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4 Oct 2004 : Column 1962W—continued

Contraceptive Services

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the contents of the revised guidance for health professionals on the provision of contraceptive services for those under the age of 16. [188906]

Miss Melanie Johnson: This revised guidance was published in July this year to clarify to health professionals that they owe under-16s the same duty of care and confidentiality as older patients, to further improve the uptake of advice by sexually active under 16s, given high teenage pregnancy rates and the associated risks of sexually transmitted infections. The legal framework and professional codes for health professionals remain unchanged.

The new guidance sets out the principles of good practice for health professionals in considerably greater detail than the earlier (1986) guidance. These include providing the young person with the time and support to make an informed choice, including exploring whether the relationship is mutually agreed or whether there may be coercion or abuse, and always encouraging the young person to involve their parent, carer or another trusted adult.

Council of Ministers

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a Written Ministerial Statement outlining for each meeting of the Council of Ministers at which his Department is represented as soon as is practicable following that meeting (a) the key items of discussion, (b) the positions of the Government on those items, (c) the key positions taken by other member states that Ministers consider should be noted by honourable Members and (d) any preliminary discussion on the timing and the agenda of the following meeting. [188197]

Mr. Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on Monday 13 September, Official Report, column 1451W.

Digital Hearing Aids

Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list (a) the present length of wait and (b) the number of patients waiting for digital hearing aids in each London hospital. [188765]

Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not available centrally.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for (a) initial audiology appointments for digital hearing aids and (b) fitting of digital hearing aids is in each primary care trust in England. [189422]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally. We have invested £94 million over two years which will be used to make digital hearing aids available across England by April 2005.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to speed up universal availability of digital hearing aids. [189423]

Dr. Ladyman: All audiology departments in England will routinely be fitting digital hearing aids by April 2005.

The Department is investing a further £94 million in the financial years 2003–04 and 2004–05. This is additional to a total of £30.75 million invested since the modernising hearing aids services project began in September 2000.

Disabled People

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much financial support has been
 
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allocated for the provision of disabled care for people in North Yorkshire in each year since 1997; and how much is projected for (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06; [189328]

(2) what programmes the Government have in place to provide (a) care for disabled people and (b) support for the families and carers of disabled people; [189329]

(3) what action the Government have taken to ensure that the safety of disabled people is not jeopardised by the reduction in funding to disability charities. [189331]

Dr. Ladyman: The Government do not allocate particular amounts to councils to spend on the care of disabled people. It is for each council to decide how much of its general funding allocation to spend for this purpose. Councils do this in the light of local needs and priorities.

The Government's financial support for social services will increase by an annual average of 6 per cent. in real terms between 2003–04 and 2005–06.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria were considered in deciding that the Wilf Ward Family Trust would receive less funding over the next three years. [189330]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not available centrally. The Department does not provide funding directly to the Wilf Ward Family Trust.

Dying at Home

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what his policy is on the practice of allowing terminally ill cancer patients to choose to die at home; [188962]

(2) what resources he is making available to treat terminally ill cancer patients who wish to die at home; [188963]

(3) what improvements he is making to information available to (a) carers, (b) healthcare professionals and (c) patients about the process of allowing terminally ill cancer patients to choose to die at home. [188964]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the Government's response to the Health Select Committee report on palliative care, copies of which are available in the Library.

This response reiterates our wish to offer all adult patients nearing the end of life, regardless of their diagnosis, the same access to high quality palliative care so that they can choose if they wish to die at home.

The End of Life Care Initiative commits the Department to invest £12 million over the next three years to train existing staff who already contribute to supportive and palliative care to provide end of life care and support to patients and carers. This investment will enable those approaching the end of life to be identified, their care needs assessed, enable information about the choices available provided to them and a jointly agreed care plan involving all relevant agencies to be put in place.
 
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Dystonia

Mr. Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the levels of funding available for (a) researching, (b) treating and (c) raising awareness of dystonia in 2004–05. [189528]

Dr. Ladyman: The main agency through which the Government support medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC is an independent body funded by the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Technology.

The MRC does not normally allocate funds to particular topics. Research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. When appropriate, high quality research in particularly areas of strategic importance may be given priority in competition for funds, but research excellence and importance to health continues to be the primary considerations in funding decisions.

The MRC spent £1.4 million on research related to dystonia in 2001–02, the latest year for which figures are available.

Over 75 per cent. of the Department's total expenditure on health research is devolved to and managed by national health service organisations. Details of individual projects, including a number concerned with dystonia, can be found on the national research register at www.dh.gov.uk/research.

Through section 64 grants to the National Dystonia Society, the Department has funded a range of projects to help increase awareness and understanding of dystonia. In 2004–05, the society will receive £45,000 to support its independent living project.

In terms of raising awareness among health professionals, the content and standard of postgraduate medical training for specialist medicine is the responsibility of the United Kingdom competent authority, the Specialist Training Authority (STA). The STA takes advice from the appropriate Royal College, who appreciate the requirements presented by different conditions and develop their training curricula as appropriate. Measures to increase doctors' knowledge of dystonia and movement disorders are therefore more appropriate for these bodies and the medical profession.

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