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16 Jul 2003 : Column 409W—continued
Children's Hospices
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of children's hospices (a) within and (b) outside the NHS. [125693]
Dr. Ladyman: There are currently 28 children's hospices in England, all of which are run by voluntary organisations.
Commission for Patient andPublic Involvement in Health
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham of 3 July 2003, Official Report, columns 477–78W, what arrangements are in place to ensure confidential and personal information not required by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health is destroyed or otherwise kept secure. [124868]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Guidance on the retention and disposal arrangements for Community Health Council (CHC) records, including secure handling of confidential records, was issued to CHCs on 17 June 2003. Based on the principles of this guidance, more detailed guidance has subsequently been issued locally.
Criminal Records Checks
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of delays in handling checks by the Criminal Records Bureau on the NHS. [125557]
Mr. Hutton: The national health service has faced some minor problems when recruiting new staff—as a result of the operating difficulties at the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). We have agreed a number of arrangements with the CRB to expedite the clearance of disclosure applications for NHS staff. The performance of the CRB has now greatly improved. In the week ending 5 July, the CRB issued 95 per cent., of standard disclosures within two weeks and 94 per cent. of enhanced disclosures within four weeks, against a service standard of 90 per cent. in each case. These arrangements and the CRB's improved performance has enabled the NHS to manage delays at the CRB without any significant adverse effect on patient services.
Deep Vein Thrombosis
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice his Department gives to reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis in children. [124701]
Dr. Ladyman: Advice has been issued for groups of people at risk of developing deep vein thrombosis during air travel, where freedom of movement may be restricted for periods of time. Risk increases with age and with the presence of various health and life style factors. These are described on the Departments website at: http://www.doh.gov.uk/dvt/. Advice is also available by phoning NHS Direct. Children are not at risk of
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developing deep vein thrombosis unless there is a pre-existing medical condition or history which predisposes them to develop this condition. In this event, advice on how to minimise the risk will be provided by the clinical staff responsible for the child's care.
Dentists
Mr. Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are taken to recoup the value of NHS-funded equipment from those dentists who choose to go private. [125769]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 15 July 2003]: General dental service (GDS) dentists are paid fees which cover both their income and expenses. The expense element of the fees covers the cost of the equipment as it is used. The equipment is owned by the dentist. Most dentists who do private work also continue to do GDS work.
Dentists may also qualify for special capital grants payments through incentive schemes which operate from time to time. Conditions for such schemes have generally included a requirement to maintain or increase national health service commitment and a term allowing recovery of payments, if these requirements are not complied with.
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS registered dentists are working within the London borough of Wandsworth. [126180]
Mr. Hutton: The number of national health service dentists within the Wandsworth Primary Care Trust in the general dental service (GDS), salaried service of the GDS, community and hospital dental services at 30 September 2002 are shown in the table.
| Wandsworth PCT | |
|---|---|
| General dental service (GDS)(38) | 130 |
| Salaried service of the GDS | 4 |
| Community dental service | 26 |
| Hospital dental service | 18 |
(38) GDS covers Principals on the Health Authority list, Assistants and Vocational Dental Practitioners.
Eating Disorders
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the new specialist services set up to treat patients with anorexia as a result of the report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists on eating disorders in 1998. [125089]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists was published in 2001 and has contributed to two new pieces of work into this very serious disorder.
The National Development Group for Specialised Services, chaired by Professor Appleby, the National Director for Mental Health, has recently reviewed this issue and will report its findings in the autumn.
In addition, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence is preparing guidelines for the treatment of anorexia. These are expected to be issued towards the end of this year.
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It is anticipated that proposals for service development will emerge from these three important pieces of work.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many deaths there were of patients suffering from anorexia, broken down by age, in each year since 1997; [125090]
- (2) what the average cost was of treating a patient suffering from anorexia in each of the last three years; [125091]
(3) what the waiting time for patients with anorexia was to see a consultant in each primary care trust in each of the last three years. [125093]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Anorexia is a severe condition, mainly but not exclusively, affecting younger women, which can lead to death in about 15 per cent. of cases. It may affect as many as 1 per cent. of women and is a matter of considerable concern to the Department of Health.
A new group, the National Development Group for Specialised Services, chaired by the National Director for Mental Health, Professor Appleby, have recently reviewed this issue and will report their findings in the autumn.
In addition, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence is preparing guidelines for the treatment of anorexia and these are expected to be issued towards the end of this year. Unfortunately, Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data, which relate to diagnostic information for in-patients in national health service hospitals who have finished their hospital episodes under the care of a consultant specialist, are not collected in a form that reliably permits breakdown of the statistics on deaths following admission to hospital by diagnostic category.
Treatment costs associated with the care of such patients are normally be spread across primary care as well as secondary specialised services and information about overall cost is not captured in a way that permits analysis by diagnostic category.
Furthermore, summary information about waiting times to see a consultant psychiatrist is collected, but this is not broken down by diagnostic category.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health where specialist services treating patients with anorexia are based. [125096]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Anorexia is a severe condition, mainly but not exclusively affecting younger women, which can lead to death in as many as 15 per cent. of cases. It may affect as many as one per cent. of women, and is a matter of considerable concern to the Department of Health.
The most recent survey indicates that there are approximately 70 units in the national health service and the independent sector specialising in eating disorders, including anorexia.
There continues to be a bias in provision towards the south-east of the country, with the south-west and north-east of England, as well as Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland having the fewest services in proportion to their populations.
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A new group, the National Development Group for Specialised Services, chaired by Professor Appleby, the National Director for Mental Health, has recently reviewed this issue and will report its findings in the autumn.
In addition, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence is preparing guidelines for the treatment of anorexia. These are expected to be issued towards the end of this year.
Emergency Planning
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the capacity of primary care trusts to undertake their emergency planning roles. [122102]
Mr. Hutton: The Department of Health has not received any representations on the capacity of primary care trusts (PCTs) to undertake their emergency planning roles.
The review of major incident planning capacity carried out by the Department earlier this year revealed that PCTs have satisfactory emergency planning arrangements in place against eight set criteria: clarity, coherence, contingencies, collaboration, credibility, capability, communications and commitment.
The outcome of the review is now being used to develop a programme of work to further strengthen emergency planning in the national health service. This includes revised guidance, currently being developed by the Department, the Health Protection Agency and the NHS. The guidance will be issued shortly.
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made with plans for a poster campaign advising what to do in the event of a chemical or biological attack; and if he will make a statement on other plans to inform the public (a) in preparation for and (b) in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incident. [122101]
Mr. Hutton: Public communications on issues including health in preparation for and in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) incident are planned and co-ordinated in a cross-Government context. The Department of Health is working closely with the Home Office CBRN Resilience Team and Government Information and Communication Service (GIGS) in the Cabinet Office.Information about terrorism and sensible measures for emergencies are available on the Home Office terrorism website. Further details on chemical and biological deliberate releases are also available on the Department of Health and Health Protection Agency websites.
Information and advice to the public will be made available in the event of a discernible threat of a specific incident.
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