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15 Nov 2004 : Column 1177W—continued
Patient Choice
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment has been made by his Department of the costs to the NHS of (a) general practitioner time and (b) advocacy support to implement the patient choice initiative; [197285]
(2) what provision has been made by his Department for advocacy support for patients under the new proposals for patient choice; [197286]
(3) what estimate has been made by his Department of the time needed per general practitioner consultation to make a choose and book referral. [197287]
Mr. Hutton: The level and targeting of patient support will be considered by primary care trusts (PCTs) as part of their implementation planning for choose and book. To support this we are developing best practice guidelines for PCTs on contracting with voluntary and community sector groups to provide advocacy and support to patients making a choice of hospital.
The Dr Foster research study on the implications of choice at referral, which was published in April 2004, found no significant difference in consultation time when offering choice (against a non-choice consultation leading to a referral). Extensive demonstrations and testing of the choose and book service have shown that booking an appointment with the patient takes approximately one minute to complete. Additional research has indicated that GPs make, on average, fewer than five referrals per week.
Local health communities are currently reporting on their state of readiness for the delivery of choice.
Patient Support Networks
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to support the development of voluntary sector support networks for patients. [197280]
Dr. Ladyman:
A successful partnership with the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) is integral to the delivery of user centred health and social services. Community and voluntary groups already play important roles in the delivery of health and social care—they support service users and carers, acting as advocates and providing specialist information and advice as well as providing a range of health and support services directly to users. The Department supports this in a variety of ways including:
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The Section 64 General Scheme of grants which is the Department's main support for national voluntary organisations working in the health and social care fields. Applications for funding are invited annually from the voluntary and community sector.
"Making Partnership Work for Patients, Carers and Service Users: A Strategic Partnership Agreement Between the Department of Health, the NHS and the Voluntary and Community Sector", published in September 2004, is the first Agreement exclusively between the Department of Health, the NHS and the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS). It will benefit patients, carers and service users by providing them with real alternatives so that they can choose services that best suit their needs.
Pharmaceuticals
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the (a) expected change in the NHS drugs bill in England, (b) expected change in the Government allowance to the pharmaceutical industry for research and development and (c) net change in Government spending resulting from the new Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme in each of the next five years. [197274]
Ms Rosie Winterton: A price reduction of 7 per cent, in the prices of branded prescription medicines as part of the new Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) will save an estimated £370 million a year for the national health service in the community in England. This is more than £1.8 billion over the five years of the agreement. Additional savings are expected in hospitals.
The new PPRS includes greater incentives for the research and development (R&D) of new medicines, including those for children, with an increased R&D allowance, up to 28 per cent. of NHS sales. Under the current scheme it is up to 23 per cent. of NHS sales.
The net change in Government spending resulting from the new Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme taken as a whole, including the price reduction, changes to R&D allowances and other changes to the PPRS agreement, is expected to be at least £1.8 billion over the next five years.
Prescriptions
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average number of prescriptions dispensed per person in the NHS was in England in the last year for which figures are available. [197275]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In 2003, there were on average 13.1 prescription items dispensed in the community in England per head of population.
This information is included in "Prescriptions Dispensed in the Community Statistics for 1993 to 2003: England". This bulletin is available in the Library and on the Department's website at: http://www.publications.doh.gov.uk/prescriptionstatistics/index.htm.
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Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of patients paying prescription charges who had chronic diseases in the last year for which figures are available. [197276]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No such estimate has been made. Information is recorded about the number of chargeable items dispensed and about the medication dispensed. Information is not recorded about the number of individuals who pay charges nor the condition for which they are being treated.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the criteria are for eligibility for a prescription charge pre-payment certificate. [197277]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Anyone who has to pay prescription charges can purchase prescription charge pre-payment certificates. These are available at a cost of £33.40 and £91.80, covering four and 12 months respectively. People who have to pay for more than five prescription items in four months, or 14 items in 12 months, can save money by buying a pre-payment certificate.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people had prescription charge pre-payment certificates in each year since 1997. [197278]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The estimated numbers of people holding pre-payment certificates over the years 1997–98 to 2002–03 are shown in the table.
Press Releases
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many press releases have been issued by his Department in each month of 2004; and if he will make a statement. [195444]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 11 November 2004, Official Report, column 857W.
Primary Care Trusts
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total administration budget of primary care trusts is in real terms in each of the next three years. [191749]
Mr. Hutton:
We do not set separate administration budgets for primary care trusts (PCTs). PCTs decide levels of investment in administration locally but are required to agree proposals with their professional executive committees and strategic health authority.
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The latest round of revenue allocations to PCTs covered the period 2003–04 to 2005–06 and totalled in cash terms £148 billion. Allocations beyond 2005–06 have not yet been set.
Social Services
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage the use of direct payments among clients of social services departments. [196978]
Dr. Ladyman: We have changed the law so that there is now a duty on councils to make a direct payment to individuals who can consent to have them. We have also strengthened the performance indicator to monitor the take up of direct payments in each local council. In addition, we are investing £9 million over three years to develop local support services, which are critical to the success of direct payment schemes.
We have produced a range of information, including, "A guide to receiving direct payments from your local council", which is also available in Braille and audio formats. We have produced material to encourage people with learning disabilities, parents of disabled children and people from black and minority ethnic communities to take up direct payments. We are also funding the production of a video targeted at older people.
Local councils should supplement this with local appropriate information.
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