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Prescriptions

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions of (a) dextroamphetamine saccharate, (b) amphetamine aspartate, (c) dextroamphetamine sulfate and (d) amphetamine sulfate (dexidrine) were issued in each of the last five years for (i) attention deficit disorder and (ii) attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder dispensed in the community broken down by (A) health authority and (B) region. [63813]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 24 June 2002]: We have no prescribing records for drugs named dextroamphetamine saccharate and amphetamine aspartate. Amphetamine sulfate (dexidrine) was last prescribed in the community in 1997 when two items were dispensed.

Information on the prescribing of dexamphetamine sulphate, for all treatment uses, is shown in the table. Information prior to 1999 is not available.

9 Jul 2002 : Column 932W

Number of prescription items dispensed in the community in England for dexamphetamine sulphate by health authorities and regions, 1999 to 2001

	Prescription items (thousands)
Health authority and region(29)	1999	2000	2001
Eastern region
Bedfordshire	1.2	0.8	0.6
Cambridgeshire	2.6	2.4	2.2
Hertfordshire	0.8	0.8	0.8
Norfolk	0.9	0.9	1.0
North Essex	0.6	0.6	0.6
South Essex	1.0	0.8	0.8
Suffolk	1.5	1.3	1.2
Total for Eastern region	8.6	7.5	7.2
London region
Barking and Havering	0.3	0.3	0.3
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey	0.5	0.5	0.6
Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich	0.6	0.7	0.7
Brent and Harrow	0.8	0.8	0.7
Camden and Islington	1.2	1.2	0.9
Croydon	0.4	0.3	0.3
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow	0.7	0.9	0.8
East London and the City	0.6	0.5	0.5
Hillingdon	0.2	0.2	0.2
Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster	1.1	1.1	1.0
Kingston and Richmond	0.3	0.3	0.3
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham	0.8	0.8	0.7
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth	0.6	0.5	0.4
Redbridge and Waltham Forest	0.4	0.5	0.5
Total for London region	8.4	8.6	8.0
North West region
Bury and Rochdale	1.9	1.0	0.9
East Lancashire	1.6	1.5	1.6
Liverpool	0.2	0.2	0.1
Manchester	4.3	1.8	2.4
Morecambe Bay	0.3	0.4	0.4
North Cheshire	0.3	0.2	0.2
North West Lancashire	1.4	0.7	0.6
Salford and Trafford	1.8	0.9	1.0
Sefton	0.2	0.2	0.2
South Cheshire	0.3	0.4	0.4
South Lancashire	0.7	0.2	0.2
St. Helens and Knowsley	0.2	0.1	0.1
Stockport	0.4	0.2	0.2
West Pennine	0.9	0.4	0.4
Wigan and Bolton	1.6	1.5	1.2
Wirral	0.2	0.2	0.3
Total for North West region	16.4	9.8	10.1
Northern and Yorkshire region
Bradford	0.5	0.5	0.4
Calderdale and Kirklees	0.7	0.8	0.7
County Durham and Darlington	0.3	0.3	0.4
East Riding and Hull	0.3	0.3	0.2
Gateshead and South Tyneside	0.2	0.2	0.2
Leeds	0.4	0.4	0.4
Newcastle and North Tyneside	0.9	0.5	0.4
North Cumbria	0.2	0.2	0.2
North Yorkshire	0.5	0.5	0.5
Northumberland	0.1	0.1	0.2
Sunderland	0.1	0.1	0.1
Tees	0.3	0.4	0.4
Wakefield	0.3	0.3	0.3
Total for Northern and Yorkshire region	4.7	4.5	4.3
South East region
Berkshire	0.5	0.7	0.7
Buckinghamshire	1.1	0.9	0.9
East Kent	1.0	1.1	1.0
East Surrey	0.2	0.3	0.2
East Sussex, Brighton and Hove	1.1	1.2	1.0
Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and South East Hampshire	4.5	1.3	1.3
North and Mid Hampshire	0.9	1.1	1.1
Northamptonshire	0.5	0.4	0.3
Oxfordshire	0.5	0.5	0.4
Southampton and South West Hampshire	4.3	2.9	2.3
West Kent	1.4	1.4	1.4
West Surrey	0.6	0.7	0.8
West Sussex	1.1	1.1	0.9
Total for South East region	17.9	13.2	12.2
South West region
Avon	0.7	0.5	0.5
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly	3.0	2.7	2.5
Dorset	0.7	0.9	0.9
Gloucestershire	0.7	0.7	0.6
North and East Devon	2.1	1.4	0.7
Somerset	0.5	0.8	1.1
South and West Devon	1.5	1.4	0.9
Wiltshire	1.0	0.8	0.8
Total for South West region	10.1	9.3	8.2
Trent region
Barnsley	0.1	0.1	0.1
Doncaster	0.5	0.5	0.5
Leicestershire	0.9	0.8	0.7
Lincolnshire	0.6	0.8	0.8
North Derbyshire	0.2	0.2	0.3
North Nottinghamshire	0.2	0.3	0.3
Nottingham	0.4	0.4	0.4
Rotherham	0.1	0.1	0.1
Sheffield	0.9	0.9	1.0
South Humber	0.2	0.2	0.2
South Derbyshire	0.6	0.6	0.4
Total for Trent region	4.8	5.0	4.8
West Midlands region
Birmingham	9.8	11.2	11.2
Coventry	0.9	0.7	0.8
Dudley	0.4	0.3	0.2
Herefordshire	0.1	0.1	0.1
North Staffordshire	0.3	0.3	0.2
Sandwell	0.7	0.6	0.5
Shropshire	0.2	0.2	0.2
Solihull	0.2	0.2	0.2
South Staffordshire	0.7	0.5	0.7
Walsall	1.1	1.3	1.1
Warwickshire	0.7	0.6	0.6
Wolverhampton	3.1	0.8	0.6
Worcestershire	1.2	1.3	1.0
Total for West Midlands region	19.4	18.1	17.5
England	90.2	76.0	72.3

