Channel which must stop. We aim to deter illegal entry to the UK, break the business model of people smugglers and protect the lives of those they endanger. Migrants are intercepted by Border Force and brought to facilities in Dover to begin processing their asylum claims.
Full screening of people’s identity, security checks, initial asylum screening and processing is undertaken at Western Jet Foil in Dover and Manston, Kent. Migrants are then moved to suitable accommodation locations as quickly as possible.
In terms of healthcare, extensive work has been undertaken with local and national health partners, including the Multi Agency Forum (MAF) to work through the specifics of healthcare provision being provided on the site. The health subgroup of the MAF was set up specifically to look at how we minimise the impact on local health services and facilitate primary health care on site which has now been established. Financial support is being provided to NHS Mid and South Essex, and the onsite primary health care service will register residents so that is no need to register with local GP practices.
Upon arrival in the UK, all individuals are offered a health check at Western Jet Foil in Dover and Manston, Kent. If necessary, healthcare practitioners at Manston administer medical care. On arrival at Manston, individuals are offered a diphtheria vaccination in line with current UKHSA recommendations in response to the outbreak in this population.
The Home Office has procedures in place to support individuals with potential symptoms of an infectious disease, including isolation spaces within Wethersfield and a designated isolation hotel. The Home Office receives advice and guidance where needed from the local UKHSA Health Protection Team on management of individuals and contacts with a suspected infectious disease. Anyone with symptoms of an infectious disease is made to isolate and can only enter the asylum system once assessed by doctor and deemed to be non-infectious.
The onsite provider has prior experience in meeting the health needs of asylum seekers.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunisation programme: JCVI advice, 7 June 2023, published on 22 June, what steps if any they will take to allow for the introduction of those recommendations so that (1) infants, (2) older adults, and (3) NHS staff, can be protected from Respiratory Syncytial Virus in the Winter 2023/24 period.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Policy options based on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI) advice on a potentially expanded infant RSV vaccination programme are being worked up. This includes the Department working with UKHSA and NHS England on implementation, with NHS England leading on delivery.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
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 23 May 2023 to Question 186387 on Cancer: Vaccination and with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Scotland on 29 March 2023, Official Report, column 1000, if he will meet the hon. Member for Edinburgh South to discuss cancer vaccine trials.
Answered by Will Quince
In May this year, the Government published its response to Lord O’Shaughnessy’s Review into Commercial Clinical Trials in the United Kingdom. The response accepted the recommendations from the O'Shaughnessy Review and identified five priority commitments to take forwards in the immediate term, backed by £121 million, all aimed at speeding up the set up and running of commercial clinical trials in the UK.
The UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BioNTech in January, bringing their innovative research and development to the whole of the UK. Through the agreement, UK cancer patients will have access to trials exploring personalised mRNA cancer therapies. Ministers regularly meet with parliamentary colleagues across a range of health issues, meeting requests should be sent direct to the Department.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent respiratory illnesses, such as respiratory syncytial virus, in babies and infants this winter to free up paediatric elective care.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) usually causes a mild self-limiting respiratory infection in adults and children, but it can be severe in infants. The United Kingdom has a programme of immunisation with the monoclonal antibody immunisation to reduce the risk of severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease in babies at high risk of complications including those with major congenital heart disease and complications of prematurity.
United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors levels of RSV activity in England, publishes information throughout the RSV season and works closely with NHS health professionals to support the healthcare system in responding to RSV activity.
The NHS plans for a wide range of scenarios ahead of each winter and will continue to adapt plans based on respiratory infections surveillance, including RSV, and NHS activity data. This includes specialised commissioning-led winter surge planning for paediatric critical care, as well as wider winter planning.
For RSV specifically, this includes the selective seasonal offer of monoclonal antibody to infants at high risk, which continues to be managed and reviewed in accordance with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Advice has recently been given by JCVI for specialised commissioning to work towards replacing palivizumab with nirsevimab. Nirsevimab is an extended half-life monoclonal antibody which should give protection for at least six months and possibly longer, unlike palivizumab which requires administration of monthly doses in a series of five monthly intramuscular injections to infants and children during the RSV season. NHS England is working with partners, including UKHSA, to plan for and manage the transition from palivizumab to nirsevimab.
