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UN Operations

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) disciplinary proceedings have been undertaken, (b) criminal charges have been brought and (c) charges have been dropped in relation to the actions of United Kingdom forces towards Iraqis. [172869]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 20 May 2004]: No disciplinary measures under the Army Act 1955 have been taken against any individuals in connection with alleged abuses of Iraqi civilians. Criminal charges have been brought in two cases involving five individuals, proceedings have yet to take place. None of these charges have been dropped.

Watchkeeper Programme

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he intends to seek a revised or confirmed bid from each of the consortia bidding for the watchkeeper programme; and when he intends to announce a decision on the preferred bidder. [180796]

Mr. Ingram: The competition for the Watchkeeper Demonstration, Manufacture and Initial Support phase is ongoing. It would be inappropriate to comment on the conduct of the competitive process. Timing of any announcement is dependent upon satisfactory completion of continuing assessment activities.

HEALTH

Anti-depressants

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why Professor A. Breckenridge was asked to leave the room during the Committee on Safety of Medicines discussion of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor safety information at its meeting on 22 October 1998. [178694]

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why Professor A. Breckenridge was asked to leave the room during the Committee on Safety of Medicines discussion of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors safety information at its meeting of 22 October 1998. [178301]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The minutes of the Committee on Safety of Medicines of 22 October 1998 refer to Professor Breckenridge declaring a non-specific personal interest and leaving the room, not that he was asked to leave the room.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the (a) quality and (b) outcome of the 1998 review of the risk of dependence on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and related anti-depressants conducted by the Sub-Committee on Pharmacovigilance. [178477]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The then Medicines Control Agency (MCA) conducted a review of withdrawal reactions associated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and related antidepressants which was considered by the Sub-Committee on Pharmacovigilance on 24 February 1998 and the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) on 26 March
 
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1998. The CSM endorsed the conclusions of the Sub-Committee on Pharmacovigilance, that all SSRIs were associated with withdrawal reactions, and that no strong evidence from any source had been identified to suggest that the SSRIs and related antidepressants cause features of dependence other than withdrawal symptoms.

A separate review of all available data was subsequently conducted by the European Scientific Advisory Committee, the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) with France and Germany as lead member states. The conclusions of this review were consistent with those of the CSM and were published in a CPMP position paper in 2000.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he gives on the optimal dose for selective seratonin uptake inhibitors and related anti-depressant drugs. [179672]

Ms Rosie Winterton: As with all medicines, the recommendations for dosing of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are provided in the product information for prescribes, the summary of product characteristics, and in the patient information leaflet.

On 11 March 2004 the Committee on Safety of Medicines issued advice reminding prescribers of the recommended starting dose of one SSRI—paroxetine (Seroxat). This followed re-review of the original dose finding studies for paroxetine and consideration of data which suggested a proportion of patients were being started on doses of paroxetine above those recommended for the treatment of depressive illness.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the performance of the (a) Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and (b) Committee on Safety of Medicines in communicating to users the risks of dependence on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and related drugs. [178335]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) informed prescribers about the potential for withdrawal reactions with paroxetine and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) via articles in the bulletin current problems in pharmacovigilance in 1993 and again in 2000. An information sheet for patients about use of SSRIs in the September 2003 edition of current problems in pharmacovigilance highlighted the issue of withdrawal reactions. This was drafted with the input of patient representatives from the CSM's expert working group on safety of SSRIs. There have been warnings about the possibility of withdrawal reactions with paroxetine listed in the product information for prescribers since the drug was first licensed in 1990. These warnings are also reflected in the patient information leaflet. Ministers are satisfied with the actions taken by the MHRA and CSM in this area.

Bounty Packs

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment his Department has made of the compliance of the distribution and content of Bounty
 
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packs in maternity units with the World Health Organisation's international code of marketing of breast milk substitutes; [171076]

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the content of Bounty packs provided to new mothers in maternity units for the Government's policy of increasing the number of women who breastfeed and increasing the length of time for which they breastfeed; [171160]

(3) what discussions the Department has had with the producers of Bounty packs concerning the content of such packs. [171161]

Miss Melanie Johnson: We have not made an assessment of the contents of Bounty packs provided to new mothers in maternity units or the compliance of their distribution with the World Health Organisation's international code of marketing of breastmilk substitutes. We are fully committed to the promotion of breastfeeding as the best nutrition for infants. We have a commitment in the NHS Plan for increased support for breastfeeding and have set a target to increase breastfeeding initiation rates by 2 per cent. in the priority and planning framework 2003–06, with particular focus on women from disadvantaged groups. The Department has produced an evidence based breastfeeding resource 'Good Practice and Innovation in Breastfeeding' to support health professionals delivering the target. We are also working with Bounty and Baby Welcome to include our leaflet 'How to Breastfeed' in Bounty packs.

Care Homes

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 27 May 2004, Official Report, column 1833W, on care homes, how many care homes closed in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04; and if he will make a statement. [178545]

Dr. Ladyman: I understand from the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection that information is only available on the number of homes de-registering. De-registrations will include homes that are to be permanently closed but will also include, for example, homes that temporarily de-register and then re-register in order to change the services that they provide to their residents. Numbers of permanent closures cannot be separately identified.

Information on the number of homes registered and de-registered is shown in the tables.

	Care homes
	Registered	De-registered
2002–03	1,902	3,060
2003–04	2,653	3,400

Critical Care Networks (Transfers)

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of transfers within critical care networks for non-clinical reasons in each year since 1996; and if he will make a statement. [180284]

 
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Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not collect validated data on critical care transfers for non-clinical reasons. However, un-validated management information, collected weekly from the national health service, shows the reported transfers of critically ill patients between hospitals for non-clinical reasons. This information is not broken down by critical care networks and has only been collected since 2000. The information has been used to produce the annual estimates shown in the table.

	Estimated number of non-clinical critical care transfers
2000–01	3,899
2001–02	2,582
2002–03	2,201
2003–04	1,820

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