Topical Questions 2022-03-01

2022-03-01

TAGS
Response quality

Questions & Answers

Q1 Direct Answer
Context
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia prompted a humanitarian emergency.
I am concerned about the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. Will the Secretary of State make a statement on his departmental responsibilities regarding this situation?
I share the horror and disgust at Putin's invasion. We are providing humanitarian support to Ukraine including 50,000 medical supplies sent via Poland on Sunday night with more supplies being sent today.
Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q2 Partial Answer
Context
Concerns about asymptomatic testing for close contacts of immunocompromised people.
On behalf of my constituents with blood cancer, I ask the Secretary of State to consider providing free asymptomatic testing for their close contacts. Will he do so?
We will keep under review our testing offer and consider any changes necessary, but we are targeting free asymptomatic testing on vulnerable people including those who are immunocompromised.
Assessment & feedback
Free asymptomatic testing for close contacts of immunocompromised individuals is not specifically committed to
Will Keep Under Review
Response accuracy
Q3 Partial Answer
Wes Streeting Lab
Ilford North
Context
The Health Secretary asked for £5 billion in funding but received nothing from the Treasury.
Will the NHS now face cuts as a result of not receiving additional funding? The Times reported that the Health Secretary threatened potential delays and reductions if he did not get the requested funds. Is this true?
We must learn to live with covid and fund our plan through the Department's budget, which is our priority. The hon. Gentleman should not believe everything he reads in the press.
Assessment & feedback
Avoided discussing potential cuts to NHS due to lack of funding increase
First, The Hon. Gentleman Should Not Believe Everything He Reads In The Press
Response accuracy
Q4 Partial Answer
Wes Streeting Lab
Ilford North
Context
The Health Secretary asked for £5 billion but received nothing, potentially leading to cuts in social care and elective surgeries.
Is it true that the Health Secretary has not secured the funding he requested from the Treasury? If so, will these cuts impact patients?
When it comes to funding our plan for living with covid, it is funded by the Department. The hon. Gentleman should not believe everything he reads in the press.
Assessment & feedback
Avoided discussing potential impact on patients from lack of additional funding
First, The Hon. Gentleman Should Not Believe Everything He Reads In The Press
Response accuracy
Q5 Direct Answer
Context
Record funding for NHS with plans to catch up on delayed treatments.
How will you increase the number of face-to-face GP appointments available to my Crawley constituents and people across the country?
NHS England has given clear guidance for all GP practices to provide face-to-face appointments alongside remote consultations, respecting patient preferences.
Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q6 Direct Answer
Context
The Scottish Government has confirmed initial humanitarian aid and medical supplies to Ukraine.
What discussions have you had with Cabinet colleagues on boosting urgent medical equipment provision to Ukraine and guaranteeing access for doctors?
The UK has provided significant medical aid, including supplies sent via Poland. We will work with the Scottish Government to ensure that support reaches those who need it.
Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q7 Partial Answer
Context
Devon's community hospitals and minor injury units have been closed due to the pandemic.
Would my hon. Friend consider extra help for reopening these facilities, as using existing capacity effectively is essential?
The minor injuries units at Ilfracombe and Bideford have been temporarily closed since March 2020. The trust continues to work with the local CCG on planning safe staffing levels, but no referral has been made for permanent changes.
Assessment & feedback
Permanent solutions not addressed, only temporary reconfiguration mentioned
Response accuracy
Q8 Partial Answer
Jessica Morden Lab
Newport East
Context
Physician associates in Newport East are seeking clarity on when they will be allowed to take on more responsibilities within the NHS.
Happy St David's day, Mr Speaker. Physician associates in my constituency, who play a vital role in the NHS, want to hear from the Government when long-awaited regulations that will allow them to take on more responsibility and play an even greater role in our NHS will come forward. Can the Secretary of State update the House and will he meet me and constituents to discuss this?