UKHSA have also highlighted the signs and symptoms of RSV, and steps that people can take to reduce infections through social media, online content and national and regional media.
JCVI is currently evaluating RSV infant immunisations and maternal vaccinations for programme use and the Government awaits their recommendations.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that family members of, and carers for, people in the clinical risk groups are not recommended to receive COVID-19 booster vaccinations, what steps they are taking to protect people in clinical risk groups from contracting COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement titled ‘Approach to Managing Covid-19’ on 30 March 2023, in 2023/24 the Government will maintain a range of capabilities to protect those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Given the continued effectiveness of vaccines and improved treatments, for most people there is a much lower risk of severe illness compared to earlier in the pandemic.
We will therefore continue to encourage people to take up the vaccines to which they are entitled, and we will continue to fund and provide COVID-19 testing, to manage outbreaks in some high-risk settings and to enable access to treatments for those who are eligible. We will also maintain essential COVID-19 surveillance activities in the community, primary and secondary care, and in high-risk settings. Additionally, we will retain proportionate capability for testing in the event of a COVID-19 wave or variant that results in a significant increase in pressure on the National Health Service.
Vaccination does not significantly limit transmission, so there is no strong reason to prioritise vaccination for carers of those who are at high risk of severe illness.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decline in the uptake of immunisations in each of the last 10 years in England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on coverage of the childhood vaccination programme published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS Digital shows a consistent decline in coverage over the last 10 years.
UKHSA undertakes annual surveys of parents and adolescents to understand how knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards immunisation, vaccine safety and disease severity influence vaccine uptake decision-making. Confidence in vaccination remains consistently high in these surveys.
UKHSA, in partnership with NHS England and the Department, is undertaking a range of actions to improve vaccination coverage in England, and to promote the value of vaccines through regular media and stakeholder and social media engagement. This includes initiatives to improve access to the immunisation programme, data to better identify underserved individuals and populations, and training for healthcare professionals.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reverse the decline in uptake of immunisations to prevent infectious diseases from reoccurring in future winter seasons.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Vaccination is the best defence against severe illness, with inflections including flu and COVID-19 becoming more common over the winter season. More than 17.3 million people received a COVID-19 autumn booster this year and overall, the National Health Service COVID-19 vaccination programme has delivered 144.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine since December 2020.
NHS staff, together with partners, including local Government and volunteers, have delivered a combined 38 million flu and covid doses this winter amid record pressures on emergency services, providing crucial protection to the most vulnerable and keeping thousands out of hospital.
NHS England has also written directly to parents of two- to three-year-olds and sent tailored letters to people in high-risk groups. An additional online national booking service was tested this year so eligible people had another route to book a pharmacy appointment. The effectiveness of this service is being evaluated for the 2023/24 season. There has also been a major seasonal vaccinations marketing and communications campaign to encourage people to come forward.
They will be ready to stand up future campaigns with the same dedication and determination once new guidance is set out. Plans for 2023/24 will build on good practice from previous flu and covid seasons and to reflect the need to achieve maximum coverage across eligible cohorts.
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 he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the take up of the influenza vaccine in winter 2022-23.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In England from October to March monthly flu vaccine uptake data for general practitioner patients, school-aged children and frontline healthcare workers, are produced by UK Health Security Agency and include the numbers vaccinated. The data is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figures
All monthly data is provisional until the end of season report is published. Vaccination can take place any time between 1 September 2022 and 31 March 2023. Annual reports for each flu season are published after the end of the season, with last year’s report published in June 2022.
Provisional monthly data for 2022 to 2023 shows that some of the momentum from the previous two years, where the highest flu vaccine uptake rates ever were achieved, was maintained initially but then tailed off. For those aged 65 years old and over, the World Health Organization target of 75% uptake has again been exceeded. For other cohorts, including pregnant women, healthcare workers, and two- and three-year-olds, uptake has been lower than the last two years.