House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 19 Mar 2003 (pt 23)

19 Mar 2003 : Column 848W—continued

NHS Direct (Adverse Drug Reactions)

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls NHS Direct has received from callers reporting adverse drug reactions since 1 January. [102525]

Mr. Lammy: NHS Direct has not received any calls from patients reporting adverse drug reactions. A pilot scheme for handling calls from callers reporting adverse drug reaction will be launched at NHS Direct South East London on 18 March. Following an initial review period, national roll-out will be completed by the end of this year.

NHS Litigation Authority

Ms Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of procedures put in place by the NHS Litigation Authority to identify clinicians against whom there have been several complaints. [103565]

Mr. Lammy: The National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA) is not part of the complaints system in place in individual trusts. The NHSLA's function is to administer the clinical negligence schemes, i.e., the Existing Liabilities Scheme and the Clinical Negligence Scheme for trusts, as well as two non-clinical schemes. Since claims under these schemes are against the NHS bodies which are vicariously liable for the actions of their employees, it is not considered necessary to record the name of the clinician when a claim is notified.

19 Mar 2003 : Column 849W

Ms Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he receives from the NHS litigation authority on clinicians against whom complaints have been made. [103566]

Mr. Lammy: The National Health Service Litigation Authority does not collect information on complaints about clinicians.

Ms Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to whom the NHS litigation authority makes information available on the litigation history of individual clinicians. [103567]

Mr. Lammy: The National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA) does not collect information on the litigation history of a clinician. The NHSLA shares its claims information with the National Patient Safety Agency, whose role it is to collate information on all incidents that occur in NHS trusts. Only in cases of a novel, contentious or repercussive nature is the NHSLA required to advise the Department of Health.

Patient Advocacy

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the Government's response to the recommendations of the Transitional Advisory Board regarding the abolition of Community Health Councils and the introduction of patients' forums and independent complaints advisory services. [102828]

Mr. Lammy: The Chief Nursing Officer replied for the Government to the Transition Advisory Board's recommendations on 31 January. A copy of this response is available at www.doh.gov.uk/involvinqpatients/tab

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether TUPE—Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations—will apply to Community Health Council staff in relation to patients' forums and independent complaints advisory services. [102829]

Mr. Lammy: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, having given careful consideration to the legal position of staff assigned to Community Health Councils, has decided that there will be no Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) transfer of CHC staff in relation to The Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, the support to patients' forums and the Independent Complaints and Advocacy Services.

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he plans to take to eradicate variation in the quality of services under the new arrangements for patient advocacy following the abolition of Community Health Councils; [102831]

(3) what steps his Department has taken to evaluate pilot independent complaints advisory services; and if he will make a statement. [102830]

19 Mar 2003 : Column 850W

Mr. Lammy: It is our intention that Independent Complaints Advocacy Services (ICAS) will be available throughout the country from 1 September 2003.

In the new system of patient and public involvement, ICAS is the responsibility of primary care trust (PCT) patients' forums. As an interim measure, whilst patients' forums are being established and are building their capacity and networks, we shall be working with the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) to put in place national coverage of ICAS through a contract with specialist complaints support providers.

To support this system, we shall make arrangements to enable the CPPIH to manage the contract and to ensure services are provided to national standards.

I recently announced an extension to the ICAS pilots to 31 July 2003. The full evaluation of the pilots will take place at the end of June, when we will have three quarterly returns from the pilots on the experience and activity. The evaluation will include all the pilots plus the support offered to them.

The initial benchmarking exercise of a sample of the pilots, undertaken in January this year, has shown that ICAS provision has been well received and that pilots need to focus on developing good working relationships with the local national health service, in particular patient advice and liaison services, work with patients to find out their views of the ICAS service and ways of collecting data which can be used to improve NHS services.

The CPPIH has a specific remit to set national standards for ICAS and to monitor compliance. The ICAS pilots currently work to draft national standards and are developing local operational protocols, which will inform future provision.

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that the expertise and knowledge of Community Health Council staff are not lost in the new arrangements for patients' forums and independent complaints advisory services. [102832]

Mr. Lammy: We have never envisaged that we could guarantee employment for Community Health Council (CHC) staff in the new system of patient and public involvement or that we would treat CHC staff differently from the way we deal with other national health service staff when they are affected by restructuring—the human resources framework for CHC staff makes this clear. This framework was developed jointly with the employers and NHS unions and will provide help and support to CHC staff to seek alternative employment in the NHS.

