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7 Sept 2004 : Column 1073W—continued

Departmental Publications (Storage)

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many departmental publications are in storage; and where they are located. [183870]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has approximately 40.4 million items stored at its main distributor, Prolog in Nottingham; 2.5 million items stored with EC Logistics in Hayes, Middlesex; 290,000 items at MM Group in Ashby de la Zouch, and 7,000 items at Brian Manktelow Ltd. in London.

Diabetes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital accident and emergency departments (a) stock both animal and human insulin and (b) inquire whether the diabetes patient has a preference for one or the other. [187051]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are in place at primary care level to offer diabetes patients a choice between animal and human insulin (a) at first diagnosis of diabetes and (b) on occurrence of the patient suffering from side effects of animal or human insulin. [187055]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence issued advice in 2002 on the management of blood glucose in type 2 diabetes and the management of type 1 diabetes in children, young people and adults, issued in 2004. This advice states that patient preference should form part of the choice of insulin type and regimen.
 
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Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost is to the general practitioner of a patient being prescribed (a) animal and (b) human insulin. [187056]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The cost of prescribing insulin is not direct to general practitioners, as all prescribing is funded from the unified budgets of primary care trusts.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many meetings he has had with his EU counterparts to discuss co-operation on research on diabetes. [186626]

Ms Rosie Winterton: None. However, the Department, with the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust is funding a pan-European study on diabetes. The ADDITION study is a population-based screening study for undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes and is taking place in Denmark, the Netherlands, Cambridge and surrounding counties and Leicester.

Diagnostic and Treatment Centres

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) anticipated construction cost, (b) date for start of construction and (c) date for completion is of each diagnostic and treatment centre already completed or in development in March. [182455]

Mr. Hutton: Capital investment of circa. £140 million has been made in the 27 treatment centres that are open and run and managed by the national health service. In addition, the NHS is contracting with the independent sector for the provision of surgical procedures rather than new physical capacity. In total, we expect there to be around 80 treatment centres open by the end of 2005.

Domiciliary Care

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many domiciliary care providers have met the registration standards. [187066]

Dr. Ladyman: I understand from the chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that, as of 31 August 2004, there were 3,018 domiciliary care agencies registered with the CSCI.

Environmental Management

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average score for the controls assurance standard on environmental management has been in each year since 1997. [186013]

Mr. Hutton: The average scores for controls assurance standard on environmental management were:

2000–01	33.6
2001–02	35.5
2002–03	39.2
2003–04	49.0

Scores were not collected prior to 2000–01. From 1 August 2004, key controls assurance standards were incorporated into Standards for Better Healthcare and the risk management process will be managed locally using the existing assurance framework.
 
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Free Eye Tests

Mr. Anthony D. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many old age pensioners in the Great Yarmouth constituency have benefited from the introduction of free eye tests. [186707]

Dr. Ladyman: Figures for the number of sight tests by constituency or by the number of old age pensioners are not collected centrally.

The total number of national health service sight tests paid for patients aged 60 and over in Great Yarmouth Primary Care Trust (PCT) for the year 2003–04 was 13,720. However, some patients aged 60 and over will be eligible for sight tests for other reasons as well; for example, on income grounds. The classification for such patients will depend on the patient and the practitioner.

Sight tests cannot be equated to the numbers of patients. Although most people do not come back for a sight test within the year, some patients suffering from medical conditions are advised to have re-examinations sooner.

Free Health Tests (Pensioners)

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of providing an annual (a) chiropody assessment and (b) diabetes check to pensioners. [186456]

Dr. Ladyman: It is for local service providers to estimate the cost of any changes to local services which they might be considering.

GP Access Target

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of patients were seen by a general practitioner within the 48-hour general practitioner access target in (a) Suffolk and (b) the Bury St. Edmunds constituency in the last year. [187197]

Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, the percentage of patients able to be offered an appointment with a general practitioner within the 48-hour general practitioner access target for Suffolk and the Bury St. Edmunds constituency is shown as follows.

1. Central Suffolk Primary Care Trust (PCT)—100 per cent, (as at July 2004).

2. Suffolk West PCT (which serves Bury St. Edmunds)—100 per cent., (as at July 2004).

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average wait for an appointment to see (a) the general practitioner with whom an individual is registered and (b) another general practitioner in the practice with which an individual is registered, was in the last period for which figures are available. [181673R]

Mr. Hutton: The Department does not hold data on actual waiting times for appointments with general practitioners. It collects data on the availability of appointments to monitor progress towards the primary care access target. These show that, in July 2004, some 98 per cent. of the population could be seen by a GP within two working days.
 
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Head Injury Rehabilitation

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Health Select Committee's Third Report of Session 2000–01, on Head Injury Rehabilitation; and if he will make a statement. [186978]

Dr. Ladyman: We have taken various actions to improve services for patients with head injury. We commissioned the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to prepare guidelines for the triage, assessment, investigation and early management of head injuries in infants, children and adults in June 2003. The guidelines contain recommendations about when it is appropriate to admit patients to hospital following a head injury, what level of care they should receive and correct protocols for transferring patients to specialist head/brain injury units.

The British Society for Rehabilitation Medicine also published guidelines, Rehabilitation following acquired brain injury; national clinical guidelines, last December. These outline the general principles of service provision and specific advice on the clinical management of patients with acquired brain injury. The guidelines were produced to inform the national service framework (NSF) for long term conditions.

The NSF for long term conditions will focus on improving services for people with neurological conditions. It will recommend improvements in standards, care and support that will benefit everyone with a neurological condition.

We are committed to publishing the framework as soon as possible.

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