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24 May 2004 : Column 1369W—continued
Asylum Seekers
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether a failed asylum seeker is entitled to free NHS prophylactic bronchodilators from a general practitioner; [171044]
(2) how a doctor who has treated a failed asylum seeker may demonstrate to a funding primary care trust that the person's treatment was immediately necessary; [171046]
(3) which ailments will entitle failed asylum seekers requiring NHS treatment to free treatment in (a) primary care and (b) secondary care. [171047]
Mr. Hutton: Each primary care trust (PCT) has a duty to meet all reasonable requirements to provide or secure national health service primary medical services in its area. For their part, general practitioner practices have discretion to accept a failed asylum seeker as a registered NHS patient. However, since the NHS is intended for those living lawfully in the United Kingdom, existing guidance discourages GP practices from accepting failed asylum seekers as patients.
On 14 May, I issued a consultation document setting out proposals to clarify eligibility and introduce charges for those overseas visitors, including failed asylum seekers, who would then be ineligible for free routine NHS primary medical treatment.
Under these proposals, practices would continue to be required to provide treatment, including potentially for asthma, which they regard as emergency or immediately necessary to anyone who needs it. Where a practice provides such treatment to an individual not registered at the practice, it notifies the PCT in writing of the clinical care given.
In secondary care, if an asylum seeker has been in the UK for more than 12 months when their asylum claim is finally rejected, any course of treatment already under way at the time of the final rejection remains free of
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charge. Furthermore, certain secondary care services are exempt from charges for everyone, irrespective of their immigration status. This includes treatment provided solely in an accident and emergency department, treatment of certain specified communicable diseases and compulsory mental health treatment. In the case of services which relate to HIV/AIDS only the initial test and counselling is free. Influenza immunisations are given to those who are in at risk categories. These categories include anyone over six months with respiratory disease (including asthma), chronic heart disease, renal disease, diabetes and immunosuppressant or staying or living in long stay facilities, or who at the GP's discretion needs to have a flu jab on the basis of clinical need.
Blood Transfusion Service (Edgware Hospital)
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress concerning the relocation of the blood transfusion service at Edgware hospital. [173528]
Mr. Hutton: I understand arrangements are in place between Barnet Primary Care Trust and the National Blood Service to relocate the blood transfusion clinic on the Edgware Site in June 2004.
Breastfeeding
Ms Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will commission an economic analysis of the benefits of breastfeeding to (a) the NHS and (b) the UK economy. [173946]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department remains fully committed to promoting breastfeeding but has no current plans to commission an economic analysis its benefits.
Ms Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make recommendations in support of World Health Organisation findings that infants should continue to be breastfed up to two years of age and beyond. [173947]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government support the World Health Organisation's global recommendation that infants should continue to breastfed up to two years of age. The Department recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, then continuing breastfeeding with appropriate types and amounts of weaning foods until the end of the first year of life or longer.
Cardiac Deaths
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sudden cardiac deaths there were in each of the last five years, broken down by age range; and if he will make a statement. [175164]
Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
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Letter from Colin Mowl to Mrs. Iris Robinson, dated 24 May 2004:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many sudden cardiac deaths there were in each of the last five years broken down by age range. I am replying in his absence. (175164)
It is not possible to give an exact number of cardiac deaths which occurred suddenly, as information on whether or not a death was sudden is not currently recorded at death registration. We have therefore provided figures for all heart diseases, sudden cardiac death (so described), acute ischaemic heart disease and cardiac arrhythmias.
The latest year for which data are available is 2002. Figures are shown in the attached table for each year from 1998 to 2002.
| Cause of | Age | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| death | 0–14 | 15–44 | 45–64 | 65–84 | 85+ |
| (a) All heart diseases | |||||
| 1998 | 101 | 1,775 | 17,332 | 86,487 | 41,719 |
| 1999 | 104 | 1,748 | 16,470 | 82,090 | 41,169 |
| 2000 | 89 | 1,702 | 15,756 | 76,195 | 39,822 |
| 2001(29) | 96 | 1,680 | 14,952 | 73,047 | 40,906 |
| 2002(29) | 81 | 1,712 | 14,355 | 70,775 | 41,194 |
| (b) Sudden cardiac death, so described | |||||
| 1998 | (30)— | (30)— | (30)— | (30)— | (30)— |
| 1999 | (30)— | (30)— | (30)— | (30)— | (30)— |
| 2000 | (30)— | (30)— | (30)— | (30)— | (30)— |
| 2001(29) | 0 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 2002(29) | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| (c) Acute ischaemic heart disease | |||||
| 1998 | 4 | 621 | 8,017 | 38,395 | 13,597 |
| 1999 | 3 | 579 | 7,435 | 34,899 | 12,917 |
| 2000 | 1 | 555 | 6,694 | 31,470 | 12,292 |
| 2001(29) | 4 | 552 | 6,184 | 28,879 | 11,306 |
| 2002(29) | 1 | 553 | 5,928 | 27,875 | 11,453 |
| (d) Cardiac arrhythmias | |||||
| 1998 | 13 | 46 | 99 | 1,526 | 1,405 |
| 1999 | 6 | 49 | 110 | 1,528 | 1,546 |
| 2000 | 5 | 50 | 133 | 1,409 | 1,554 |
| 2001(29) | 10 | 50 | 84 | 1,348 | 1,625 |
| 2002(29) | 5 | 40 | 75 | 1,365 | 1,764 |
(27) The cause of death was defined using the ICD-9 for the years 1998 to 2000, and ICD-10 for 2001 and 2002. The codes used are listed below:
All heart diseases ICD-10 120–151, ICD-9 410–429
Sudden cardiac death, so described ICD-10 I46.1, ICD-9 no equivalent code
Acute ischaemic heart disease ICD-10 121, 124, ICD-9 410–411
Cardiac arrhythmias ICD-10 144–149, ICD-9 426–427.
(28) Figures are based on deaths occurring in each calendar year.
(29) The introduction of ICD-10 for coding cause of death in 2001 means that data for heart diseases are not completely comparable between ICD-9 and ICD-10. In particular there is no equivalent code for I46.1—Sudden cardiac death (so described). Any sudden changes in the above figures in 2001 should therefore be interpreted with caution. An article describing the changes to circulatory diseases in more detail is due to be published in Health Statistics Quarterly on May 27. (Griffiths C, Brock A and Rooney C (2004) The effect of the introduction of ICD-10 on mortality from circulatory diseases in England and Wales. Health Statistics Quarterly 22, in press.
(30) Figures only available from 2001, after the introduction of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) for coding cause of death.
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