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Fair Access to Care Services Guidance
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish the Fair Access to Care Services guidance. [58845]
Jacqui Smith: The guidance was published on 28 May 2002 under cover of a local authority circular, LAC(2002)13. Copies will be placed in the Library.
Epilepsy
Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sudden unexpected deaths from epilepsy there were in (a) Blackpool, (b) the north-west and (c) the UK in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [58834]
Jacqui Smith: The figures for the number of deaths from epilepsy are as follows.
| England and Wales | North-west(95) | Blackpool | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 836 | 134 | Nil |
| 1997 | 824 | 126 | 2 |
| 1998 | 848 | 150 | 4 |
| 1999 | 870 | 141 | 2 |
| 2000 | 850 | 112 | 3 |
(95) North-west Government office region
Note:
"Sudden Epileptic Death" was defined as a death where the underlying cause was epilepsy and where "sudden death" appeared in the cause of death text when it was certified.
Source:
Office for National Statistics
Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what facilities and support are available to epilepsy sufferers and their families in the Blackpool area. [58835]
Jacqui Smith: An out-patient service which is based at the neurology department of the Blackpool Victoria Hospital is available to residents in the Blackpool area and surrounding locality. Those patients requiring more specialist assessments and treatment are referred to the Royal Preston Hospital which provides the specialist service for epilepsy sufferers across Lancashire and South Cumbria. This is a clinic-based service under the direction of two consultant neurologists. A specialist nurse is also available who can provide follow up support to patients and families as appropriate. Where necessary patients can also be referred to the David Lewis Centre in Cheshire which provides a specialist centre for assessing and managing severe or complex epilepsy.
Accommodation Centres
Jonathan Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the proposed accommodation centres will be required to register with the Care Standards Commission. [59183]
Jonathan Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if children in accommodation centres will have access to local child and adolescent mental health services. [59182]
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Jacqui Smith: Children in the proposed accommodation centres for asylum seekers will have the same access to local child and adolescent mental health services as other children.
Foster Care
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children are in (a) public and (b) private foster care in each authority; and of those, what proportion are out-of-area placements. [58840]
Jacqui Smith: At 31 March 2001, there were 38,400 children being looked after by local councils in England, who were in foster care. Of these, 9,100 (or 24 per cent.) were in placements outside the boundaries of the council responsible for their care.
The Department does not collect figures on the numbers of children in private foster care.
Multiple Sclerosis Care
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are in place for the appointment of MS nurses. [59216]
Jacqui Smith: There are no formal central guidelines in place for the appointment of multiple sclerosis (MS) nurses. The development and funding of specialist nursing posts to treat specific conditions such as MS is for primary care trusts, in partnership with other local stakeholders, to determine.
Health Service Circular HSC 2002–004 on the 'Cost effective provision of disease modifying therapies for people with multiple sclerosis' does, however, contain some guidance on the funding of MS nurses as they relate to that scheme.
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects that the NICE guidelines on MS services will be issued. [59217]
Jacqui Smith: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence currently expects to issue its clinical guideline on multiple sclerosis services in June 2003.
Communication Aids
Mrs. Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adults with physical disabilities have been supplied with communication aids by community equipment stores in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002. [59753]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mrs. Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to ring-fence funding for communication aids within extra funds provided for community equipment. [59751]
Jacqui Smith: Additional funding for community equipment services has been, and will be, distributed through increased baseline allocations to health and social services in the years 2001–02 to 2003–04. Provision for improving funding for communication aids is part of those increased allocations and there are no plans to ring-fence it separately.
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Equipment Service
Mrs. Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the funding allocation to the Equipment Service has been spent on physical equipment. [59752]
Jacqui Smith: Additional funding for community equipment services has been, and will be, distributed through increased baseline allocations to health and social services in the years 2001–02 to 2003–04. Information about spend on physical equipment is not collected centrally.
Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost of establishing the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection. [59870]
Jacqui Smith: Estimates of the cost of establishing the new health inspectorate will be made in preparing the required legislation.
Legal Claims
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to address the issue of increasing legal claims against the NHS. [60016]
Ms Blears: In July 2001 the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) was asked to set up an advisory group to look at the reform of clinical negligence in the NHS. It has not yet been possible to publish proposals for reform, because of the complexity of the issues raised by potential reforms, the need to consult widely (including through the Lord Chancellor's Department on how compensation is paid) and also to consider how potential proposals sit alongside a concurrent review of the NHS complaints procedure. Nevertheless, the CMO has now held the last of his advisory group meetings and will shortly publish the findings along with recommendations for reform.
Anti-TNF Therapy
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list each health authority area where anti-TNF therapy is (a) available and (b) unavailable; [41443]
- (2) what plans he has for increasing access to anti-TNF therapy. [41442]
Ms Blears [holding answers 11 March 2002]: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence is conducting an appraisal of anti-TNF treatments. Guidance was issued to the national health service on 22 March 2002.
We do not hold information centrally about the current availability of these treatments.
Unpaid Advisers
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 18 April 2002, Official Report, column 1177W, what the (a) names and (b) responsibilities are of unpaid advisers who have assisted the work of his Department since June 1997 but are not included in the Cabinet Office's annual report "Task Forces, Ad Hoc Advisory Groups and Reviews 2000–01". [57037]
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Mr. Hutton [holding answer 21 May 2002]: Ministers have not appointed unpaid advisers other than those accounted for in the list of task forces, reviews and other ad hoc advisory groups.
However, a large number of outside experts provide their time and knowledge to the Department on an ad hoc basis as and when appropriate and without payment. I am grateful to all of them for their help which enriches the work of the Department. Information is not held centrally about such individual contributions.
Midwives
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress to increase staff retention among midwives. [58189]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 22 May 2002]: The Department and the Royal College of Midwives are working closely to improve recruitment and retention by promoting flexible working, childcare, diversity and tackling harassment.
Pay for midwives has increased by at least 26 per cent. Since 1997 and a new grading agreement has been introduced.
The number of midwives (headcount) increased by 510 between September 2000 and September 2001. 2,000 more midwives are planned by 2006.
Workforce development confederations are modelling the future maternity work force taking into account programmes such as Birthrate Plus.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the likely main incentives for attracting former midwives back into the profession. [59412]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 24 May 2002]: The Return Journeys booklet is the result of an assessment of returners' needs and sets out the incentives for people to return to a career in midwifery, or other health care careers in the national health service. I will arrange for a copy to be placed in the Library.
The Improving Working Lives initiative is making return to the NHS more attractive.
We are working with the Royal College of Midwives, local supervisory authorities for midwifery, heads of midwifery and workforce development confederations to improve the return journey for midwives.
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