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10 Jun 2004 : Column 546W—continued
HIV
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Department is taking to reduce the number of people contracting HIV each year in England. [176251]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government published the first ever national strategy for sexual health and HIV in 2001, followed by an implementation action plan in 2002. This is a 10 year strategy, which sets challenging goals to tackle HIV. Action to implement the strategy includes strengthening our HIV prevention work targeting those groups most at risk of infection, the publication last year of standards for HIV treatment and care and the publication of toolkits of best practice to support HIV prevention at local level.
Hospital Developments
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on recent hospital developments taking place within the Greater London area; and if he will list them. [174493]
Mr. Hutton: Within the Greater London area the following hospital developments are taking place.
| National Health Service Trust | Estimated capital value (£ million) | Funding(27) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust | 76 | PFI | Pre-procurement |
| Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust | 328 | PFI | Pre-procurement |
| St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington NHS Trust | 900 | PFI | Pre-procurement |
| Barts and The London NHS Trust | 1052 | PFI | In procurement |
| North Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust | 74 | PFI | In Procurement |
| Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust | 51 | PFI | In procurement |
| Kingston Hospital NHS Trust | 28 | PFI | In procurement |
| University College London Hospitals NHS Trust | 422 | PFI | Under construction |
| Whittington Hospital NHS Trust | 32 | PFI | Under construction |
| Barnet PCT (Edgware Community) | 24 | Public | Under construction |
| Havering, Barking and Redbridge NHS Trust | 238 | PFI | Under construction |
| Newham Healthcare NHS Trust | 52 | PFI | Under construction |
| North West London Hospitals NHS Trust | 69 | PFI | Under construction |
| Brent PCT—Willesden | 21 | PFI | Under construction |
| Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Trust | 50 | Public | Under construction |
| Queen Mary's Roehampton | 55 | PFI | Under construction |
(27) PFI = Private finance initiative.
Information on schemes with a capital value below £10 million is not held centrally.
Illegal Drug Users
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people he estimates were illegal drug users in the last year for which figures are available; and what the Government's plans are for reducing the number of people using illegal drugs. [176813]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
It is estimated that there are 250,000 Class A problem drug users in England and Wales (Home Office Research Study 2002). Problem
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drug users are defined as people who use illegal drugs and experience social, psychological, physical or legal problems.
The Government are committed to tackling substance misuse and launched the updated Drugs Strategy in 2002. The Government are on track to meet the target in this strategy to double the number of people in treatment from 100,000 in 1998 to 200,000 by 2008 and to increase year-on-year the numbers retained or successfully completing treatment.
Independent Treatment Centres
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the contract price of treatments provided by independent treatment centres is expressed as a proportion of the relevant NHS tariff for that treatment. [166077]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 20 April 2004]: National health service national tariffs do not directly correspond to the packages of care we are purchasing from the independent sector in the treatment centre programme. For example, varying numbers of out-patient appointments and follow-up care are included in the procedure prices of the independent sector treatment centre provider, which are not included in NHS national tariff for individual procedures.
For the single-procedure cataract chain, a price per cataract procedure was at nearly 10 per cent. less than the comparable NHS cost. Further contracts have been signed in relation to treatment centres at Daventry, Bradford, Trent and South Yorkshire, Plymouth, and the national, so-called spine chain. These contracts are for the provision of joint replacements, other orthopaedics and other elective procedures. For these treatment centres, it is not appropriate to directly compare NHS national tariffs with the bid price of providers.
Infertility Treatment
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have benefited from infertility treatment in (a) Shropshire and (b) England in each year since 1997. [175635]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Information is not collected centrally on the assisted conception services provided to Shropshire patients. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority collects data on licensed treatments carried out in the United Kingdom. The numbers of patients treated and treatment cycles carried out are shown in the table:
| In vitro fertilisation (IVF) | Donor insemination | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients | Treatment cycles | Patients | Treatment cycles | |
| 1997 | 26,291 | 34,017 | 5,077 | 13,169 |
| 1998 | 27,279 | 35,559 | 4,453 | 11,453 |
| 1999 | 26,707 | 34,684 | 3,866 | 9,985 |
| 2000 | 26,548 | 34,634 | 3,395 | 8,102 |
| 2001(28) | 28,076 | 35,599 | 2,718 | 6,450 |
(28) 2001 is the most recent year for which information is currently available.
Source:
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
10 Jun 2004 : Column 548W
Lumbar Punctures
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he has satisfied himself that lumbar punctures carried out on children at the Royal Free Hospital by the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Study Group since 1996 have had valid and explicit ethical approval from a properly constituted research ethics committee on the issues of full disclosure of the research's relevant interests and of the full clinical context. [157459]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Based on information currently available to us, the Royal Free Ethics Committee approved the collection of data from clinically indicated investigations for a study entitled "Enteritis and Disintegrative Disorder following measles/rubella vaccination" in November 1996. The disintegrative disorder described in the protocol is Heller's disease, and the vaccine under investigation was measles/rubella vaccine.
We also understand that the study title was changed to "Autism and Non-Specific Colitis and Lymophoid Nodular Hyperplasia" and the name change was approved by the Royal Free Ethics Committee in 1998.
The Ethics Committee gave approval for the collection of data from clinically indicated investigations. The Committee did not take a view on which clinical investigations, such as lumbar puncture, were justified. This would usually be determined for each individual child involved, depending on their condition.
Manchester Children's Hospital
Mr. Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the (a) monthly and (b) total cost of the delay in building the new Manchester Children's hospital. [176639]
Miss Melanie Johnson: There has been no estimate of the monthly and total cost of the delay in building the new Manchester Children's hospital.
ME
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people his Department estimates had myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) in Greater London in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by (a) sex and (b) age group; how much (i) Government and (ii) non-government money has been spent on ME in Greater London since January 2002; if he will list the ME specialists there are in Greater London; and if he will make a statement. [177039]
Mr. Hutton: This information requested is not collected centrally.
This Government are committed to improving services for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). This is evidenced by the fact that:
We endorsed the view of the independent working group that CFS/ME is a debilitating and distressing condition, which affects people of all ages.
We have asked the Medical Research Council to develop a research strategy for CFS/ME.
We have asked the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to develop guidelines for the diagnosis and management of CFS/ME.
We have made available £8.5 million to develop services specifically designed for people with CFS/ME.
In line with the Department's "Shifting the Balance of Power" initiative, allocations are made direct to primary care trusts (PCTs). It is now the responsibility of PCTs to commission services which meet the needs of their local populations.
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