First, I wish a happy St David's day to the hon. Member and all those celebrating. I would be happy to meet her on this issue. The Government greatly value the role of physician associates. They bring new talent to the NHS and act in an enabling role, where they can help healthcare teams with their workload. Physician associates will be regulated by the General Medical Council, and the Department has consulted on draft legislation on just how to do that.
Assessment & feedback
Specific timeline or regulation details not provided
Response accuracy
Q9 Partial Answer
Context
The MP is seeking to increase GP capacity by promoting patient self-referrals for routine community services.
I recently met Specsavers to discuss how patient choice should be promoted by making all routine community services patient self-referrals, especially when that can free up GPs' time by not using them as administrative gatekeepers. Will the Secretary of State commit to meeting me to discuss how we can increase GP capacity using such measures?
I am very interested in hearing proposals on patient self-referral. I am happy to meet my hon. Friend. From a cancer perspective, we are also potentially looking at self-referrals for skin diagnosis for possible skin cancer and for breast lumps, because we want to reduce waiting times and increase GP capacity.
Assessment & feedback
No specific commitment on patient self-referral measures mentioned
Response accuracy
Q10 Partial Answer
Alex Davies-Jones Lab
Pontypridd
Context
The MP has been campaigning for better regulation of IVF add-ons which often have limited success rates and high costs.
Dydd Gŵyl Dewi hapus to you, Mr Speaker, and the whole House. The Minister should be aware of my long-fought campaign to improve how IVF add-ons are marketed to people who are longing for a baby. These add-ons, such as embryo glue or assisted hatching, often have limited success rates and cost thousands of pounds on top of an already expensive procedure. The system simply needs more regulation, so will she commit to meeting me to discuss this important issue further?
I am happy to meet the hon. Lady. She raises a very important point that affects people who are desperate to try for children.
Assessment & feedback
No specific commitment on regulation or timeline provided
Response accuracy
Q11 Direct Answer
Laura Trott Con
Sevenoaks
Context
The MP is pleased with the government's decision to introduce a licensing regime for non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
I thank the Secretary of State for the extremely welcome news that he will introduce a licensing regime for non-surgical cosmetic interventions. This is a huge step forward for women's health, and one that I have campaigned for over many years, along with many across the House. I am absolutely delighted. Can he inform us how the proposed licensing regime will keep pace with the rapidly changing landscape of these treatments?
First, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend and to my right hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North (Caroline Nokes) for all the work they have done on this most important of issues. Over the past few months, we have all heard in this House some horrific examples of botched, non-cosmetic procedures scarring people for life. No longer will that be allowed. We will be introducing a licensing regime for such procedures. The details of the regime will be set out in regulations, meaning that it will be flexible, agile and change in response to changes in the cosmetics industry.
Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q12 Partial Answer
Toby Perkins Lab
Chesterfield
Context
The MP is concerned about health disparities exacerbated by the pandemic in more deprived communities.
The response from the hon. Member for Lewes (Maria Caulfield) to the question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Dame Diana Johnson) on health inequalities gives me no confidence that the Government have a plan to address these inequalities at all. She says that we have had a pandemic—of course we have, but the point is that it has happened everywhere. What does it say about this Government's priorities that waiting times are escalating to a far greater extent in more deprived communities than they are in the more affluent communities that the Tories are so happy to represent?
I can only reiterate that we have a laser focus on this issue, and that is why we will be bringing forward the health disparities White Paper. I also point the hon. Gentleman to the NHS's approach of the Core20PLUS5, where it is targeting the most deprived 20% of the population in five clinical priority areas: maternity, severe mental illness, chronic respiratory disease, early cancer diagnosis and hypertension. We will deliver on resolving disparities issues.
Assessment & feedback
No specific timeline or plan provided for addressing inequalities
Response accuracy
Q13 Direct Answer
Jeremy Hunt Con
Godalming and Ash
Context
The MP is concerned about the high mortality rates for brain tumours, especially among younger people.
