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6 Oct 2003 : Column 1319W—continued
Mersey Regional Ambulance Service
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to improve the performance of the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service. [130926]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 18 September 2003]: The Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust has an action plan
6 Oct 2003 : Column 1320W
with the central commissioning group (CCG), which represents the 15 primary care trusts across Cheshire and Merseyside.
The immediate actions agreed with the CCG include:
- additional resources to provide an intermediate patient transport service whereby out-patient transport staff will be provided with additional training and resources in order to assist with the response to emergency demand;
introducing additional solo operated rapid response vehicles;
extending the hours of the existing solo operated rapid response vehicles; and
introduction of a community paramedic.
Methylphenidate
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he plans to investigate the extent of Methylphenidate prescribing in the UK. [130259]
Dr. Ladyman: Information is collected on the number of prescription items of all Methylphenidate drugs dispensed in the community. The data include prescriptions prescribed in general practitioner practices, and prescriptions prescribed in hospitals that have been dispensed in the community. Private prescriptions, and prescriptions dispensed in hospitals are not included. Numbers of prescriptions in England for the years 1997 to 2002 are set out in the table.
| Items (Thousand) | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 92.1 |
| 1998 | 126.6 |
| 1999 | 158.0 |
| 2000 | 186.2 |
| 2001 | 208.5 |
| 2002 | 254.0 |
In 2000, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) made an appraisal of the use of Methylphenidate in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). NICE estimated that approximately 1 per cent. of all school-aged children—about 69,000 of 6 to 16-year-olds in England met the diagnostic criteria for Hyperkinetic Disorder, the more severe type ADHD, of whom some 45,000 might benefit from Methylphenidate were not receiving this treatment. A review of the appraisal is planned for this year.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) short and (b) long-term adverse effects are described with Methylphenidate. [130260]
Dr. Ladyman: Methylphenidate (sold in the UK as Ritalin, Equasym and Concerta XL) is licensed for use in children over six years of age as part of a comprehensive treatment programme for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, where remedial measures alone prove insufficient.
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The most common short-term adverse effects generally occur at the beginning of treatment, and include central nervous system effects, such as nervousness and insomnia, and gastro-intestinal effects, such as abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.
The long-term safety and efficacy profiles of methylphenidate are not fully known. This is reflected in the product information of Ritalin provided to prescribers which advises that patients requiring long-term therapy should be carefully monitored. It warns of the risk of moderately reduced weight gain and slight growth retardation with the long-term use of stimulants in children and that careful monitoring of growth is recommended. It also recommends that blood tests should be performed periodically during long-term use.
Microbiology Laboratories
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what systems are in place to ensure that the former Public Health Laboratory Service microbiology laboratories (a) maintain their standards of practice under NHS trusts and (b) continue to report national data statistics to central Government; [130077]
- (2) what safeguards are in place to ensure that food-borne disease is given high priority by the Health Protection Agency when commissioning services from microbiology laboratories; [130078]
(3) what service level agreements are in place for microbiology laboratories. [130079]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Health Protection Agency is in the final stages of putting in place a detailed service level agreement (SLA) with those national health service trusts from which it is commissioning public health services from NHS microbiology laboratories. Reporting of results, submission of samples and food-related public health work are all specified in detail within the SLA, which provides a clear exposition of the range and level of service required.
To improve clinical governance, raise quality standards and improve openness and transparency for patients, the Department recently decided that all NHS pathology laboratories in England should enrol with an appropriate accreditation scheme. Further information will be contained in the Department's document on modernising pathology services, which will be published later this year.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what supporting inspection arrangements are in place for microbiology laboratories. [130080]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department expects to appoint a new inspector of microbiology shortly, with the key aim of ensuring high quality public health and clinical microbiology. His/her functions will include:
- ensuring that all microbiology laboratories providing services to the national health service meet their responsibilities for public health surveillance;
promoting standards and ensuring quality in the operation of microbiology services;
identifying significant gaps in specialist and reference microbiological testing that are relevant to public health surveillance;
achieving adherence to standard operating procedures in diagnostic microbiology.
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Midwives
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwives were employed in the NHS in (a) 1997 and (b) 2002, broken down by health authority. [130955]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table. The 1997 health authority data has been mapped into strategic health authority (SHA) area. SHAs were introduced in 2001.
| SHA | 1997 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|
| Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire | 715 | 910 |
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 541 | 605 |
| Essex | 596 | 644 |
| South Yorkshire | 664 | 649 |
| Trent | 959 | 1,053 |
| Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland | 632 | 644 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 638 | 652 |
| Birmingham and The Black Country | 1,261 | 1,234 |
| Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire | 720 | 739 |
| North West London | 864 | 842 |
| North Central London | 535 | 628 |
| North East London | 753 | 724 |
| South East London | 721 | 769 |
| South West London | 587 | 638 |
| Northumberland, Tyne and Wear | 699 | 675 |
| County Durham and Tees Valley | 513 | 566 |
| North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 703 | 651 |
| West Yorkshire | 1,038 | 1,021 |
| Cumbria and Lancashire | 1,008 | 985 |
| Greater Manchester | 1,683 | 1,572 |
| Cheshire and Merseyside | 1,173 | 1,276 |
| Thames Valley | 876 | 1,004 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 771 | 730 |
| Kent and Medway | 703 | 660 |
| Surrey and Sussex | 728 | 1,020 |
| Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire | 1,126 | 1,091 |
| South West Peninsula | 751 | 797 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 427 | 470 |
| Special health authorities and other statutory bodies | 0 | 0 |
| England | 22,385 | 23,249 |
Mixed Sex Wards
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals under the control of primary care trusts have yet to end the use of mixed sex wards. [131034]
Miss Melanie Johnson: We have no plans to publish the names of trusts which are yet to meet the target.
The majority of national health service trusts were successful in eliminating mixed sex accommodation by the target date. The remainder will comply once current Private Finance Initiatives and other building projects are completed. These works affect just 2 per cent. of 10,000 wards and for the trusts involved, only affect a limited proportion of their wards.
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MRI Scanners
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many MRI scanners each NHS trust has; and what the age of each machine is. [129760]
Miss Melanie Johnson: In the national health service in England, 145 NHS trusts have at least one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner installed. In total there are currently 206 MRI scanners installed.
A programme to provide an additional 50 machines was announced on 22 May 2003 as well as funding to support a programme of replacement over the next three years. We anticipate there will be approximately 275 MRI scanners by the end of 2004, and by December 2006, no MRI scanner will be older than 10 years.
The list of MRI scanners currently installed in the NHS in England has been placed in the Library.
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