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"Agenda for Change"

Mrs Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the proposed new pay system for NHS employees, under "Agenda for Change". [124345]

Mr. Hutton: "Agenda for Change" has been negotiated over the past four years by staff and

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management representatives working in partnership. Following the conclusion of the union consultation exercise, agreement was reached through the Central Negotiating Group, which includes the four United Kingdom Health Departments, unions and employer representatives, to move to the next phase of testing "Agenda for Change" in early implemented sites. This commenced in June 2003 in 12 sites identified in England, which were selected in partnership with the unions. This phase will provide the opportunity to address any concerns that might arise, through the Central Negotiating Group and when formed, the new National Health Service staff council, with a view to national implementation in October 2004. These sites are being supported by the Modernisation Agency and will develop effective models of implementation for the breadth of organisations represented. All the nationally recognised staff organisations will be represented on the proposed NHS Staff Council.

We anticipate that NHS Foundation Trusts will begin the "Agenda for Change" implementation process in April 2004 and that all staff in NHS Foundation Trusts will be guaranteed the opportunity of moving to the new pay system.

Alcohol Advertising

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on alcohol advertising. [127722]

Miss Melanie Johnson: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, in close collaboration with other Government departments, including the Department of Health, is currently developing the national alcohol harm reduction strategy. The Strategy Unit is due to publish an interim analysis of the harms associated with alcohol misuse later this year. The final report, which will set out the cross-Governmental alcohol harm reduction strategy, is planned for publication later this year.

As part of this project, the Strategy Unit and the Sponsor Minister, the Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community, my hon. Friend the Member for Salford (Ms Blears), have had ongoing discussions with all relevant stakeholders. The final report will consider a wide variety of issues concerning alcohol misuse, including alcohol advertising.

Community Pharmacies

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will make a statement on the Government's policy on community pharmacies. [127622]

Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on Thursday 17 July 2003, Official Report, columns 76–79WS.

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Compensation Claims

Mrs Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of operation care complainants have brought compensation claims in each of the last five years. [128632]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally by the Department of Health. The information that is requested can only be supplied at disproportionate cost to the request.

The present situation is that National Health Service complaints and clinical negligence claims are handled separately. Once a patient who has made a complaint indicates that they are seeking legal action linked to the complaint, then the complaint is halted until the case is resolved through litigation, withdrawn or settlement reached with the trust or NHS Litigation Authority.

However, a review of the way clinical negligence claims and complaints are handled in the NHS is currently under way. The recently published Chief Medical Officer's report, "Making Amends", sets out a number of recommendations to reform the way clinical negligence cases are handled in the NHS, including the removal of the rule which requires a complaint to be halted pending resolution of a claim to encourage closer alignment between the claims and complaints.

Departmental Entertainment

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by (a) ministers and (b) Departmental special advisers on food and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for entertainment purposes since March 2002. [127475]

Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the response given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on Monday 27 January 2003, Official Report, column 673W. The total amount spent by the Department of Health on hospitality in 2002–03 is £125,000.

Departmental information systems do not classify expenditure by Ministers, special advisers or other employment category, nor do information systems provide a detailed breakdown of food and drink.

Food Supplements

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 8 July 2003, Official Report, column 776W, on the Food Supplement Directive, if he will make it his policy to add nutrients to the list of permitted ingredients included in dossiers submitted to the European Food Safety Authority; and if he will make a statement. [128556]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The lists of permitted vitamins and minerals and their sources in annexes I and II to the directive remain open pending safety assessments for additional substances. Dossiers of information supporting safety may be submitted to the European Food Safety for assessment. In the case of amendments to the permitted lists in the directive, Schedules 1 or 2 to The Food Supplements Regulations (England) 2003 will be amended accordingly.

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Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his Answer of 11 July, Official Report, column 1041W, on natural supplements, what plans he has to press for changes in the regulations to ensure that the maximum permitted levels of nutrients in supplements are set on the basis of safety and not nutritional need; what assessment he has made of the impact of this issue to the British specialist food industry; and if he will make a statement. [128516]

Miss Melanie Johnson: While the Food Supplements Directive sets out principles for setting maximum limits for vitamins and minerals in food supplements, no such limits have yet been set. The principles in Article 5 of the directive state that maximum levels should be set based on scientific risk assessment and intake from dietary sources other than food supplements as well as taking account of reference nutrient intakes. The Government continues to argue for maximum permitted limits for vitamins and minerals in food supplements to be set on the basis of thorough risk assessments and will continue to press this view strongly at every opportunity.

During negotiations on the Directive and when drafting the Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003, the Food Standards Agency consulted with a wide range of stakeholders. The potential impacts of the Regulations on the specialist food industry are summarised in the Regulatory Impact Assessment accompanying the Regulations, which are available in the Library.

General Practitioners

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what compensation is paid to GPs who lose their right to dispense; [127629]

(2) what plans he has to reform regulations that permit the removal of the right to dispense from a GP. [127630]

Ms Rosie Winterton: General practitioners do not normally receive compensation if they are no longer required to dispense National Health Service prescriptions. Primary care trusts can make transitional arrangements to ensure an orderly winding-down of such dispensing services.

The Government has no plans to change the conditions under which certain GPs can dispense NHS prescriptions. However, in our response to the Health Select Committee Fifth Report, The Control of Entry Regulations and Retail Pharmacy Services in the UK (Cm 5896) on 17 July 2003, we said that we would invite medical and pharmacy representative bodies to look again at existing proposals to reform the rules governing rural NHS dispensing.

We are setting up an advisory group to advise on how best to implement a series of changes we are proposing to current NHS dispensing rules. We published further details on 29 August 2003 in Proposals to Reform and Modernise the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1992. A copy has been placed in the Library. We will also ask the group to consider the results of the representative bodies' consideration of their proposals for reforming the rules governing rural NHS dispensing.

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Hip Fractures

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people suffered a hip fracture (a) recorded as a first episode and (b) recorded as a second episode in each of the last five years; and what the cost was in each case. [124309]

Mr. Hutton: Table one shows the number of hip fractures, which were recorded as a first and second episode in each of the last five years. Table two shows the average cost of the procedure, taken from the Published National Schedule of Reference Costs. Data are available from 2000. The cost excludes any elements of critical care services that might have been be used by a patient.

Table 1

Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) where a hip fracture was recorded as the main diagnosis

	Year
Episode Order	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02
1	40,083	41,956	43,030	41,691	42,367
2	5,004	5,304	5,732	5,919	7,177

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) Department of Health, England.

Table 2

Mean Average £
Condition	2000	2001	2002
Neck of femur Fracture >69 years old or with complications and comorbidities	3,669	3,818	4,200
Neck of Femur Fracture <70 years old or without complications and comorbidities	2,946	2,956	3,137

Source:

Published National Schedule of Reference Costs.

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