Today is the first day of Brain Tumour Awareness Month. The Secretary of State kindly wrote to me in January when my mother died from a brain tumour, and Baroness Tessa Jowell, who was much loved on all sides of the House, also died from a brain tumour. Given that it is the biggest cause of cancer death for the under-40s, and we still do not really know what causes them, does he agree that this should be a priority for research, so that we understand as much about brain tumours as about other cancers?
I once again express my condolences to my right hon. Friend for his loss. He is absolutely right to raise this issue and the need for more research. That is one of the reasons why, back in 2018, we announced £40 million of extra research funding over the next five years. I can tell him that some £9 million of that has already been committed to 10 projects. In addition, the Tessa Jowell Brain Matrix is an exciting new trials platform that will give people with brain cancer access to trials of treatments that are best suited for their individual tumours.
Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q14 Partial Answer
Context
The MP is concerned about the lack of women-specific disease research funding, such as for endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome.
According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, less than 3% of medical research funding in the UK is focused on women-specific diseases such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome. They are serious conditions, but too little is known about them and we do not hear enough about them, especially polycystic ovary syndrome. The failure to increase research funding is holding back women's outcomes and experiences. What are the UK Government doing to increase the priority given to research funding for both those conditions?
The hon. Lady raises an important point. She is right that women are under-represented in clinical research and are waiting far too long for diagnoses of conditions such as endometriosis. The women's health strategy will be published very shortly and I think that she will be pleased with some of its recommendations to drive improvements forward.
Assessment & feedback
No specific funding commitment or timeline provided
Response accuracy
Q15 Partial Answer
Greg Smith Con
Mid Buckinghamshire
Context
Long Crendon in Mid Buckinghamshire requires a new health centre to address local healthcare needs.
I am grateful to the Minister for Health for giving his time over recent months to hear the case for an exciting and innovative new health centre for the village of Long Crendon in my constituency, as proposed by the parish council and action group. Will he update the House on where we are with finding funding to help the construction of the project?
My hon. Friend is, as ever, persistent and tenacious in his advocacy of Long Crendon's surgery plans; not only at the Dispatch Box but whenever he runs into me around this place, it is often the first thing on his lips. I will continue to work with him on the surgery bid and I encourage him to continue to work with his local NHS systems.
Assessment & feedback
Funding progress update for Long Crendon health centre
Persistent Advocacy Work With Local Systems
Response accuracy
Q16 Partial Answer
Diana R. Johnson Lab
Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham
Context
The Secretary of State's decision to remove telemedicine for abortion pills has raised concerns.
Will the Secretary of State meet me as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on sexual and reproductive health in the UK? Can I bring along the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare to explain why the decision to remove telemedicine is wrong for women in this country?
Assessment & feedback
Meeting request with experts to discuss telemedicine decision
Response accuracy
Q17 Partial Answer
Context
A Shepshed dental practice has contracts unchanged since 2006, focusing on treatment rather than prevention.
A dental practice in Shepshed has informed me that its NHS contract has changed little since 2006. Can the contracts and value of units of dental activity for treatment be increased to focus on prevention, rather than treatment alone?
I absolutely agree; my hon. Friend hits the nail on the head of why we are seeing such problems in dentistry. We have started negotiations on the dental contract and are working with the British Dental Association. The UDA has to be reformed as part of that: it is a perverse disincentive that turns dentists away from providing NHS services. I will keep her updated on our progress.
Assessment & feedback
Specific increases in contract values and UDAs for prevention
Reform Negotiations Bda Cooperation
Response accuracy
Q18 Partial Answer
Jim Shannon DUP
Strangford
Context
A proposal for a golden handshake to retain medical students in the NHS.
I thank all the Ministers for their responses. What steps have been taken to work with the Education Secretary to provide a higher number of places for medical students containing a golden handshake that allows for no student loan repayment or fees on condition that they stay in the NHS for a set time?
