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Tobacco Advertising
Miss Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the drawing up of a timetable for the phasing out of tobacco advertising. [3761]
Ms Jowell:
Details of the Government's strategy to reduce smoking, including legislation to ban tobacco advertising, will be set out in a White Paper, which will be published later in the year. The White Paper will be informed by the summit of national and international experts in the field of smoking reduction, arranged for 14 July.
17 Jun 1997 : Column: 101
Mr. Levitt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people failed to keep their appointments at NHS hospitals in 1996 in (a) North Derbyshire health authority and (b) England and Wales; and what was the estimated cost of non-attendance to the NHS. [3341]
Mr. Milburn:
The figures available for 1995-96 for England and National Health Service trusts in North Derbyshire are set out in the attached table. My hon. Friend may wish to contact my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales about figures for Wales.
| Area | Out-patients 'Did not attend' | In-patients 'Failed to attend' |
|---|---|---|
| England | 5,461,299 | 207,515 |
| Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital NHS Trust | 18,000 | 536 |
| North Derbyshire Community NHS Trust | 3,474 | 39 |
Source:
(1)Department of Health form KH09 and KH06(2).
EC Health Council
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the outcome of the June EC Health Council meeting. [3420]
Ms Jowell: I represented the Government at the meeting of the Health Council on 5 June in Luxembourg.
Following conciliation with the European Parliament, the Council adopted a joint text for a decision establishing a programme of Community action on Health Monitoring. The Council also adopted a common position on the Commission's proposal for a decision creating a Community network for the epidemiological surveillance and control of communicable diseases. The Council agreed the text of a resolution on migrant doctors and conclusions noting recent developments of interest to Health Ministers in the drugs-related health field. The Council requested the European Commission to study current practice in the Member States concerning cross-border cooperation in the supply of organs and tissues of human origin for medical purposes. There was a short orientation debate on the Commission's communication on measures to combat tobacco consumption and a brief discussion of a Presidency paper on blood safety and self-sufficiency in the Community. The Council took note of developments since its last discussion of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies and agreed to keep the subject under review. The Council also took note of progress made by the taskforce set up to develop a global early warning system and response network for communicable diseases within the context of the EU-US action plan agreed in December 1994 and of new Commission proposals for programmes of Community action on rare diseases and injury prevention.
17 Jun 1997 : Column: 102
Mr. Coaker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many young people between the ages of (a) 11 and 16 and (b) 16 and 25 years (i) are undergoing and (ii) have undergone psychiatric treatment under the NHS; and in each case what were the figures in (1) 1987 and (2) 1992. [3451]
Mr. Boateng:
The information available centrally relates to inpatients treated in National Health Service hospitals. The table shows the number of finished consultant episodes where the patient was under the care of a consultant with a main specialty of mental illness. Comparable figures are not available for 1987.
| Age at end of episode | 1989-90 | 1991-92 | 1994-95 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11-16 | 2,830 | 2,040 | 2,690 |
| 17-25 | 24,150 | 23,230 | 24,890 |
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics.
Diabetes
Dr. Godman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to allow pen needles to be made available on prescription for people with diabetes who require insulin; and if he will make a statement. [4138]
Mr. Milburn: We are currently considering whether general practitioners should be allowed to prescribe insulin injection pen needles on the national health service.
Breast Cancer
Mr. Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on reviewing breast screening services in Devon; and if he will make a statement. [4434]
Mr. Dobson: I have asked Sir Kenneth Calman, the Chief Medical Officer to undertake a review with a remit:
to visit the Royal and Devon and Exeter Hospital Trust to establish the facts surrounding the provision of breast services;
to report the findings of the Review team to me;
in the light of these, to consider the implications for breast services as a whole;
to report on the conclusions.
Sir Kenneth Calman
Dame Deirdre Hine, Chief Medical Officer, Wales
Dr. Mike Brindle, President of the Royal College of Radiologists
Mr. Richard Sainsbury, Consultant Surgeon, Huddersfield Royal Infirmary
Mrs. Gill Oliver, Cancer Nursing Specialist (Liverpool)
Miss Phyllis Cunningham, Chief Executive, Royal Marsden NHS Trust
Miss Polly Toynbee
17 Jun 1997 : Column: 103
East Surrey Hospital
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the waiting times at the East Surrey hospital for first routine out-patient appointments and admission for elective surgery treatment by each specialty area as at April 1997. [2313]
Ms Jowell: The latest available information on waiting times for first outpatient appointments is contained in "Waiting Times for First Outpatient Appointments in England: Detailed Statistics, Quarter ended 31 December 1996", copies of which are available in the Library. This shows, by individual trust and specialty, the numbers of patients seen during the quarter following written referral to a consultant by a general practitioner and how long they had waited, by timeband.
Inpatient and day case waiting time information collected centrally does not identify separately those patients waiting for surgery. The information that is available covers all patients awaiting admission to hospital, whether it be for surgery or some other form of treatment. The latest gives the provisional position on 31 March 1997 and shows that on that date there were 4,508 patients awaiting admission to East Surrey Hospital of whom 4,282 had been waiting less than 12 months. Provisional information is not available by specialty. Final figures due to be published next month in "Hospital Waiting List Statistics: England at 31 March 1997" will be presented on a trust and specialty basis.
Carers
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to respond to the recommendations made in the report by the Carers National Association, "Still Battling--the Carers Act" one year on; [3080]
- (2) if he will ensure the implementation of all the provisions of the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995. [3186]
Mr. Boateng: We strongly support the principles of the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act. We welcome Carers National' Association's report which considers the impact of the Act, in particular carers' take-up of rights under the Act and the approach taken by local authorities to implementing its provisions. The report also notes the value of the Department's guidance on implementation, which was issued to authorities in February 1996.
We have regular and close contact with the Association through which we wish to explore and to clarify a number of the points raised in the report.
As part of our programme of research into community care outcomes, we are looking at the impact of the Act. In the more immediate future, a Social Services Inspectorate inspection on care support is in preparation. Taking forward earlier work, this will concentrate on how local authorities are implementing the Act.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his Department's policy to extend the community care direct payment scheme to people aged 65 years and over. [3187]
17 Jun 1997 : Column: 104
Mr. Boateng:
We want to improve the quality and choice of support that is available to disabled people, and so we will certainly examine very carefully the possibility of extending eligibility for direct payments.
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