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26 Oct 2004 : Column 1188W—continued

HEALTH

Alzheimer's Disease

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures have been taken to assist carers of patients with advanced Alzheimer's disease in North Southwark and Bermondsey. [193956]

Dr. Ladyman: All carers, including those caring for people with dementia, are entitled to an assessment to determine their needs as carers and eligibility for support. The new Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 introduces new provisions that will ensure that carers are made aware of this right.

The carers grant, worth £125 million this year, provides money for local councils to provide short breaks and services to carers to enable them to continue
 
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in their caring role. Carers are also entitled to cash payments for carers' services to enable them to purchase the type of support they require and promote a better quality of life.

The Department has also revised and updated, "Who cares? Information and support for the carers of confused people." At a local level, a range of services exist to support carers of patients with Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Southwark Carers provide funding for breaks, travel cost support, counselling provision and advice, which includes welfare rights support, and housing issues. They also run a taxi scheme.

In addition, carers who are in need of help or support, can access secondary mental health services directly via the North Southwark Community Mental Health Team for Older Adults. This ranges from informal advice and support, direct work with carers to enhance their understanding of dementia and caring abilities and access to specialist psychiatric and medical advice when required.

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Alzheimer's disease patients are being treated by primary care trusts in North Southwark and Bermondsey. [193958]

Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is not held centrally.

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by the NHS on drug treatments for advanced Alzheimer's disease patients in North Southwark and Bermondsey in each year since 1997. [193959]

Dr. Ladyman: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), on behalf of the Licensing Authority, grants marketing authorisations for medicinal products provided that satisfactory quality, safety and efficacy data have been submitted for the medicinal product for use in the proposed indication and that the risk benefit is deemed favourable. According to the MHRA records, there is one licensed product, Ebixa (memantine hydrochloride), which is indicated for the treatment of moderately severe to severe Alzheimer's disease.

Information on Ebixa dispensed at primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority level is not publicly available, due to the small numbers involved. However, it is known that Ebixa was dispensed in the community within Southwark PCT in 2002–03.

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the availability of drugs for patients with moderately severe to severe Alzheimer's disease in North Southwark and Bermondsey. [193960]

Dr. Ladyman: The Department has made no assessment. It is for primary care trusts, in conjunction with strategic health authorities, to ensure that services meet local needs.
 
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Anti-cancer Drugs

Dame Marion Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress the strategic health authorities have made in the execution of their responsibilities in respect of the take-up of new anti-cancer drugs authorised by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. [193067]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The national cancer director's report on the uptake of cancer drugs approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence was published on 14 June 2004. Strategic health authorities were asked to consider the findings and develop robust plans setting out action they intend to take for those drugs where uptake was significantly below the national average. The deadline for submitting plans was 30 September. All plans have been received and are currently being considered.

Breast Cancer

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of women diagnosed with breast cancer were treated within 31 days in (a) 1997 and (b) the last year for which figures are available. [191241]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Data on waiting times from diagnosis to treatment of breast cancer were not collected centrally in 1997. A maximum wait of one month from diagnosis to treatment for breast cancer was introduced in 2001. Performance data for the whole period collected are shown in the table.

	Quarter	Total patients treated	Patients treated within one month	Percentage of patients treated within one month
2001–02	4	6,315	5,950	94.2
2002–03	1	6,496	6,133	94.4
2002–03	2	7,023	6,642	94.6
2002–03	3	6,941	6,695	96.5
2002–03	4	7,320	7,048	96.3
2003–04	1	7,630	7,395	96.9
2003–04	2	7,808	7,626	97.7
2003–04	3	7,961	7,798	98.0
2003–04	4	7,758	7,507	96.8

Chemical Exposure

Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) reduce exposure to (i) biocumulative chemicals and (ii) hormone and endocrine disrupting chemicals. [191336]

Miss Melanie Johnson: With regard to reducing human and environmental exposure to chemicals identified as of potential risk, the United Kingdom Government have for some time recognised the need to
 
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develop a fast, efficient and workable process for testing, screening and tackling those of most concern first, while minimising animal testing. To this end, the Government strongly supports the proposals by the European Commission for a new system to gather hazard information, assess risks, classify, label, and restrict the marketing and use of individual chemicals and mixtures. This is known as REACH—registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals.

