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Medical Records
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the Electronic Record Development and Implementation Programme with regards to the national rollout of electronic personal medical records for all patients. [68288]
Mr. Lammy: The electronic record development and implementation programme (ERDIP) was established in June 2000 to explore developmental issues around the
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electronic record programme specified in the information strategy Information for Health, published in September 1998. The programme consisted of 19 projects, nine of which have now completed. The projects ranged in size from one to exchange information between NHS Direct and general practitioner (GP) systems, to a pan community service covering a health authority (as previously defined), linking hospitals, general practice, ambulance and social care. Two general practices (Bury Knowle and Hatfield) have explored the issues of allowing patients access to their own GP records.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of patients have access to their electronic medical records. [68287]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 10 July 2002]: At present no official figures are available on the proportion of patients who have been given direct on-line, secure access to their electronic record. However, there are a number of sites that have taken forward work in this area, which will inform policy development and any future national rollout.
In addition proposal are currently being considered to take forward the development of an electronic personal health record as specified in the National Health Service information strategy, Information for Health. This will be the patient's own record, separate from the general practice and hospital records.
Photodynamic Therapy
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make photodynamic therapy an approved NHS treatment; and if he will make a statement. [68292]
Mr. Lammy: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) are carrying out an appraisal of photodynamic therapy as a treatment for age related macular degeneration. NICE published its final appraisal determination on photodynamic therapy on 12 June. This has been appealed against. An appeal panel will now be convened to hear the appeal and decide the outcome. If the appeal is not upheld, then guidance will be published, however, if it is upheld then the appeals panel will ask the appraisal committee to reconsider the evidence in light of the appeal panel's decision. The earliest guidance could be available to the National Health Service is early August.
Mental Health
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of trusts have mixed-sex mental health wards. [67957]
Mr. Hutton: All mental health wards generally care for both men and women. To provide the required levels of privacy and dignity for patients, wards are split into single sex bays, or single rooms, or otherwise configured to provide adequate segregation of gender. It is the responsibility of each National Health Service trust to determine the most appropriate configuration to meet their specific requirements.
The Department has set three objectives which trusts must meet to be deemed compliant. These objectives refer to single sex accommodation and not single sex wards.
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The target is for three objectives to be achieved in 95 per cent. of trusts by December 2002.
To ensure that appropriate organisational arrangements are in place to secure good standards of privacy and dignity for hospital patients;
To achieve the patient's charter standard for segregated washing and toilet facilities across the NHS; and
Provide safe facilities for patients in hospitals who are mentally ill which safeguard their privacy and dignity.
Mr. Hutton: The national director for mental health's working group has taken a number of practical steps related to the recruitment and retention of psychiatrists. The group has initiated an attrition study of psychiatric trainees, a study of flexible trainees in psychiatry, a survey into the retirement intentions of consultant psychiatrists and a study of psychiatrists' workload. The group has provided psychiatric input to international recruitment and work is in progress to recruit psychiatrists through the general global recruitment campaign and the International Fellowship scheme.
The group has developed a new model of psychiatrists' numbers, tracking recruitment and retention from graduation to retirement and an action plan based on these figures is being prepared.
Recruitment and retention issues relating to the mental health workforce as a whole are taken forward by the mental health care group workforce team.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many more staff will need to be recruited to acute mental health wards as a result of implementation of the Working Time Regulations; and if he will make a statement as to his plans. [67971]
Mr. Hutton: The working time regulations currently fully apply to all staff except for doctors in training.
The Department is currently in the process of supporting a range of pilot projects to test solutions to implementation of the working time directive. This includes mental health services.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which health authorities offer women-only day centres for mental health patients. [68272]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not currently available centrally. The mental health service mapping system is being refined to enable the Department to gauge progress against this NHS Plan commitment.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many whole-time equivalent community psychiatry and other psychiatry nurses there are. [68156]
Mr. Hutton: Non-medical workforce information is collected each year as at 31 September, the latest being September 2001.
As at 31 September 2001, there were 11,040 community psychiatric nurses and 25,930 other psychiatric nurses working in the National Health Service.
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Schizophrenia
Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the drugs Ziprazidone and Aripipazole will be available on prescription to treat schizophrenia. [65075]
Mr. Lammy: Neither Ziprasidone nor Aripiprazole are licensed drugs in the United Kingdom. These products will become available for prescription once the licensing authority is satisfied of their quality, safety and efficacy for the intended use.
Suicides
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many psychiatric outpatients from the Portsmouth, South constituency have committed suicide in the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [67419]
Ms Blears: The information requested is not collected centrally.
MIND
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of MIND's prescribing protocol; and if he will make a statement. [67039]
Mr. Lammy: We welcome the MIND prescribing protocol. The themes highlighted are in line with action we are taking to improve the use of medicines in the National Health Service through medicines management schemes and patient partnership.
Electro-Convulsive Therapy
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has undertaken on electro-convulsive therapy in the last two years. [67636]
Mr. Lammy: The main Government agency for medical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is funded via the Department of Trade and Industry. The MRC currently supports one research project on electro convulsive therapy (ECT) being undertaken by Dr. M. J. Koepp at the Institute of Neurology. The research started on 1 November 2001 and is expected to take three years.
The Department directly funds research into policy and the delivery of effective practice in health and social care, and provides National Health Service support funding for research commissioned by the research councils and charities in the NHS. The Department has directly funded research projects relevant to ECT as follows:
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Role of ECT: Review of studies and information on service user experience;
Systematic review effectiveness and adverse effects of ECT;
The Clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy;
Clinical Effectiveness and cost of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation versus ECT in severe depression: a multi-centre randomised controlled trial and economic analysis.
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