House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 16 Jun 2004 (pt 20)

16 Jun 2004 : Column 1001W—continued

Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what support the Government are giving to drug and alcohol rehabilitation schemes in the community. [178158]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 14 June 2004]: In 2001–02 the Government set up the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse to increase both the quality and availability of drug treatment. At the same time the Government made substantial funding available for drug treatment through a new pooled drug treatment budget, which in 2004–05 had risen to £260 million, an increase of over 100 per cent. over 2001–02 levels.

In addition to the pooled drug treatment budget substantial national health service mainstream monies are available for the provision of drug treatment.

Alcohol services are largely funded through NHS mainstream monies but there are no central records of the total amount.

The Government also recently launched their alcohol strategy in March 2004, which includes within it a goal to improve the effectiveness of alcohol treatment services.

Drug Rehabilitation

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current waiting time is for drug rehabilitation in Stroud for (a) detoxification and (b) recovery. [178466]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.

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Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the throughput for individuals who have been accepted onto drug rehabilitation schemes in Stroud was in each of the last three years. [178467]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available centrally.

Stroud is part of Gloucestershire drug action team. There were 1,073 people receiving drug treatment in Gloucestershire in 2000–01. These are the latest available data. Data broken down by drug action team for 2001–02 and 2002–03 have not yet been finalised and published.

Food Supplements Directive

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent representations he has received from Consumers for Health Choice in relation to the interpretation and implementation of the Food Supplements Directive; and if he will make a statement; [176536]

(2) what recent representations he has received from right hon. and hon. Members in relation to the Food Supplements Directive; and if he will make a statement. [176538]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Recently the Department has received numerous postcards relating to the Consumers for Health Choice campaign.

Between 1 March 2004 and 28 May 2004, 265 representations have been received from right hon. and hon. Members in relation to the Food Supplements Directive. This number includes both campaign postcards and non-campaign correspondence.

Framework Criteria

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria are used to determine which conditions and treatments are assessed for the introduction of (a) national service frameworks, (b) policy frameworks and (c) National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines. [176881]

Ms Rosie Winterton: In selecting a topic for and developing and implementing a national service framework, account is taken of the importance of a health issue in terms of morbidity and mortality, the scope for service improvement and the capacity of the national health service and its partner agencies to implement the framework. Similar criteria determine the areas in which the Government choose to introduce major initiatives in other parts of health and social care policy.

The work programme for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is set by the Department, via the advisory committee for topic selection (ACTS). The ACTS consists of departmental policy officials, NICE, patient and professional groups and the pharmaceutical industry. Its role is to advise whether a topic is suitable

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for an appraisal by NICE. The ACTS applies selection criteria agreed by Ministers and prioritises those proposals which meet the criteria. The key criteria are whether guidance would promote the best possible improvement in patient care given available resources, and whether NICE would be able to add value by issuing guidance.

General Practitioners

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the provision of 24 hour heart monitors to general practitioners' surgeries. [173635]

Miss Melanie Johnson: General practitioner practices make decisions about how they spend the income they receive, which will in some cases have been used to provide 24 hour heart monitors. In addition in 2002–03, £15 million was allocated to pay for cardiac equipment in primary care.

Gymnasiums (Mental Health Hospitals)

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what gymnasium facilities are available in each mental health hospital in England. [178347]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not centrally available.

All new mental health buildings are designed to specific functional and space standards, which are provided in Health Building Notes (HBN).

HBN 35, "Accommodation for people with mental illness", acknowledges that physical exercise is important both as recreation and because of the positive

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link between physical and mental health. HBN 35 states that it is a local decision whether to provide a gymnasium or a fitness room.

Health Services (Rochdale)

Mrs. Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many senior citizens in Rochdale parliamentary constituency have access to free eye tests; and what percentage are (a) women and (b) from an ethnic minority; [178510]

(2) how many residents in Rochdale parliamentary constituency aged over 60 years have benefited from the abolition of charges for eye tests; and what percentage were (a) women and (b) from an ethnic minority. [178511]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Data for the number of sight tests by constituency, senior citizens, gender or by ethnic origin are not collected centrally.

In 2002–03, the total number of national health service sight tests paid for by the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority for patients in the aged 60 and over category was 189,900. The total number eligible for a free sight test for those aged 60 and over was 493,100. Sight tests cannot be equated to the numbers of patients.

Mrs. Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS (a) therapists and (b) scientists were located in Rochdale in each of the last seven years. [178513]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information is not available in the format requested. The table shows the number of qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff.
NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff in the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority area as at 30 September each specified year Headcount

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Bury and Rochdale Health Authority 1 1 11 12 10 ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾—

Bury Health Care NHS Trust 216 225 230 242 267 ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾—

North Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 286 267 272 275 256 ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾—

Oldham NHS Trust 347 346 360 393 417 ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾—

Rochdale Health Care NHS Trust 244 249 243 259 308 ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾—

Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— 900 853

Rochdale PCT ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— 137 144

Pennine Care NHS Trust ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— ⁽¹⁹⁾— 146 187

⁽¹⁹⁾ Not applicable
Source:
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Bury and Rochdale Health Authority	1	1	11	12	10	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—
Bury Health Care NHS Trust	216	225	230	242	267	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—
North Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust	286	267	272	275	256	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—
Oldham NHS Trust	347	346	360	393	417	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—
Rochdale Health Care NHS Trust	244	249	243	259	308	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	900	853
Rochdale PCT	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	137	144
Pennine Care NHS Trust	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	⁽¹⁹⁾—	146	187

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