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Public Relations (Expenditure)
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total expenditure and the breakdown of expenditure was in his Department for the financial years (a) 1996-97, (b) 1997-98, (c) 1998-99 and (d) 1999-2000, and what the planned expenditure and breakdown of expenditure for 2000-01 is on (i) public opinion research, (ii) television, radio and newspaper advertising and (iii) direct mail. [149265]
Ms Stuart [holding answer 8 February 2001]: The figures for the total spend on advertising for the Department for the financial years 1996-97 to 2000-01 are shown in the table.
| Financial year | Advertising expenditure |
|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 2.50 |
| 1997-98 | 2.27 |
| 1998-99 | 8.63 |
| 1999-2000 | 14.83 |
| 2000-01 (planned) | 21.09 |
Major advertising spend on individual campaigns is shown in the table.
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(11) Planned
(12) The Department's spend on blood donation advertising reduced in 1999-2000 because most of this activity was funded directly by the National Blood Authority, who took over full responsibility for this expenditure on 1 April 2000.
(13) Prior to 1999-2000 advertising on smoking was undertaken by the Health Education Authority.
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Mental Health
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children and adolescents are waiting for treatment for mental health problems in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement. [149675]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 9 February 2001]: Patients in England receive treatment for mental health problems in a wide range of health care settings, particularly primary care, and we do not collect waiting list information for most of these. We are aware that in some places waiting times for treatment for mental health problems are unacceptably long.
The development of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is an important part of the work we will be taking forward in implementing the National Health Service Plan. The £30 million we have made available for CAMHS in 2000-01, and which will be available again in 2001-02, will help reduce waiting times for these services.
Information for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are matters for the devolved Administrations.
SSA (Stoke-on-Trent)
Mr. Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the standard spending assessment allocation for social services and the expenditure are per head of population in Stoke-on-Trent was for each year from 1996-97 to date. [150182]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is in the table:
| Gross current expenditure per capita | PSS SSA per capita | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997-98 | 228.52 | 150.46 |
| 1998-99 | 240.38 | 163.79 |
| 1999-2000(15) | 252.39 | 186.57 |
| 2000-01(16) | 204.77 | 195.71 |
(14) Data for Stoke-on-Trent are not available for 1996-97 as it did not become a unitary authority until 1 April 1997
(15) Gross current expenditure figures are based on provisional outturn
(16) Gross current expenditure figures are not comparable with figures for earlier years as these figures are net of income from client contributions etc
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Heart Research
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proposals he has to match fund charitable funding of (a) heart research and (b) medical research; [152617]
(2) what (a) his Department's and (b) charitable organisations' expenditure on heart research was in each of the last 10 years; and what the projected expenditure is in each category over the next three years. [152626]
Yvette Cooper: Government funding for research on heart disease, as for other areas of medical research, is provided through a number of routes:
- The research councils, who receive their funding from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)--the Medical Research Council (MRC) is the main Government agency for research into the causes of and treatments for disease; the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council also supports basic research relevant to health.
- The Department of Health funds research to support policy and practice in health and social care.
- Health Departments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also provide support for research on health.
- The Higher Education Funding Councils fund the research infrastructure in medical schools and other relevant research groups in higher education institutions. Funding for the Higher Education Funding Council for England is provided by the Department for Education and Employment.
Figures for annual expenditure by charities on heart disease research are not held centrally. According to their entry in the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) Handbook 2000, the British Heart Foundation, one of the largest charities involved in supporting heart disease research, anticipated research expenditure of £45 million in 1999-2000.
The Department of Health's research funding for cardiovascular disease includes support for the work of research councils and charities that takes place in the National Health Service. The Department is working more closely with relevant charities to improve the support for and co-ordination of research on heart disease. A cardiovascular research funders forum has been established, which aims to bring together the major funding
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bodies in this area to address research issues, ranging from basic and clinical research through to epidemiological studies related to prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment, and to consider areas that would benefit from a co-ordinated approach. The forum will also help to improve information about on-going research, facilitate partnerships between funders and researchers, consider how to accelerate recruitment for clinical trials and how best to exploit the findings from research to develop new approaches to diagnosis and disease. The membership currently consists of the four United Kingdom Health Departments, the MRC and three charities: the Wellcome Trust, the British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK. The work of the forum will inform the future pattern of Department of Health Research and Development expenditure on cardiovascular disease.
Government expenditure on all medical and health related research is currently estimated at £1 billion per annum. The AMRC estimates that their member charities make a financial contribution to medical research of about £540 million a year. The Government seek to work closely with the medical charities to ensure the best use of all research resources for the benefit of patients.
Dental Charges
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost to public funds of (a) reducing the maximum payment for a course of NHS dental charges paid by the patient to 50 per cent., (b) reducing the maximum payment for a course of NHS dental treatment to £100, (c) reducing the percentage of NHS dental charges paid by the patient to 50 per cent. and reducing the maximum payment for a course of NHS dental treatment to £100, (d) extending free dental check-ups to people aged 60 years and over, and (e) exempting people aged over 60 years from all dental charges. [153063]
Mr. Hutton: The estimated costs of making changes to the percentage of dental fees paid by charge paying patients and the maximum patient charge for the General Dental Service in England based on 1999-2000 figures are:
| Change in maximum/patient charge | Annual cost |
|---|---|
| (a) reducing the percentage of dental charge paid by the patient for a course of treatment under the National Health Service to 50 per cent. with unchanged maximum patient charge | 155 |
| (b) reducing the maximum payment paid by the patient for a course of treatment under the NHS to £100 with unchanged percentage of dental fees paid by charge paying patients | 35 |
| (c) reducing the percentage of dental charge paid by the patient for a course of treatment under the NHS to 50 per cent. and reducing the maximum charge to £100 | 170 |
| (d) extending free dental examinations to people aged 60 and over | 19 |
| (e) exempting people aged 60 and over from all dental charges | 85 |
These estimates would be higher if the changes stimulated greater demand for dental examinations and dental treatment.
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Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adult courses of NHS dental treatment cost (a) under £100, (b) £100 to £199.99, (c) £200 to £200.99 and (d) £300 or over in the last year for which figures are available. [153064]
Mr. Hutton: The table shows the number of courses of dental treatment for patients aged 18 and over with gross cost in the ranges; under £100, £100 to £199.99, £200 to £299.99 and £300 or more in the General Dental Services for England in 1999-2000. Gross cost is the fee paid to the dentist for the dental treatment and it includes patient charge where applicable.
| Cost of treatment | Total number of courses of treatment(17)(thousand) |
|---|---|
| Under £100 | 24,036.2 |
| £100 to £199.99 | 1,544.1 |
| £200 to £200.99 | 306.7 |
| £300 or more | 171.4 |
| Total | 26,058.4 |
(17) Numbers include about 140 thousand correction records for resubmitted claims
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