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Accident and Emergency Centres
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria are used to judge whether accident and emergency centres remain functional. [2936]
Ms Blears: I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon.
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Friend the member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
It is up to local health communities to determine the provision of services in line with clinical advice. The Government are keen to see that patients have access to services at as local a level as possible but against this desire must be balanced the need to ensure that patients receive the highest levels of clinical care, where ever that care is provided.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what critical mass is required to maintain an accident and emergency unit. [8416]
Ms Blears: I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
It is up to local health communities to determine the provision of services in line with clinical advice. The Government are keen to see that patients have access to services at as local a level as possible but against this desire must be balanced the need to ensure that patients receive the highest levels of clinical care, where ever that care is provided.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve the efficiency with which patient records are handled in accident and emergency departments. [12860]
Ms Blears: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
The NHS Plan, "Information for Health" and "Building the Information Core", made a clear commitment to providing electronic records to everyone in England. The objective is eventually to provide on-line access to the patient record for all members of the national health service family including family doctors, hospitals, NHS Direct, ambulance services and mental health trusts, etc.
One of the key targets in "Information for Health" requires all hospitals to have fully integrated systems meeting Electronic Patient Records (EPR) level 3 requirements, in place by March 2005 to support clinical activity.
The successful implementation of EPR in acute, primary care and community social care environments are a pre-requisite to successful implementation of the first generation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) to support 24-hour emergency care. The EHR will be a summary of the data contained in the numerous organisational-based EPRs (hospitals, primary care, community, etc.) about an individual and will initially be used to support 24-hour emergency care. The ultimate aim is to make it available to all health care professionals to support routine care. The target in "Information for Health" called for the first generation EHR to support 24-hour emergency care to be in place by March 2005.
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Hospital Trusts
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultation will take place in relation to the future of hospital trusts. [2933]
Ms Blears: I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
We are committed to ensuring that there are comprehensive mechanisms in place to ensure full and effective consultation on matters relating to the national health service.
Currently the NHS has a duty to consult with community health councils on changes to the NHS. The NHS Reform and Healthcare Professions Bill, currently before Parliament, provides for the abolition of community health councils, which are to be replaced by a wider and more comprehensive patient and public involvement system.
In the future the NHS will be placed under a duty to consult local authority overview and scrutiny committees on plans substantially to develop or vary health services, including hospital trusts. This duty is provided for in the Health and Social Care Act 2001.
Additionally, section 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 places a duty on the NHS to involve and consult the public and its representatives on the planning and development of services, and to involve them in decisions affecting services.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on the number of board meetings held without minutes being taken by the Chorley and South Ribble Hospital; [2932]
- (2) if he will make a statement on the emergency board meeting of the Chorley and South Ribble and Preston acute hospital trusts regarding merger, with particular reference to the notice given to board members. [2924]
Jacqui Smith: I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
All formal meetings of the Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust Board have been properly minuted. The Chairs of Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust and Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trust called an extraordinary joint meeting of Non-Executive, Executive Directors and senior officers who report directly to the Chief Executive, on 2 July 2001. The agenda was issued on 28 June 2001. The purpose of that meeting was to discuss the appointment of a new Chief Executive, but the question of a possible merger was then raised. The subject was formally debated at the next meeting of the Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust Board which took place on 30 July 2001.
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Consultation on the proposed merger of the Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust and the Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is due to conclude on 10 March. A submission will then be put to Ministers in due course.
National Institute for Clinical Excellence
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the number of people with advanced colorectal cancer that are being denied irinotecan, oxaliplatin and raltitrexed for the treatment of their disease. [3288]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 11 July 2001]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 129W.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) recently published guidance on the use of irinotecan, oxaliplatin and raltitrexed for the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer.
Directions have been issued obliging health authorities and primary care trusts to provide appropriate funding for treatments recommended by NICE. From 1 January this year, the NHS will have three months from the date of publication of each technology appraisal guidance to provide funding, so that clinical decisions made by doctors involving NICE recommended treatments or drugs can be funded.
Mental Health
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the new antipsychotic drugs for schizophrenia have been tested for side effects; and what conclusions were made. [3453]
Ms Blears: I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2000, Official Report, column 192W.
Companies applying for a licence to market a new drug are required to submit the result of clinical trials. These trials will include data on the side effect profile of the products under investigation.
All recently introduced antipsychotics, which include clozapine, risperidone, olanzapine and quetiapine, have been tested in clinical trials on large numbers of patients in order to adequately characterise their side effect profiles.
These drugs are recognised to produce side effects in some patients, most frequently extrapyramidal symptons, dizziness, postural hypotension, and weight gain. More rarely these drugs may produce more serious adverse effects including blood disorders or neuroleptic malignant syndrome, or serious movement disorders (tardive dyskinesia) with prolonged use. These side effects are described in the summary of product characteristics for the individual products.
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The clinical data collected in the trials of these drugs indicate that these new antipsychotics are generally better tolerated by patients than the older drugs in that some side effects occur less frequently or with reduced severity.
In all cases the information on adverse events related to use of the drug (side effect profile) must be considered in relation to the clinical benefit produced by the drug. The potential for harm from possible side effects must be weighed against the likely benefit to patients from the drug. Such a judgment is termed an overall risk to benefit assessment. For all new antipsychotic drugs which have been granted a licence, this overall risk to benefit assessment was considered to be positive.
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