| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Child Protection
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children in England who are registered with local authorities are registered on the Child Protection Register; and if he will make a statement. [85086]
Mr. Hutton: At 31 March 1998, there were 31,600 children and young people on child protection registers in England. At 31 March 1998, 8,000 (25 per cent. of those on the register) were looked after by local authorities. The purpose of the register is to provide a record of all children in the area who are considered to be suffering from or likely to suffer significant harm and who are currently the subject of an inter-agency protection plan.
Dentistry
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the contribution that NHS dentistry will make to the Government's objective of improving public health. [85091]
Mr. Denham: The Government's dental strategy, to be published soon, will set out the valuable contribution that dentists and dentistry can make to a healthier nation and a modern and dependable National Health Service.
Prostate Cancer
Mr. Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what progress is being made in the development of services for (a) the prevention and (b) the treatment of prostate cancer; [85323]
- (2) what plans he has for developments in the treatment of prostate cancer; [85325]
(3) what steps are being taken to educate men about the possible early signs of prostate cancer; [85324]
(4) what assessment he has made of likely trends in the incidence of prostate cancer in men over the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [85322]
8 Jun 1999 : Column: 278
Mr. Hutton: There are about 15,000 cases and 8,000 deaths each year from prostate cancer. Over the latest five-year period for which data is available (1987-92), incidence rates for prostate cancer for men of all ages increased by 25 per cent. in England. However, past trends do not necessarily predict future changes.
The Government are committed to improving the prevention, detection and treatment of prostate cancer. There is, as yet, no consensus of medical opinion about the correct management of early localised tumours. The choice is between radical prostatectomy and radiotherapy. The Health Technology Assessment programme has already funded two systematic reviews of the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer and the National Co-ordinating Centre for the HTA programme is commissioning a £200,000 study at the University of Bristol on the feasibility of conducting a multi-centre randomised trial of treatment for localised prostate cancer.
On 20 May my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister set out a plan of action to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. As well as £60 million invested directly into services for breast, bowel and lung cancer, the Prime Minister announced an additional £150 million of lottery money to support a new programme of cancer prevention, detection, treatment and care over the next three years.
The Department provides advice to the public, in leaflets and through health education campaigns, which advise on signs of possible cancer and encourage early reporting of these to a general practitioner or other health professionals. This includes providing funding for promotional material used within the United Kingdom for the "Europe Against Cancer" programme. A different cancer-related theme is chosen each year. The theme for 1998 was "Cancer in Men".
Dr. Gibson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made in targeting resources on prostate cancer treatment. [85002]
Mr. Hutton:
The Government are committed to improving the prevention, detection and treatment of prostate cancer. The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme has already funded two systematic reviews of the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer and the National Co-ordinating Centre for the HTA programme is commissioning a £200,000 study at the University of Bristol looking at the feasibility of conducting a multi-centre randomised trail of treatment for localised prostate cancer.
Mr. Hesford:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of current levels of health inequalities in England; and if he will make a statement. [85316]
Ms Jowell:
The Department uses the Health Survey for England, information from the Office for National Statistics and a range of other data collated in the Public Health Common Data Set produced by the National Centre for Health Outcomes Development.
The Government set up an independent inquiry, led by Sir Donald Acheson, which used information from these sources and elsewhere to look specifically at health inequalities. The report of this inquiry was
8 Jun 1999 : Column: 279
published on 26 November 1998. We have welcomed Sir Donald's report and will publish shortly an action report summarising Government activity to tackle health inequalities alongside the White Paper on our health strategy.
Reducing health inequalities was a main priority in the Green Paper "Our Healthier Nation" and is also a shared priority for health and social services in National Priorities Guidance that we issued last year. Health inequalities will be a key focus of Health Improvement programmes which are being developed at local level.
Dr. Iddon:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of stocks of highly enriched uranium for the treatment of cancer patients; and if he will list those hospitals experiencing difficulty in obtaining supplies. [71679]
Mr. Hutton:
The supply of highly enriched uranium is kept under review. To date no difficulties have been reported by hospitals.
Mr. Menzies Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff who have worked as professional statisticians in his Department have left on early retirement in each of the past 10 years. [81190]
Mr. Denham:
Eight professional statisticians have left on early retirement in the last ten years.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what monitoring mechanisms are in place to ensure that vulnerable older people receive services from their general practitioners; [85498]
(3) what proportion of people aged 75 years and over have annual health checks with their general practitioner. [85487]
Mr. Denham:
Under their terms of service, general practitioners are required to invite all patients who have reached the age of 75 for an annual health check in the patient's home, or in the surgery if the patient prefers. General practitioners make arrangements with health authorities to provide services and regional offices of the National Health service Executive hold health authorities to account for the services provided in their area. Information is not held centrally on the numbers of those accepting the invitation for an annual health check.
Mr. Ian Stewart:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to alert NHS trusts who have been issued with the batch of DTP vaccine which was recently withdrawn by Bath and West Community NHS Trust following adverse reactions. [85495]
8 Jun 1999 : Column: 280
Ms Jowell:
A Public Health Link message was sent from the Chief Medical Officer's office on 14 May 1999 to all directors of public health and copied to all consultants in communicable disease control for urgent cascade to District immunisation co-ordinators, health authority pharmaceutical advisers, medical directors in national health service trusts to forward to chief pharmacists, and on to Community service pharmacists and to general practitioners who received the original message. Copies of the Public Health Link message are available in the Library.
The reports were of cases from one area and were not reflected in reports of reactions to the same batch from other parts of the country.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to provide financial support to the Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust to develop a recovery plan; and if he will make a statement. [85726]
Mr. Denham:
The Epsom and St. Helier National Health Service Trust is currently in discussion with the NHS Executive regarding its financial plan for 1999-2000.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for human health of the use of vaccines which in their early stage of manufacture had used bovine material prohibited for use in human food. [85492]
Ms Jowell
[holding answer 26 May 1999]: The Committee on the Safety of Medicines (established under Section 4 of the Medicines Act 1968 to advise the licensing authority on the safety, quality and efficacy of medicinal products) established a working party in 1989 to consider the implications of bovine spongiform encephalopathy for all medicines, including those which used bovine material in their early stages of manufacture. An assessment was made by the working party of all licensed medicinal products using bovine material, including vaccines. No risk to human health has been established from use of bovine material in the manufacture of medicinal products, but as a precautionary measure, manufacturers were required to switch to use of bovine material sourced from outside the United Kingdom, and to comply with guidelines on the sourcing and processing of bovine material for use in the manufacture of medicinal products.
(2) what requirement is placed upon general practitioners to contact older people who have not been in touch with their general practitioner in the past year because of mobility problems and frailty; [85504]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |