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6 May 2004 : Column 1804W—continued

Osteoporosis

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on services for people with osteoporosis. [169870]

Dr. Ladyman: Services to identify, treat and offer preventative advice are available on the National Health Service. The Government's response to osteoporosis has been to include it in the falls standard of the national service framework for older people. The standard requires local health services to establish appropriate interventions and advice to prevent osteoporotic fractures.

To support this requirement, the Department has asked the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to develop clinical guidance on osteoporosis and undertake a technology appraisal on new treatments.

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to report its recommendations on a technology appraisal on (a) the newer osteoporosis treatments and (b) a clinical guideline on osteoporosis. [169871]

Dr. Ladyman: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is due to publish its appraisal of technologies for the secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women in October 2004. A clinical guideline on the assessment of fracture risk and the prevention of osteoporotic fractures in individuals at high risk is expected to be published in June 2005. A further appraisal of technologies for the primary prevention of osteoporotic fragility fractures in postmenopausal women is being informed by work being carried out by the World Health Organisation and the NICE guideline development group, and is also expected to be published in 2005. Copies of the draft guidance and information on their progress can be found on the NICE website at www.nice.org.uk.

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts provide preventative osteopososis services. [169873]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally.
 
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Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of preventative measures likely to be of help in the management of osteoporosis; and if he will make a statement on how he will encourage an increase in (a) dietary calcium, (b) dietary vitamin D and (c) weight-bearing exercise. [169922]

Dr. Ladyman: The Department gives general lifestyle messages for preventing osteoporosis, revolving around diet, exercise, reducing smoking and avoiding excessive consumption of alcohol.

We are linking the national service framework for older people with wider work on healthy active life in older age to encourage older people to increase levels of physical activity and to assist with accident prevention.

We are funding projects around increasing and encouraging physical activity in residential care settings and increasing the availability of training for those offering exercise as part of falls prevention.

In June 1998, the Department issued guidelines to general practitioners and primary healthcare teams entitled, "A quick reference Primary Care Guide on the Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis". It recommends that adequate intakes of calcium and vitamin D at the reference nutrient intake are maintained.

The Royal College of Physicians guidelines on osteoporosis recommended to health authorities that they should put arrangements in place so that those at particularly high risk of osteoporosis have the opportunity to receive appropriate investigation, prophylaxis, such as hormone replacement therapy or calcium and vitamin D or calcium and bisphosphonates, and advice, for example, about smoking and physical activity.

PCTs (North Derbyshire)

Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he collates on the workings of the out-of-hours patient service in the areas of the three primary care trusts in North Derbyshire. [170095]

Dr. Ladyman: Information on the workings of local general practitioner out-of-hours services is not collected centrally. Strategic health authorities have responsibility for the performance management of their primary care trusts in their delivery of out-of-hours services.

Prostate Cancer

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 21 April, Official Report, column 558W, on prostate cancer, if he will make an assessment of the recent findings of research by the US National Cancer Institute on the effect of frequent ejaculation in protecting men against prostate cancer. [170162]

Miss Melanie Johnson: We are aware of the research undertaken by the United States national cancer institute on the effect of frequent ejaculation in protecting men against prostate cancer. The prostate cancer risk management programme is supported by a scientific reference group. This issue will be discussed when the group next meets in the summer.
 
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Public Funding

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public funding has been spent on health in Heywood and Middleton in each of the last seven years. [168491]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information is not available in the format requested. Expenditure per weighted head of the population in the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area, which includes the constituency of Heywood and Middleton, has increased from £582.33 in 1997–98 to £992.61 in 2002–03 (the latest year available). This does not represent the total expenditure per head as an element of health expenditure cannot be identified by SHA area.

James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public funding has been spent on health in Stalybridge and Hyde in each of the last seven years. [168769]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information is not available in the format requested. Expenditure per weighted head of the population in the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area, which includes the constituency of Stalybridge and Hyde, has increased from £582.33 in 1997–98 to £992.61 in 2002–03 (the latest year available). This does not represent the total expenditure per head as an element of health expenditure cannot be identified by SHA area.

Radon Gas

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the risk to health of radon gas in the United Kingdom. [169711]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Radiation-induced lung cancers have been reported in uranium and hard rock miners for a long time. However, the aetiological role of radon was not recognised until 1951, when it was discovered that the lung hazard was due to radiation dose from the decay products of radon. Since the 1980s, the National Radiological Protection Board has kept the risk to health from radon gas under review. The main risk is still lung cancer, although it has been suggested that radon may also cause other types of cancer. On theoretical grounds, some such radon-induced cancers would be expected, but these would be far fewer than the lung cancers and have not been detected in well-designed epidemiological studies.

School Blood Donations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children donated blood at mobile blood units visiting schools in 2003–04. [169481]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The age limit for first time donors is 17 to 60 years, although regular donors can continue to give blood until the age of 70 as long as they continue to meet all the donor selection criteria.

During 2003–04 across all donor sessions:

20,776 donors aged 17 (as at 1 April 2003) made a total of 30,344 donations; and

22,826 donors aged 18 (as at 1 April 2003) made a total of 32,309 donations.

 
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The national blood service (NBS) actively targets 17-year-olds. In March 2004, the NBS launched a new direct marketing campaign targeting 17-year-olds. This mailing encourages individuals who have just turned 17 to pre-register to give blood. So far, 3,266 17-year-olds have signed up as blood donors because of this campaign.

Surplus Property Sales

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total costs associated with the proposed sale of surplus NHS sites and Inventures to date have been. [169125]

 
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Mr. Hutton [holding answer 27 April 2004]: The total project and property selling costs associated with the proposed real estate partnership was some £13.4 million at the end of 2003–04, a very small proportion of the likely eventual value of the property portfolio.

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