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17 Mar 2004 : Column 388W—continued
Cholesterol
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2004, Official Report, column 1160W, on cholesterol, if he will estimate the prevalence of raised blood cholesterol in (a) men and (b) women in England. [160700]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Figures available from the Health Survey for England 1998 are shown in the table. In this survey, cholesterol was considered to be raised at a level of 6.5mmol/l or over.
| Adults 16 + with a validsample | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men | Women | |
| Raised cholesterol (Percentage > =6.5mmol/l) | 18.1 | 22.3 |
| Bases (Number) | 4846 | 5428 |
Source:
Health Survey for England Department of Health.
Cystic Fibrosis Screening
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made to implement his commitment to introduce new-born screening for cystic fibrosis in England in 2004. [161329]
Dr. Ladyman: Ministers announced the implementation of a new national programme for newborn cystic fibrosis screening, subject to further advice from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) about screening protocols, costs, feasibility and timetables.
An expert working group of the UK NSC has carefully considered the best way of screening and a robust protocol has now been developed for the screening test and diagnostic follow up. Standards of best practice for laboratory services have also been finalised. These will be considered by the UK NSC at its next meeting in March 2004.
Dentistry
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when amendments to the Dentists Act 1984 to recognise professional complementary dentists will come into force; [161294]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department is working with the General Dental Council (GDC) to provide for the registration of appropriately trained professionals complementary to dentistry. An Order to amend the Dentists Act 1984 is being drafted under Section 60 of the Health Act 1999 which, after the necessary consultations, will be laid before Parliament later this year for debate under the affirmative procedure. We expect registration to commence in 2005.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimates he has made of the number of dental technicians who illegally provide dentures direct to the public; how many successful prosecutions have been made for cases of providing illegal dentures; and in how many of these cases harm was caused to a patient; [161295]
- (2) what estimates he has made of the number of dentures (a) made and (b) sold illegally in each of the past five years. [161296]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No figures are available for the number of dentures made or sold by clinical dental technicians. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr.Burstow) on 9 February 2004, Official Report, column 1203W, with regard to the number of prosecutions and convictions for illegal dental practice. Information is not available on whether harm was caused to the patient involved, but I understand that the General Dental Council's decision to prosecute is usually prompted by a complaint from a patient.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to offer training programmes to prospective clinical dental technicians; and how long the training programmes will take to complete; [161298]
- (2) whether the General Dental Council will accept qualifications received (a) outside the UK and (b) outside the EU as valid training for the role of clinical dental technician; [161299]
(3) how long the process of registering as a clinical dental technician will take; [161300]
(4) when the first UK trained clinical dental technician will be able to practise in the UK. [161301]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department is working with the General Dental Council (GDC) to provide for the registration of appropriately trained clinical dental technicians (CDTs). An Order to amend the Dentists Act 1984 is being drafted under Section 60 of the Health Act 1999 which, after the necessary consultations, will be laid before Parliament later this year for debate under the affirmative procedure. The GDC will then decide which qualifications will make clinical dental technicians eligible for registration, what account should be taken of any training acquired overseas and the timetable for implementation of the new arrangements. It should be possible for registration to commence in 2005. When the qualifications required are established, we will alert national health service workforce development confederations to the training requirements for this new class of professional complementary to dentistry.
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Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the implementation of IT in pilot schemes for dentists; and if he will make a statement. [160525]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department of Health has recently made funding, £517,000, available to primary care trusts, via the NHS Modernisation Agency, to support information technology software modifications in some of the Modernisation Agency's Options for Change field sites that are testing alternative models of remuneration for dentists.
In addition, in September 2003 we announced new investment including £30 million for dental information technology. This investment will facilitate integration of National Health Service dentistry within the national programme for IT. It is intended that future IT solutions for dentistry will be consistent with those that are being developed for use across the NHS.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists have been recruited to the NHS in each year since 1997 in (a) total, (b) NHS Trust areas covering Portsmouth and (c) NHS Trust areas covering Hampshire. [160770]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the numberentering the general dental service (GDS) or the personal dental service (PDS) is shown in the table for England and Wales, Portsmouth Primary Care Trust (PCT) area and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area.
| England and Wales | Hampshire and Isle of Wight SHA | Portsmouth City PCT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 from 2001 | 1,619 | 84 | 11 |
| 2003 from 2002 | 1,587 | 89 | 10 |
Note:
Dentists include principal dentists, their assistants and trainees. Entrants will include some dentists who left dentistry temporarily in previous years.
