---

15 Jun 2004 : Column 891W—continued

Alzheimer's Disease

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the provision of (a) nursing and (b) personal care for people with Alzheimer's disease, with particular reference to funding. [176768]

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 7 June 2004]: Everyone, including those with Alzheimer's, should receive care based on an assessment of their long term care needs. Where they have a primary need for health care, all their care will be provided and funded by the
 
15 Jun 2004 : Column 892W
 
national health service. Where they have a need for care from a registered nurse this will also be funded by the NHS. Where the assessment shows that their care needs do not currently meet the criteria for fully funded NHS care or care from a registered nurse, personal care can be provided by social services on a means tested basis.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the appropriate qualifications and experience required of psychiatrists treating (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients who have an autistic spectrum disorder. [178955]

Dr. Ladyman: None. This is a professional matter. It is the responsibility of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the number of people with Asperger's syndrome who are misdiagnosed as schizophrenic. [178957]

Dr. Ladyman: None. Where people have Asperger's syndrome or any other form of autistic spectrum disorder, it is important to distinguish behaviours due to their autism from any that might be attributable to a mental health problem in order to ensure that anti-psychotic drugs are prescribed only where they are appropriate.

Clinical Waste (Incineration)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS hospitals in the Greater London area are able to incinerate their own clinical waste. [177823]

Mr. Hutton: The disposal of clinical waste can only be undertaken at facilities licensed by the Environment Agency. There are no national health service trusts in greater London area that are licensed to operate such facilities and each therefore contracts with the private sector to dispose of this waste.

Coldeast Hospital Site, Fareham

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the status is of the housing development for which planning permission has been granted to a private sector developer on the Coldeast Hospital Site, Fareham. [176695]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 7 June 2004]: The ownership of the Coldeast Hospital site is split between the Secretary of State for Health, Fareham and Gosport Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Hampshire Partnership National Health Service Trust.

Reserved matters planning consent has recently been granted for a total of 253 housing units on those parts of the site owned by the Secretary of State for Health and Fareham and Gosport PCT. The planning consent was not granted to a private sector developer.

As part of a larger portfolio, an agreement in principle has been reached to transfer the land in the
 
15 Jun 2004 : Column 893W
 
ownership of the Secretary of State for Health to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). Discussions are continuing on the details of the transfer of the portfolio but once it takes place it will be for ODPM to move forward with the redevelopment of this part of the site.

Fareham and Gosport PCT is firming up its plans for the health service needs of both Fareham and Gosport residents, and the health campus on the Coldeast site is a key part of those plans.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Council

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated cost of registration with the new Complementary and Alternative Medicine Council will be. [175937]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 27 May 2004]: On 2 March the Department published proposals for the statutory regulation of herbal medicine and acupuncture practitioners. The consultation period closed on 7 June. I am aware that the cost of statutory regulation is of interest to practitioners and I will carefully consider the comments about costs made in response to the consultation exercise. At this stage we are unable to provide a more accurate estimate of cost than that set out in paragraph 25 of the Department's consultation document, "Regulation of herbal medicine and acupuncture".

Contaminated Blood Products

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many compensation payments have been made, and of what total value, to sufferers of hepatitis C as a result of infection by NHS supplied contaminated blood products. [176223]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The National Blood Authority has made payments of £2,608,075 in respect of 107 cases. These payments have been made following Mr. Justice Burton's judgment of 26 March 2001 under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 in respect of patients infected with hepatitis C through blood transfusions between March 1988 and September 1991.

The NHS Litigation Authority has made payments of £727,027 in respect of 14 cases brought against national health service trusts and health authorities.

Dentistry

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 17 May 2004, Official Report, column 797W, on dentistry, if he will place a copy of the full report, or of its recommendations and conclusions, in the Library. [177806]

Ms Rosie Winterton: We plan to publish the report shortly.

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are registered with NHS dentists in Shrewsbury and Atcham. [177681]

 
15 Jun 2004 : Column 894W
 

Dr. Ladyman: The number of people registered with a national health service dentist as at 31 March 2004 in the Shropshire County Primary Care Trust area, which covers the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency, is shown in the table.

Registrations	Numbers registered at 31 March 2004
Adults	69,550
Children	38,991
Total	108,541

Disability Equipment

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many items of disability equipment issued by the NHS or social services went missing in the last year for which figures are available. [178349]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally. However, as part of the integration and modernisation of community equipment services over the past three years, services have been encouraged to improve systems for tracking equipment issued so that it can be recovered when economical to do so, with a view to decontamination and re-issue.

In addition, the national health service counter fraud and security management service (CFSMS) has set out in its strategy document, "A professional approach to managing security in the NHS", that the security of property and assets is one of its four priority areas. Currently, the CFSMS is working with the Home Office on a Treasury-funded safer hospitals project to look at how technology can be used to better protect staff, professionals and property.

Dr. Jonathan Lampard

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid by the NHS to Dr. Jonathan Lampard to set up his NHS dentistry service. [177679]

Dr. Ladyman: Jonathan Lampard received a grant of £45,000 to help establish his new practice in Shrewsbury in 1998.

The grant was provided under the Investing in Dentistry scheme through Section 56 of the National Health Service Act 1977 and approved by the Secretary of State. The conditions agreed by Mr. Lampard included the registration of at least 2,000 patients within one year of opening the practice, the addition of 200 patients during the second year and maintaining that level for a further year. The agreement remained valid for a period of three years from the date of the first registrations (26 March 1998) after which time Mr. Lampard was free of all commitment to the NHS under the agreement.

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on how NHS terms and conditions allowed Dr. Jonathan Lampard, a dentist in Shrewsbury, to leave the NHS. [177680]

Dr. Ladyman: Under current arrangements, dentists working in the general dental services (GDS) are self employed independent contractors providing dental services. Dentists can practice wherever they like. There
 
15 Jun 2004 : Column 895W
 
are no restrictions and, provided they meet the conditions of suitability, they have an automatic right to provide GDS. They can accept as many or as few national health service patients as they wish and can alter that commitment at will without reference to the primary care trust (PCT). If a dentist working in the GDS wishes to terminate a patient's NHS registration, he/she must give three months notice of his/her intention to the patient. Dentists can quite legally accept only certain categories of patients, for example, children and exempt adults. There is no requirement to give any notice to the PCT about changes in practice acceptance arrangements or of termination of registrations.

Under proposals in the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003, PCTs will be given new responsibility to secure dental services and will be able to provide assistance and support to dental practices with which they contract. With this responsibility will go the resources, totalling some £1.4 billion for 2004–05, held centrally for dentistry to support them in delivering their new duties on dentistry.

The shadow special health authority we set up last August for dentistry is aiming to issue in July indicative contract values to dentists and PCTs to enable them to begin discussions about contracts under the new arrangements. PCTs will be able to agree an increase in a dentist's contract value in return for increased commitment.

---