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Mental Health

Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the gross expenditure on mental health services by each primary care trust in Devon was in each year since 1997–98. [192266]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 18 October 2004]: The information requested is only available for 2000–01 to 2003–04. The table shows expenditure by each primary care trust (PCT) in Devon which was established in the relevant year.
Expenditure on the commissioning of mental illness services by PCTs in Devon

	Gross expenditure (£000)
	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
East Devon PCT	n/a	61	8,293	8,863
Exeter PCT	n/a	1,307	9,438	9,694
Mid Devon PCT	n/a	492	12,932	14,496
North Devon PCT	n/a	32	10,384	11,798
Plymouth Teaching PCT	n/a	3,414	25,949	32,666
South Hams and West Devon PCT	3,283	6,809	4,904	6,539
Teignbridge PCT	n/a	6,837	11,311	7,014
Torbay PCT	4,360	8,984	7,960	9,628

Notes:
1. n/a indicates that the PCT had not been established.
2. Mental health expenditure is the expenditure of the PCTs on the commissioning of mental illness services. However, it relates only to the expenditure on secondary healthcare in this area; we have no figures for primary healthcare.
3. The figures are not comparable between PCTs and between years. There are a number of factors distorting the figures, including PCTs commissioning on behalf of others and devolution of mental illness budgets by health authorities and strategic health authorities.
4. All 2003–04 data is provisional.
Source:
Audited summarisation schedules of the above PCTs 2000–2001 to 2003–2004.

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department gives health authorities on the procedure that must be followed before an individual who has been committed to hospital under section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 can subsequently be released from that hospital; and what changes have been made to this guidance since 1996. [191369]

 
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Ms Rosie Winterton: In January 1999, the Department published Effective care co-ordination in mental health services: modernising the care programme approach—A policy booklet. No changes have been made since 1999.

The guidance set out that people of working age who are in contact with specialist mental health and social care services have all aspects of their care and treatment, including aftercare, co-ordinated under the care programme approach.

National Institute for Clinical Excellence

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the interests declared by (a) members of the Appraisal Committee of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and (b) special advisers appointed by NICE. [190981]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not hold information on the interests of members of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) appraisal committee. Declarations of interests of members are recorded in the minutes of each meeting and details of members who have sent apologies due to a conflict of interest are noted.

Minutes of the meetings are published and can be found on the NICE website at http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=202427.

There are no special advisers appointed by NICE.

National Programme for IT

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the remit of the National Programme for IT for the NHS entails. [190168]

Mr. Hutton: The national programme for information technology (NPfIT) will procure, develop and implement modern, integrated IT infrastructure and systems for all national health service organisations in England by 2010. There are four key elements: electronic appointment booking, an integrated care records service, electronic prescribing and an underpinning IT infrastructure with sufficient connectivity and broadband capacity to support the critical national applications and local systems. The NPfIT will improve patient care by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of clinicians and other NHS staff.

The NPfIT is an essential element in delivering the NHS Plan, focusing on the key developments that will make a significant difference to improving the patient experience and the delivery of care and services.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost is (a) nationally and (b) to individual general practitioner practices for implementing the national programme for IT. [190169]

Mr. Hutton: £2.3 billion has been earmarked from central funding for the national programme for information technology (NPfIT) over the three years 2003–04 to 2005–06. This will be complemented by national health service baseline spending on IT, already around £1 billion a year in the NHS as a whole. The roll-out of core national applications will continue to come from this earmarked sum. Individual general
 
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practitioner practices will receive funding to upgrade to NPfIT systems through their primary care trusts. Systems provided by NPfIT will be at no cost to GP practices. In addition, the NPfIT will cover the cost of suppliers developing training material, including e-training services and training the trainers in the use of new IT services. In all, over £6 billion worth of contracts are now in place covering the whole lifetime of the NPfIT.

NHS Professionals

Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget for NHS Professionals has been in each year since its inception. [190488]

Mr. Hutton: NHS Professionals was established as a special health authority on 1 April 2004. Department of Health funding for 2004–05 is £26.6 million, based on the business plan, copies of which are available in the Library.

NHS Staff (Childcare)

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to increase the provision of childcare places for NHS staff in London. [192096]

Mr. Hutton: The Government has no specific plans in place to increase the provision of childcare places for National Health Service staff in London. This is a matter for local decision.

All new NHS hospital plans are required to include childcare provision, so new nurseries should be built into future capital expenditure as part of any new capital scheme.

Primary Care Trusts

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding was given to each primary care trust in each of the last three years; and what the funding level was per capita. [191873]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 19 October 2004]: Information on revenue allocations to primary care trusts for 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06 has been placed in the Library. The figures shown are based on per head of unweighted population.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the population attached to each primary care trust is. [191875]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 15 October 2004]: Information on the population attached to each primary care trust is set out on the Department's website. The address is: www.publications.doh.gov.uk/stats/population/index.htm. The Office for National Statistics will be publishing updated information shortly.

Safety of Medicines

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether all general practitioners have been made aware of the warning issued by the European Medicines Agency in July regarding the safety of SSRI drugs; and on what dates such information was issued; [190279]
 
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(2) whether the ban on prescribing the drug Seroxat to children under the age of 18 is being enforced and monitored; [190280]

(3) pursuant to the answer of 29 March 2004, Official Report, column 1218W, on the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, whether a replacement lay member has been appointed to the Committee for the Safety of Medicines' investigation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. [190295]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Seroxat (paroxetine), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant, was contraindicated for the treatment of depressive illness in children and adolescents under the age of 18 in the United Kingdom in June 2003 because of an increased risk of the age of 18 in the United Kingdom in June 2003 because of an increased risk of suicidal behaviour and a lack of efficacy in this population. This advice was widely communicated to healthcare professionals and the public via a letter through the Chief Medical Officer's public health link, a press release and information on the website of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Analysis of a primary care database indicates that the prescribing of paroxetine to those under the age of 18 has dropped dramatically since that time. In the second quarter of 2004, there were no new patients under 18 years of age initiating treatment with paroxetine in the database. Doctors can prescribe a medicine outside the terms of a marketing authorisation if, having weighed the risks and benefits of the medicine in the individual case, they still consider it to be in the best interests of the patient.

A Europe-wide review of the risks and benefits of paroxetine, with United Kingdom in the lead, was completed in April 2004. On 22 April 2004, a summary of the opinion of the European Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) was released on the website of the European Medicines Agency (www.emea.eu.int) and on the website of the MHRA (www.mhra.gov.uk) on the same day. This was referred to in answer to a question from my hon. Friend, the member for Rossendale and Darwen (Janet Anderson) on 22 July, Official Report, columns. 640–641W. An article in the forthcoming issue of the MHRA and Committee on Safety of Medicines' (CSM) drug safety bulletin, Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance, which is sent to all doctors and pharmacists in the United Kingdom, summarises the key prescribing advice on Seroxat. The product information for patients and prescribers will be updated when the final European Commission decision is issued.

A replacement lay member has been appointed to the CSM expert working group on SSRIs. Hilary Hawking, who works part-time as a clinical governance user representative for South West London and Saint George's Mental Health National Health Service Trust, has now joined the group.

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 March 2004, Official Report, column. 1218W, on the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, who has been appointed to the Medicines and Healthcare
 
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Products Regulatory Agency's expert working group on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as a new lay member. [190301]

Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Newport West (Mr. Flynn), today.

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