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Chiropody and Podiatry
Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the guidelines that are issued and health needs assessments that health authorities undertake to ensure the availability of chiropody and podiatry services to meet the needs of the local population. [15364]
Mr. Boateng: A joint Department of Health/National Health Service task force conducted a review of NHS chiropody services in 1994. Its report, "Feet First", provides guidance to the NHS on planning and delivering chiropody services. As with other health care services, local health authorities determine the quantity and scope of the chiropody services they are able to provide for their residents. They have to take into account the total resources available to them and bear in mind local priorities and circumstances.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to safeguard the provision of chiropody on the NHS. [15431]
Mr. Boateng:
Chiropody is one of the range of National Health Service services provided to meet the needs of the population. The quantity and scope of chiropody services is determined by individual health authorities and general practitioner fundholders in the light of local priorities and resources.
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Angela Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the number of (a) face-to-face contacts and (b) initial contacts, with chiropody and podiatry staff for (i) 1996-97, (ii) 1995-96 and (iii) 1994-95. [15363]
Mr. Boateng:
Information for 1996-97 is not yet available. The numbers of reported patient contacts with the chiropody service in the last three years in England are as follows.
| Thousands | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | |
| Total face-to-face contacts(18) | 8,005 | 8,270 | 8,328 |
| Initial face-to-face contacts(19) | 1,006 | 975 | 951 |
(18) A contact is any face-to-face meeting between a member of chiropody staff and an individual patient or patient's proxy, where treatment or advice is given.
(19) An initial contact is the first in an episode of care with a service provider. An episode of care may be initiated by a referral to the chiropody staff from a hospital, general practitioner or other health service professional.
Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the NHS expenditure on NHS chiropody and podiatry in (a) 1996-97, (b) 1995-96 and (c) 1994-95. [15370]
Mr. Boateng: The information requested is contained in the table:
| Chiropody £000s | |
|---|---|
| 1994-95 | 90,122 |
| 1995-96 | 96,674 |
| 1996-97 | 99,647 |
Note:
Figures for 1996-97 are provisional.
Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the budget for each health authority or health board allocated for chiropody and podiatry services in (a) 1997-98, (b) 1996-97 and (c) 1995-96. [15369]
Mr. Boateng: Health authorities are not normally allocated budgets for particular services or individual client groups. Information on local spending decisions or particular services is not collected centrally. It is for authorities to make their own decisions about the level of resources required in each case on the basis of an assessment of local needs and priorities, and taking into account the national priorities set by Government.
Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those health authorities which have notified his Department of (a) reductions or increases in chiropody services in 1996-97 relative to 1995-96 and (b) planned reductions or increases in chiropody services in 1998-99.[15371]
Mr. Boateng:
Health authorities are not required to notify the Department of changes in activity in particular services. Although the Department wishes to see health authorities and general practitioner fundholders provide the full range of National Health Service services including chiropody, detailed planning decisions on levels of provision are taken locally according to the needs of the population served.
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Ms Corston:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what factors were taken into account by the Malaria Advisory Committee when recently recommending that travellers to any part of the world for two weeks or less should not take Mefloquine (Lariam); and what assessment he had made of the need for guidance for those travelling for more than two weeks but less than six months. [15450]
Ms Jowell:
The "Guidelines for the prevention of malaria in travellers from the United Kingdom", which were published in September this year, give full details of the issues considered and references used by the group of experts who compiled them. The guidelines are comprehensive and cover periods of travel of varying lengths, including advice for travel more than two weeks but less than six months. The guidelines advise that the prophylactic regimen of choice will depend on a variety of factors such as the level of risk from malaria which exists in the country to be visited, the length of stay, the activities the traveller will be engaging in, the traveller's medical history, the effectiveness of each prophylactic regimen and the potential adverse effects of the regimen. The guidelines do recommend mefloquine for trips shorter than two weeks if the risk of highly chloroquine resistant malaria is high.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the letter of 7 October from the Minister of State (POH/6/5437/13), what was the outcome of the meeting with Robert Johnson and Dr. N. J. Evans, about opt-out organ donation. [14470]
Mr. Boateng:
Ministers have met with a number of organisations in the transplant field, including Mr. Robert Johnson, transplant surgeon and President of the British Transplantation Society, and Dr. N. J. Evans, Chairman of the United Kingdom Transplant Support Service Authority about opt-out organ donation. These meetings have been most helpful and have contributed to our current consideration of options for the way forward in transplantation.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) undertaken and (b) evaluated into the use of thalidomide in the treatment of (i) leprosy, (ii) tuberculosis and (iii) AIDS-related wasting and mouth ulcers; and if he will make a statement. [15009]
Ms Jowell:
Thalidomide is not used in the United Kingdom in the treatment of tuberculosis. It has an important place in the management of some patients with leprosy as set out in the Departments "Memorandum on Leprosy". The Department has considered studies carried out on the use of thalidomide in the treatment of leprosy but has not undertaken research in this area. Copies of the latest edition of the Memorandum, issued in August of this year, are available in the Library. Thalidomide has been used for treating AIDS related wasting and mouth ulcers but the Department has not undertaken or evaluated any research on this topic. As thalidomide is not licensed for such treatments it is only available on a "named
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patient basis" and the use of the drug is a matter for clinicians and patients to discuss and agree according to individual circumstances.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) undertaken and (b) evaluated into the risk posed to cancer patients by the consumption of antioxidants; and if he will make a statement. [15010]
Mr. Boateng:
No research has been undertaken or evaluated by this Department into the risk posed to cancer patients by the consumption of antioxidants. The Medical Research Council, the main agency through which the Government supports medical and clinical research, provided support in 1995-96 for the following projects in the general area of antioxidants and the development of cancer, although these projects addressed the question of the anticarcinogenic effect of antioxidants rather than the effect of antioxidants on cancer once established:
Mechanisms of modulation of carincogenesis by antioxidants: genetic control of the anticarcinogenic response in mice (MRC Toxicology Unit, Leicester);
Prospective markers of antioxidant status in relation to future cardiovascular disease, lung and stomach cancer (MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit in Cambridge). This study was funded by the Department of Health's Policy Research Programme;
the European Prospective investigation of Cancer (EPIC) which is a prospective study to identify dietary factors and dietary profiles which modify the risk for a range of chronic diseases including cancer. This takes the form of both direct support to the MRC Biostatistics Unit and grant support to participants;
a human study at the MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit of an individual's lifetime nutritional habits and their relative risk of developing cancers of the breast and bowel.
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