Every parliamentary written question tabled by Rupert Lowe this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 181–200 of 267 · Department of Health and Social Care
How many posts there are in the NHS Muslim Network; what the job titles are of those posts; and what their cost to the public purse was in the last financial year.
The NHS Muslim Network is a voluntary staff network, so there are no paid roles. National Health Service staff networks can be an important mechanism of staff support, and help to shape organisational culture within the NHS, to create a fair and inclusive work environment.
What estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions for financial year 2025-26.
We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at Autumn Budget 2024, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.The Employer National Insurance rise will be implemented from April 2025. The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments in the usual way, in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.
Whether his Department has allocated funding for victims of grooming gangs.
NHS England and the police and crime commissioners jointly commission 48 sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) for victims of sexual assault and abuse. SARCs provide crisis care, medical and forensic examinations, emergency contraception, and testing for sexually transmitted infections. They can also arrange access to an independent sexual assault advisor, as well as referrals to mental health support services.NHS England has established local pathfinder projects for enhanced trauma-informed mental health support for sexual abuse victims and survivors with the most complex needs. There is now dedicated enhanced mental health support in five of the seven commissioning regions. The final two regions are considering delivery model options.
If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of conducting a study of the impact of rape gang grooming on the long-term (a) physical and (b) mental health of victims.
We know that children who experience violence or abuse can suffer from a range of physical and mental health issues over the course of their lifetime, and some may go on to become perpetrators themselves.The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). It funds a range of research related to the health and social care needs of survivors of sexual violence and abuse. It also funds the infrastructure of the James Lind Alliance. The alliance works with survivors of sexual abuse as well as health and social care professionals to identify urgent research priorities in the area. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of health and care, including the impact of grooming and sexual exploitation.
What role NHS Trusts have in (a) identifying and (b) reporting suspected incidences of child grooming by organised gangs.
Every National Health Service trust has a contractual obligation to adhere to the NHS Safeguarding Accountability and Assurance Framework 2024, which includes the protection of children from abuse, harm, or violence.In addition, every registered health professional working across the NHS has a professional duty of care to protect children from abuse, harm, or violence.The data on reported grooming by gangs is not captured by NHS England but would be held confidentially between each NHS trust and the local police.
How many and what proportion of officials in his Department were hired via positive action schemes in the last financial year.
All Civil Service departments work within the Recruitment Principles, as regulated by the Civil Service Commission, to recruit using a fair and open process and appoint on merit. Departments will only limit a campaign to a specific group as a form of positive action as a proportionate response to achieve a legitimate aim, as defined in section 159 of the Equality Act 2010.The Civil Service is committed to a diverse workforce and a culture of openness and inclusivity, not as ends in themselves, but as means of delivering better outcomes to the citizens we serve.The Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: 2022 to 2025, published in February 2022, is positioned as an essential lever to deliver a modern Civil Service, where our values are to serve with integrity, honesty, objectivity, and impartiality, driving our vision to be a skilled, innovative, and ambitious Civil Service equipped for the future. This strategy sets out a broader definition of diversity, to include geographical, social, and career backgrounds alongside the protected groups. This strategy is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-diversity-and-inclusion-strategy-2022-to-2025As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024-2027, we are committed to ensuring we attract, develop, and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds, to create a modern Civil Service, now and for the future. Further information on this plan is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-people-plan-2024-2027/civil-service-people-plan-2024-2027-html#recruitment-retention--talentThe Department has made hires from wider Civil Service schemes. The schemes supported by the Department for external hires in the last financial year 2023/2024 were the Civil Service Care Leaver Internship Scheme and Going Forward into Employment. Details on these schemes are available at the following link:https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/gfie-schemes/Six such appointments were made from these schemes, representing 2% of the total new hires to the Department made in that financial year.
If will make an assessment of the potential merits of conducting a review into the funding of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
There is currently no planned review of the funding of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).The MHRA is funded predominately by charging fees to industry, for the services it delivers, with additional funding being provided by the Department. The fees are set to recover the full cost of delivering the respective services. This follows the HM Treasury guidance, Managing Public Money. This cost-recovery approach means that the regulated bear the cost of regulation, rather than the taxpayer and, by extension, patients.Departmental funding to the MHRA is set in advance through collaborative spending review processes, which consider the MHRA’s needs in detail.
What the cost to the public purse is of Change NHS.
The public and staff must be at the centre of the development of the plan to make the National Health Service fit for the future, so it makes a positive impact on their day-to-day lives. That is why we are running a series of in-depth deliberative events and have launched an open platform to hear from members of the public and those who work in health and care.The events are being delivered within the Department's budget as part of its responsibility to promote the health and wellbeing of everyone in England. We are determined to do this in a way that gives everyone the chance to get involved, while also ensuring value for money. At this point in time, we are not able to provide accurate costs for the whole engagement exercise, because it is still ongoing.
If he will make an estimate of the costs to the NHS of treating birth defects resulting from cousin marriage in each of the past ten years.
The Government has not carried out an assessment of the costs to the National Health Service of treating birth defects resulting from cousin marriage.We will continue to work with the NHS as it delivers its three-year maternity and neonatal plan to grow our maternity workforce, develop a culture of safety, and ensure women and babies receive safe, personalised, and compassionate care.
How many under 18 year olds have undergone gender reassignment surgery in each of the last ten years.
No individual under 18 years of age has received surgical intervention for gender dysphoria through commissioning arrangements put in place by the National Health Service in England.
If he will make an assessment of the cost effectiveness of the covid-19 vaccine booster programme, in the context of the findings on the impact of vaccination take-up in care homes on resident mortality in the report by Sourafel Girma and David Paton entitled Using double-debiased machine learning to estimate the impact of Covid-19 vaccination on mortality and staff absences in elderly care homes, published in European Economic Review, Volume 170, November 2024.
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI considers the cost effectiveness of immunisation strategies, alongside a range of data, including epidemiological and vaccine effectiveness data, when formulating its advice. On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme in 2025 and spring 2026. This advice is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026The Government is considering this advice carefully and will respond in due course.
If he will make an assessment of the benefits of a review of the cost effectiveness of the care home vaccine mandate during COVID.
There are no plans to carry out such an assessment.
If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on trends in people’s quality-adjusted life years.
It is vital that we carefully consider all the impacts and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, both from the pandemic itself and the measures taken to address it. The intention of the lockdowns during COVID-19 was to save lives and protect the health of the population, and to protect the National Health Service, but it is also important to consider the other impacts on society and the public’s health.During the pandemic, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies commissioned and published a series of papers on the impact of the pandemic, including impacts on morbidity and mortality. These papers presented the net impacts of the pandemic and highlighted the difficulty in separating out the impact of infections, interventions, and voluntary changes in behaviour.It isn’t possible for any assessment to retrospectively attribute impacts specifically to lockdowns, in part because we don’t know what would have happened without lockdowns in place.
Which external companies are contracted by the NHS to provide training for staff.
This information is not held centrally by the Department or NHS England. Each National Health Service organisation, including NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, appoint their own suppliers for staff training purposes as required. There are several public sector framework agreements in place which offer services and suppliers for the training of staff in the NHS for a range of different purposes.
If he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of training to raise awareness of the role of interpreting within the NHS.
The provision of interpretation services is the responsibility of the service provider. There is no national programme for training to raise awareness of interpreting within the National Health Service.
How many visits there were by NHS staff to (a) hotels and (b) other accommodation housing irregular migrants in each of the last five years.
The Department and NHS England do not hold the information requested. The National Health Service is a residency-based system, which means that people who do not live here on a lawful, settled basis must contribute to the cost of their care. However, some of the most vulnerable people arriving in the United Kingdom, including refugees and asylum seekers, do not pay for NHS treatment.The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the NHS, local authorities, and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the health care and support they need. All asylum seeker accommodation providers have a duty and requirement to assist people who need it to access the healthcare systems in their local area. The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold information on the services commissioned by the Home Office.As for any NHS patient, care may be delivered by independent providers as part of the public healthcare system. This does not mean asylum seekers are in receipt of private healthcare.
How many optician appointments for irregular migrants there were at what cost to the public purse in each of the last five years.
The Department and NHS England do not hold the information requested. The National Health Service is a residency-based system, which means that people who do not live here on a lawful, settled basis must contribute to the cost of their care. However, some of the most vulnerable people arriving in the United Kingdom, including refugees and asylum seekers, do not pay for NHS treatment.The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the NHS, local authorities, and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the health care and support they need. All asylum seeker accommodation providers have a duty and requirement to assist people who need it to access the healthcare systems in their local area. The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold information on the services commissioned by the Home Office.As for any NHS patient, care may be delivered by independent providers as part of the public healthcare system. This does not mean asylum seekers are in receipt of private healthcare.
How many vaccines have been administered to irregular migrants in each of the last five years.
Primary care services, such as vaccinations, are available and free to all, including people who arrive in the United Kingdom through irregular routes. New arrivals are encouraged to receive a patient health check when they register in primary care, including previous vaccination history.Vaccination data pertaining to migration status is not collected or published by the Government.
How many ambulance visits there were to (a) hotels and (b) other accommodation housing irregular migrants in the most recent year for which information is available.
The Department does not hold the information requested.
How many international (a) air miles and (b) flights have been completed by (i) Ministers and (ii) officials in their Department since 5 July 2024.
The number of international air miles travelled by officials in the Department between 5 July and 29 November 2024 was 504,421. The number of flights taken by officials in the Department was 166. We have interpreted officials as all other Departmental staff.The number of international air miles travelled by ministers in the Department was 36,489. We have not provided the number of flights taken by ministers as this is published on a quarterly basis, a quarter in arrears, on the GOV.UK website. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-overseas-travel-and-meetings