Department Branding
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department and its predecessors spent on branding the Department between 1997–98 and 2003–04, broken down by (a) consultancy fees, (b) design and orders for new stationery, (c) website design and (d) other material featuring new logos. [154071]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Since 1 May 1997, £140,896 has been spent on the development of the current Department of Health identity. This includes new logo design and development, accompanying guidelines and a recent review and update to the guidelines publication.
The cost of design of new stationery carrying the Department of Health logo is included in the above figure. New stationery has always replaced old stationery on a renewal basis.
Branding has not been a factor in the development and redevelopment phases of the Department of Health website.
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In January 2000, £3,312.50 was spent on 10 new building signs (two for each site) that carried the new Department of Health logo.
It is not possible to define the cost of producing other materials featuring the Department of Health logo, as branding has not been a factor in their production.
Health Services
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public money has been spent on health in Chorley in each of the last seven years. [161594]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not available. Allocations made to the former South Lancashire Health Authority and the Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust since 1997 are shown in the table.
| Year | Amount £ |
|---|---|
| South Lancashire Health Authority | |
| 1997–98 | 132,480,000 |
| 1998–99 | 138,391,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 185,797,000 |
| 2000–01 | 206,248,000 |
| 2001–02 | 223,342,000 |
| 2002–03 | 247,205,000 |
| Chorley & South Ribble Primary Care Trust | |
| 2003–04 | 171,696,000 |
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) nurses and (b) doctors are training in Chorley Hospital. [161595]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Information on doctors in training is collected on a trust basis. The data shown in the table represents the latest available information for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals National Health Service Trust.
| At 30 September 2002 | Number (headcount) |
|---|---|
| All doctors in training | 243 |
| Of which: | |
| Registrar | 81 |
| Senior House Officer | 127 |
| House Officer | 35 |
Source:
Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.
Information on nurse training is not collected on an individual hospital basis, but at strategic health authority (SHA) level. The majority of the training takes place in higher education institutes with clinical placements being undertaken in hospitals. In 2003–04, the Cumbria and Lancashire SHA is funding 1,075 students to start pre-registration nurse training.
- Source:
- Department of Health MPT quarterly monitoring.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list new medical services available at Chorley Hospital since 1997. [161587]
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Miss Melanie Johnson: The new developments listed have been introduced at the Chorley and South District general hospital since 1997:
| Service | Introduced since 1997 |
|---|---|
| Additional new medical ward | June 2002 |
| New renal dialysis unit | June 2002 |
| New diabetes/dermatology centre | April 2003 |
| Additional outpatient services | 1997-present |
| Investigation unit for medicine | 2001–02 |
| Discharge lounge (to be relocated April 2004) | 2001–02 |
| Additional bed in coronary care | 1997 |
| Two additional beds in intensive care | 2001–02 |
| Additional endoscopy session, including the provision of nurse endoscopy | 2001-present |
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been treated in the Renal Centre at Chorley hospital since it opened; and if he will make a statement on the effects on local people of using the centre. [161589]
Miss Melanie Johnson: This information is not held centrally.
The new unit has eased access to dialysis treatment and has also added significant capacity to the service provided by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals National Health Service Trust.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women with suspected breast cancer saw a specialist within two weeks in each year since 2000. [161591]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The two week outpatient waiting time standard was introduced in April 1999 for urgent general practitioner referrals of suspected breast cancer. The following shows the number of women seen within two weeks for each year since 2000.
| Number of women seen by a specialistwithin two weeks of urgent referral | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 84,989 |
| 2001 | 97,254 |
| 2002 | 109,339 |
| 2003 | 119,888 |
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many constituents in Chorley over 60 years of age (a) benefited from free eye tests and (b) were eligible for free eye tests in 2003. [161590]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not available.
The total number of sight tests paid for by Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority in the year 2002–03 for the 'aged 60 and over' category was 189,000. Sight tests can not be equated to the numbers of patients. Although most people do not come back for a sight test within the year, some patients suffering from medical conditions are advised to have re-examinations sooner.
17 Mar 2004 : Column 393W
The total population for those aged 60 and over in Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority is approximately 429,300 (as at June 2002). All people aged 60 and over are eligible for national health service sight tests.
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