⁽²⁹⁾ In which prescription items were dispensed.

Notes:

1. Dexamphetamine sulphate is defined within the British National Formulary (BNF) section 4.4, central nervous system stimulants.

2. The data are from the Prescription Cost Analysis system and cover all prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors in England. The system covers prescriptions originating from general practices and also those written by nurses.

9 Jul 2002 : Column 933W

NHS Complaints Procedure

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress his Department has made with reforms to the NHS complaints procedure. [66262]

9 Jul 2002 : Column 934W

Mr. Lammy [holding answer 3 July 2002]: We are currently considering reform of the NHS complaints procedure following the independent evaluation in 1999–2000 and the subsequent listening exercise completed in October 2001, as well as the Chancellor's Budget statement and the subsequent publication of "Delivering the NHS Plan" in April this year. "Delivering the NHS Plan" set out the proposal to establish a new Commission for Health Care Audit and Inspection among whose responsibilities will be the independent scrutiny of complaints. The Chief Medical Officer is also considering the scope for closer links between the systems for dealing with complaints and clinical negligence claims among the possible alternatives for clinical negligence reform. We hope to be able to indicate the way forward on the reforms soon.

Changes to the complaints procedure will need to take place in the context of the wider measures to empower patients and increase patient involvement in the development of health services. For example, patient advice and liaison services have already been or are being established in NHS and primary care trusts to help sort out problems on the spot.

Emergency Admissions

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the annual growth rate of emergency admissions for people aged over 75 years for each year since 1997–98 to the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [66287]

Jacqui Smith: [holding answer 4 July 2002]:

The information requested is set out in the table.

Year	Emergency admissions for people aged 75 and over	Percentage increase on previous year
1997–98	912,347	-
1998–99	939,276	2.95
1999–2000	954,542	1.63
2000–01	961,275	0.71

Note:

Data in this table are adjusted for both coverage and unknown/ invalid clinical data, except for 2000–01, which are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

The emergency admissions targets, as set out in the Planning and Performance Framework, are being met and good progress is being made.

NHS (West Surrey)

Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by how much the funding of NHS services in west Surrey has been reduced since 1997 to bring it into line with the requirements of the Resource Allocation Working Party. [67456]

Ms Blears [holding answer 5 July 2002]: Actual funding for the national health service in west Surrey has risen from £369.8 million in 1997–98 to £485.9 million in 2002–03. This represents an increase of 31.4 per cent.

9 Jul 2002 : Column 935W

Real terms percentage allocation increases in west Surrey and nationally are shown in the table.

Percentage

Year	Real terms increase	Average increase in England
1997–98	2.54	2.04
1998–99	1.35	1.90
1999–2000	2.91	4.00
2000–01	3.67	4.18
2001–02	5.91	5.85
2002–03	6.89	7.20

During this period, changes in the resource allocation formula have meant that west Surrey has moved from being 1.71 per cent. above its target in 1997–98 to 3.63 per cent. above target in 2002–03.

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