House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 27 Feb 2004 (pt 14)

27 Feb 2004 : Column 621W—continued

Cancer Plan

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards implementing the waiting time targets between referral and treatment by 2005 as outlined in the Cancer Plan; what statistics are published with which to measure progress; and if he will make a statement. [154581]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The primary purpose of the NHS Cancer Plan is to save more lives. Reducing waiting times is key to achieving this. Data on achievement of current milestones towards achievement of the NHS Cancer Plan waiting times targets, for

27 Feb 2004 : Column 622W

children's and testicular cancers and acute leukaemia, and breast cancer, are published on the Department's website for strategic health authorities and trusts, at, http://www.dh.gov.uk/cancerwaits

Children (Alcohol)

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children aged between 11 and 15 years were admitted to hospital owing to alcohol-related problems in each of the last six years. [155637]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information is shown in the following table.

Number of young people aged 11–15 years admitted to NHS hospitals in England with a selection of alcohol-related primary diagnoses, 1997–98 to 2002–03

Finished Admission Episodes

Primary diagnosis 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03

Mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol⁽²¹⁾ 2,457 2,326 2,950 2,918 2,921 2,760

Alcoholic liver disease⁽²²⁾ — — 1 1 — —

Toxic effect of alcohol⁽²³⁾ 895 737 764 739 674 562

Total 3,352 3,063 3,715 3,658 3,595 3,322

	Finished Admission Episodes
Primary diagnosis	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03


Mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol⁽²¹⁾	2,457	2,326	2,950	2,918	2,921	2,760
Alcoholic liver disease⁽²²⁾	—	—	1	1	—	—
Toxic effect of alcohol⁽²³⁾	895	737	764	739	674	562
Total	3,352	3,063	3,715	3,658	3,595	3,322

ICD 10 codes:

⁽²¹⁾ ICD-10code F10

⁽²²⁾ ICD-10code K70

⁽²³⁾ ICD-10code T51

Notes:

1. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.

2. Figures are grossed for both coverage and missing/invalid clinical data, except for 2001–02 and 2002–03, which are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.

3. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (7 prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Drug-related Deaths

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answers of 29 January 2004, Official Report, column 472W and 5 February 2004, Official Report, column 1065W on drug-related deaths, what the reasons are for the difference in the figures for the number of drug-related deaths since 1999. [156469]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The discrepancy in the Official Reports is because the figure stated in the 29 January 2004, Official Report, column 472W, refers to England and Wales and the figure stated in the 5 February 2004, Official Report, column 1065W refers to England only.

Contraceptive Services

Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will increase funding for contraceptive services to ensure that (a) all methods of contraception including new methods are made available and (b) medical practitioners are able to prescribe emergency contraception in advance where appropriate; [154431]

Miss Melanie Johnson: "Shifting the Balance of Power" has allowed primary care trusts (PCTs) to have the necessary financial flexibility to provide services to best meet local needs. This includes ensuring access to the full range of methods of contraception, including emergency contraception, according to need. In addition, the Government has boosted these resources by providing an extra £1 million to help improve access to contraceptive services.

The table contains family planning expenditure figures for National Health Service trusts and PCTs for the last four financial years. However, around three quarters of contraceptive care is provided by general practitioners in primary care for which expenditure figures are not available.

£

Community based family planning

NHS Trust expenditure Primary CareTrust expenditure Total expenditure

1998–99 65.9 n/a 65.9

1999–2000 70.5 n/a 70.5

2000–01 74.2 1.2 75.4

2001–02 57.8 19.9 77.6

	Community based family planning
	NHS Trust expenditure	Primary CareTrust expenditure	Total expenditure
1998–99	65.9	n/a	65.9
1999–2000	70.5	n/a	70.5
2000–01	74.2	1.2	75.4
2001–02	57.8	19.9	77.6

Note:

Figures rounded to one decimal place.

Sources:

Annual Financial Returns of NHS Trusts, 1998–99 to 2002–03.

Annual Financial Returns of Primary Care Trusts, 2000–01 to 2002–03.

Drug Rehabilitation

Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals each local authority

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in England funded to undergo residential drug rehabilitation in the last year for which figures are available. [153712]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department does not collect numbers of individuals funded by local authorities in residential rehabilitation.

Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money each local authority in England and Wales spent on residential drug rehabilitation places in the last year for which figures are available. [153713]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department does not collect details of funding that local authorities make available for residential drug rehabilitation.

Early Intervention Teams

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons no more than 27 early intervention teams have been established. [154410]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Establishing early intervention teams is a complex process and, in some localities where the approach is a relatively new one, it represents a significant shift in the culture of care. Services are working towards establishing the full complement of early intervention teams by the end of the year. The "Mental Health Policy Implementation Guide" (2001) sets out detailed guidance to help them, and support is also provided through the development centres of the National Institute for Mental Health in England. We are encouraged by the progress that is continuing to be made.

Hepatitis C

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to establish the "Hepatitis C Strategy for England", published in consultation form in August 2002. [154833]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department intends to publish an action plan to implement the "Hepatitis C Strategy for England" in the next few months.

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much he (a) has spent in each of the last five years and (b) plans to spend in each of the next five years on raising Hepatitis C awareness. [155535]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the following table.

Department of Health central funding of activities related to raising awareness of hepatitis C

Financial year Amount (£)

1999–2000 ⁽²⁴⁾None identifiable

2000–01 ⁽²⁴⁾30,000

2001–02 ⁽²⁴⁾241,000

2002–03 ⁽²⁴⁾163,000

2003–04 ⁽²⁵⁾224,500

2004–05 ⁽²⁶⁾986,000

2005–06 ⁽²⁶⁾1,500,000

Financial year	Amount (£)
1999–2000	⁽²⁴⁾None identifiable
2000–01	⁽²⁴⁾30,000
2001–02	⁽²⁴⁾241,000
2002–03	⁽²⁴⁾163,000
2003–04	⁽²⁵⁾224,500
2004–05	⁽²⁶⁾986,000
2005–06	⁽²⁶⁾1,500,000

⁽²⁴⁾ Actual Expenditure.

⁽²⁵⁾ Forecast Expenditure.

⁽²⁶⁾ Provisional allocation.

Funding beyond 2005–06 is yet to be determined.

27 Feb 2004 : Column 624W

Illegal Meat Imports

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice has been issued to ethnic minority communities by the Food Standards Agency about the risk posed to human health through the consumption of (a) illegal meat imports and (b) bushmeat. [155388]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Responsibility for raising public awareness of the issue of illegal imports lies with the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. In terms of advice specifically targeted towards ethnic minority communities, the FSA has discussed the issue of illegal meat imports with its Muslim organisations working group and has subsequently spoken on this topic at seminars organised by the Muslim community. These have included, most recently, talks at the Husaini Cultural Centre in Peterborough in September 2003 and also at Haringey Mosque and the Islamic Cultural Centre in London in November 2003.

Defra has commissioned the Central Office of Information to undertake research in this area. The research phase of the project is currently under way and the results of this research will then be used to inform publicity campaigns among ethnic minority communities later in the year.

The scope of the research includes examining attitudes among these communities to imports of meat, including bushmeat, and the possible risks to both animal and human health.

The FSA and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise are involved in this project, as are stakeholders such as the Greater London Authority, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Bushmeat Campaign, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services.

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