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Physical Activity Promotion
Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made by health authorities in developing policies for promoting physical activity as required by the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease. [152528]
Yvette Cooper: Policies for promoting physical activity are being developed locally. The National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease requires that by April 2001 all National Health Service bodies, working closely with local authorities, will have agreed and be contributing to the local programme of effective policies on increasing physical activity. The Department will assess progress after April.
Children on Adult Wards
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of children in each health authority area who are currently being nursed on adult wards. [151943]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Heart Disease
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets he has set to reduce heart disease over the next 10 years. [152624]
Yvette Cooper: We have set a target to reduce the death rate from coronary heart disease and stroke and related diseases in people under 75 by at least two fifths by 2010. The National Service Framework for coronary heart disease sets out a 10-year programme to transform the prevention and diagnosis of heart disease and the care and treatment of patients.
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list in descending order the health authorities with the highest incidence of heart disease; and if he will include the budget allocated for reducing the number of heart attacks in each of these authorities. [152623]
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Yvette Cooper: Information on the incidence of heart disease is not routinely available. Data are available showing admissions for heart disease and these provide some indication of levels of heart disease in the population. The health authorities which show the greatest number of hospital admissions for heart disease are shown in the table.
It is for health authorities in partnership with primary care groups/trusts and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services. In addition to existing resources in unified allocations, extra funding made available in 2000-01 includes £100 million for heart disease.
Notes:
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.
The main diagnosis is the first of seven diagnosis fields in the HES data set, and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
Figures in this table are provisional (version 2) and have not yet been adjusted for shortfalls in data.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health
6 Mar 2001 : Column: 192W
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list in descending order the 100 council wards with (a) the highest rate of heart disease and (b) the highest rates of death due to heart disease. [152622]
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Yvette Cooper: Information on the incidence of heart disease is not routinely available. We recognise the importance of better information, not least to ensure that we are able to identify and treat those with heart disease. That is why one of the early priorities for the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is the systematic development and maintenance of practice-based CHD registers.
Data for the 25 health authorities with the highest rates of mortality from all circulatory disease, which includes all forms of heart disease, for men and women, are shown in the table. Information at council ward level on rates of death from specific causes is not collected.
Last week my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced new national health inequalities targets to reduce the health gap between children in different social classes and to reduce the difference in life expectancy between areas with the lowest life expectancy and the national average. This is not a short-term process, but it is only by tackling inequalities now that we can impact on the incidence of disease in the future.
Source:
Data from Department of Health Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators 2000
6 Mar 2001 : Column: 194W
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in reducing avoidable heart disease for under-65s; and if he will make statement. [152616]
Yvette Cooper: The number of deaths from coronary heart disease for the under-65s in England has decreased from 17,140 in 1995 to 14,158 in 1999 (the latest year for which figures are available). Advances in technology, new investment and an increased focus on prevention should reduce this number still further.
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to use the findings of the genome project to identify and reduce the risks of heart disease. [152621]
Yvette Cooper: As indicated in the NHS Plan, the Department, in association with the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, is planning to establish a prospective survey to investigate genetic and environmental influences on the development of the commoner diseases of adult life, including heart disease.
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of familial and hereditary factors in the occurrence of heart disease; and what measures he intends to introduce to reduce these factors. [152618]
Yvette Cooper: The Department, in association with the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, is planning to establish a prospective survey to investigate genetic and environmental influences on the development of the commoner diseases of adult life, including heart disease.
Heart disease risk is cumulative. The risk of heart disease can be significantly reduced, even for those individuals with a family history of heart disease, by stopping smoking, eating a low fat, low cholesterol diet and exercising regularly.
Many of the factors which influence the occurrence of heart disease are linked back to inequalities. Last week my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced new national health inequalities targets to reduce the health gap between children in different social classes and to reduce the difference in life expectancy between areas with the lowest life expectancy and the national average. This is not a short-term process--but it is only by tackling inequalities now that we can impact on familial and hereditary factors in the future.
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