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20 Dec 2004 : Column 1464W—continued
Breast Milk Banks
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase the number of breast milk banks; and if he will make a statement. [204211]
Dr. Ladyman: The provision of breast milk banks is a matter for local decision. We are currently examining the evidence base in support of the suggested benefits from donated breast milk for use by premature babies, which include a reduction in the incidence of infection, of necrotising enterocolitis and providing for an earlier tolerance of enteral feeds. Although mothers and their donated milk are screened before use, there remain concerns about the potential for transmission of infectious agents from human milk.
Cancer Care
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make available through cancer networks financial audits of the last week of life of cancer patients. [202233]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
We are not aware of any financial audit for the last week of life.
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Care Homes (Cleanliness)
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who is responsible for monitoring the implementation of infection control standards in care homes. [204583]
Dr. Ladyman: The Commission for Social Care Inspection is responsible for ensuring that care homes comply with the care homes regulations, taking account of the national minimum standards.
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress the Public Health Medicine and Environmental Group has made on updating the existing guidance on infection control in nursing homes. [204611]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The public health medicine and environment group is currently revising and updating the guidance set out in "Guidelines on the Control of Infection in Residential and Nursing Homes". They are making good progress and we expect the final guidance to be published in mid 2005.
Celebrating our Cultures
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether additional training will be offered to general practitioners through "Celebrating our Cultures" on recognising mental illness in ethnic minorities. [203606]
Ms Rosie Winterton: "Celebrating our Cultures: Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion with Black and Minority Ethnic Communities" provides information about mental health promotion with black and minority ethnic communities, and the evidence to support it, to inform the delivery of local mental health promotion strategies. The guide is intended for wide range of people with a role in promoting the mental health of black and minority communities, including general practitioners.
General practice vocational training in England and Wales, which takes a minimum of three years postgraduate training following medical school and pre-registration year, is supervised and approved by the joint committee on postgraduate training for general practice. Periods of hospital training in particular specialities are required by the regulations. These include, for example, general medicine, paediatrics, geriatrics, psychiatry and obstetrics. All trainee GPs gain first hand experience of dealing with the full range of health problems of national health service patients during their time in general practice, including those of people from diverse backgrounds. We are not aware of plans at present time to offer general practitioners additional training on recognising mental illness in ethnic minorities.
"Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Care", which will be published very shortly, will include actions to improve the delivery of mental health services to people from black and minority ethnic communities in primary care.
Cialis (Counterfeiting)
Mr. Flook:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the route of access for the counterfeit supplies of the drug cialis that were recently discovered
20 Dec 2004 : Column 1466W
in the legitimate wholesale medicines supply chain has been identified; what action his Department has taken to prevent the circulation of counterfeit cialis; and if he will make a statement; [201687]
(2) what evidence he has received that supplies of counterfeit cialis and reductil have been discovered in the legitimate medicines supply chain; and whether he has received evidence that such supplies have passed through the licensed parallel trade supply chain in (a) the UK and (b) other EU member states. [201688]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The enforcement group of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are investigating suspected criminal offences involving the supply of counterfeit cialis and reductil via the legitimate supply chain. The route of access is one aspect of the investigation, but details cannot be disclosed while this investigation continues.
The date officers from the criminal investigation unit have discovered counterfeit cialis and enforcement action has been taken to remove them from the supply chain.
The MHRA investigates all allegations of counterfeit medicines in the United Kingdom, the vast majority of which are not associated with the tightly regulated legitimate supply chain. Action in the form of legal proceedings is taken if appropriate.
The MHRA routinely carries out market surveillance by sampling and testing medicines on the UK market for authentication. It is also consulting with pharmaceutical industry concerning technical developments in product security.
Action to prevent circulation of the counterfeit product includes a recall at patient level through the MHRA defective medicines reporting centre. MHRA inspectors and Royal Pharmaceutical Society inspectors have increased monitoring of product batch numbers during routine inspections of wholesalers and pharmacies.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase the availability of cognitive behavioural therapy. [206009]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The national mental health choice forum, which was convened in September 2004 by the National Institute for Mental Health in England, has been asked to produce a strategy for extending patient choice across the range of mental health services. The Forum will consider how best to increase the availability of all talking treatments including cognitive behaviour therapy.
The Department also published "Organising and Delivering Psychological Services" in July, which aims to support the delivery of psychological therapy services by highlighting the key issues of access, waiting times, and improving care pathways.
Coventry Primary Care Trust
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what budget was granted to the Coventry Primary Care Trust in each of the last three years. [205304]
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Dr. Ladyman: The table shows the unified allocations to Coventry Primary Care Trust (PCT) for each of the years 2002–03 to 2004–05.
| Allocations (£ million) | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 264.7 |
| 2003–04 | 289.9 |
| 2004–05 | 318.4 |
Note:
In 2002–03, the Department made allocations to health authorities (HAs) and HAs made allocations to PCTs.
From 2003–04, the Department has made allocations direct to PCTs.
Dental Nurses
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the merits of training dental nurses to conduct simple regular dental check-ups. [204823]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We are working with General Dental Council to develop team working in dentistry by providing for the registration of additional classes of professional complementary to dentistry including dental nurses. The new contractual arrangements we are to introduce from October 2005, which involve the delegation of the commissioning of national health service dentistry to primary care trusts, will provide or greater scope for innovation in the delivery of dental care.
Dental Practice Board
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the likely impact of the new dentists' contract on the workload of the Dental Practice Board. [204266]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has regular meetings with the Dental Practice Board to assess the impact of the new dentists' contract on its operations.
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