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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 29 June 2000
HEALTH
Breast Screening
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the North of London Breast Screening Unit based at Edgware Community Hospital; and what proposals he has arising out of that assessment. [126161]
Yvette Cooper: As part of its regular visiting programme, the London Region Breast Screening Quality Assurance Reference Centre visited the North of London Breast Screening Service on 25 November 1999. Following that visit, a number of recommendations were made to strengthen the service and improve quality. An action plan taking account of them is due to be submitted shortly to the region's quality assurance director.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) on what date and at what location a mobile breast screening unit last operated in Brent; [126082]
- (2) what bids he has received from Brent and Harrow Health Authority for funding from the New Opportunities Fund to provide additional mobile breast screening units; [126160]
(3) on what date and at what location a mobile breast screening unit last made a visit in the Brent and Harrow Health Authority Area; [126081]
(4) how many mobile breast screening units serve the Brent and Harrow Health Authority area; how many of these are fully functioning; and how many of the fully-functioning mobile breast screening units serving that area have been mobile in the year 2000 to date. [126164]
Yvette Cooper: There is currently one mobile breast screening unit that serves the Brent and Harrow Health Authority area. This unit is fully functional and forms a part of the North of London Breast Screening Service based at Edgware Community Hospital, which is managed by the Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals National Health Service Trust. The service provides breast screening for the population of Brent and Harrow, Barnet and part of West Hertfordshire Health Authorities. Following a successful bid from the Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust, the New Opportunities Fund notified the trust in December 1999 that it would provide the capital necessary for the replacement of this and one other unit and for the purchase of one additional trailer. The London Regional Office of the NHS Executive has agreed to meet capital costs for associated equipment.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what delays there have been in (a) assessing women who have been found to have abnormal mammograms and (b) reporting results to such women in the Brent and Harrow Health Area in the past year. [126163]
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Yvette Cooper: The national standard is that women should be assessed within three weeks. During the period 1 April 1999 to 31 August 1999, the time taken for assessment of women in the Brent and Harrow Health Authority area whose mammograms were abnormal was:
- less than three weeks: 30 women (23.62 per cent.)
- four weeks: 55 women (43.30 per cent.)
- five weeks and over: 42 women (33.08 per cent.)
Source:
- NHS Breast Screening Programme--London Quality Assurance Reference Centre.
All women should be given an outline of the diagnosis on the day of assessment and, if any further results were to be given, would return within a week to receive them.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the spending (a) in the current financial year, (b) committed and (c) projected on breast screening, assessment and surgery of (i) Brent and Harrow Health Authority, (ii) Barnet Health Authority, (iii) Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Health Authority, (iv) Hillingdon Health Authority, (v) Camden and Islington Health Authority and (vi) Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster Health Authority. [126159]
Yvette Cooper: Data in the form requested are not held centrally. The following figures are for individual health authorities spending in 2000-01 on breast screening services:
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| Brent and Harrow Health Authority | 343 |
| Barnet Health Authority | 245 |
| Ealing Hammersmith and Hounslow Health Authority | 547 |
| Hillingdon Health Authority | 202 |
| Camden and Islington Health Authority | 292 |
| Kensington Chelsea and Westminster Health Authority | 290 |
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of women (a) nationally and (b) in the Brent and Harrow Health Authority Area receive regular screening within the time periods recommended by his Department for the different age groups. [126165]
Yvette Cooper: Women in the target age group 50 to 64 are invited for breast screening every three years. Information about coverage of the target age group for 1999, the latest year available, is in the table.
| Eligible population (thousand) | Coverage percentage(1) | |
|---|---|---|
| England | 4,261.5 | 67.6 |
| Brent and Harrow HA | 39.2 | 58.3 |
(1) Less than three years since last test
Source:
Form KC62
Statistics Division SD2B
Infertility Treatment
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations he has received in the last 12 months for increasing infertility treatment provision; and if he will make a statement. [126270]
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Yvette Cooper: We have received 251 representations for increasing infertility treatment in the last 12 months.
We share the concerns about the postcode lottery in infertility services. We will shortly be publishing a survey into infertility provision across the country which demonstrates variations in the service. The Department will be examining ways to tackle the postcode lottery while continuing to target our priority areas of cancer and heart disease.
Alcoholism
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost was of treatment services for alcoholics and alcoholism, including in-patient and out-patient care and prevention schemes, in (a) 1970, (b) 1980, (c) 1990 and (d) 1999. [126837]
Yvette Cooper: Estimates of the cost to the National Health Service of alcohol-related illnesses and injuries vary widely. The total cost of alcohol-related illnesses treated by hospitals is information that is not collected centrally and therefore no data are available for the periods in question.
The most recent academic estimate of which we are aware is for the costs of alcohol misuse in the NHS in England and Wales in 1992 and is reproduced in the table.
| Cost | |
|---|---|
| Inpatient costs--direct alcohol diagnosis | 40.8 |
| Inpatient costs--other alcohol-related diagnosis | 120.2 |
| General practice costs | 3.1 |
| Total | 164.0 |
Source:
Health Education Authority: Health Update: Alcohol (1997)--after Godfrey, C. and Hardman, G. (1994))
Heart Disease
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the incidence was of (a) pulmonary heart disease, (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary heart disease and (c) lung cancer in (i) 1970, (ii) 1980, (iii) 1990 and (iv) 1999; and how much it cost to treat each of those diseases in those years. [126825]
Yvette Cooper: Information about the incidence of pulmonary heart disease (PHD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is derived from the morbidity studies from general practice in the years 1991-92 (the latest year available), 1981-82 and 1971-72. Figures in the table represent patients in England and Wales who consulted their GP for the first time.
| PHD | COPD | |
|---|---|---|
| 1971-72 | 4.0 | 84 |
| 1981-82 | 2.0 | 122 |
| 1991-92 | more than 0.5 | 107 |
In order not to place too large a burden on the National Health Service, data collected centrally on expenditure do not permit analysis at the level of detail requested.
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Office for National Statistics data shows that the number and rates per 100,000 of new cases of lung cancer in 1971, 1980, 1990 and 1996 (provisional figures) are as follows:
| 1971 | 1980 | 1990 | 1996(2) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of registrations | ||||
| Male | 25,711 | 27,791 | 25,037 | 22,300 |
| Female | 5,767 | 8,837 | 11,567 | 12,700 |
| Age standardised rate per 100,000 population(3) | ||||
| Male | 108.8 | 110.0 | 91.8 | 77.2 |
| Female | 19.2 | 27.2 | 32.8 | 35.1 |
(2) Provisional
(3) Directly age standardised using the European standard population
Source:
Office for National Statistics
Information on the cost of treatment by cancer site is not available.
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