It is an important question on the workforce. The hon. Gentleman will know that over the last two years we have removed the cap on medical places and we have the highest number of doctors and dentists in training ever. It is right to think about what more we can do, however, and we are having active discussions with the Secretary of State for Education to see what can be done.
Assessment & feedback
Specific steps towards a golden handshake scheme
Workforce Discussions Active Discussions
Response accuracy
Q19 Direct Answer
Kim Leadbeater Lab
Spen Valley
Context
Concerns about increased stress on children with ADHD and autism due to the last two years.
On the issue of children's mental health, does the Minister agree that children with ADHD and autism have found the last two years even more stressful than usual? A cross-departmental approach is long overdue to ensure that their needs are adequately met.
The hon. Lady is absolutely right, which is why we are working cross-departmentally to bring forward a mental health strategy. It is also why we have put in place mental health recovery funding specifically for the recovery from the pandemic, which has had a terrible effect on children's mental health.
Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q20 Partial Answer
Context
Concerns about the low number of prescriptions for medical cannabis on the NHS.
The Secretary of State is on record saying: “Making medicinal cannabis available on prescription will benefit the lives of ill patients currently suffering in silence. There is nothing harder than seeing your loved ones in pain”. Since he said that, there have been three prescriptions for medical cannabis on the NHS. They are important, because they set a legal and medical precedent that it can happen, and it can happen now. Currently, however, if I can afford it, I can buy it, but if I cannot, I cannot. When will he address that anomaly?
The hon. Gentleman will know that for medicines to be generally available on the NHS, they have to be deemed safe and effective by the independent medical regulator. That requires trials to take place and that is where the focus should be. Those who want those medicines to be more easily available should encourage the companies that produce them to have trials and the NHS will support them in doing so.
Assessment & feedback
Addressing low prescription numbers for medical cannabis
Trials Requirement
Response accuracy
Q21 Partial Answer
Emma Lewell Lab
South Shields
Context
Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry were victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack; their parents want to register their deaths.
Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry from South Shields were tragically murdered in the Manchester Arena terror attack. Their parents' pain is unimaginable and constant. After sitting through hours of the inquiry, they have been told that, in just two days' time, the registration of their precious children's deaths will be done not by them, but by a stranger. Apparently that is standard practice for mass casualty events. These grieving parents are being denied this final act for their children. Please can the Secretary of State explain why, and urgently intervene?
Of course I would be very happy to meet the hon. Lady. It is a very important issue that she has raised. I also send my condolences to the parents of Chloe and Liam.
Assessment & feedback
Explanation on standard practice for mass casualty event registrations
Important Issue Meeting Request
Response accuracy
Q22 Direct Answer
Carla Lockhart DUP
Upper Bann
Context
The Government has confirmed the temporary telemedicine for at-home abortion pills will cease.
The right decision was taken by this Government last week in confirming that the temporary telemedicine at-home abortion pill should cease. I commend the Government for that decision. Given that more than 10,000 women have ended up in hospital in the year 2020 after taking a first abortion pill, can my hon. Friend confirm that the Government will follow through on that decision?
As we clearly stated, the decision has been made to end the temporary approval, which means that face-to-face consultations and taking the first pill in a healthcare setting returns to England from 30 August 2022. As I said earlier, all healthcare services are kept under review as evidence and information emerge.
Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q23 Partial Answer
Daisy Cooper Lib Dem
St Albans
Context
Concerns about the founding principle of free-at-the-point-of-use services in light of charging for covid tests.
Since the NHS was created, it has been governed by the principle that services are free at the point of use, and, of course, the Secretary of State has a duty to protect that. Many of my constituents want to know whether the Government's decision to start charging for covid tests marks a departure from that founding principle.
Clearly, that is one of the most important principles of the NHS and it will not change. It is right, though, that when we look at living with covid, we target testing on those who are most vulnerable or who are in vulnerable settings. That is the right, proportionate and balanced approach.
Assessment & feedback
Departure from founding principle due to test charges
Living With Covid Vulnerable Testing
Response accuracy