| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
7 Jul 2003 : Column 648W—continued
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to establish a national screening programme for abdominal aortic aneurysm. [122364]
Mr. Hutton: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (NSC) makes recommendations to Ministers on all aspects of screening programmes. It is currently considering the resource costs and workforce implications of implementing a screening programme for abdominal aortic aneurysm, following the publication of a multi-centre study, funded by the Medical Research Council last year.
Advertising Campaigns
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advertising campaigns his Department is (a) conducting and (b) planning for the next 12 months; and how much is being spent on each campaign in each advertising medium. [121644]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Major advertising campaigns committed to and planned by the Department of Health for 2003–04 are shown in the table. Column 'A' gives details of committed spend as at 30 June 2003. Column 'B' lists other advertising activity planned for the rest of this financial year (not yet agreed).
7 Jul 2003 : Column 649W
Agency Nurses
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 16 June 2003, Official Report, column 67W, on agency nurses, what information is collected on hours worked by agency nurses. [122801]
Mr. Hutton: Information on hours worked by agency nurses is not collected centrally.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what resources were allocated to (a) research into and (b) treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in each year since 1997. [122641]
Dr. Ladyman: The main Government agency for research into the causes and treatments of disease is the Medical Research Council (MRC), which receives its funding from the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Technology. The MRC's expenditure on research into attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is shown in the table.
Because the MRC has changed the way in which information is kept, it does not have a set of complete records to compile figures for 1997–99 in this particular area.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 0.62 |
| 2000–01 | 0.63 |
| 2001–02 | 0.53 |
| 2002–03 | not available |
Since 2001, the Economic and Social Research Council has funded a £45,000 research project on screening and interventions for inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity in school age children. These problems are associated with ADHD but are not by themselves definitive indicators of the disorder.
7 Jul 2003 : Column 650W
Expenditure on the treatment of ADHD is not separately identifiable within overall spending on child and adolescent mental health services.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the treatment available for benign prostatic hyperplasia. [122450]
Mr. Hutton: Specialist urological services for men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are available widely around the country and a significant number of men can be treated by their family doctor. In recent years, drug treatments and surgery for the disease have greatly improved.
Treatment can be given by medicines which can either help to relax the muscle fibres within the prostate or decrease the size of the gland. The most common surgical operation is an endoscopic surgical procedure where parts of enlarged tissue are removed.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has just finished consulting on two procedures under the interventional procedures programme. They are examining transurethral electrovaporisation of the prostate, which is a minimally invasive alternative to standard treatment, and transurethral needle ablation of the prostate. Guidance on the safety andefficacy of both techniques should be published in the autumn by the interventional procedures programme.
7 Jul 2003 : Column 651W
British Overseas Territories
Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what responsibilities his Department undertakes in connection with British Overseas Territories. [123900]
Mr. Hutton: There are reciprocal health agreements between the United Kingdom and those populated territories which wished to have such agreements; that is, with Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat, St. Helena and Turks and Caicos Islands. The agreements cover immediately necessary treatment for temporary visitors travelling in both directions. They also provide that some patients may be referred by the territories specifically for treatment of a pre-existing condition to the UK where appropriate facilities are not available in the territory concerned. The UK also represents the interests of the territories at the relevant regional committees of the World Health Organisation.
Care Homes (Essex)
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are waiting in hospitals in Essex for placements in care homes. [122887]
Dr. Ladyman: Management information from Essex Strategic Health Authority shows that, as at week ending 29 June 2003, there were fifteen patients in hospitals in Essex awaiting placements in care homes.
Carers
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has collated on the number of full time, non professional, carers broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) disability or other condition of the person cared for. [123442]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Cable, dated 7 July 2003:
- As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what information has been collated on the number of full-time, non professional, carers broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) disability or other conditions of the person cared for. (123442)
- The principal source of information on the number of carers in England and Wales is the decennial Census of population. The question on unpaid caring in the 2001 Census asked for the number of hours spent caring which were not part of any paid employment. The number of people in England and Wales who provide unpaid care and who were not otherwise employed is shown in "Table S026 (Sex and economic activity by general health and provision of unpaid care)" of the Census 2001 National Report for England and Wales, which was published on 7 May 2003. A copy of this report was placed in the House of Commons Library. The corresponding figures for each of the 376 local authorities in England and Wales are available on CD-ROM, a copy of which is also available in the House of Commons Library. A further table in the National Report for England and Wales "Table S027 (Households with a person with a limiting long-term illness (LLTI) and their age by number of carers in household and economic activity)", which you might find useful is also broken down by local authority and is on the same CD-ROM.
7 Jul 2003 : Column 652W
- The Census did not ask for characteristics of the person cared for and it is not therefore possible to answer part (b) of your question with information from the 2001 Census.
- Information on unpaid caring in Scotland and Northern Ireland is available from the General Register Offices of those countries.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |