There are no references within our Guidance which state we would require a hospital in-patient to attend a meeting at a Jobcentre.

Where a claimant is required to attend Work Focused Interviews, guidance states that work coaches have discretion to vary the frequency and appointment channel in light of the claimant’s needs, circumstances and capability. Guidance also states that in exceptional circumstances, where a claimant is absolutely prevented from accepting a Claimant Commitment, the requirement to do so is temporarily lifted. This includes, but is not limited to, instances where a claimant is undergoing medical treatment as an in-patient in a hospital.

General Practices (GP) have remained open throughout the pandemic, offering face to face appointments to those who need them as well as telephone and online consultations and are grateful for the effort they have made to support their patients. As outlined in the NHS England and NHS Improvement’s letter of the 19 July 2021 to GP practices, it remains a clear expectation that practices should offer a blend of face to face and remote appointments, with remote triage where possible. This is the approach many practices are taking and in July 2021, over half of all appointments (excluding vaccination appointments) were face to face (57.2%).

NHS England and NHS Improvement have commissioned an independent evaluation to understand the impact for staff, patients and the wider health and care system of using digital tools in primary care (and in particular the effectiveness of online consultation systems and triage approaches in general practice) to inform its long-term strategy.

The Department continues to work with NHS England and NHS Improvement and GPs to assess the impact of different types of appointment and to improve access for all patient groups. The public sector equality duty requires public authorities to have due regard to the impact of their policies on different protected characteristics, one of which is age.

The Department has not offered specific guidance to NHS staff in the event of treating patients who refuse to wear face masks. PPE guidelines are set by the Infection Prevention and Control Cell (IPC) which is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/990923/20210602_Infection_Prevention_and_Control_Guidance_for_maintaining_services_with_H_and_C_settings__1_.pdf

NHS staff are advised to follow local Trust rules, which incorporate IPC guidelines.

The National Health Service publish weekly reports by trust on the number of hospitalised patients with COVID-19, including those on mechanical ventilation; the number of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19; and the number of patients diagnosed in hospital with COVID-19. These reports are available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-hospital-activity/

In addition, national and regional data on the daily number of hospitalisations, new admissions and inpatient cases and patients on mechanical ventilation is available at the following link:

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare

Public Health England (PHE) has made no specific assessment.

However, data on the number of people who are hospitalised due to COVID-19 is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-hospital-activity/

The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) mental health services can be accessed by adults with physical health problems, including those with brain tumours, as well as their family and friends whose mental health may be impacted as a result of this physical illness. Many IAPT services have strong links with a range of health and care settings to ensure that patients and carers receive the right support as quickly as possible, including secondary care and the patient groups within it.

The monthly data publication, last published on 8 July, showing COVID-19 related hospitalisations by age is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-hospital-activity/

Public Health England monitors the number of people who have been admitted to hospital who have received one or two doses of the COVID-19 vaccination and will publish this data in due course.

Data on the number of hospitalised COVID-19 cases by vaccination status is not available in the format requested.

Many cases of asthma will be diagnosed and managed in a primary care setting. Primary care data is not currently linked to the data collected by the National Health Service for hospital admissions.

There has been a very low incidence of mucormycosis secondary to COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom. Across 2020 and 2021, there have been 66 incidences of invasive fungal infection, of which only four incidences have been associated with COVID-19.

The Government has no plans to review or extend the prescription charge medical exemptions list. Around 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge and extensive arrangements are already in place to help people, including transplant patients. To support those with the greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption, they can spread the cost of their prescriptions by purchasing prescription pre-payment certificates. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just over £2 per week.

As of 25 May 2021, 5,559 cases of B.1.617.2 have been identified in England. Of these cases, 201 or 3.6% were recorded to have visited accident and emergency and 43 or less than 1% of those admissions resulted in overnight stays in hospital.

The Department continues to engage with organisations such as Health Education England and the Royal Colleges to ensure that healthcare professionals are equipped to provide information and advice to those vulnerable to the health impacts of air pollution. The Chief Medical Officer has also discussed this matter with the Royal Colleges during a recent meeting. This will allow patients and their carers to take steps to reduce their exposure to air pollution and give them greater power to manage their condition.

The NHS Long Term Plan committed to improve outcomes asthma outcomes for children and young people. The Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme has asked local systems to prioritise local improvements in asthma care. This will include supporting clinicians to discuss the short and long-term adverse effects of air pollution in children with asthma and any mitigation strategies.

NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that they have no plans to collect data on general practitioner phone capacity. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with a number of areas to test advanced telephony requirements and/or specifications, which will improve telephone capacity. NHS England and NHS Improvement intend to share learning from these areas to support practices across the country to improve telephony.

NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that they have no plans to collect data on general practitioner phone capacity. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with a number of areas to test advanced telephony requirements and/or specifications, which will improve telephone capacity. NHS England and NHS Improvement intend to share learning from these areas to support practices across the country to improve telephony.

No waiting list data is held centrally on adults or children wishing to access National Health Service dental services in Stockport, the North West or England.

The Department is working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Chief Dental Officer for England to increase levels of service, as fast as is safely possible. On 29 March we announced that the threshold for full NHS contractual payment would be raised to 60% of normal activity. Nearly 700 urgent dental care centres also remain open across England to ensure that patients are able to access urgent dental treatment. We continue to explore what more can be done to increase capacity including piloting pre-appointment testing.

Continuous registration with dental practices is no longer required and patients are only registered with a dental practice during the course of their treatment. This differs from registration with a general practitioner surgery, as dental practices are not bound to a catchment area. In circumstances where patients are unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through a National Health Service dental practice, they should contact NHS 111 for assistance.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have issued guidance on the importance of continuing to offer face to face appointments, utilising remote triage and making use of online and telephone consultations where appropriate – whilst considering the needs of those unable to access or engage with digital services. On 7 January 2021 NHS England and NHS Improvement set out further details on the actions to release capacity in general practice as well as priorities for the next quarter. This includes maintaining routine appointments, supporting the clinically extremely vulnerable and those with ‘long’ COVID-19 and continuing to reduce the backlog of appointments.