Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Topical Questions

Tuesday 6 October 2020 · 17 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 6 Partly answered 9 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Tonia Antoniazzi asked about supporting children with intractable epilepsy through private prescriptions, to which the Minister responded by emphasizing the importance of following clinical evidence.
  • Jeremy Hunt inquired about the timing for long covid sufferers to access newly commissioned clinics, to which the Minister responded that further information would be provided shortly.
  • Kate Osamor asked about meeting the group representing covid-19 bereaved families, to which the Minister responded that meetings cannot occur if the group is involved in legal action against the Government.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Tonia Antoniazzi Lab Gower
NHS
Context

The Northern Ireland authorities have taken unprecedented action and committed to pay for private prescriptions for medical cannabis for severely ill children.

Question

Will he do the right thing and follow the example set in Northern Ireland in supporting other children with intractable epilepsy by paying for their private prescriptions—yes or no?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

The hon. Lady has long been a campaigner on this subject. We have made significant progress in terms of expanding access where it is clinically safe to do so. On this, as on so many things, I will make sure that I constantly follow the clinical evidence.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific yes or no answer regarding private prescriptions was not provided.

How: Following The Clinical Evidence

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Q2 Jeremy Hunt Con Godalming and Ash
NHS
Context

The Secretary of State's letter stated that clinics were going to be set up so that long covid sufferers could get mental health support, face-to-face counselling and rehabilitation.

Question

Have those clinics been commissioned, and when will those long covid sufferers be able to access them throughout the country?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

My right hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point. I know very well the impact of long covid; it is something that I understand deeply. We are in the process of setting up those clinics and there will be further information on this very shortly.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific timeline for clinic commissioning was not provided.

How: In The Process, Further Information Soon

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Q3 Jon Ashworth Lab
Context

The Office for National Statistics has said that deaths have increased three weeks in a row, and there is rising prevalence of the virus.

Question

Can he tell us today what he could not tell us yesterday: how many of the 48,000 contacts—not the index cases, the contacts—have been traced and how many are now isolating?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

We have obviously been continuing to contact both the index cases and the contacts. The total number of contacts depends on how many contacts each index case has. That information will of course be made available in the normal way when it has been completed. However, we cannot know in advance how many contacts there are because the interviews with the index cases have to be done first.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific number of traced and isolating contacts was not provided.

How: Will Be Completed, Cannot Know In Advance

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Q4 Jon Ashworth Lab
Context

The Government aims to vaccinate about 30 million people, and there has been an expectation that the whole population would be vaccinated.

Question

Can he tell us how long it will take, for the 50% of people who will not be vaccinated, for life to return to normal for them?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

As the hon. Gentleman well knows, decisions on the distribution of any vaccine have not been taken. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is the body that advises the Government on the appropriate clinical prioritisation of vaccines. It has published an interim guide, which he well knows about and we have discussed. That sets out the order of priority as an interim measure, but we await the data from the clinical trials of the vaccine before we will come to a clinically validated full roll-out plan.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific timeline for vaccine distribution was not provided.

How: Awaiting Clinical Trial Data

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Q5 Jo Gideon
NHS
Context

GPs surgeries are adapting by holding surgeries outside in car parks.

Question

Does my right hon. Friend agree that in times when alternative methods are replacing the usual privacy of face-to-face appointments behind closed doors, GPs surgeries must be sensitive to the whereabouts and comfort of their patients to ensure that others do not have the same experience as my constituent?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend, who speaks well for her constituent. I am very sorry that her constituent had that experience, and of course GPs should be sensitive, as the large majority are.

Answered
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Q6 Colleen Fletcher Lab
NHS
Context

The implications of coronavirus include rising levels of loneliness, which can impact on mental health and physical wellbeing while increasing pressure on the NHS.

