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National Reference Cost Tables
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what sources of data are used in compiling the National Reference Cost tables for NHS trusts. [71064]
Mr. Denham: The National Schedule of Reference Costs, published in November 1998, is based on information supplied by National Health Service trusts. The information is based on the 1997-98 final accounts. The information is submitted to the NHS Executive by June 30 each year, on the same timescales as the final accounts information and is therefore retrospective in nature.
Dental Services (Herefordshire)
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the provision of dental services in Herefordshire by the National Health Service. [70742]
Mr. Denham: There are 70 dentists treating patients under National Health Service provisions in Herefordshire. The Community Dental Service and an emergency dental service also provide NHS treatment. We have approved two applications under Investing in Dentistry, together intended to allow 4,000 new patients to receive NHS treatment.
Medical Records (Access)
Mr. Paul Marsden:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will abolish charges for patients to access their medical records; and if he will make a statement. [70945]
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Mr. Denham:
We are considering the issue of access charges in the light of the Data Protection Act 1998 but no decision has yet been made.
Ms Kelly:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will estimate the number of carers who are currently pursuing (i) part-time and (ii) full-time courses of further or higher education in (a) Bolton, (b) the North West and (c) England; [70793]
(3) what is his estimate of the number of carers over the age of 25 years in (a) Bolton, (b) the North West and (c) England. [70792]
Mr. Hutton:
There are an estimated 4.9 million carers in England, of whom 4.6 million are over the age of 25 years. Of these, around 900,000 (800,000 of whom are aged over 25) are in the North West. This information comes from the General Household Survey for 1995 and cannot be used reliably to estimate the numbers of carers in individual cities or local authority areas. The General Household Survey also suggests that around 2 per cent. of carers are in full-time education in England. The numbers in the survey are too small to allow estimates to be made for the North West or for Bolton. There is no information on part-time students in the General Household Survey.
Ms Kelly:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the factors which prevent those carers who wish to enter further or higher education from so doing; [70801]
Mr. Hutton:
Carers may be prevented from entering further or higher education by the extent of their caring responsibilities, particularly if they are providing care for a large number of hours each week. Other factors which may have an effect include the availability of substitute care and the effects of caring on the carer's own health and wellbeing. Our National Strategy for Carers, "Caring about Carers", copies of which are in the Library, sets out proposals to meet carers' needs better than in the past. The availability of substitute care, to give carers a break from their caring responsibilities, will be enhanced by additional funding of £140 million over the next three years for England.
Mr. Page:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the extra moneys for carers announced on 8 February 1999, Official Report, columns 21-33, will be paid (a) through local authorities, (b) direct to carers or (c) by other means. [70894]
Mr. Hutton:
The additional £140 million to help carers to have a break from their caring responsibilities will be paid as a special grant and included in allocations to local authorities. The draft special grant report will be published shortly.
Mr. Page:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much per carer for years (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01 and (c) 2001-02 will be provided by the £140 million additional
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funding for England announced on 8 February 1999, Official Report, columns 21-33, (a) in England, (b) in south-west Hertfordshire and (c) in Hertfordshire. [70895]
Mr. Hutton:
Local authorities, together with their health authority partners, will be responsible for assessing the needs of carers in their area for services to allow them to have a break from their caring responsibilities, for establishing whether current services meet carers' needs and for extending the range of services provided where this appears necessary. They will also be responsible for deciding who is eligible to receive services. In assessing how to use the additional funding, local authorities will take account of their current expenditure on respite care.
Mr. Kirkwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will commission further research into the causes of the increasing incidence of hay fever, eczema, asthma and similar allergies; [65327]
Ms Jowell
[holding answer 21 January 1999]: The Department has carried out detailed investigations into the possible links between air pollution and asthma. The Department's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants published an extensive report on the subject, "Asthma and Outdoor Air Pollution", in 1995. The report made it clear that, while asthma and other atopy based diseases, such as hay fever and eczema, had increased considerably in many western countries over the past thirty years, this increase was unlikely to be caused by air pollution. The report acknowledged that exposure to some air pollutants could adversely affect individuals already suffering from asthma and trigger attacks.
Since then, evidence that air pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide (an indoor as well as an outdoor air pollutant) and diesel particles, may enhance the body's biological response to allergens has strengthened. There does not appear to be any convincing evidence that eczema is related to exposure to air pollution.
The prevention and treatment of asthma and allergic conditions are high priority topics within the Department's research programmes, including the £4 million National Health Service asthma management programme. The Department also funds a number of research projects as part of its joint air pollution research programme with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Medical Research Council, which are examining the impact of air pollutants on asthma sufferers as well as a separate joint programme on indoor air pollutants and damp in the home. In addition to this, the Medical Research Council also funds a substantial Government programme of basic research into asthma and allergies amounting to over £2 million in 1997-98.
Mr. Berry:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what amounts in his Department's budget for 1998-99 can be attributed to spending on disabled people; and what proportion this represents of total departmental spending. [71290]
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Mr. Hutton:
The money allocated by the Department each year to health authorities is not differentiated according to the patient groups for whom services are to be provided. At the local level, most service agreements between health authorities and National Health Service trusts and other provider bodies for hospital and community health services relate to general service areas or to specific medical and surgical specialties, which will cover disabled people like others. The same is true of expenditure on family health services.
Mr. Berry:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact on his Department's policies of the goods and services provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to be implemented in October 1999. [71276]
Mr. Hutton:
The National Health Service Executive appointed "Disability Matters", a specialist consultancy, to develop a proposed action programme for the implementation of Section 21 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 across the NHS. We plan to issue guidance, based on the report submitted by "Disability Matters" later this year.
(2) what is his estimate of the number of carers in (a) Bolton, (b) the North West and (c) England; [70791]
(2) what plans he has to enable carers to pay for substitute care when pursuing a course of further or higher education. [70800]
(2) what evidence his Department has identified linking asthma, eczema and similar allergies to chemical by-products from (a) home heating systems and (b) car exhaust fumes. [65328]
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