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11 Jul 2003 : Column 1040W—continued
Food Supplements
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent meetings he has had with the natural supplements industry on legislation relating to natural supplements; what action he plans to take as a result of these representations; and if he will make a statement. [123337]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health met with representatives of the Health Food Manufacturer's Association to discuss the Food Supplements Directive on 9 June 2003. Issues covered in discussion fell under four main headings: nutrients and nutrient sources missing from Annexes I and II in the Food Supplements Directive and requirements for safety dossiers; the recently-published report of the Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals and advice on safe upper levels therein; future setting of maximum permitted levels of vitamins and minerals in food supplements at EU level; and plans for future action on chromium picolinate.
Following representations from the Food Standards Agency, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and relevant parties will meet to discuss the potential for simplified dossier requirements and the potential for read-across between dossiers for substances which are likely to have similar toxicological profiles. The European Commission supports this move.
Further, to ensure that the Government's policy objectives for regulation of food supplements in the EU are met, the Government continue to argue for maximum limits for nutrients in food supplements to be based on thorough risk assessment and set at levels which protect public health, but which neither unnecessarily limit consumer choice nor unduly restrict trade. The Government continue to press this view strongly in Brussels at every opportunity.
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many substances he has succeeded in adding to the positive list of Annex II to the EU Food Supplements Directive. [123563]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The lists of permitted nutrients and nutrient sources in the annexes to the Food Supplements Directive 2002/46/EC remain open pending safety assessment of additional substances; additional nutrients or nutrient sources can be added to the relevant permitted list following a favourable assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Industry is currently working to compile safety dossiers for a number of the substances currently omitted from the annexes.
Following representations from the Food Standards Agency, the EFSA and relevant parties will meet to discuss the potential for simplified dossier requirements. The European Commission supports this move.
Cancer Care
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what direction his Department is giving to the Workforce Development Confederation to integrate a cancer module within the standard nursing training programme. [123257]
Mr. Hutton: It is not appropriate for the Department to provide direction on the content of nurse training. The regulatory Council for Nursing and Midwifery sets the standard and outline requirements for pre registration nurse education. It does this in collaboration with higher education, employers and the nursing profession. Students have opportunities to undertake supervised practice in caring for cancer patients. Qualified nurses can undertake more specialised programmes, such as cancer nursing, following registration.
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to extend nurse prescribing powers to include the prescription of opiates for cancer and palliative care. [123258]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department's proposals for extending independent nurse prescribing, including some opiates for use in palliative care, are set out in a consultation paper, issued jointly by the Department of Health and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on 30 April 2003. Copies are available on the MHRA's website: www.mhra.gov.uk and are available in the Library.
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS cancer nurses have (a) retired, (b) left the NHS and (c) been recruited to the NHS in each of the last five years; [123250]
- (2) how many (a) cancer nurses in permanent posts and (b) agency cancer nurses are employed by the NHS. [123252]
Mr. Hutton: Data on the number of permanent or agency cancer specific nurses are not collected centrally nor is information on the number of leavers or retirees from the national health service.
The Department of Health Workforce Census shows that, between 1997 and September 2002, there was a net increase in nurses working in the NHS of nearly 50,000. There are now 367,520 nurses employed in the NHS. This increase has enabled the recruitment of additional cancer-site specific nurse specialists, chemotherapy nurses, district nurses, palliative care nurse specialists and additional nurses on wards caring for cancer patients.
Cataract Treatment
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to ensure that the strategic health authorities and local clinicians are developing flexible and imaginative plans with NHS and private providers to make best use of the extra funds for cataract operations. [124394]
Mr. Hutton: £73 million in total has been allocated to the national cataract initiative. The aim of the initiative is to reduce waiting times for cataract operations to three months by December 2004 with many areas achieving this by summer 2004 and, following the reduction in waiting times, to pilot the introduction of choice at the point of general practitioner referral in a major specialty.
Strategic health authorities have been asked to work with local trusts and primary care trusts and secure the early engagement of local clinicians to develop implementation plans setting out the following:
- Firm dates for delivering six month and three month maximum waiting times for cataracts
The additional activity planned for 2003–04 and 2004–05 to deliver three months and the estimated split of activity for both years between national health service and independent sector providers
How this initiative links to local programmes for implementing patient choice particularly piloting choice at the point of referral, and
Linked improvements in the delivery of other eye care services, for example for chronic eye disease management.
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These initiatives have the support of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists who are also encouraging clinicians to use this investment to develop innovative ways of working and deliver benefits for the full range of ophthalmology services.
Cosmetic Surgery
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are issued to his Department on the criteria to be used by consultants in accepting a child patient for cosmetic surgery. [124898]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 10 July 2003]: The Department of Health does not issue criteria to surgeons on the selection of patients for any type of surgery. Such decisions are a clinical matter, and need to be made by the patient's consultant.
Day Hospitals
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many day hospitals there are in each London borough; and how many have (a) been merged and (b) closed since 1997. [123764]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not collected by the Department.
Drug Treatment
Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress the National Treatment Agency has made towards its target of recruiting 3,000 practitioners to the drug treatment workforce. [124074]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Work force expansion is proceeding more rapidly than anticipated. Drug action teams report an increase of 1,088 additional posts in 2002–03 and are projecting a further 680 between 2003–04.
Fertility Clinics
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to ensure that fertility clinics protect their patients from the risk of HIV transmission. [124398]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's (HFEA) Code of Practice states that licensed fertility clinics helping HIV positive people to have a baby should use the guidelines issued by the Association of Clinical Embryologists (ACE) and other professional bodies.The ACE "Accreditation Standards and Guidelines for IVF Laboratories" include the need for separate storage equipment for infected embryos and for laboratories to be fully
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equipped to deal with HIV. The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens gives guidelines on handling blood-borne infections such as HIV and hepatitis.
As a further protective measure, the chair of the HFEA wrote to all licensed centres in March 2001 asking them to introduce routine screening of patients for HIV as well as hepatitis B and C. This will become mandatory in December 2004. All gamete donors are already routinely screened for HIV and detailed guidance on this is included in the HFEA's Code of Practice. This includes a requirement for donor gametes to be stored for 180 days and re-tested to minimise as far as possible the risk of HIV transmission.
In addition to patient and donor screening, the current edition of the HFEA's Code of Practice requires laboratories in licensed centres to have procedures in place to ensure that all blood products are pre-screened for HIV.
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