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  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on the potential link between high blood pressure in people of 30 to 40 years of age and the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department has had no such discussions.

    Dementia is a key priority for this Government. That is why on 6 March 2016, we published the Implementation Plan to support the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020. As part of the Plan, we will transform our approach to risk reduction, using the NHS Health Check programme to educate more people earlier about the risks of developing dementia – and the steps they could take to reduce those risks.

    In March 2016, we announced that Public Health England, in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK, will pilot approaches to the dementia awareness and risk reduction component of the NHS Health Check, specifically with the younger age group, aged 40-64.

    The Government has also signed up to the Blackfriars’ Consensus, which, made clear that individuals can reduce their risk of dementia by living healthier lives by not smoking, drinking less, keeping physically active and better managing diabetes.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on the use of aspirin to prevent strokes.

    George Freeman

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) clinical guideline on stroke and transient ischaemic attack in over 16s: diagnosis and initial management (CG68), published in July 2008, recommends that all people presenting with acute stroke who have had a diagnosis of primary intracerebral haemorrhage excluded by brain imaging should be given aspirin 300 mg as soon as possible but certainly within 24 hours.

    Thereafter, aspirin 300 mg should be continued until two weeks after the onset of stroke symptoms, at which time definitive long-term antithrombotic treatment should be initiated.

    This guidance is due to be reviewed by NICE in July 2016 to see whether it needs to be updated.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on treatment of chronic bronchitis through the freezing of lungs.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no such discussions.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on using DNA tests to help in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    We are not aware of any discussions with medical organisations on using DNA tests to help in the diagnosis, and treatment, of breast cancer.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of antibiotics.

    Jane Ellison

    The UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy is an ambitious programme to slow the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance, which was published in 2013. The Strategy aims to prevent infection, protect the antibiotics that we have and promote the development of new drugs and alternative treatments. Each of these initiatives will contribute to reductions in the inappropriate use of antibiotics.

    Implementation of our Strategy has met with success in primary care. Between April and December 2015, two million fewer prescriptions were dispensed compared to the same period in 2014, a reduction of 7.9%.

    Globally, the United Kingdom has been at the forefront of successful negotiations of the antimicrobial resistance resolution at World Health Organization last year, with equivalent resolutions relating to food and agriculture and animal health. A key part of this work is aimed at reducing the risk of infections and improving antimicrobial stewardship.

    We are also aiming to raise the profile of antimicrobial resistance yet higher through a successful high level meeting on antimicrobial resistance at the UN General Assembly in September this year.

    Furthermore, we will use the recently published recommendations from Lord O’Neill’s Review on antimicrobial resistance to address the global challenge of unblocking the antibiotic pipeline and reducing unnecessary antibiotic usage in both the human and animal health sectors.

  • Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Teresa Pearce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Teresa Pearce on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many diagnoses of (a) Lyme disease and (b) chronic Lyme disease have been made in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    The existing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance supports primary care doctors in managing Lyme disease but to further strengthen the evidence base we have commissioned NICE to develop guidelines for the recognition and treatment of Lyme disease; this is expected in June 2018.

    Public Health England (PHE) provides information on Lyme disease and tick awareness to the medical profession and the public, holds regular medical training days, and works with Lyme Disease Action to support the needs and interests of patients.

    NHS Choices also publishes information on its website to raise awareness of Lyme disease and encourage timely medical consultation because early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is the best way of limiting complications from infection.

    The number of human cases can be reduced by raising public awareness of how to avoid tick bites, and by environmental measures in public places to reduce the long grass and scrub which harbor ticks. PHE works with interested local authorities to raise tick awareness, and has produced joint public information with local authorities in areas such as the New Forest with a significant incidence of Lyme disease.

    The number of laboratory confirmed cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales varies annually, in 2013 there were 878 and in 2014 there were 730, but the majority of diagnoses are made clinically by general practitioners and those figures are not recorded.

    Patients with late or complicated Lyme disease may be diagnosed in a variety of specialist clinics, and the numbers are not recorded. Based on the clinical information supplied with the laboratory request, only a small proportion of the annual number of cases fall into this category.

    There is no clear definition for chronic Lyme disease, and no general acceptance of what the term means, so no data is available.

  • Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for registration to the Nursing and Midwifery Council were withdrawn by the applicant before they were assessed from candidates trained (a) in England, (b) in the European Economic Area (EEA) and (c) outside the EEA.

    Ben Gummer

    The information requested in relation to the number of applications for registration to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is not held centrally.

    The NMC is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom and is responsible for nurse and midwife registration. It has informed the Department that it does not collect data on how many applications for registration are rejected or withdrawn before they were assessed.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funds his Department is providing from the public purse to deliver its autism strategy in (a) England and (b) Gloucestershire; whether that funding is ring-fenced; and if he will make a statement.

    Alistair Burt

    Think Autism, the updated Cross Government strategy for adults with autism in England was published in 2014. A focus of the strategy is for public services and organisations to think about and engage with people who have autism more effectively and make reasonable adjustments or adaptations to improve outcomes and make better use of existing public resources. The Department made available revenue and capital funding of £4.5 million to support innovation and awareness in 2014/15 but no funds are individually ring-fenced. Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire local authorities both received £18,500 seed corn capital funding to make environments more autism friendly, and South Gloucestershire was awarded £8,300 for an Autism Innovation Fund project.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals have been on the staff of the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU in each year since 2010; and what proportion of such staff in each such year were of administrator grade.

    Mr David Lidington

    The General Secretariat of the Council of the EU does not publish statistics on numbers of permanent staff by nationality. According to our own internal records, the total numbers of UK nationals employed by the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU, including secondees, in each year since 2010 are:

    2010: 159 (98 at AD)
    2011: 100 (50 at AD)
    2012: 99 (52 at AD)
    2013: 91 (56 at AD)
    2014: 87 (55 at AD)
    2015: 93 (56 at AD)

    The latest figure available is for May 2016 and is 101 (62 at AD).

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to other EU member states at the Council of the EU on cessation of Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance II funding to Turkey in 2014-20.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance funding is used to promote political reform and human rights, cut corruption and strengthen the rule of law and to bring Turkey – and other EU accession countries – up to EU standards, economically and politically. It has also been used to help Turkey respond to the migration crisis. It promotes cooperation on issues that matter to the UK, such as the rule of law, organised crime and migration. Improving the business environment in Turkey and other EU accession countries will lead to more commercial opportunities for British goods and investment.

    As the Prime Minister has made clear, Turkey’s EU accession is not remotely on the cards for many years to come.

    Turkey has to negotiate 35 different chapters. Since EU accession negotiations with Turkey started in 2005, only one chapter has been closed. Decisions to open chapters, to agree that conditions have been met and to close chapters all require the unanimous agreement of EU Member States. Once all chapter negotiations have been completed and closed, there must be another unanimous decision on accession. All 28 Member States then have to ratify an accession treaty, and the European Parliament has to approve the accession. Some EU Member States have already committed to undertake a referendum on Turkey’s accession to the EU. In the case of the UK, under the European Union Act 2011, ratification cannot take place without an Act of Parliament to approve the new accession. We can therefore ensure that our requirements are respected in any future EU enlargement.