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30 Nov 2004 : Column 106W—continued
GM Foods
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts regarding the right of member states to exclude genetically modified foods; and if he will make a statement. [200231]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 29 November 2004]: None.
Health Direct
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether Health Direct will be established as a subsidiary of NHS Direct; whether NHS Direct and Health Direct will share the same access points; and if he will make a statement. [199468]
Miss Johnson: The implementation of this and a number of other initiatives announced will be covered in a delivery plan for the White Paper, to be published early in 2005.
Health Trainers
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether NHS health trainers will be required to complete a criminal records check through the Criminal Records Bureau. [199475]
Mr. Hutton: All national health service staff with access to patients in the course of their normal duties are eligible for Criminal Records Bureau checks. These checks will be compulsory for all eligible new staff from 14 February 2005.
Health White Paper
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of delivering the proposals in the White Paper, Choosing Health, Cm 6374; what methodology was used to make this estimate; what proportion of the cost will be met by funds provided (a) centrally and (b) from other funding sources; and if he will make a statement. [199450]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
We will invest at least £1 billion in improving health over the next four years. We have calculated this figure by identifying the additional requirements of the Choosing Health White Paper and costing these on the basis of best evidence available.
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The allocation of funds is being considered by Ministers and announcements will be made early in 2005 from the Department's spending review settlement.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether all children will be provided with children's health guides under the Child Health Promotion programme, as described in the White Paper, Choosing Health, Cm 6374, paragraph 23. [199452]
Dr. Ladyman: Children's health guides are a radical new approach to help children, parents and carers assess the child's health and set their own health goals. Everyone will have the opportunity to have a personal health guide if they want one, and will be able to develop their guide in electronic form, linked to their "HealthSpace" on the Internet. The implementation and details of this, and other initiatives, will become clearer early in 2005 when the Government will publish its delivery plan for the White Paper.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the change in the number of deaths from passive smoking each year likely to result from his proposals to restrict smoking in public places, as outlined in the White Paper, Choosing Health, Cm 6374, paragraph 77; [199466]
(2) what estimate he has made of the change in the proportion of daily smokers in England which will result from his proposals on restricting smoking in public places, as outlined in the White Paper, Choosing Health, Cm 6374, paragraph 76; and on what research this estimate was based. [199467]
Miss Melanie Johnson: A partial impact regulatory assessment (RIA) has been published, which gives initial estimates of the possible impact on smoking prevalence. A copy is available in the Library.
No estimate has been made of the likely annual change in the number of deaths from second-hand smoke to result from the proposals in the White Paper.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what body has been charged with the development of a tool to assess local health and wellbeing as described in the White Paper, Choosing Health, Cm 6374, paragraph 12. [199477]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are working together to commission this development.
Mayday Hospital, Croydon
Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the routine waiting times for digital audio equipment at Mayday Hospital in Croydon (a) are and (b) were 12 months ago. [199517]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mental Health
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the three long-stay hospitals that provide accommodation for people with a learning disability for which closure dates have not yet been agreed. [199621]
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Dr. Ladyman: The three long-stay hospitals for which closure dates have not yet been agreed are Little Plumstead, Long Leys Court and Orchard Hill. The "Valuing People" support team is working with health authorities on this programme. The team can be contacted via its website at http://www.valuingpeople.gov.uk/.
Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of children who have been assessed as needing support from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are in mainstream education in each region; and if he will make a statement. [199774]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is not collected centrally. A survey by the Office of National Statistics (Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in Great Britain, ONS 1999) found that among five to 10 year olds, 10 per cent. of boys and 6 per cent. of girls had a mental disorder. In the 11 to 15 year old age group, the proportion of children with any type of mental disorder was 13 per cent. for boys and 10 per cent. for girls. Mental disorders can range from clinically significant conduct disorders, emotional disorders—such as anxiety and depression—to hyperactivity.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken since 1997 to promote the use of nicotine replacement therapy on the NHS. [199451]
Miss Johnson:
We have successfully taken a range of measures to promote the use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) since 1997, including making all nicotine replacement products available on national health service prescription from April 2001. The effect of these measures is shown in the following table.
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Source:
Prescription cost analysis data from the Prescription Pricing Authority.
Nocturnal Enuresis
Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate his Department has made of the number of children in (a) England, (b) the South West and (c) Dorset who suffer from nocturnal enuresis; what the ratio is of treatment centres to the child population in England; and if he will make a statement; [199759]
(2) how many national health service treatment centres for paediatric continence there are, broken down by region; [199760]
(3) what assessment his Department has made of national health services for paediatric continence; and if he will make a statement. [199761]
Dr. Ladyman: Data on the numbers of children with nocturnal enuresis and national health service treatment centres for nocturnal enuresis and paediatric continence are not collected centrally.
NHS primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for assessing the need for paediatric continence services, commissioning services and for provision of services. In September 2004 we published the national service framework (NSF) for children, young people and maternity services. This is a 10-year programme, intended to stimulate long-term and sustained improvement in children's health by setting standards for health and social services for children.
The NSF directs PCTs to guidance issued in 2000, "Good Practice in Continence Services", which advises that each PCT should have specialist continence services in place. PCTs are also directed to the Modernisation Agency's 2003 publication, "Good practice in paediatric continence services—benchmarking in action".
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