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13 Jul 2004 : Column 1094W—continued
Deaths During Operations (Havering)
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people died during operations in the hospitals in the London borough of Havering in (a) 1997, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003. [182831]
Mr. Hutton: Information on how many people have died during operations is not collected centrally.
Deaths while on a Waiting List
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people died while on a waiting list for an operation in (a) each of London's NHS hospitals and (b) the London borough of Havering in (i) 1995, (ii) 1997, (iii) 1999, (iv) 2001 and (v) 2002. [182830]
Mr. Hutton: Information on how many people died while on a waiting list for an operation is not collected centrally.
Dental Provision (Homeless People)
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what discussions his Department has had with (a) the homelessness unit at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and (b) homeless charities regarding dental provision for homeless people since passage of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003; [182707]
(2) what benefits the dental aspects of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 will bring to homeless people. [182708]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government are committed to rebuilding and restoring national health service dentistry to improve the oral health of the whole nation, including its most vulnerable members. One function of the community dental service is to provide dental care and treatment for people with special needs, including homeless people, from fixed-site and mobile outreach clinics. 47 NHS dental access centres located in areas of poor oral health provide dental services for patients who may not otherwise access dentistry. When we delegate the commissioning of general dental services under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003, every primary care trust (PCT) will have to provide primary dental services to the extent it considers necessary to meet all reasonable requirements within its area. We will encourage PCTs to hold local consultations with organisations which support the homeless during implementation of the new arrangements.
Dentistry
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists have applied to become NHS dentists since 2000 in (a) England and (b) Gloucestershire; how many dentists in (i) England and (ii) Gloucestershire have applied for grants to help them achieve NHS status since 2000; how many of these grants have been paid; and how much is outstanding. [179770]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The numbers of dentists starting in the general (GDS) or personal dental service (PDS) in the years 2000–01 to 2003–04 are shown in the table.
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| Year ending March | Gloucestershire area | England |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 15 | 1,142 |
| 2002 | 25 | 1,140 |
| 2003 | 11 | 1,026 |
| 2004 | 14 | 1,079 |
Information is not available for the community dental service or the hospital dental service. Information on the number of dentists who have applied for grants to help them achieve national health service status is not held centrally, although it may be available from the individual primary care trusts (PCTs). Last September, we announced £35 million capital to enable PCTs to improve access, choice and quality for patients, and in November, a further £15 million revenue to support access. The Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority will receive some £2 million to improve access. The NHS dentistry support team is now working with West Gloucestershire PCT to improve access in its area.
Drug Misuse Indicator
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many changes have been made to his Department's drug misuse indicator during 2004; what the reasons were for those changes; and if he will make a statement. [183072]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 12 July 2004]: The construction of the drugs misuse indicator has been changed once since being posted on the Healthcare Commission's website. The change simplified the construction of the indicator so that only 2003–04 data was used to measure performance.
The 2002–03 data were excluded following discussions with strategic health authorities, which were concerned about data quality.
European Services in the Internal Market Directive
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he will put in place in relation to the proposed EU Directive, European Services in the Internal Market, to ensure patients are protected from unscrupulous providers who may seek to rely on the country of origin principle to bypass public health initiatives and regulations. [183937]
Mr. Hutton: The Department is working very closely with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as regards the proposed European Union Directive. There has been agreement on the temporary service provision during the on-going negotiations of the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive to ensure that medical professionals are regulated from host state, rather than home state. We continue to work closely with DTI colleagues to ensure that this position and our interests are fully represented and considered.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has received the response of the Royal College of Nursing to the Department of Trade and Industry's consultation on the European Union Directive on Services in the Internal Market; and if he will make a statement. [183938]
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Mr. Hutton: I have received a copy of the Royal College of Nursing's response to the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) consultation on the European Commission's proposal for an Internal Market for Services Directive, which the Department is currently considering further. Negotiation on this proposal continues and my Department is working very closely with the DTI, the lead Government department during these negotiations.
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent representations he has received about the dangers of drinking in pregnant women and its links to foetal alcohol spectrum disorders; and if he will make a statement; [182795]
(2) what measures he is taking to monitor the incidence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders; and if he will make a statement. [182796]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department has received a number of representations about the dangers of drinking during pregnancy and these have been considered as part of the alcohol harm reduction strategy for England. The Department has made no specific estimate of the incidence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders or of foetal alcohol syndrome in England.
The Department does not collect specific information about the incidence of foetal alcohol syndrome. We do have information on admissions for foetal alcohol syndrome in England in recent years and this is shown in the table.
| FCEs | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 95 |
| 2001–02 | 90 |
| 2002–03 | 128 |
Notes:
1. A FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.
2. Figures are grossed for both coverage and missing/invalid clinical data, except for 2001–02 and 2002–03, which are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.
3. All diagnoses count of episodes. These figures represent a count of all FCEs where the diagnosis was mentioned in any of the 14 (seven prior to 2002–03) diagnoses fields in a hospital episode statistics (HSE) record. A record is only included once in each count, even if a diagnosis is mentioned in more than one diagnosis field of the record.
Source:
Hospital episode statistics, Department of Health.
Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received about the need for warnings on alcoholic drinks concerning the risks of brain damage to the unborn child from drinking during pregnancy; and if he will make a statement. [182797]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The Department has received a number of representations about health warnings on alcoholic drinks and these have been considered as part
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of the development of the alcohol harm reduction strategy for England. It is not possible to identify which of these representations, if any, relate to the risks of brain damage to unborn children from drinking during pregnancy.
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