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15 Sept 2003 : Column 620W—continued

Hospital-acquired Infections

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes have taken place in the number of deaths from MRSA in each of the past nine years; and what changes in the number of deaths he expects to occur in the next three years. [129237]

Ruth Kelly: 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 Colin Mowl to Paul Flynn, dated 15 September 2003:



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Number of deaths where MRSA was mentioned as the underlying or a contributory cause of death, England and Wales, 1993–98

Number of deaths
199347
199488
1995187
1996290
1997377
1998398

The Office for National Statistics is currently in the process of updating this study to cover the period 1999–2002. The results of this analysis will be published next year.
It is impossible to put a firm figure to the number of people who die from MRSA because people are often very sick with a number of other conditions so the contribution of MRSA to the outcome in any particular case is uncertain. In addition, the underlying cause of death is most often the disease or injury which led them to be admitted to hospital, rather than the MRSA which may have complicated the course of the illness.
It is not possible to predict what the figures will be for the next three years.

Learning Disability Services

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the net expenditure was on learning disability by the national health service in each year since 1997–98. [126928]

Dr. Ladyman: The gross expenditure in the hospital and community health servicesince 1997–98 is shown in the table.

£ million

Expenditure on learning disability
1997–981,324
1998–991,365
1999–20001,421
2000–011,486

It is not possible to exclude charges and receipts from the figures to produce a net expenditure figure. It is also not possible to determine the amount of primary care expenditure that is purely learning disability.

Lymphoedema

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the treatment of lymphoedema sufferers in (a) England and (b) Gloucestershire. [129028]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 11 September 2003]: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued guidance on the use of drugs for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic myeloid leukaemia, but not on non-cancer related lymphoedema.

NICE has recently updated the "Improving Outcomes in Breast Cancer Guidance", and that guidance made some recommendations about lymphoedema. These include that cancer networks should agree guidelines for identification and management of lymphoedema and that a lymphoedema service, staffed by nurses and physiotherapists who have experience in dealing with this problem, should be available for all patients who experience arm swelling or discomfort.

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In Gloucestershire, lymphoedema patients can access support from their general practitioner practice and community nursing staff. Lymphoedema patients with cancer can also access support from a practice-based dedicated specialist nurse.

Medicines and Health Care Products Agency

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the consultants and their projects being used by the Medicines and Health Care Products Agency. [R] [128594]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 8 September 2003]: Consultants currently being used by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the projects they are being used on are as follows:


Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to appoint a Chief Executive to the Medicines and Health Care Products Regulatory Agency. [R] [128595]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 8 September 2003]: Professor Kent Woods, who has been appointed Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), will take up the appointment on 1 January 2004.

Waiting Lists/Times Trust

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people had been waiting for inpatient treatment in the Mid Essex Hospital Services Trust area in each of the last three months for which figures are available. [128871]

Dr. Ladyman: The number of patients waiting for elective in-patient admission at Mid Essex Hospital Services National Health Service Trust was 8,710 at the end of May 2003, 8,414 at the end of June 2003 and 8,299 at the end of July 2003.



Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people had been waiting 13 weeks or more for an outpatient appointment in the Mid Essex Hospital Services Trust area in the last two available quarters. [128872]

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Dr. Ladyman: The number of patients still waiting for a first consultant out-patient appointment following general practitioner written referral at Mid Essex Hospital Services National Health Service Trust was 450 at quarter 4 2002–03 and 578 at quarter 1 2003–04.



NHS Dentistry

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS dental practices there were in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne & Wear, (d) the North East and (e) the UK (i) in 1980, (ii) in 1990, (iii) in 2000 and (iv) on the latest dates for which figures are available. [128889]

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Ms Rosie Winterton: The table gives the requested information for the number of general dental service (GDS) practices. The information is available from 1991. Information is given for 1995, 1996 and 2002 because of the changes in health administration areas.

No information is available currently on the number of totally private dental practices. The Office of Fair Trading Report, The private dentistry market in the U.K. states that about 210 practices are totally private (para 3.30).

General Dental Service: Number of Ental Practices
August each year

199119951996(39)200020022003(40)
England8,3908,2698,2988,4748,4978,596
Northern Region1,1361,099
Gateshead3635
Newcastle6861
North Tyneside3330
South Tyneside2322
Sunderland3533
Northern and Yorkshire Region2,2012,1762,149
Gateshead and South Tyneside HA585857
Newcastle and North Tyneside HA899593
Sunderland HA333233
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear SHA230
Gateshead PCT32
Newcastle PCT61
North Tyneside PCT28
South Tyneside PCT23
Sunderland Teaching PCT36
Jarrow Constituency(41)12(42)1112121211

(39) Following the move from Family Health Service Authority (FHSAs) to Health Authority (HAs) in 1996, results are available by HA rather than by FHSA.

(40) Following the move from Health Authority (HAs) to Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in 2001, results are available by Stategic Health Authority (SHA) and PCT rather than by region and HA.

(41) Constituency defined by current boundaries

(42) 1990 figure.

Source:

Dental Practice Board



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