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HEALTH
Neurological Consultants
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the number of neurological consultants in each NHS region in each of the last 10 years. [116272]
Mr. Denham: The latest available information is shown in the table.
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| 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 180 | 180 | 200 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 240 | 260 |
| Northern | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Yorkshire | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Trent | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| East Anglia | 0 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| North West Thames | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| North East Thames | 20 | 20 | 20 | 30 | 20 | 30 | 20 | 30 |
| South East Thames | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 30 | 30 |
| South West Thames | 10 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Wessex | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 10 | 10 |
| Oxford | 10 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 10 | 10 |
| South Western | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| West Midlands | 10 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Mersey | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| North Western | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 10 | 20 |
| Special Health Authorities | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 20 | 30 |
Notes:
1. Figures rounded to nearest 10.
2. '0' denotes 5 or less.
3. Regional totals may not equal England figure because of rounding and because some staff work in more than one region. These staff are counted under each region where they work, but only once in the England figure.
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Prostate Cancer
Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase funding of (a) research into screening for and (b) educational awareness of prostate cancer. [101686]
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Yvette Cooper: I have recently announced £1 million funding for urgent research studies into prostate cancer. This is in addition to the extra £800,000 we have already committed for new prostate cancer research, which includes a £277,000 feasibility study for a trial of
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treatments of localised prostate cancer detected early by a prostate cancer screening test. Funding for the main trial will be considered in the light of the findings from the feasibility study.
A range of information on men's cancers--including prostate cancer--is already freely available. Additionally, general practitioner guidelines on urgent referrals of patients with suspected prostate cancer will be published shortly, and outcomes guidance on urological cancers--including prostate cancer--will be commissioned by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence within the next two years.
Dental Services (London Area)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase the number of NHS dentists working in the Greater London Authority area. [117822]
Mr. Hutton: Most people in London can get National Health Service dentistry. Since September 1998 the number of dentists in the London area has increased by 112 and there are now nearly 45 dentists in the General Dentist Service per 100,000 population. This is the highest proportion in the country.
We recognise that in some areas of London it remains difficult to access NHS dental care. Positive steps have already been taken to address this problem. NHS dentists in the London area have had Investing in Dentistry grants amounting to £660,000 and a dental access centre has been opened and three proposals for dental access centres are currently being considered by the NHS Executive. Discussions will continue with the profession at local level to improve and modernise the service.
Cosmetic Surgery
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the 10 commonest cosmetic surgical procedures carried out (a) in the NHS and (b) in the private sector in the last three years. [118193]
Ms Stuart: Surgery which is purely for cosmetic purposes is not normally undertaken by the National Health Service. Hospital Episode Statistics show that the 10 most common plastic surgery procedures carried out in the NHS in 1998-99 and the two previous years are as in the table.
Information on cosmetic surgery carried out in the private sector is not held centrally. However, details of some of the procedures undertaken in independent hospitals, including cosmetic surgery, are available in "The Public-Private Mix of Acute Hospital Care" by Professor Brian Williams (November 1999), a copy of which is in the Library.
(11) An FCE is defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as one person may have several episodes within the year. These figures represent a count of all FCEs where the procedure was mentioned in any of the four operation fields in the HES data set.
Note:
Figures for 1997-98 and 1998-99 are provisional, no adjustments have as yet been made for shortfall in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). But the data for 1996-97 are grossed for both coverage and unknown/invalid clinical data.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (DOH)
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Diptheria-tetanus Booster Vaccine
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the supplies of diptheria-tetanus booster vaccine will return to the levels of 1997; and what percentage of five-year-olds were vaccinated for diptheria and tetanus immunisation in the last year for which figures are available. [118190]
Yvette Cooper: United Kingdom supplies of diphtheria-tetanus (DT) pre-school booster vaccine have increased year on year since 1996-97 reaching over 890,000 doses in 1998-99. Both manufacturers of the DT vaccine used in the United Kingdom's childhood immunisation programme experienced severe, but different, manufacturing problems during last year which resulted in temporary shortages of this vaccine. The Department has, from the beginning of this year, secured another source of supply for the vaccine and sufficient supplies are now available to allow the levels issued in the previous three years to be reached very shortly.
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In 1998-99, the latest year for which figures are available, 512,000 children in England aged under five received reinforcing doses of vaccine against diphtheria and tetanus. This represents about 81 per cent. of the target population of pre-school children for these vaccinations.
Hepatitis C
Mr. White: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the health authorities which currently fund the use of interferon and ribavirin for the treatment of hepatitis C; and what is the estimated cost of offering this nationally; [118196]
- (2) what plans he has to create a national standard of care that will be available to all sufferers of hepatitis C. [118195]
Yvette Cooper: Details of individual health authorities' funding policies on particular drugs are not held centrally, but there is currently some inconsistency between health authorities' policies on the combination drug therapy interferon alpha plus ribavirin for the treatment of hepatitis C. We have commissioned the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to consider the use of combination therapy to treat hepatitis C. Their findings are expected in September. They are also looking at evidence- based clinical guidelines for the management of patients with hepatitis C drawn up by the professions with funding from the Department. The recommendations of NICE, and the clinical guidelines, will provide authoritative guidance to healthcare commissioners and clinicians, creating a national standard of care.
The cost of offering combination therapy nationally cannot be estimated with accuracy because of variations such as the length of treatment required. Estimates are between £10 million and £18 million per annum, not including the price of tests and related capital costs.
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