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Avon, Gloucestershire and WiltshireStrategic Health Authority
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much debt was inherited by the Avon-Gloucestershire-Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority on its formation; how much of this debt was inherited from (a) Royal United Hospitals, Bath, (b) United Bristol Health Care and (c) North Bristol Health Trusts; and if he will make a statement. [135403]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer on 30 October 2003]: Strategic health authorities (SHAs) were established in 2002–03. Information in respect of inherited balances can be obtained from the chief executive of Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA. The information is not available centrally.
Bechtel
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list contracts for consultancy or work carried out by Bechtel in each year since 1997 stating in each case (a) the nature of the work, (b) the value of the contract and (c) the duration of the contract; and if he will make a statement. [134679]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 28 October 2003]: No contracts for consultancy or other works have been awarded to Bechtel since 1997.
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Cancer Research UK
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated to Cancer Research UK in 2003–04; and for which projects. [133916]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department has provided £2.6 million to Cancer Research UK to fund their 'Death Repackaged' campaign. This awareness raising campaign was launched in September 2003, to highlight the dangers of terms 'light' and 'mild' on cigarette packs.
The Department does not allocate funds directly to charities for research. We spent an estimated £83.8 million on cancer research in 2000–01. Over 75 per cent. of this expenditure is devolved to the national health service, largely to meet the additional patient care costs associated with research. These costs cover items such as extra scans for diagnosis or monitoring of treatment, extra blood tests, extra in-patient days and extra nursing attention. This support allows work funded by the research councils and charities, including Cancer Research UK, to be conducted within the NHS.
Private Finance Initiative
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost of PFI-based capital investment in the NHS in London has been since 1997; and what revenue costs were incurred on an annual basis to service the financing facilities. [133747]
Mr. Hutton: For private finance initiative (PFI) schemes with a capital value greater than £10 million, the total capital cost of PFI-based investment in the four new London strategic health authorities since 1997 is £975,900,000. The capital value of PFI schemes is defined as: total capital cost to the private sector including the costs of land, construction, equipment and professional fees but excluding value added tax, rolled up interest and financing costs. As PFI procures a service, rather than the underlying asset, capital values are necessarily estimates.
Unitary payments on a PFI scheme—paid for from a trust's general revenue allocations—include elements for 'hard' and 'soft' facilities management services as well as financing costs. A partial breakdown of the unitary costs for schemes with a capital value exceeding £20 million is held centrally. This shows the split between 'availability' and 'services' where 'availability' includes costs attributable to 'hard' facilities management and financing, but does not distinguish further. To collect this information would mean reviewing the financial models for all these schemes which would incur disproportionate costs.
Unitary payments on PFI schemes become payable when the scheme becomes operational. The first to do so was Queen Mary's hospital, Sidcup, which took its first patient at the end of March 2000; the most recent to open was St. George's in September 2003.
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| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 32,848 |
| 2001–02 | 51,813 |
| 2002–03 | 60,000 |
| 2003–04 (to date) | 94,900 |
Care Homes
Mr. Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to assist care homes in adapting premises to meet the new size requirements for residents' rooms. [135178]
Dr. Ladyman: National minimum standards relating to room sizes in pre-existing care homes (that is, a care home which existed before April 2002) were relaxed in June 2003. The change means that pre-existing care homes which do not already meet certain of the standards introduced in April 2002 will no longer be expected to make physical changes to the home to do so.
The Government has no plans to provide direct financial assistance to care homes to meet any of the standards. Care homes are independent businesses and any changes to meet standards should be viewed as 'upgrading' the service being provided. Providers will be able to detail the facilities they offer in their prospectuses, so that those purchasing or using the services can make an informed choice.
Care Payments
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to encourage local authorities to make available direct payments for care. [136054]
Dr. Ladyman: From 8 April 2003, there has been a duty placed on local councils to make direct payments to those who choose to receive them. The Government have also established the direct payments development fund. This will provide £9 million over three years to national, regional and local voluntary organisations in partnership with local councils. This is a substantial investment in direct payments support services, key to improving access to direct payments. Increasing the take up of direct payments will contribute to the overall assessment of each council's performance that is made each year.
Clinical Trials
John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will amend the draft Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2003 to ensure that non-commercial publicly or charitably-funded drug development work will not come under the same regulatory framework as commercially-funded trials. [135584]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The European Directive on the conduct of clinical trials was adopted in February 2001. The main aim of the Directive is to simplify and harmonise procedures across the Community while ensuring the protection of trial subjects and providing a
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safe environment for the development of new medicines. member states are required to fully implement the Directive by 1 May 2004.
The scope of the Directive is wide and the United Kingdom Regulations will apply to all clinical trials on medicinal products for human use conducted in the UK, including academic and healthy volunteer studies, with the exception of non-interventional trials.
Because the Directive makes no distinction between commercial and non-commercial publicly or charitably funded clinical trials, they cannot be treated differently in the UK implementing regulations. However those drafting the Directive recognised the special position of non-commercial trials conducted by researchers without the participation of the pharmaceutical industry. The Government has taken steps to attempt to influence the Commission in its consideration of a Commission Directive on good clinical practice and also in reviewing guidance that the Commission published earlier this year with a view to avoiding any unnecessary regulatory requirements and costs.
In responding to concerns, and to provide an environment in which patients are protected but high quality research is not inhibited, my noble Friend Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health, invited the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Academy of Medical Sciences to co-ordinate a report on the impact of the Directive on academic studies. The impact assessment, prepared by the MRC with the active support of others including Cancer Research UK, the National Co-ordinating Centre for Health Technology Assessment and a number of academic experts formed the basis for a response to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) consultation on the draft regulations to implement the Directive into UK law earlier this year.
The MHRA is giving careful consideration to legislation and guidance linked to these issues. For example, they are considering the acceptability of different approaches to monitoring the validity of trial data that are less labour intensive and expensive than those usually used in commercial trials. The aim is the use of appropriate quality systems proportionate to risk (thereby minimising increases in costs). A list of responses to frequently asked questions are published on the MHRA website at www.mhra.gov in the Clinical Trials Directive pages, which will be kept updated.
In another initiative, the Department and the MRC have announced a joint project to work with experts to find practical solutions to the issues identified in the impact assessment. Details of the project can be found on www.ncchta.org/eudirective/index.asp.
With our careful exploration of the impact on publicly-funded research and organisations that support it and delays in the Commission finalising the GCP Directive and other guidance, the United Kingdom's implementing regulations are not expected to be made until early in 2004.
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