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General Allocations

Ms Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds have been returned to the general allocations for 1997-98 as a result of the death before 1 April 1996 of patients with (a) mental illness and (b) learning disabilities admitted before June 1970, in both hospital-based and community-based accommodation. [10735]

Mr. Horam: The 1997-98 general allocations to health authorities have been enhanced by £20 million as a result of the net reduction in the special allocation which funds the care of patients with mental illness admitted before 1 January 1971 and patients with learning disabilities admitted before 1 January 1970. Patient deaths is one of the factors in this net reduction but this element is not separately identified in the information held centrally.

NHS Supplies Management

Ms Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what response his Department has made to the Audit Commission's report, "Improving Supplies Management in National Health Service trusts"; and what decisions have been made by Her Majesty's Government in relation to potential savings outlined in the report. [10754]

Mr Horam: It will be for national health service trusts to respond to the specific recommendations made by their external auditors, who are appointed and regulated by the Audit Commission, following local audits based on the good practice recommendations in the report. The Department fully supports the report's emphasis on the importance of good supplies management and its relevance to quality patient care, and we particularly welcome the Audit Commission's call for senior trust management to take a more active interest in this area.

The potential savings quoted in the report were derived from a small sample of trusts. The examples quoted were historic and the figures therefore do not take account of improvements since made in this area.

Computer Records

Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who owns the (a) written and (b) computer records that general practitioners hold on patients. [10686]

Mr. Malone: Ownership of records on patients maintained by general practitioners in accordance with their terms of service, is vested in the health authority.

Continuing Care

Ms Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the bids for 1996-97 continuing care challenge funds. [10750]

13 Jan 1997 : Column: 176

Mr. Burns: Health authorities' bids for additional continuing care funding for 1996-97 are listed in the table. Details of allocations to health authorities were announced in a press release on 27 December 1996.

Health authority£ bid
South Thames
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth290,000
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham876,000
East Surrey217,721
West Sussex216,000
East Sussex75,000
West Surrey267,783
West Kent771,000
East Kent310,000
Bromley300,000
Kingston and Richmond165,000
Bexley and Greenwich116,000
Croydon121,000
Trent
North Derbyshire275,975
South Derbyshire466,000
Doncaster40,000
Leicestershire509,560
Lincolnshire186,750
North Nottinghamshire219,085
Nottingham330,088
Rotherham100,000
Sheffield225,000
South Humber185,000
West Midlands
Herefordshire50,605
Worcestershire600,201
North Staffordshire181,500
South Staffordshire195,984
Birmingham797,922
Coventry100,100
Dudley370,000
Sandwell137,000
Shropshire140,000
Solihull100,000
Walsall53,500
Warwickshire175,000
Anglia and Oxford
Buckinghamshire120,000
Cambridge and Huntingdon778,000
North West Anglia396,500
Northamptonshire278,425
Oxfordshire190,500
Bedfordshire60,000
South and West
Avon500,000
Cornwall300,000
Dorset170,000
Isle of Wight33.098
North and East Devon341,832
North and Mid-Hampshire200,000
Portsmouth309,100
Southampton282,400
South and West Devon646,025
Wiltshire299.188
North West
Liverpool385,000
Sefton790,000
Manchester530,000
Wirral600,000
Morecambe Bay108,000
Bury and Rochdale531,500
St. Helens and Knowsley100,000
North West Lancashire91,191
North Cheshire309,688
West Pennine85,595
Salford and Trafford263,380
South Cheshire137,280
Stockport210,000
Wigan and Bolton134,000
East Lancashire133,595
Northern and Yorkshire
Calderdale and Kirklees162,350
North Cumbria100,000
Newcastle and North Tyneside320,000
Gateshead and South Tyneside 89,000
Sunderland160,000
Tees210,000
North Yorkshire210,000
Bradford100,000
Leeds(min) 717,500
(max) 1,185,500
Wakefield649,500
North Thames
East London and the City647,100
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow541,150
Barking and Havering508,000
Hillingdon623,000
Redbridge and Waltham Forest485,840
East and North Hertfordshire53,500
Enfield and Haringey347,100
Brent and Harrow39,000
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster191,000
North Essex36,800
Camden and Islington123,500

13 Jan 1997 : Column: 177

Cancer Treatments

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on cancer treatments in each year since 1992 (a) nationally and (b) in the west midlands; and what was the percentage change from the previous year in each case. [10246]

Mr. Horam: The information requested is not available centrally. It is estimated that the care and treatment for cancer patients forms a substantial part of national health service work in primary and secondary care sectors of around 7 per cent. of NHS resources.

Drugs

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his planned budget for the next three years to advertise the potential dangers of (a) aspirin, (b) coproxamol, (c) dothiepin and (d) paracetamol. [9846]

Mr. Malone: Aspirin, coproxamol, dothiepin and paracetamol are effective medicines, the indications and side-effects of which are documented in the authorised product information and publications such as the "British National Formulary". The main system for providing regular information to health professionals about important drug safety issues arising with medicines is a bulletin called "Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance", which is produced by the Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Medicines Control Agency. It is sent to all doctors, dentists, pharmacists, and coroners, by post approximately quarterly and is available on the Internet. The current annual budget for this bulletin is £260,240.

13 Jan 1997 : Column: 178

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has to assess the level of use of anti-psychotic drugs and drugs containing morphine in residential homes for the elderly. [9847]

Mr. Burns: None. The prescribing of any drug as part of the medical treatment received by a person living in residential care is the responsibility of that person's general practitioner. Medical and pharmaceutical advisers are available to help doctors prescribe most effectively for their patients.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the drugs that were available only on prescription in 1979 that are now available without prescription. [9848]

Mr. Malone: Since 1979 exemptions to prescription control have been made for the substances in the table, subject, in some cases, to conditions such as indication, maximum dose or route of administration.

Certain medicinal products now available containing these substances may not have been authorised in 1979.

Reclassification of medicines: POM to P switches

Substance
1983Loperamide
Ibuprofen
1987Hydrocortisone
1988Astemizole
1989Mebendazole
1991Hyoscine butylbromide
1992Carbenoxolone sodium
Clotrimazole
Econazole
Econazole nitrate
Isoconazole nitrate
Miconazole
Miconazole nitrate
1993Acrivastine
Cetirizine
Ketoprofen
Loratadine
Terfenadine
Aciclovir
1994Beclomethasone dipropionate
Cimetidine
Famotidine
Mebendazole
Pseudoephedrine hydrochloride
Sodium cromoglycate
Tioconazole
Diclofenac diethylammonium
Felbinac
Flunisolide
Minoxidil
Oxethazaine
Piroxicam
Ranitidine hydrochloride
1995Fluconazole
Hydroxyzine hydrochloride
Ketoconazole
Pyrantel embonate
Budesonide
1996Azelastine hydrochloride
Nizatidine

13 Jan 1997 : Column: 179


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