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27 May 2004 : Column 1834W—continued
Elderly Care Services
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of recipients of intermediate care services had mental health problems in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [175924]
Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally.
Health Food Industry
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the Minister of Health responsible for consumer affairs declined the request of the Health Food Manufacturers' Association to meet to discuss issues facing the industry. [165490]
Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to meet representatives of the food supplements industry to discuss progress with the Food Supplements Directive; [171988]
(2) what plans he has to meet Commissioner Byrne to discuss the Food Supplements Directive. [171989]
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent discussions he has held on the impact of the European Food Supplements Directive on the food supplements industry; and what the results of the discussions were; [170580]
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(2) what plans he has to meet (a) Commissioner Byrne and (b) food supplements industry representatives to discuss the impact of the Food Supplements Directive on the food supplements industry. [170581]
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will meet representatives of natural health food companies to discuss the Food Supplements Directive. [168456]
Sir Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he or the Minister for his Department will meet representatives of the health food industry on matters relating to the proposed EU Directive on vitamin and mineral supplements. [165466]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Directive 2002/46/EC on food supplements came into force on 12 July 2002. The Food Supplements Regulations England 2003, which implement the Directive in England, were laid before Parliament in June 2003 and the provisions are set to come into force on 1 August 2005. There is parallel legislation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In October 2003, I had a useful meeting with representatives of the health food industry to discuss their concerns over the potential impact of the Directive, particularly relating to the submission of safety dossiers to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and to the future setting of European maximum levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements.
Since then there has been a constructive meeting, facilitated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), between industry representatives and representatives of the EFSA to discuss safety dossiers.
In addition, I recently set out the Government's views on the setting of maximum limits to Commissioner David Byrne. The EFSA is continuing work on safe upper limits for intakes of vitamins and minerals begun by the Scientific Committee on Food. It is not expected to complete this work until Summer 2005 at the earliest. The Commission will not publish a proposal on European Union maximum limits until this work is complete. Commissioner Byrne and I agreed to talk again when the EFSA's advice has been published and, if appropriate, meet. In the meantime, officials continue to press the case for safety based maximum limits in all the relevant European forums. They are keeping in close contact with the Commission officials, who will in due course draft the proposal on EU maximum limits. I have asked for progress reports.
I am willing to meet food supplement industry representatives again. However, I have suggested to them that, before such a meeting takes place, it would be useful for industry technical advisors to meet FSA officials to discuss detailed technical issues relating to dossiers and then for the industry to gain experience of submitting such dossiers to the EFSA.
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Home Care (Charges)
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) monitoring, (b) evaluation and (c) review of the new system of charges for home care he is carrying out. [173950]
Dr. Ladyman: We plan in due course to monitor and evaluate the impact of the guidance on "Fairer Charging Policies for Home Care".
Mental Health
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England have (a) died and (b) been injured by hanging themselves from a ligature point in the suspended ceiling of an acute mental health unit between 1 September 2001 and 18 March 2004. [173481]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 17 May 2004]: This information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will bring forward proposals setting out a timetable for pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft mental health bill. [175317]
Ms Rosie Winterton: A revised and completed Mental Health Bill will be brought forward for pre-legislative scrutiny in this session.
Ministerial Visits
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list visits made by each Minister in the Department between December 2003 and April 2004, broken down by (a) date, (b) constituency visited and (c) cost. [171567]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Between December 2003 and April 2004 departmental Ministers have undertaken 81 visits. The Department does not have information on constituencies visited or the cost of visits individually.
National Service Framework for Older People
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what sanctions will be taken against strategic health authorities that have not achieved the milestones in the national service framework for older people. [175537]
Dr. Ladyman:
Planning for and implementing the majority of the milestones in the national service framework for older people is the direct responsibility of strategic health authorities (SHAs). Information is not collected centrally on progress with these. The milestones on intermediate care, stroke services, falls services and services for older adults with mental health problems, set out in the 2003–06 priorities and planning framework, are reflected in SHAs' local delivery plans (LDPs). The Department performance manages SHA service delivery against the range of agreed LDP targets through its quarterly monitoring process.
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NHS Dentistry
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how he plans to measure the impact of the proposals in "Options for Change" for increasing the number of NHS dental registrations; and if he will make a statement; [174452]
(2) how progress on "Options for Change" will be monitored; and if he will make a statement. [174453]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The base contract and permanent personal dental services (PDS) contract will require a new national health service dentistry activity return, which is currently under development. This will provide information on patient numbers and dental activity under the new arrangements and will enable comparisons with previous trends.
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letter from Mr. Geoffrey Morgan of Milford-on-Sea regarding NHS dentistry of 26 February. [174630]
Ms Rosie Winterton: A reply was sent to Mr. Morgan on 5 April 2004.
Primary Health Care
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary health care staff work in the Coventry area. [176250]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| General medical practitioners(32) | 183 |
| Practice staff(33) | 611 |
| of which: | |
| Practice nurses | 132 |
| HCHS primary healthcare nursing | 492 |
| of which: | |
| Health visitors | 71 |
| District nurses | 43 |
| Community psychiatry nurses | 84 |
| Community learning disabilities nurses | 35 |
| Other community services nurses(35) | 259 |
| Total | 1,286 |
Notes:
(32) All practitioners include UPEs, restricted principals, assistants, GP registrars, salaried doctors (para 52 SFA), PMS other, GP retainers, flexible career scheme GPs and GP returners.
(33) Practice staff includes practice nurses, direct patient care, admin and clerical and other.
(34) UPEs include QMS unrestricted principals, PMS contracted GPs and PMS salaried GPs.
(35) Other community services nurses are nurses working in community services other than health visitors and district nurses.
Sources:
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
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