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9 Sept 2004 : Column 1362W—continued

Hospital Infections

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated cost of the cleanyourhands campaign is for 2004–05. [186511]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The estimated cost of producing and distributing the campaign materials is about £370,000. Alcohol hand gels will be an extra cost. An economic assessment of the campaign suggests that if the success of the campaign pilot is replicated, £140 million will be saved.

Organ Removal

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the new measures and procedures that have been introduced to stop the illegal removal of organs from deceased adults and children. [187082]

Ms Rosie Winterton: We are taking the following measures to stop the illegal removal of organs from deceased adults and children.

The Retained Organs Commission (ROC) was set up in April 2001 to oversee the return of organs and tissues to families, and where requested, to provide advocacy to families and to advise trusts. The ROC issued its final report in March 2004 and this can be found at http://www.nhs.uk/retainedorgans.

The Government's Human Tissue Bill, which had its second reading in the House of Lords in July 2004, provides the regulation of removal, storage and use of human organs and tissue. The Bill also makes provision for the creation of a new body, the Human Tissue Authority (HTA), which will prepare statutory guidance on all matters within its remit, as set out in the Bill.

Pending completion of the Bill's passage through Parliament and the establishment of the HTA, the Department published two documents in April 2003: "The Use of human organs and Tissue, An Interim Statement" and "Families and post mortems, A Code of Practice". These provide guidance on the use of human organs and tissue and recommended practice for ensuring consent is obtained for hospital post-mortems and for the retention and use of organs following a hospital or coroner's post-mortem. These publications can be found on the Department's website.

The Department has also provided Section 64 grant funding to the National Bereavement Partnership to set up a helpline to support families and the general public affected by issues around post mortems and the possible retention of organs or tissues. This helpline will be able to provide essential information and advise those affected how they might take an inquiry forward with their local national health service trust.
 
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Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from the parents of deceased children whose organs were retained without permission concerning the sensitivity of questions they have had to answer in pursuit of compensation. [187080]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has not received representations from the parents of children whose organs were retained without permission concerning the sensitivity of questions they have had to answer in pursuit of compensation.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the length of time that it has taken to compensate the relatives of those whose organs were retained without permission. [187081]

Ms Rosie Winterton: An offer of compensation was made in November 2002 to all relatives claiming in relation to organ retention. The offer was rejected and the case proceeded to court. Mr. Justice Gage decided on three test cases in a group litigation on 26 March 2004. A mediation date of 27 September has been set for further discussions with the NHS Litigation Authority and the claimants lawyers with a view to settling the claim.

Intensive Care (Babies)

Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in how many National Health Service trusts there has been a reduction of intensive care Special Care Baby Unit beds over the two years to August. [187559]

Dr. Ladyman: Data on the number of intensive care special care baby unit beds are not available.

Life Expectancy

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in reducing inequalities in life expectancy in each (a) local authority and (b) primary care trust area. [180276]

Miss Melanie Johnson: We are committed to achieving our public service agreement target on health inequalities:

The life expectancy aspect of the target is underpinned by a more detailed target:

Information on the progress made in reducing inequalities in life expectancy within each local authority and primary care trust is therefore not collected centrally.

We are also looking to reduce substantially the health inequalities gap from heart disease, stroke and related diseases and cancer by at least 40 per cent. and six per cent. respectively between the fifth of areas with the worst health and deprivation indicators and the population as a whole. As part of this effort, we have set a target for reducing smoking prevalence among routine manual groups to 26 per cent. or less by 2010.
 
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NHS Dentistry

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists left the NHS in each year from 2000–01. [186477]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the total number of dentists leaving the general dental service (GDS) or personal dental service (PDS) is shown in the table. The main reasons for the dentists leaving were retirement and short-term career breaks.
General dental service and personal dental service: number of leavers at 30 September each year, England and Wales

Exits
20001,228
20011,257
20021,374
20031,256




Source:
Dental Practice Board.



The numbers of GDS and PDS dentists have increased from 16,722 at December 1997 to 19,278 at December 2003; an increase of over 2,500.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the latest average waiting time to have an infected wisdom tooth removed on the NHS is; and what targets he has set to improve waiting times for the removal of wisdom teeth. [187136]

Ms Rosie Winterton: In 2003, the mean waiting time was 91 days for extractions at national health service hospitals. In year 2000, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence advised that the surgical removal of impacted wisdom teeth should be limited to patients with evidence of pathology. Implementation of this advice and the expansion of the dental workforce announced by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, on 16 July should reduce the pressures on hospital dental departments.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on NHS dentistry in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [187293]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The general dental service (GDS) is currently managed on a national basis as a non-discretionary service. Expenditure is not pre-determined by allocations but is driven largely by patient demand and the activity of dentists. At present, neither primary care trusts nor dentists are allocated any specific GDS budgets or quotas. Actual spend since 1997 to date has been:
Expenditure (£ million)
1997–98959
1998–991,022
1999–20001,058
2000–011,130
2001–021,202
2002–031,263

Expenditure figures represent the Government's net spend on GDS after taking account of the contribution to costs from dental charges paid by patients. Figures from 1997–98 to 1999–2000 are cash based. Figures for
 
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2001–02 onwards are resource based. Figures from 1998–99 include expenditure on new personal dental service pilot schemes.

Expenditure figures for 2003–04 are not yet available.

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals his Department has to ensure that when a person requires dental treatment they are clearly informed (a) whether a dental practice provides NHS treatment and (b) what the cost of non-NHS treatment they require will be; and if he will make a statement. [187606]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Since publication of the Office of Fair Trading's report, "The private dentistry market in the UK" (March 2003), we have been working with the General Dental Council (GDC) to strengthen the regulation of private dentistry. The GDC has published "Standards of Dental Practice", which requires that dentists give full information on proposed treatment and costs to patients to enable them to make well-informed decisions on the type of treatment they are to receive. We will also be amending the Dentists Act 1984 to give the GDC new powers to ensure the fitness to practise of dentists and to establish a scheme to investigate and resolve complaints about private dental treatment. The amendments will come into effect early in 2005.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve orthodontic departments at NHS hospitals. [187137]

Ms Rosie Winterton: We are undertaking the most fundamental reform of national health service dentistry since the inception of the NHS. The Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 provides the commissioning of general dental services is to be delegated to primary care trusts from October 2005. This will ensure that the developing dental specialities in primary care, including orthodontics, are given the right opportunities to contribute more to NHS patient care. Provision of more specialist dental care in a high street setting will mean that practitioners no longer need to refer patients who could be treated in a primary care setting to hospital. In this way, staff at hospital dental departments will be able to concentrate on more complex treatments.


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