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24 Jun 2003 : Column 724W—continued
Food Supplements
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received from Biocare in relation to the provisions of the (a) Food Supplements Directive and the (b) Food Supplements (England) Regulations; and what response he has made to those representations. [119834]
Miss Melanie Johnson: No such representations have been received from BioCare.
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assesment he has made of the impact on (a) consumer choice and (b) the United Kingdom food supplements industry of the possible setting by the European Union of maximum permitted levels of nutrients in food supplements at levels substantially lower than those permitted in the United Kingdom. [119880]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Article 5 of Directive 2002/46/EC on Food Supplements sets out principles for setting maximum limits for vitamins and minerals in food supplements, although no specific figures have yet been set.
Should the future setting of maximum permitted levels of nutrients in food supplements result in levels substantially lower than those currently used in the United Kingdom, this could, in the long run, result in the removal from the UK market of certain high-dose products, with a consequent reduction in consumer choice and impact on the UK food supplements industry.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for United Kingdom treaty obligations if the (a) Welsh Assembly and (b) Scottish Parliament were not to approve the Food Supplements (Wales) Regulations. [120067]
Miss Melanie Johnson: If the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament did not approve the Food Supplements (Wales) Regulations and the Food Supplements (Scotland) Regulations respectively, the United Kingdom would not have fulfilled its obligations under the EC Treaty to fully transpose the Food Supplements Directive. This would be a serious breach of the UK's obligations under the Treaty and would attract infraction proceedings from the Commission.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many responses have been received by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to the sixth edition of their code of practice; and how many were from (a) individual patients, (b) clinics and (c) professional bodies. [121359]
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Miss Melanie Johnson: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has so far received five responses to its code of practice consultation which began on 19 May 2003 and closes on 8 August 2003. Two of these responses are from HFEA licensed clinics, two are from professional bodies and the other is from a general practitioner. The HFEA has sent the draft of the sixth code of practice to over 200 clinicians, professional organisations and patient support groups.
Infectious Patients
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received concerning a lack of adequate (a) isolation rooms and (b) negative pressure rooms to deal with infectious patients in hospital. [120078]
Miss Melanie Johnson: We have not received any representations on these specific issues. Chief executives were required to carry out a local risk assessment to determine the appropriate provision for isolation facilities within their trusts in 2000.
Mental Health Bill
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he will publish the responses to the consultation exercise on the Mental Health Bill; [121236]
- (2) when he plans to publish the Mental Health Bill; and what impact the consultation exercise has had on the Bill's provisions. [121237]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 23 June 2003]: I refer the hon. Member to the response given to him on 2 April 2003, Official Report, column 774W by my hon. Friend the then Minister of State (Jacqui Smith).
We continue to give careful consideration to all the thoughtful responses so that we can ensure that the legislation delivers the best possible outcomes for patients. The Bill will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Pain Management
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on pain management. [118997]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Pain management is an important component of most patients' care. Patients may suffer from different types of pain, such as chronic pain caused by long term conditions such as arthritis, palliative care pain caused by terminal conditions such as cancer and acute pain, which is an intense short-lived pain including post-operative pain.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been reviewing pain management techniques as part of the supportive and palliative care guidance. This provides a clearer idea of what therapies are effective and areas where further work is needed. Part A of the guidance is available in draft on the NICE website at http://www.nice.org.uk/.
The Clinical Standards Advisory Group (CSAG) report on pain services shows that many national health service trusts have developed excellent services, but we are aware that there are variations in access to services throughout the country. The CSAG report made
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recommendations to NHS acute trusts and commissioners on how pain services should be delivered. The Dr. Foster and Pain Society published its report "Adult Chronic Pain Management Services in the UK" on 11 June 2003, and should provide helpful information to the NHS on the delivery of the service.
Rural Proofing
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met the Chairman of the Countryside Agency to discuss rural proofing. [115579]
Miss Melanie Johnson: My hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Ms Blears) has had regular contact with the chairman of the Countryside Agency and other Department's Ministers through the work of DA(RR), the Cabinet sub-committee on rural renewal. She also had a separate meeting in January with the chairman of the Countryside Agency, in company with my right hon. Friend, the Minister for Rural Affairs, to discuss this Department's contribution to rural proofing and related issues.
The Department's application of rural proofing is covered in detail in the Countryside Agency report, Rural Proofing 2003–04, published earlier this month.
Smoking Bans
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take powers to ban smoking in areas next to children's playgrounds. [119883]
Miss Melanie Johnson: There are no plans to take powers to ban smoking in areas next to children's playgrounds in England.
In Scotland and Wales, responsibility for this matter rests with the devolved administrations. While the institutions in Northern Ireland are dissolved, responsibility rests with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office.
TREASURY
EU Programmes (Fraud)
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much fraud has been detected in EU programmes and initiatives in the UK in each year since 1997. [121162]
Dawn Primarolo: The European Commission does not identify amounts of established fraud against the Community budget. The UK, along with all member states, reports all detected irregularities (which include fraud) to the Commission. Details of the amounts reported can be found in the Commission's annual "Fight against Fraud" reports. The most recent "Fight Against Fraud" report was published in July 2002 and can be accessed from the European Union's website http://europa.eu.int.
NHS Statistics
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many NHS patients died last year as a result of consuming licensed medicines. [120678]
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John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Jonathon Djanogly, dated 24 June 2003:
- As National Statistician, 1 have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many NHS patients died last year as a result of consuming licensed medicines. (120678)
- Information from routine death registration only enables ONS to identify deaths certified as due to drug poisoning, and those recorded at death as resulting from adverse reactions to drugs taken in therapeutic doses. The latest available data on both of these are for 2001. In that year, there were 2,898 deaths certified as due to drug poisoning 1 and 133 deaths recorded as being from adverse reactions to drugs taken in therapeutic doses 2 .
- It is not possible to say how many of these deaths were to people receiving treatment as NHS patients. In particular, a substantial number of deaths due to drug poisoning were from drugs which are often misused (1,623 in 2001) or from medicines taken at the patient's own initiative.
- 1 Defined using the International Classification of Diseases codes F11-F16, F18-F19, X40-X44, X60-X64, Y10-Y14, X85 as the underlying cause of death.
- 2 Defined using the International Classification of Diseases codes Y40-Y59 as the underlying or secondary cause of death.
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