However, jobs in the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health will be advertised to CHC staff first and those staff who meet the essential criteria for posts will be guaranteed interviews.

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultations the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health commissioners have undertaken on patients' forums and the independent complaints advisory services; and what discussions they have had with the Association of Community Health Councils in England and Wales. [102834]

19 Mar 2003 : Column 851W

Mr. Lammy: The Department does not maintain records of discussions held by the individual commissioners of the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) and because of this the information requested is not available. More information about the CPPIH and the commissioners is available from its website at www.cppih.org

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who will be responsible for taking up the cases of those patients that remain unresolved by the Community Health Councils on 1 September 2003. [102835]

Mr. Lammy: We are currently working on guidance for the handling of any patients' cases that remain unresolved in Community Health Councils when they are abolished on 1 September 2003.

Pharmacies

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the number of NHS pharmacies required to provide NHS services to local communities; how many pharmacies dispense on behalf of the NHS; and what assessment he has made of the optimum location of these pharmacies in future. [103455]

Mr. Lammy [holding answer 17 March 2003]: Under the National Health Service Act 1977, it is the responsibility of national health service primary care trusts (PCTs) to arrange the provision of pharmaceutical services in their area. This includes determining whether it is necessary or desirable to secure adequate provision of services by granting new applications. The Health and Social Care Act 2001 also empowers PCTs to devise contracts for local pharmaceutical services which address particular local needs.

We remain committed to maintaining and improving access to pharmaceutical services. We are currently considering the recommendation of the Director General of Fair Trading to remove these statutory controls and any implications it may have for this objective.

As at March 2002, there were 9,756 community pharmacies in England in contract with the NHS to dispense prescriptions.

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive Department of Health on the Office of Fair Trading report on the regulation of pharmacies. [103286]

Mr. Lammy [holding answer 17 March 2003]: We are in regular contact with the Scottish Executive in considering the report from the Director General of Fair Trading. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, is co-ordinating the Government's response.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact of the Office of Fair Trading report on control of entry regulations to the pharmacy market on his Department's strategy on the reclassification of medicines from prescription-only to pharmacy sale. [103463]

19 Mar 2003 : Column 852W

Mr. Lammy [holding answer 18 March 2003]: We are considering the report from the Director General of Fair Trading and its findings and recommendation carefully, including any implications it may have for the procedures we introduced in May 2002 to streamline the medicines reclassification system.

The Government continues to encourage pharmaceutical companies to apply for their products to be reclassified where it is safe and appropriate to do so.

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the impact of the Office of Fair Trading report on control of entry regulations to the pharmacy market on his Department's strategy on the reclassification of medicines from prescription only to pharmacy sale; [102851]

(a)

(b)

Mr. Lammy: We are considering the report from the Director General of Fair Trading and its findings and recommendation carefully.

This includes any implications it may have for the procedures we introduced in May 2002 to streamline the medicines reclassification system. The Government continues to encourage pharmaceutical companies to apply for their products to be reclassified where it is safe and appropriate to do so.

The Government remains committed to maintaining and improving access to pharmaceutical services. Under the National Health Service Act 1977, it is the responsibility of NHS primary care trusts (PCTs) to arrange the provision of pharmaceutical services in their area. This includes determining whether it is necessary or desirable to secure adequate provision of services by granting new applications. The Health and Social Care Act 2001 also empowers PCTs to devise contracts for local pharmaceutical services which address particular local needs.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many responses he has received to the OFT report on the UK market for retail pharmacy services; [103183]

(a)

(b)

(c)

(3) what discussions he has had with pensioners' representatives on retail pharmacy services. [103184]

Mr. Lammy [holding answer 17 March 2003]: We have received around 1,000 responses so far to the Director General of Fair Trading's report on community pharmacies.

I have had no recent specific discussions with representatives of pensioners about retail pharmacy services. However, I and my officials have met patient and consumer interests as well as leading pharmacy and medical organisations to hear their views on the report. These have included views on the implications of the report's recommendation for continued access to pharmacy services for older people and those with

19 Mar 2003 : Column 853W

special needs. The Government remains fully committed to maintaining and improving access to national health service pharmacy services for all.

Next Section

Index

Home Page