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Terminally Ill Patients (Support Services)
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what support is provided by his Department for partners and near relatives of terminally ill patients. [102536]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 13 December 1999]: Support for families and carers of terminally ill patients is an integral part of the principles and practice of palliative care. The Department of Health has distributed three documents providing guidance on key issues facing the dying and their carers. These documents were already widely used by the voluntary sector. The three documents which were issued under cover of HSC 1998/115 are:
- i) Guidelines for Managing Cancer Pain in Adults.
- ii) Changing Gear--Guidelines for Managing the Last Days of life in adults
- iii) Palliative care in the hospital setting.
Professor Mike Richards, the new National Cancer Director, has identified supportive care as one of his key priorities and will over the coming months work closely with health care professionals and voluntary organisations to assess how supportive care services can best be provided to all patients.
In addition, the National Lottery New Opportunities Fund is making available £23 million for the prevention and palliative care element of the "Living with Cancer Programme" in England over the next three years. This initiative will be launched in January 2000.
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Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many products have been transferred from Category A of the Drug Tariff to Category D; and what was the cost per head of population in each category for the last financial year for each health authority area as recorded by the Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority. [102388]
Ms Stuart
[holding answer 15 December 1999]: Products move in and out of Category D. There are 175 preparations/pack sizes classified as Category D in the December 1999 edition of the Drug Tariff, of which 104 were classified as Category A in the December 1998 edition of the Drug Tariff.
Notes:
1. The data cover all prescriptions dispensed in the community in each Health authority, ie by community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors, and prescriptions submitted by prescribing doctors for items personally administered in England.
2. The net ingredient cost is the basic cost of a drug and does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income.
3. The resident population for 1998, estimated by the Office for National Statistics, has been used.
4. The information was obtained for each preparation/pack size classified in the Drug Tariff as Category A or D for each month in the period April 1998 to March 1999 and aggregated to provide an annual total.
5. Data rounded to nearest 10p.
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Infertility
Ms Church:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment his Department has made of the psychological effects of infertility; [102678]
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(3) when he will announce the results of his Department's survey of health authority provision of infertility services; and if he will make a statement; [102676]
(4) if he will provide guidance to health authorities as to their responsibilities in respect of the funding of infertility guidance. [102677]
Yvette Cooper
[holding answer 16 December 1999]: The Department has received 319 written representations in respect of infertility treatment since May 1999.
It is planned that a short report detailing the results of the Department's survey of health authority provision of infertility services will be available in February 2000. The results of that survey are currently being considered by Ministers.
The Department has not commissioned any research specifically on the psychological effects of infertility. However, we do fully appreciate the distress suffered by infertile couples. This is clearly evident from the written representations received by the Department.
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) cases of and (b) deaths caused by uraemia there were among NHS patients in (i) 1995, (ii) 1996, (iii) 1997, (iv) 1998 and (v) the first six months of 1999. [103049]
Mr. Denham:
The table shows the number of finished consultant episodes for patients with a primary diagnosis of Uraemia. The remainder of the hospital information requested is not yet available.
(2) how many written representations have been received by his Department in respect of infertility treatment and service provision since May 1997; [102675]
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 40,294 |
| 1996-97 | 44,618 |
| 1997-98(8) | 49,194 |
| 1999-2000(8)(9) | 18,590 |
(8) Data for 1997-98 onwards are provisional--no adjustments have as yet been made for shortfalls in the data, i. e. it is ungrossed.
(9) First six months.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 2,959 |
| 1996 | 2,759 |
| 1997 | 2,658 |
| 1998 | 2,662 |
| 1999 | (10)1,337 |
(10) Provisional figures for January to June
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