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HEALTH

Acute Mental Illness Beds

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many acute mental illness beds were available for (a) the elderly, (b) children and (c) other age groups in Lancashire Mental Health Trust in each of the last three years; and how many were in secure units. [157674]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Lancashire Care National Health Service Trust was formed on 1 April 2002. Data are not available for this trust prior to that date. The available data, for the year 2002–03, are shown in the table.

	Number
Mental illness: children
Short stay	—
Long stay	—
Mental illness: elderly
Short stay	227
Long stay	170
Mental illness: other ages
Secure unit	70
Short stay	393
Long stay	—

Source:

Department of Health returns.

Ambulances

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 24 February 2004, Official Report, column 328W, on ambulances, whether the periodic refresher training refers to (a) specialist driving training and (b) other forms of training relevant to the job of ambulance technician. [158492]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Individual national health service trusts are responsible for ensuring that staff receive any training necessary to maintain driving proficiency standards. In addition, maintaining staffs proficiency in all other aspects of their work is also the responsibility of every trust.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 24 February 2004, Official Report, column 328W, on ambulances, if he will place in the Library copies of the proficiency standards and national syllabus. [158521]

Ms Rosie Winterton: A copy of the driver training manual has been placed in the Library.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 24 February 2004, Official Report, column 329W, on ambulances, whether there is a mandatory requirement for specialist driver training at an accredited driver training school. [158618]

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Ms Rosie Winterton: The training of their staff is a matter for each individual national health service ambulance trust. We would expect them to take account of national recommendations and requirements. Driver instructors are trained and qualified to a United Kingdom standard approved by the Institute of Healthcare Development.

Asthmatics (Aspirin)

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department is taking to highlight the risk to asthmatics from taking aspirin. [160072]

Dr. Ladyman: All licensed aspirin products available over the counter currently have label warnings and/or patient information leaflets advising patients with previous asthma (especially after taking aspirin) not to take the product or to consult their doctor before use.

Labels and patient information leaflets advise patients with known allergy to aspirin not to take aspirin containing products.

Infant Formula

Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are being taken to tighten the implementation of the World Health Organisation code in the United Kingdom to prohibit aggressive Infant Formula marketing strategies. [157999]

Miss Melanie Johnson: In line with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, advertising of infant formulas directly to the general public is already prohibited by the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations. Enforcement of these regulations is carried out by local authorities.

Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc.) Act

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money Essex Social Services Department had to pay in fines under the Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc.) Act 2003 from when it came into operation to 29 February. [160275]

Dr. Ladyman: Essex Social Services Department arranged local investment agreements with the national health service in line with levels of delay for September 2003 and will only pay charges once they exceed this level of investment.

Dementia

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of providing free domestic and residential nursing and personal care for people suffering from (a) Alzheimer's Disease and (b) other forms of dementia. [160111]

Dr. Ladyman: Since April 2003, anyone in a care home with Alzheimer's or another form of dementia who requires care from a registered nurse will have received either direct national health service nursing care from the community nursing service or NHS funded nursing care.

The estimated cost of providing free personal care for people with Alzheimer's (approximately 30 per cent., of care home residents) would be somewhere in the region of

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£500 million. The estimated cost of providing free personal care for people with dementia, including Alzheimer's (around 60 per cent. of care home residents), would be somewhere in the region of £1 billion.

Dentistry

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received regarding NHS dentists who only accept NHS registrations of children if their parents register privately; and if he will make a statement. [154435]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not collected on the number of dentists accepting only certain categories of patients. However, very few dental practices have only children registered as national health service patients.

Dentists working in the general dental service are self-employed independent contractors providing dental services. Under current arrangements dentists can practice wherever they like, as there are no restrictions. They are free to accept as many or as few NHS patients as they wish and can alter their NHS commitment without reference to the primary care trust (PCT). They can quite legally accept only certain categories of patients (for example, children).

Under the provisions in the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003, PCTs will assume responsibility for dental services in this area. With these new responsibilities will go the financial resources currently held centrally, which by 2005–06 are expected to total nearly £1.5 billion. The new arrangements will give the NHS greater control locally enabling it to match services to local need. They will underpin a modernised, high-quality primary dental service provided through new contracts between PCTs and dental practices and properly integrated with the rest of the NHS.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to encourage more applicants for dentistry degrees. [157697]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Dentistry is already a popular choice for A-level students, with nearly two applications received for every place available in dental schools. In 2002, the NHS Careers service was extended to provide information to the public on careers in dentistry and, earlier this year, we published a new NHS Careers brochure, "Dental Care in the NHS", which has been distributed to schools, further education colleges, youth employment advisers and other agencies working with young people. Copies will be placed in the Library.

Disability Discrimination Act

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures his Department is taking to prepare health service providers for the implementation of the parts of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 which come into effect later this year. [160693]

Dr. Ladyman: National health service organisations are responsible for their own compliance with the new (and existing) provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act. The Department of Health is, however, working in partnership with the Disability

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Rights Commission on a range of measures to support the NHS in assessing and improving progress on disability access. These measures include, for example, ensuring that core practical guidance is readily available to the NHS and contributing to the development of health sector-specific guidance being produced by the Disability Rights Commission.

Food Supplements

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) public and (b) professional consultation has been undertaken on which vitamins and supplements are used regularly in the UK in connection with preparing for the EU's Food Supplements Directive. [158569]

Miss Melanie Johnson: During negotiations on Directive 2002/46/EC on food supplements and when drafting the Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003, the Food Standards Agency consulted publicly with a wide range of stakeholders. The results of those consultations are summarised in the Regulatory Impact Assessment accompanying the Regulations, which is available in the Library.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how his Department has contributed to the discussions at EU level on vitamins and supplements being placed on the EU's positive list. [158570]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Directive 2002/46/EC on food supplements includes in its Annexes 'positive lists' defining the vitamins and minerals that may be included in food supplements as well as the range of forms (chemical sources) of vitamins and minerals which may be used in such products. Substances on the positive lists have been assessed for safety and bio-availability by the former Scientific Committee for Food and more substances may be added to the lists following submission of dossiers of information supporting their use.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) secured a valuable meeting between representatives of United Kingdom food supplements manufacturers and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on 14 October 2003 to discuss dossier requirements, and has disseminated EFSA's advice to interested parties. Furthermore, the FSA has expressed its willingness to provide further advice to industry on dossier production if required.

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