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20 May 2004 : Column 1177W—continued
Asthma
Mr. Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to require health care professionals to establish a policy to reduce the number of deaths from severe asthma. [173739]
Dr. Ladyman:
The chronic disease management programme, introduced in July 1993, provides arrangements for health promotion under the general practitioner (GP) contract. Participating GPs, around
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94 per cent. of the total, receive a fixed annual payment for running organised programmes of care for patients with asthma.
The new general medical services contract, launched in February 2003, includes a specific quality indicator for treatment and care of people with asthma. This builds on the chronic disease management programme.
People with asthma will benefit from the expert patients programme (EPP), currently being piloted in primary care trusts around the country. The EPP is providing national health service based training in self-management skills for people with long-term chronic illness.
Bowel Cancer
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he will take to tackle increases in workload for NHS staff working in (a) pathology, (b) radiology, (c) oncology and (d) surgery arising from the bowel cancer screening programme; [173829]
(2) what plans his Department has to introduce a targeted and tailored national recruitment programme to increase participation in social groups in whom colonoscopy uptake is particularly low; [173830]
(3) what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of introducing the national bowel cancer screening programme; [173831]
(4) what type of diagnostic test will be used in the national bowel cancer screening programme; and if he will make a statement; [173832]
(5) when the national bowel cancer screening programme will become fully operational; and if he will make a statement; [173833]
(6) what plans he has to change the (a) lower and (b) upper age limit for bowel cancer screening. [173834]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The methodology for a national bowel cancer screening programme is not clear cut. Following the publication of the results of a pilot using faecal occult blood (FOB) testing in May 2003, and early signs of the potential of flexible sigmoidoscopy, the Government re-affirmed their commitment to introducing bowel screening and to improving symptomatic services. The Department is addressing these difficult issues with the assistance of key stakeholders from the voluntary sector, patient and professional groups, and the national health service through the NHS bowel cancer programme and the bowel cancer advisory group.
The first phase of the pilot study of FOB testing showed that the performance of the original research can be replicated in a routine NHS setting. We have commissioned a second phase of the pilot at a cost of £1 million per annum to enable us to monitor the acceptability and effectiveness of repeat screening and to try and investigate service improvements, including
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encouraging hard to reach social groups to accept their screening invitations. We are also considering a potential pilot of screening using flexible sigmoidoscopy.
NHS cancer screening programmes have commissioned a formal options appraisal of bowel cancer screening from the School of Health and Related Research in Sheffield. The options appraisal is due to report in the autumn, and will consider all the issues associated with bowel cancer screening, including the age range at which men and women will be invited for screening.
In addition, as part of the NHS bowel cancer programme, we are investing in the expansion, training and modernisation of the bowel cancer workforce, streamlining services for patients with bowel cancer symptoms, and considering communications issues for the general public and health professionals.
In order to gather evidence on screening methodology and to ensure symptomatic services are expanded and modernised to take on the extra work required, it is unlikely that a national screening programme will start before 2006–07. It is currently estimated that a national bowel cancer screening programme will cost around £80 million a year to run.
Care Provision
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many referrals to care homes there have been in each of the last five years in (a) the Ribble Valley, (b) Milton Keynes, (c) the Isle of Wight and (d) Eastbourne. [173473]
Dr. Ladyman: Information on the number of referrals to care homes is not available centrally.
The table shows the number of admissions to care homes, for adults aged 18 and over, financially supported by Lancashire, Milton Keynes, Isle of Wight and East Sussex Councils with social services responsibilities (CSSRs), for the years 1998–99 to 2002–03. As data are collected by CSSR, separate figures for Ribble Valley and Eastbourne are not available. Figures for the CSSR in which Ribble Valley (Lancashire) and Eastbourne (East Sussex) are located have been provided.
| CSSR | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancashire | 10,885 | 10,815 | 10,595 | 11,250 | 12,225 |
| Milton Keynes | 745 | 850 | 1,030 | 905 | 865 |
| Isle of Wight | 3,030 | 2,265 | 2,480 | 2,400 | 2,765 |
| East Sussex | 4,115 | 4,940 | 4,095 | 3,960 | 5,175 |
(18) The table refers to the number of admissions into care homes, not the number of people. It is possible for a person to have more than one admission to a care home during the year.
(19) Includes those clients formally in receipt of preserved rights.
Source:
SR1, Tables 5a, 5b and 6.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Lancashire received more than £400 a week in domiciliary care packages in each of the last five years. [173474]
Dr. Ladyman:
The information requested is not collected centrally.
20 May 2004 : Column 1180W
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received care in care homes in the Ribble Valley in each of the last five years. [173475]
Dr. Ladyman: Information on the number of people receiving care in care homes in the Ribble Valley is not centrally available.
The table shows the number of care home places in Lancashire, as at 31 March for the years 1999 to 2001.
Figures for later years have been collected by the National Care Standards Commission but comparable details broken down by council are not available.
| At 31 March | Number of places |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 18,900 |
| 2000 | 18,700 |
| 2001 | 17,800 |
(20) Nursing data includes places in general nursing homes, mental nursing homes and private hospitals and clinics.
(21) Residential data refers to Lancashire CSSR. Nursing data refers to South Lancashire, East Lancashire and North West Lancashire health authorities.
Source:
RA and RH(N) form A
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, pursuant to his letter dated 3 April to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. B. Preston, he will obtain for the right hon. Member the letter from the Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority promised in that letter. [172260]
Ms Rosie Winterton: A reply from the Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority was sent to the right hon. Member on 12 May 2004.
Departmental Staff (Drugs)
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of his Department's employees have been dismissed for drug abuse misconduct in the last five years. [171627]
Ms Rosie Winterton: None according to our records.
Diabetes Mellitus
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of his Department's expenditure was allocated to diabetes mellitus in (a) 1984, (b) 1989, (c) 1994, (d) 1999 and (e) the latest date for which figures are available. [173735]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not collected centrally on how much is spent on the treatment of diabetes. However, it has been estimated that around five per cent. of total national health service resources are used for the care of people with diabetes.
In his 2002 Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced an historic five-year settlement for the national health service, which provides a sustained high level of growth in funding across the whole period. These plans mean that,
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for the period 2003–04 to 2007–08, expenditure on the NHS in England will increase on average by 7.3 per cent. a year over and above inflation, a total increase over the period of 42 per cent. in real terms. However, in keeping with the philosophy of "Shifting the Balance of Power", primary care trusts are free to decide the allocation of resources locally.
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