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14 Jul 2003 : Column 114W—continued
Commission for Social Care Inspection
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the person for whom the records are held will have the right to be informed that their records have been inspected and copies taken which will be removed from the premises under Clause 86(1) of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill. [122960]
Dr. Ladyman: The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) will be subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998).
The CSCI will therefore be required to provide 'fair processing information' to persons whose records are inspected, unless:
- there is disproportionate effort in doing so
they are satisfied that the subjects have already been adequately informed, or
in the case of an investigation, to do so would prejudice the investigation.
Contingency Plans
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the dissemination of lessons learned from major incident exercises by the Health Protection Agency will be made public. [121346]
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Miss Melanie Johnson: The primary purpose of all major incident exercises is to identify lessons that can be used internally as a means of improving plans and training in all participating organisations. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) ensures that rigorous debriefing takes place following such events and that specific lessons are identified and shared with national health service and other participating organisations. An executive summary of the report of exercises—specifically identifying any general lessons learnt—will be placed on the HPA website at www.hpa.org.uk to ensure that the information is more widely disseminated.
Correspondence
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to reply to the letter of 26 June from the honourable Member for Sutton and Cheam regarding Mr.A.Dharsi, a constituent. [124562]
Ms Rosie Winterton: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 10 July 2003.
Eating Disorders
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines have been issued by his Department on supporting carers of patients with anorexia. [125095]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department of Health issued guidance in November 2002 called "Developing services for carers and families of people with mental illness", which will be of value to all those carers supporting people with mental health problems, including patients with anorexia.
The NHS Plan set a target for 2004 that 700 more staff will be recruited to increase the breaks available for carers and to strengthen carer support networks. In pursuance of this target, all regular carers of people with mental health problems will have been identified, received an assessment and have their own care support plans by 2004. By 2004, local support networks for these carers will have been developed. The statutory and voluntary sector currently provides support to carers.
Erectile Dysfunction
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to ask the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to evaluate the (a) clinical and (b) cost effectiveness of providing PDE5 inhibitors on the NHS for treatment of erectile dysfunction. [123431]
Miss Melanie Johnson: We have no plans to ask the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to evaluate the clinical and cost effectiveness of providing PDE5 inhibitors on the National Health Service for erectile dysfunction. A review of the current policy was conducted as recently as 2001.
Food Standards
Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are being taken (a) to detect the increased use of foreign animal hydrolysed proteins in meat consumed in the UK and (b) to ensure traceability and detectability. [119065]
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Miss Melanie Johnson: Further to the discovery of the use of hydrolysed proteins from non-chicken origin in chicken products on sale in the UK in late 2001, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) undertook a co-ordinated enforcement exercise with 20 local authorities. The exercise targeted those companies and products where use of hydrolysed proteins of non-chicken origin had previously been found. The results indicated that of the 25 formal samples taken, 12 tested positive for non-chicken DNA (either pork or in one case pork and beef).
The FSA is taking action to reduce the use of hydrolysed proteins of non-chicken origin in chicken products. As a result of the enforcement exercise, local authorities are taking follow-up action with the importers and suppliers of mislabelled chicken products, and will be making regular checks. The companies using these hydrolysed proteins can be identified from the licensed health marks used on these products, therefore the FSA is also working closely with the Dutch authorities to increase sampling and inspection of these manufacturers. Formal action has recently been taken against five Dutch processors. Following FSA pressure, the European Commission has agreed to improve rules on labelling of meat products with added water, but the FSA is calling in addition for a limit on added water of 15 per cent. and a ban the use of non-poultry proteins in this type of poultry product.
Food Supplements
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he intends to make it his policy to consult industry and to produce a list of those nutrients and nutrient sources which are legally available in food supplements but which are not listed as acceptable for such use in the Schedules to the proposed Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003; and if he will publish such a list in the Official Report. [124157]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which has responsibility for policy on food supplements, has no plans to ask industry to produce such a list.
Industry has already provided the FSA with information on those nutrients and nutrient sources currently marketed in the United Kingdom but missing from the Schedules to the Food Supplement (England) Regulations 2003. For lists of missing nutrients and nutrient sources, may I refer the hon. Member to the responses I gave the hon. Member for Bosworth (Mr. Tredinnick) on Monday 30 June 2003, Official Report, columns 142W and 181W.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dossiers are being prepared by the food supplements industry for submission to the EU Scientific Committee for Food in relation to nutrients and nutrient sources which are legally available in food supplements, but which are not listed as acceptable for such use in the Schedules to the proposed Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003. [124158]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Industry representatives have informed the Food Standards Agency that 24 safety dossiers are currently being prepared to support the addition of missing substances to the permitted lists in the Annexes to the Food Supplements Directive.
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Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for animal testing of nutrients and nutrient sources of the requirements of the Food Supplements Directive that dossiers must be submitted for consideration by the European Scientific Committee for Food in relation to nutrients and nutrient sources which are legally available in food supplements, but which are not listed as acceptable for such use in the Schedules to the proposed Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003. [124159]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The lists of permitted vitamins/minerals and their sources in the Food Supplements Directive may be extended following assessment, by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), of dossiers of information supporting the use of additional vitamins and minerals and their sources.
It is not possible to predict what implications dossier requirements may have for animal testing. Guidance on dossier content, issued by the former European Union Scientific Committee on Food, does not stipulate that data should be from animal testing and states that the available data should be submitted in the first instance. The need to generate new data will be assessed on a case-by-case basis; it will depend upon the extent and nature of data already available and any safety considerations that need to be addressed. It will be for the petitioner to decide on the most appropriate data package.
In recognition of the difficulties associated with compilation of dossiers, the Food Standards Agency has been pressing the EFSA for an urgent, substantive discussion involving representatives of relevant interest groups. The European Commission supports this move. The EFSA has responded positively and we expect a meeting to be arranged soon.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what date food supplement products will be required to be removed from the market if they contain nutrients and nutrient sources which are not listed as acceptable for such use in the Schedules to the proposed Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003. [124160]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003 will come into force on 1 August 2005. From that date, the sale of food supplements containing vitamins or minerals not in the Schedules will be prohibited, unless the criteria in regulation 5(3), which permit continued sale until 1 January 2010, are met.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received from the National Association of Health Stores in relation to the provisions of the Food Supplements Directive and the Food Supplements (England) Regulations; and what response he has made to those representations. [120435]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Ministers have received a number of recent written representations from, and on behalf of, the National Association of Health Stores (NAHS) expressing NAHS's concerns over the impact of the Food Supplements Directive and the implementing regulations. In particular, NAHS voiced particular concerns over the current composition of the
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lists of permitted substances in the annexes to the Directive and asked that the United Kingdom seek an amendment to the Directive.
Ministers have responded recognising those concerns and setting out the Government's view that there was no possibility of negotiations on the Directive being reopened. Many Member States wanted a much more restrictive regime.
No aspect of the Directive needs to be implemented by the industry until 1 August 2005 and the Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003 make use of flexibility in the Directive that means marketing of some products may not be affected until 1 January 2010.
Food supplements containing vitamins and minerals and their sources missing from the positive lists, that were on the market when the Directive came into force may continue to be marketed beyond 1 August 2005 provided that dossiers to support their addition to the positive lists have been submitted to the European Commission before 12 July 2005 and provided that the European Food Safety Authority has not given a negative opinion on such use.
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