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12 Feb 2004 : Column 1692W—continued

Methadone

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of methadone

12 Feb 2004 : Column 1693W

prescriptions under the average dosage recommended by the National Treatment Agency which were issued in the last year for which figures are available. [153989]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 9 February 2004]: The Department does not hold any data on the number of methadone prescriptions under the average dosage recommended by the National Treatment Agency.

Methadone is issued for a number of different prescribing regimes including detoxification, reduction, and maintenance regimes. Prescribing data currently available does not differentiate between these regimes.

Ministerial Visits

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will visit Derian House Children's Hospice in Chorley. [153489]

Miss Melanie Johnson: There are no current plans by Ministers to undertake a visit to Derian House.

Multiple Sclerosis

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the (a) cost and (b) work force implications of National Institute for Clinical Excellence clinical guidance for multiple sclerosis specialist services. [154004]

Dr. Ladyman: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) published its clinical guideline on the clinical management of multiple sclerosis (MS) in primary care in November 2003. The guideline contains information on service provision which will be invaluable to clinicians and organisations providing and managing MS services. The guideline will help us to model service provision and workforce needs.

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National Care Standards Commission

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of the National Care Standards Commission has been in each year since its creation. [154464]

Dr. Ladyman: Revenue expenditure for the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) in the year 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 was £119.446 million. The budget figure for 2003–04 is £129.949 million.

Information for the full financial year 2003–04 is not yet available. This will be contained in the NCSC's 2003–04 Annual Report and Accounts to be published and laid before Parliament later this year.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what income has been raised by the National Care Standards Commission in each year since its creation. [154465]

Dr. Ladyman: The income raised by the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) in the year 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 was £32.545 million. The budget figure for 2003–04 is £36.718 million.

Information for the full financial year 2003–04 is not yet available. This will be contained in the NCSC's 2003–2004 Annual Report and Accounts to be published and laid before Parliament later this year.

NHS Beds

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS (a) general and (b) acute hospital beds there were in (i) Chorley and (ii) Preston in each of the last three years. [153849]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Information on the number of general and acute beds is collected annually from each national health service trust and primary care trust. Information is not available for geographical areas.

The average daily number of available general and acute beds, by NHS trust, is shown in the table.

	Name	General and acute (available)	Acute (available)	Geriatric (available)
2000–01	Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust	320	304	16
2000–01	Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trust	709	590	119
2001–02	Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust/Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trust	1,066	903	163
2002–03	Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust	1,073	929	144

Source:

Department of Health form KH03. Published 11 September 2003.

NHS Trust Documents

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on making available to hon. Members documents originating in NHS trusts; and what criteria he uses in deciding which of these documents may be placed in the Library when an hon. Member makes a request for them. [146621]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 8 January 2004]: The Department would generally make available information that it collects and retains, and as such would place this information in the Library, subject to any requirement for confidentiality. The Department would not generally seek to obtain copies of documents or information which it did not already hold. This approach is in line with the Open Government Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, and is consistent with the relationship between the Department and National Health Service organisations following the "Shifting the Balance of Power" initiative.

Operation Telic

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many service men and women served in Operation Telic. [147745]

Mr. Ingram: I have been asked to reply.

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Until 1 May, when major combat operations ceased, about 45,000 personnel were deployed to the Gulf region. Since then numbers have reduced to their current level, which fluctuates between 10,000 and 11,000.

Parliamentary Questions

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will answer the (a) Questions with reference numbers 144997, 144998, 145041, 145043, 145046 and 145055 tabled by the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham on 15 December 2003 and (b) Questions with reference numbers 144139, 144140, 144141, 144145 and 144148 tabled by the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham on 10 December 2003. [151035]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The following Parliamentary Questions were transferred to the Home Office, 144997 and 144998. My hon. Friend, the Minister of State at the Home Office (Beverley Hughes) replied to 144998 on 19 January 2004, Official Report, column 1064W.

The remaining Parliamentary Questions have now been responded to, and information relating to their responses is shown in the table.

PQ	Date answered
145041	3 February 2004, Official Report, column 821W
145043	6 February 2004, Official Report, column 1131W
145046	2 February 2004, Official Report, column 687W
145055	28 January 2004, Official Report, column 400W
144139	26 January 2004, Official Report, column 184–85W
144140	26 January 2004, Official Report, column 184–85W
144141	26 January 2004, Official Report, column 184–85W
144145	4 February 2004, Official Report, column 961W
144148	27 January 2004, Official Report, column 326W

Public Health Skills Audit

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 7 January 2004, Official Report, column 396W, on public health skills audit, what steps (a) his Department and (b) agencies of his Department have taken in response to the findings of the 2001 audit. [153148]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The public health skills audit has led to a number of developments, including additional training programmes for a range of public health specialist and practitioners, particularly those from non-medical backgrounds, the establishment of the voluntary register for public health specialists, an on-line audit tool and national standards for public health specialists and practitioners.

Public Health White Paper

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish a white paper on public health; and if he will make a statement. [153689]

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Miss Melanie Johnson: On 3 February, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, announced that the Department would engage in a wide-ranging consultation process on how best to improve and promote the nation's health.

We intend to follow this with a White Paper later this year.

Pulmonary Hypertension

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the susceptibility of different (a) gender and (b) age groups to pulmonary hypertension; [154296]

(2) what assessment he has made of the recent increase in the number of patients with pulmonary hypertension. [154297]

Dr. Ladyman: Pulmonary hypertension has a variety of causes and we have not made an assessment regarding the occurrence of the condition amongst different gender and age groups.

We have no reason to believe that the true incidence of pulmonary hypertension is increasing. A full-scale research study would be needed to establish whether or not there is a true increase.

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