Question

What resources can the Government provide to accelerate the spread of such social prescribing schemes so that community groups can deliver tailored local support to tackle this growing problem?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

I pay tribute to the group that the hon. Lady mentions. I have put a huge amount of effort into supporting social prescribing, including with funding, and I encourage her CCG to engage with such bodies to make sure that we can get funding to support them on the frontline.

Answered
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Q7 Caroline Johnson Con Sleaford and North Hykeham
NHS
Context

The questioner is concerned about women who are vulnerable, subject to abuse or in coercive relationships due to relaxed abortion services during the first lockdown.

Question

At the start of this pandemic, in the first lockdown, abortion services were relaxed to allow women to enable them to access the service from home. Now that we know that the risk to women of childbearing age from attending a face-to-face appointment is extremely low, what assessment has my right hon. Friend made of the ongoing need to continue in this way?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

The Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill) has committed to consult on the subject to make sure we get to the right outcome.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific assessment was not provided, only a commitment to consult

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Q8 Kate Osamor Labour (Co-op) Edmonton and Winchmore Hill
NHS
Context

The Government have refused to meet the group representing families who lost loved ones due to coronavirus.

Question

This Government have repeatedly refused to meet the group representing covid-19 bereaved families. I met the group last week, and they confirmed that they are not in litigation with the Government and never have been. They simply want to put across the concerns of thousands of people who have lost loved ones to coronavirus, so will the Minister now commit to meeting the group and hearing their concerns at first hand?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

Of course I have met and continue to meet the families of those bereaved through coronavirus. With this particular group, I am afraid that when I last looked into it, they were in legal action—in pre-action protocol—with the Government, so I am advised that I should not therefore meet them.

Not addressed: The refusal to meet due to legal concerns rather than addressing their request

How: Legal Concerns

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Q9 Simon Clarke Con
Context

Communities need a clear path out of tighter local restrictions.

Question

It is important that communities, such as mine in Middlesbrough, can see a way out of the tighter local restrictions that have now been imposed. Notwithstanding my right hon. Friend's earlier, very reasonable answer to the hon. Member for Bradford South (Judith Cummins) about the impossibility of setting hard metrics for the release from lockdown, can he set out what would constitute a path out? Does it include, for example, a sustained fall in transmission rates?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

The level of cases matters, but so too does the direction of travel, and when the number of cases is falling—especially if it is falling rapidly—that is the sort of indicator that we will look at. One example is the action we took in Leicester a few months ago now, where we removed some of the most restrictive measures when the numbers were coming down sharply.

Answered
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Q10 Ian Lavery Lab Blyth and Ashington
NHS Education Economy
Context

The north-east of England is experiencing a significant increase in coronavirus transmission levels.

Question

Please, please, Secretary of State, my constituents need extra support. Despite the outstanding efforts of the staff at Northumberland County Council, covid-19 is running rife through our towns and villages. Since stricter local lockdown measures were introduced, we have seen a huge increase in transmission levels. Parts of Ashington, Bedlington, Morpeth and Newbiggin have seen rates of almost 500 per 100,000. Secretary of State, please help us.

Answer from Matthew Hancock

I am very worried about the rates of transmission in the north-east, as I am about parts of the north-west of England. I look forward to working with the hon. Gentleman and colleagues from across the regions affected to take the action necessary to suppress this virus and to support the economy, education and the NHS right across this land.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific actions were not detailed beyond general commitments

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Q11 Suzanne Webb
NHS
Context

The questioner has personal experience with how effective the app is.

Question

I have first-hand experience of how effective the app has been, as it has kept my father covid-free before he goes into hospital tomorrow. Could my right hon. Friend update the House on the success of the app and advise me of what more Members can do to ensure that the covid-19 app continues to keep us all safe, including my father?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

The covid-19 app has now been successfully downloaded by around 15 million people, including my hon. Friend's father. Every extra person who downloads it helps to keep themselves safe and keep others safe. I urge everybody in this House to download it—I hope you have, Mr Speaker. It is one of the tools in the armoury, and everybody can play their part in keeping this virus under control by downloading the app.