In the REACH negotiations, led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Government supports the aim of the authorisation process to ensure that the risks from substances of high concern are properly controlled and that these substances are eventually replaced by suitable substances or technologies, with the aim of reducing risks to human health and the environment. The Government also supports the inclusion in REACH, of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals, very persistent and very bioaccumulative chemicals and substances of equivalent concern, such as endocrine, also known as hormone disrupters, when scientifically validated test methods have been developed and criteria established.

The Department also considers the potential effect of endocrine disrupting natural substances in the diet and has provided, for example, advice on soy-based infant formula as a result of an extensive review of oestrogen-like compounds in plants by its expert committee (published in May 2003).

Children's Hospices

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met interested groups to discuss core funding for hospices for children; and if he will make a statement. [192221]

Dr. Ladyman: I met with representatives of the Association of Children's Hospices and the Association for Children with Life Threatening Illnesses on 21 July 2004.

Children's hospice services are funded from a number of sources, including services commissioned by primary care trusts (PCTs) based on their assessment of the needs of their child population and their priorities. It is for children's hospices to enter into a dialogue with their local PCT, or the lead commissioning PCT where a hospice serves a wide area, who may seek to place a child with them and so establish the level of demand for their services.
 
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The disabled child module of the children's national service framework, which was published on 15 September, acknowledged the importance of palliative care services for children and recommended that high quality palliative care services should be available for all children and young people who need them.

The funding of children's hospices in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly.

Dentistry

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated to (a) North East Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust and (b) North Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust for dental services in the past two years. [193499]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 25 October 2004]: Expenditure in dentistry in North East Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) and North Lincolnshire PCT areas for general dental services (CDS) in 2002–03 and 2003–04 is shown in the table. Net expenditure is after deductions of patient charges.
GDS expenditure in North East Lincolnshire PCT and North Lincolnshire PCT areas for 2002–03 and 2003–04 £ million

	2002–03		2003–04
PCT	Gross	Net	Gross	Net
North East Lincolnshire	5.0	3.5	4.9	3.5
North Lincolnshire	4.1	2.7	4.3	2.9

Source:
Dental Practice Board.

GDS expenditure is made up of GDS fee payments plus other costs. These other costs comprise: commitment payments; seniority payment; maternity, paternity and adoptive pay; long-term sick pay; continuing professional development allowance (CPDA); CPDA travel hours; business rates; training grant; clinical audit convenor, clinical audit secretarial support, clinical audit travel expenses, clinical audit payment and vocational dental practitioner salary and national insurance contributions. Some other PCT payments have also been included.

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists there were in (a) North East Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust, (b) North Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust and (c) Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust in each year since 1997. [193500]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 25 October 2004]: The number of general and personal dental service dentists in the North and East Lincolnshire area by primary care trust (PCT) at September each year from 1997 to 2004 is shown in the table.
Number of general and personal service dentists at September each year

PCT	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
North East Lincolnshire	46	46	50	54	51	50	48	49
North Lincolnshire	35	36	40	42	44	40	44	43
East Lincolnshire	61	65	71	73	79	81	82	81

Source:
Dental Practice Board




 
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Dentists are counted in each PCT in which they practise.

PCTs were established in 2002 and therefore the areas have been defined using practice postcodes within the existing PCTs.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were registered with an NHS dentist in Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust in each year since 1997. [192938]

Dr. Ladyman: The number of registrations in the general dental service for the Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust (PCT) area at September 1997 to 2004, is shown in the table.
General dental service: number of adult and child registrations in the Sutton and Merton PCT area at September each year, 1997 to 2004

September each year	Adult and child registrations (thousand)
1997	173.6
1998	147.8
1999	151.8
2000	148.5
2001	155.4
2002	146.2
2003	159.1
2004	156.1

Notes:
1. The high registration figure for 1997 reflects the 24-month registration period. For 1998 onwards, the figures reflect a 15-month registration period.
2. Registration numbers are live registrations on the Dental Practice Board's computer at the end of the month.
3. Sutton and Merton PCT was established in 2002. Registrations are based on contract postcodes within the Sutton and Merton PCT area.
Source:
Dental Practice Board.

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