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19 Apr 2004 : Column 221W—continued
Public Bodies (Health Services)
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the (a) budget, (b) administration budget, including payroll, (c) number of staff and (d) capital assets of the (i) Access Task Force, (ii) Adoption and Permanence Task Force, (iii) Cancer Task Force, (iv) Children Task Force, (v) Coronary Heart Disease Task Force, (vi) Cross Task Force Prevention Group, (vii) Herbal Medicines Statutory Regulation Working Group, (viii) Making a Difference, Reducing Burdens in Hospitals Task Force, (ix) Making a Difference, Reducing Burdens On GPs Task Force and (x) Mental Health Task Force; [163515]
(2) if he will list the (a) budget, (b) administration budget, including payroll, (c) number of staff and (d) capital assets of the (i) NHS IT Task Force, (ii) Older People Task Force, (iii) Patient Environment Steering Group, (iv) Practice Learning Task Force, (v) Quality Task Force, (vi) External Project for Reform of Social Work Education and Training, (vii) Reform of Social Work Education and Training, (viii) Practice Learning Project Group for Reform of Social Work, Education and Training, (ix) Qualification Development Project Group for Reform of Social Work, Education and Training and (x) Registration Post-Qualifying, Continuous Professional Development Project Group for Reform of Social Work, Education and Training; [163517]
(3) if he will list the (a) budget, (b) administration budget, including payroll, (c) number of staff and (d) capital assets of the interdepartmental group on the (i) Health Impact Assessment, (ii) Management of Medicines Renal NSF Groups, (iii) NHS Modernisation Board, (iv) NHSFT External Reference Groups for Governance, (v) Nursing and Midwifery Modernisation Board, (vi) SCOTH/ACMD Working Group on Cannabis and Tobacco Smoking, (vii) National Users Panel of the Community Equipment Services External Reference Group, (viii) Interagency Working Group to Develop a Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Police and the HSE and (ix) Primary Care Workforce Review External Reference Group; [163516]
(4) if he will list the (a) budget, (b) administration budget, including payroll, (c) number of staff and (d) capital assets of the (i) Strategic Commissioning Group, (ii) Workforce Task Force, (iii) Advisory Committee for Topic Selection, (iv) Advisory Group for Genetics Research, (v) Agenda for Change Central Negotiating Group, (vi) Children's National Service Framework Strategy Group, (vii) Expert Group on Blocked Anaesthetic Tubing, (viii) Expert Group on Mental Health in Prisons, (ix) Forensic Psychiatrists Working Group, (x) Generic Medicines Management Steering Group for Diabetes, Renal and Long-Term Conditions National Service Frameworks and (xi) Implementation Board for Modernising NHS Hospital Medicines Manufacturing. [163518]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the Department's task forces, ad hoc advisory groups and reviews is given in the annual publication "Public Bodies". This publication explains that such groups have a short-term focus and when their work comes to an end they are disbanded. These groups are usually created to give expert advice to the Government on a specific issue and are usually expected to remain in operation for less than two years. They are not separate statutory bodies. As such, they have no capacity to employ staff or hold assets in their own right, and rely on secretariat and other support from the Department and sometimes other interested bodies. They will not normally have any formal separate budget allocated to them, and accountability for expenditure will remain with the body to whom any funding is allocated. A number of those listed have completed their work and no longer exist.
Radiographers
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of radiographers in England; and if he will make a statement. [164329]
Mr. Hutton: Considerable progress has been made in increasing the number of radiographers employed in the National Health Service. There are 13 per cent. more NHS radiographers than in 1997 and the number of training places has increased by 107 per cent. over the same period. The additional training places are now starting to make an impact on numbers in the workforce. However, there is more to do. National vacancy rates are 6.1 per cent. for diagnostic radiographers and 10.7 per cent. for therapeutic radiographers.
The Department recently launched a national radiography recruitment and retention strategy to build on the progress already made. For the next two years, this will focus on increasing the workforce, encouraging returns and developing an attractive career pathway for all radiography staff.
Register of Interests
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what requirements there are on officials in his Department to declare current interests; and what register of interests is kept for his departmental officials. [164691]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Civil Service Management Code sets out the requirements for civil servants declaring any conflict of interest. The Department of Health staff are required to follow the code and declare any relevant interests; and, in addition, to record such interests in a register.
Seroxat
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate has been made under the yellow card system of the number of people who have suffered side effects from Seroxat in each of the last five years; [162560]
(2) how many people prescribed Seroxat are known to (a) suffer and (b) have suffered from side effects worthy of note. [162561]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and Committee on Safety of Medicines receive reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) submitted by doctors, dentists, pharmacists and coroners via the yellow card scheme, and there is a legal requirement for companies to report suspected ADRs to their drugs.
The number of reports received via the yellow card scheme does not directly equate to the number of people who suffer adverse reactions to drugs for a number of reasons including an unknown level of under-reporting. It is important to note that the reporting of a suspected reaction does not necessarily mean it was caused by the drug and may relate to other factors such as the patient's underlying illness or other medicines taken concurrently.
A total of 8,958 reports of suspected ADRs have been received through this scheme in association with paroxetine (Seroxat) since 1990, of which 4,826 were serious (i.e. considered serious by the reporter, were fatal, life-threatening, resulted in hospitalisation or disability, or were medically significant).
The following table provides a breakdown of the total number of reports received in association with paroxetine (Seroxat) annually for the past five years.
| Number of reports for paroxetine (Seroxat) | |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 481 |
| 2000 | 433 |
| 2001 | 341 |
| 2002 | 359 |
| 2003 | 241 |
Comprehensive warnings about the possible side effects of Seroxat, including those which may occur upon withdrawal from treatment, are included in the product information for prescribers and the patient information leaflet.
Shared Services Scheme
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his Answer of 23 March 2004, Official Report, column 718W, on administration, if he will set out the projected estimated savings if the shared services schemes were rolled out nationally; and what the timetable is for rolling out these schemes. [165296]
Mr. Hutton: It is anticipated that using the existing capacity of the centres in Leeds and Bristol, and allowing for the safe and proper migration of data, take up of the shared service centres will be slightly over 60 per cent. of national health service organisations by number by 2009–10.
It is anticipated total savings will be £95 million to £105 million per annum by then.
Skin Cancer
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of children have developed skin cancer in each of the last seven years. [165579]
Dawn Primarolo:
I have been asked to reply.
19 Apr 2004 : Column 224W
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Tim Loughton, dated 7 April 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what percentage of children have developed skin cancer in each of the last seven years. [165579].
The latest year for which figures are available is 2000. The proportion 1 of all children aged0–14 years registered with a newly diagnosed case of melanoma of the skin 2 for each of the seven years 1994–2000 in England, are given in the table below.
| Number of cases | Rate per million children(87) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 15 | 2 |
| 1995 | 7 | 1 |
| 1996 | 10 | 1 |
| 1997 | 8 | 1 |
| 1998 | 9 | 1 |
| 1999 | 6 | 1 |
| 2000 | 5 | 1 |
(87) Proportions are presented as rates per million population aged 0–14 in each year. The populations used are interim revised mid-year population estimates for England, released in November 2003.
(88) For the year 1994, International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision Code (ICD-9) Code C172 For the years 1995 to 2000, International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C43.
Source:
Office for National Statistics.
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