To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Lord Markham on
4 January (HL1377) and 24 January (HL1768), under a realistic worst case scenario
for Risk 54 (an unmitigated respiratory pandemic) in which 1.34 million people require
hospital treatment, how many (1) additional mechanical ventilators, (2) non-invasive
ventilators (BiPaP), and (3) NIV continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) units,
would be required in addition to those currently held by hospital intensive care units;
and what would be the estimated cost, at current prices, of replacing the equipment
held in the COVID Strategic Care Unit Reserve.
<p>The Department continues to plan and prepare for a range of pandemic and emerging
infectious disease scenarios, including those caused by respiratory contact and vector-borne
pathogens, both influenza and non-influenza related. These plans are built on lessons
learned from exercises and incidents, including the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>NHS England
routinely monitor the total number of ventilators available against the number of
ventilators in use. NHS England published Adult critical care surge plan guidance
in December 2023 which sets out the actions to ensure capacity is mobilised at a sufficient
rate to meet increases in demand. In response to any pandemic, NHS England would implement
the published surge planning guidance to review capacity and demand within the current
context of the situation. A copy of this guidance is attached.</p><p>The Department’s
COVID Strategic Intensive Care Unit Reserve was established to operate for a set lifespan
in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, after which point it would close. Due to lower-than-expected
demand for equipment from the stockpile by the National Health Service, the strategic
pandemic intensive care unit reserve is now closing in March 2024 and there are no
current plans to replace it. No estimate has been made of the cost of replacing it.</p>
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will set out their spending plan to meet
the target to increase dementia research funding to £160 million per year by 2024.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the British Council
regarding the decision to reduce funding to that organisation; what assessment they
have made of the impact of the closures of British Council offices that have resulted
from the funding cuts; and what assessment they have made of the compatibility of
their decision with their Global Britain policy.
<p>The government remains committed to the British Council. As the Integrated Review
made clear, the Council is one of the vital instruments of our influence overseas.
We agreed a 2021/22 Spending Review settlement totalling £189m, a 27% increase on
funding for 2020/21. The Council will continue to operate in over 100 countries promoting
the English language, UK arts and culture, and education. Our commitment to Global
Britain is clear through our hosting of the G7 last month, and the UK continues to
be a soft power superpower.</p>
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Blackwood
of North Oxford on 21 January (HL127), whether the contract signed with Amazon to
provide health data from the NHS specifies whether Amazon has liability for (1) the
loss, (2) the destruction, (3) the corruption, (4) the desegregation, or (5) the damage,
of health data.
<p>No patient data is being shared with Amazon as part of this agreement. The collaboration
with Amazon simply connects people to medically verified information on a range of
different medical conditions, symptoms and treatments which is already freely available
online through the National Health Service website. Use of Amazon Alexa is just an
alternative mechanism for accessing that information.</p><p>The agreement with Amazon
clearly stipulates that neither party is liable for any loss of data. The data referred
to in this agreement is the medically verified NHS information that is already freely
available on the NHS website. It does not concern patient data, as this is not being
shared with Amazon. There is no significant risk for the NHS concerning the loss,
destruction, corruption, desegregation or damage of this data.</p><p>This agreement
with Amazon will help people manage their own healthcare more effectively, reaching
a far greater number of citizens. This will enable people to take better control of
their own healthcare needs, thereby potentially helping with prevention and early
diagnosis.</p>
To ask Her Majesty's Government for how long the three vaccination regime for human
papilloma virus, in the form of Gardasil, Gardasil 9 or Cervarix, maintains protection
against infection.
<p>Current evidence from clinical trials has demonstrated that protection against
targeted human papilloma virus types following vaccination using Cervarix lasts for
at least nine years and at least eight years for Gardasil. The immunological evidence
supports expectations that these vaccines will protect for much longer.</p><p> </p><p>The
duration of protection for Gardasil 9 is not yet known.</p>