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1991 Census

Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what revisions he expects to make to the 1991 census and when these will be announced; and what effect these changes will have on the statistics available for populations within county boundaries. [16742]

Mr. Horam: There are no plans to revise the population figures from the 1991 census. The Registrar General's current series of mid-year population estimates are based on the 1991 census and include adjustments for estimated under-coverage in the census as well as for births, deaths and registration since 1991. Census figures

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for new local authority areas created under the Local Government Act 1992 will be published as each new area takes effect.

Correspondence

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set target dates for replies to letters sent to his Department. [16783]

Mr. Horam: We aim to reply to all letters within 20 working days of receipt.

Incontinence

Sir John Hannam: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he is currently funding or planning to fund into the problems and treatment of incontinence. [16738]

Mr. Bowis: The Department commissioned the social policy research unit of York university to research and produce a report on "The Role of the Continence Adviser in England and Wales". This was published in January 1994 and distributed to all health authorities, NHS trusts and continence advisers. Copies of the report will be placed in the Library.

The Department has also commissioned three other research projects on incontinence:


These projects have just been completed and are subject to peer review.

In addition to Department of Health funding, the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade, has commissioned a large research programme costing about £5.5 million entitled "Incontinence: A population laboratory approach to the epidemiology and evaluation of care". The programme is based on five interlinked projects:


The NHS centre for reviews and dissemination is currently carrying out a systematic review on interventions to manage enuresis.

Research is being undertaken as part of the NHS research and development programme on:


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Following completion of each research programme, the Department will consider how best to encourage health care decision makers to act on the findings.

Sir John Hannam: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what support he plans to give voluntary agencies concerned with the problem of incontinence (a) in 1995 and (b) in future years. [16757]

Mr. Bowis: In 1995-96, the Department is providing funding to voluntary organisations concerned with incontinence as follows:


In addition to the above amounts, the Department is providing £50,000 to support National Continence Day/Bedwetting Day which will be held on 19 and 20 March 1996.

Sir John Hannan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the work of (a) his Department and (b) the NHS in the past year in respect of continence services. [16758]

Mr. Bowis: The Department of Health supports a number of initiatives.

The organisation of continence services locally and the manner in which they are delivered, are matters for district health authorities and hospital and community trusts.

Ear, Nose and Throat Operations

Mr. Congdon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many procedures were carried out on children aged up to 16 years in each of the last 10 years for (a) myringotomy, (b) adenoidectomy and (c) tonsillectomy. [16905]

Mr. Horam: The information available for National Health Service hospitals in England is shown in the table:

MyringotomyAdenoidectomyTonsillectomy
1989-905,17317,60145,645
1990-915,24116,57747,582
1991-927,04017,80451,597
1992-936,31217,53252,931
1993-943,97116,22054,578

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics.


The latest year for which information is available is 1993-94; prior to 1989-90, data to the level of detail requested was not available centrally.

Isle of Wight (Expenditure)

Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total expenditure by his Department on the Isle of Wight in 1994-95 broken down by category. [16776]

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Mr. Horam: The information is as follows:

Isle of Wight district health authority and family health services authority expenditure 1994-95

Category of expenditureAmount
£
District health authority expenditure: Healthcare and related services purchased: Mental handicap 2,679,000
Mental illness5,247,000
Maternity2,221,000
General and acute26,945,000
Accident and emergency1,417,000
Primary care4,210,000
Other contractual expenditure4,903,000
Other 1,627,000
Total district health authority expenditure49,249,000
Family health services authority expenditure: Primary 9,480,000
GP fundholding21,608,000
Other934,000
Total family health services authority expenditure32,022,000
Total Isle of Wight expenditure81,271,000

Notes:

1. Figures are provisional.

2. "Other" relates to the authorities' administration and purchasing expenses, and other services.

Source:

1. Annual accounts and financial returns of the Isle of Wight DHA.

2. Annual accounts of the Isle of Wight FHSA.


Local authority centrally financed services expenditure on Isle of Wight 1994-95

Category of expenditureAmount £
Training support grant161,104
Drugs and alcohol abusers26,214
Special transitional grant1,981,465
Guardian ad litem and reporting officers19,535
Services for people with mental illness107,038
Total2,295,356

This does not include any expenditure on the Isle of Wight incurred by other health bodies but not separately identifiable


Thalidomide

Mr. Loyden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for how many patients and in which areas the drug thalidomide has been prescribed in the last five years. [17391]

Mr. Malone: This information is not available centrally.

Mr. Loyden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines have been issued to hospital trusts about the purchasing of the drug thalidomide from abroad; and if he will place a copy in the Library. [17406]

Mr. Malone: There are no guidelines specifically relating to the purchase of the drug thalidomide from abroad. Decisions made by national health service trusts on the purchase of drugs to meet patients' needs and on the most appropriate source of supply, are made with the input of clinicians and pharmacists, in accordance with the Medicines Acts 1968 and 1971. "Guidance on thalidomide" was published by the Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Medicines Control Agency in the

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May 1994 issue of "Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance" a drug safety bulletin which is circulated to all doctors, dentists, pharmacists and coroners. This guidance note strongly advised all doctors considering the use of thalidomide to follow detailed external guidelines on the clinical use and distribution of thalidomide which were published in a widely available medical journal. A reminder was published in July 1995. Copies of both the May 1994 document and that of July 1995 are available in the Library.


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