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NHS Trusts

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what public sector dividend capital each trust has been required to pay in each year since its inception. [6101]

Mr. Horam [holding answer 14 December 1995]: The information requested will be placed in the Library.

Progestogens

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has in respect of clinical trials for third generation progestogens for their metabolites. [5922]

19 Dec 1995 : Column: 1152

Mr. Malone [holding answer 14 December 1995]: Any company or investigator wishing to conduct a clinical trial with third generation progestogens or their metabolites would have to apply to the Medicines Control Agency in accordance with the Medicines Act 1968 and would have to provide a justification for the use of third generation progestogens taking into account the recent advice of the Committee on Safety of Medicines.

Prodigy

Mr. Congdon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what mechanisms will be used by Prodigy to allow general practitioners to make choices from alternative lists; [6312]

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the general practitioners prescribing computer pilot project, Prodigy, and its cost. [6239]

Mr. Malone: I refer the hon. Members to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton) on 18 December, Official Report, columns 945-46.

Mr. Congdon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the drugs and preparations which appear on the first choice list offered by Prodigy will be generics. [6313]

Mr. Malone: The majority of drugs are listed by approved name. The only exception is where it is established as clinically important that the patient should always receive the same brand, in which case the brand name has been stated.

Advice contained within the British National Formulary, and that of experts in clinical pharmacology, has been followed.

Mr. Congdon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how his Department will choose between a number of similarly efficacious products when deciding which will appear on the first choice list offered to general practitioners by Prodigy; [6314]

Mr. Malone: Where one or more drugs are clinically efficacious, choice for inclusion in the guidelines was then based on other factors including safety, known side effects, best practice and cost. The guidelines were then referred to a clinical expert panel for peer review.

Mr. Congdon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what mechanisms products excluded from the first choice list under Prodigy can later be added to it. [6319]

19 Dec 1995 : Column: 1153

Mr. Malone: The content of the guidelines used in the project will be kept under review. Discussion with the medical profession and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry about how this is best done will take place in the new year.

Mr. Congdon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what surveys his Department has (a) carried out and (b) plans to carry out, in order to determine whether general practitioners are likely to take the first choices offered them by Prodigy or whether they will make alternative choices. [6320]

Mr. Malone: The extent to which general practitioners use, amend or override the guidelines will be carefully monitored during the project.

Advisory Committee on Pesticides

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the members of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides and their qualifications. [6222]

Mrs. Browning: I have been asked to reply.

Members of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides and their qualifications are:


WALES

Departmental Performance

Sir Wyn Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the work of his Department since May 1993. [3485]

Mr. Hague: My Department's main achievements since May 1993 are as follows:


19 Dec 1995 : Column: 1154

Further details are set out in the Welsh Office departmental reports for 1994, Cm 2515, and 1995, Cm 2815, together with the update which I gave to the Welsh Grand Committee on 29 November.

Breast Cancer

Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will allocate sufficient resources to establish specialist breast care units in Wales; [7123]

Mr. Richards: Recommendations for the future provision of cancer services are set out in "A Policy Framework for Commissioning Cancer Services", a report by the chief medical officers of England and Wales. An expert advisory group has been established in Wales to assist health authorities to implement the recommendations of the report.

Health authorities will be expected to prioritise their resources to ensure that the health needs of their local population are met. In doing so, they will need to take into account the recommendations of the chief medical officers' report.

19 Dec 1995 : Column: 1155

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the mortality rate figures for women with breast cancer aged 50 to 69 years in 1992 for each health authority in Wales. [5677]

Mr. Richards: The information, provided by the Office for Population Censuses and Surveys, is given in the following table. As mortality rates for small subsets of the population can fluctuate considerably from year to year, an average based on five years' data has also been included.

Female breast cancer (ICD 174)--Deaths per 100,000 female residents aged 50 to 69

19921990-1994(42)
Clwyd9993
East Dyfed133107
Pembrokeshire12995
Gwent9291
Gwynedd6487
Mid Glamorgan8590
Powys88103
South Glamorgan7881
West Glamorgan100103

(42) Data for 1993 and 1994 are provisional.

International Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death (9th revision).


Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the age standardised mortality rate figures for women with breast cancer aged 50 to 69 years in Wales in (a) 1992 and (b) 1993. [5676]

Mr. Richards: In Wales, age-standardised mortality rates for women aged 50 to 69 years with breast cancer-- ICD9 code 174--are 99.7 in 1992 and 105.4 in 1993. Data for 1993 are provisional. Using data provided by OPCS, these standardised rates are worked out by adjusting the actual rates for Wales so that they are based on the age distribution within the relevant age group of women in England. For example, on the basis of the figure for 1993, for every 100 deaths from breast cancer in England there would be 105.4 in Wales if the proportions of women in each five-year age band were the same for the two countries.


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