Answered
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Q12 Jamie Stone Lib Dem Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
NHS Scotland
Context

There have been issues with people being advised to travel to Inverness for covid tests.

Question

As you can imagine, Mr Speaker, I was astounded to be told that people living in Devon were being advised to go to Inverness for a covid test. Can the Secretary of State reassure me that a truly collaborative effort is being made by Her Majesty's Government and the Scottish Government to beat this virus?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

Yes, absolutely. The testing facilities are one example of that. Testing facilities across the UK work very closely with the Scottish NHS, to ensure that people can get a test as close to them as possible. I think we have reduced the problem of people being sent to Inverness, but we continue to work to increase the capacity in Inverness and right across the country.

Answered
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Q13 Andrew Percy Con
NHS
Context

There have been reports in Canada and the US about the roll-out of rapid testing.

Question

Partly in response to large queues and hours-long waits for tests in Canada, Health Canada has followed the US Food and Drug Administration in approving rapid testing, such as the ID NOW test, which can give a result in 15 minutes. Can the Secretary of State update us on where we are with the roll-out of rapid testing?

Answer from Matthew Hancock

We are making good progress in validating the tests and in doing what needs to be done to be able to use them effectively. I have seen some of these reports from around the world, and I talk regularly to my opposite numbers about how we can get this sort of next-generation testing going.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific status on roll-out was not provided beyond general progress updates

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Q14 Jessica Morden Lab Newport East
NHS
Context

Spina Bifida Awareness Week is coming up and there's a consultation on putting folic acid into flour.

Question

With Spina Bifida Awareness Week coming up, can the Secretary of State say when the Government will respond to the consultation on putting folic acid into flour? It is a move that could help to reduce the number of babies born with defects of the spine, and it is important to hear when that might happen.

Answer from Matthew Hancock

I am a strong supporter of the work we have done to look at that approach. The hon. Lady is right to raise it, and I will write to her with a timetable for that response.

Answered
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Q15 Mary Robinson Con
NHS
Context

Women in Heald Green have missed out on local breast screening twice within three years, affecting take-up and potentially risking undetected cancers.

Question

Positive outcomes are more likely when cancer is detected early through breast screening. Women in Heald Green have missed out on local screening and been directed to Macclesfield, disrupting their three-yearly checks and potentially impacting uptake. Will the Secretary of State agree to meet me to discuss ways to address this situation?

Answer from Matthew Hancock (Secretary of State for Health and Social Care)

Yes, I would be happy to meet her. The breast screening backlog from the first peak is down from 450,000 to just over 50,000, due to the hard work of the NHS.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Secretary did not commit to addressing local mobile screening issues in Heald Green specifically

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Q16 Patrick Grady SNP
NHS
Context

The pharmaceutical industry has highlighted challenges in recreating stockpiles of medicines such as insulin before the end of the transition period.

Question

How will the Secretary of State ensure there are no drug shortages, particularly of medicines like insulin which is not produced in the UK?

Answer from Matthew Hancock (Secretary of State for Health and Social Care)

A huge amount of work is under way to ensure we are fully prepared for all eventualities this winter.

Not addressed: The Secretary did not provide specific measures or timelines to prevent shortages

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Q17 Anne-Marie Trevelyan Con
NHS
Context

The Northgate Hospital investment was announced last week, with a focus on developing technology to reach more patients in remote areas.

Question

I thank the Secretary of State for his commitment to Northumberland hospital investment. Does he agree that Berwick Infirmary is an ideal place to develop telemedicine to serve rural populations?

Answer from Matthew Hancock (Secretary of State for Health and Social Care)

We have announced a new hospital in Northumberland, funded by the Prime Minister. Community hospitals are crucial for delivering services closer to people's homes with modern advances.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Secretary did not directly address whether Berwick Infirmary is ideal for developing telemedicine specifically

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