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Ashford (Middlesex) Hospital

Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the accident and emergency department at Ashford (Middlesex) Hospital was closed and replaced by an emergency department; and what the difference between the two facilities is. [160367]

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Ms Rosie Winterton: The accident and emergency (A and E) department at Ashford Hospital has not been closed. It remains open 24-hours a day accepting a wide range of medical and surgical emergencies. However, in October 2000 one group of seriously injured patients, those with trauma injuries, were diverted to St. Peter's Hospital, to reflect the concentration of specialist trauma care at St. Peter's.

The diversion from Ashford Hospital to St. Peter's Hospital was made to improve further clinical outcomes for trauma patients and at the same time the trust renamed the A and E department in Ashford Hospital to 'emergency department'.

There is a standard departmental classification system for A and E departments. Ashford Hospital's A and E rating is unchanged. It remains a type 1 A and E, which is a major multi-specialty consultant led 24-hour service, with full resuscitation facilities and designated accommodation for the reception of accident and emergency patients.

Classification does not depend on the name of the service. This is, within certain rules, a matter for the local health service. The official description remains A and E but emergency department is increasingly used as a local alternative.

Cancer Research

Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for (a) breast cancer, (b) cervical cancer and (c) cancer of the prostate, (i) the number of cases diagnosed, (ii) the number of recorded cases and (iii) the amount of Government money spent on research in financial year 2003–04. [162435]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The latest available figures of new cases of cancer diagnosed in England are for 2000. In that year a total of 34,045 new cases of breast cancer, 2,424 new cases of cervical, cancer and 23,109 new cases of prostate cancer were recorded.

Figures for government expenditure on research on specific types of cancer are not available. However analysis carried out in 2002 by the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), which co-ordinates research activity among government bodies, charities and the pharmaceutical industry, indicates that of the combined spend that was available for analysis, around 40 per cent. was attributable to specific tumour sites. Approximately 18 per cent. was on breast cancer, approximately 4 per cent. on cervical cancer and approximately 8 per cent. on prostate cancer. This does not include national health service research and development support funding.

Prostate cancer is the only cancer that has a Department of Health funding target for research, of £4.2 million a year by the end of 2003–04, and we are on track to achieve this target.

Cardiac Care

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to (a) extend the National Service Framework to cover cardiac arrhythmias and (b) set targets for their diagnosis and treatment; [162804]

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(2) if he will make representations to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence that its appraisal of pacemakers (a) examines utilisation rates and (b) takes into account the views of the British Cardiac Society. [162807]

Miss Melanie Johnson: On 12 March the Government announced the establishment of an expert group to advise the Department of Health on future policy on sudden cardiac death and cardiac arrhythmia.

This could lead to the drafting of a new national service framework (NSF) chapter setting out the standards and models of care for these conditions. The group will be chaired by the National Clinical Director for Heart Disease, Dr Roger Boyle with voluntary and professional organisations including Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) and the British Cardiac Society being invited to join. Patients and families of patients will also have a strong voice in the work.

The British Cardiac Society are one of the many professional groups contributing to the ongoing National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) appraisal of their 2000 guidance on the use of implantable cardioverter defibrillators for arrhythmias. The 2000 report provided guidelines for utilisation rates, and any further recommendations will be made using the best evidence available. NICE are also conducting an appraisal on dual chamber pacing to assess the clinical and cost effectiveness of dual chamber pacemakers compared with single chamber pacemakers, and both appraisals will feed in to the work of the newly-formed group.

Child Obesity

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what involvement the NHS had in the health day organised by the Wirral and Deeside Standing Conference of Women's Organisations on ways to tackle children's obesity on 26 February; and if he will make a statement. [162512]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Chlamydia

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have taken part in the chlamydia screening programme since it was launched. [161370]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The phased implementation of the national chlamydia screening programme began in April 2003. Our estimate is that over 23,000 tests have occurred during 2003. Establishing local programmes does take time and some areas have only recently started screening. We therefore expect numbers of tests carried out to rise considerably in 2004.

Community Health Councils

Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health where the archives of the former Leeds Community Health Council have been lodged; and how they may be accessed by hon. Members. [162860]

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Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 23 March 2004]: The archives of the former Leeds Community Health Council are stored with the West Yorkshire Archive Service, Chapletown Road, Sheepscar, Leeds LS7 3AP. Access can be arranged by contacting the archive service.

Community Pharmacists

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out the (a) time scale, (b) funding and (c) content of his Department's plans to integrate community pharmacists into the national IT programme. [158960]

Mr. Hutton: The initial time scale, funding and objectives of the Department's plans for the national programme for information technology in the national health service (NPfIT) were set out in the strategy document, "21st century IT", published in June 2002.

The key objective of the NPfIT is to support, over time, the delivery of integrated health and social care by enabling appropriate access to records and improved storage, sharing and management of core data by all clinicians—including community pharmacists—involved in the delivery of care to the patient, subject to confidentiality and security safeguards and the informed consent of the patient.

We have redefined the scope of the electronic transmission of prescriptions (ETP) programme in order to support the wider pharmacy agenda. It will enable better use of pharmacists' skills and use them to provide patient centred healthcare services that are integral to the NHS.

The ETP programme will enable the commitments made in "Delivering 21st Century IT" to be taken forward and will provide support for the broader pharmacy agenda outlined in "Pharmacy in the Future" and "A Vision for Pharmacy in the New NHS".

Key elements of the electronic transmission of prescriptions system have been procured as part of the recently concluded NHS care records service procurements. Work is under way to plan how community pharmacies can be connected to the system and how their pharmacy computer systems can be upgraded to comply with the requisite technical specification. It is intended that deployment of the live system will commence from January 2005.

Complementary Medicines

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on the availability of complementary medicines through the NHS. [162042]

Miss Melanie Johnson: National health service access to complementary therapies is at the discretion of individual trusts and clinicians. A formal mechanism for commissioning primary medical services from a variety of providers will be available to primary care trusts from 1 April. This could be used to commission clinically-appropriate and cost-effective complementary therapies to help meet the needs of the local community.

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Consultant Neurologists

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) minimum and (b) maximum waiting times were for initial access to consultant neurologists in each strategic health authority in England, in the last year for which figures are available. [162229]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 18 March 2004]: Information on the number of patients waiting for a first out-patient appointment to neurology specialties at quarter end has been placed in the Library. Information is not collected on the number still waiting less than 13 weeks. The information is aggregated at strategic health authority level but is based on national health service providers in England and includes some patients commissioned by Welsh local health boards.

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