| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
10 Jan 2005 : Column 106W—continued
NHS (Ethical Recruitment)
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ban the NHS from using recruitment agencies who have not signed up to the Code of Practice on Ethical Recruitment. [204952]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 14 December 2005]: The Government encourages compliance with the code of practice sensibly and with the least possible bureaucracy. Strategic health authorities are working with NHS employers, the national health service employers' organisation, to ensure collaborative and ethical international recruitment, including compliance with the code of practice. I am satisfied that the NHS is complying with the code and that a direction is not necessary.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many written questions for his Department were unanswered when Parliament prorogued; and how many of the unanswered questions were tabled in each of the previous months of the 2003–04 Session. [201552]
Patient Environment Action Teams
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he or a member of his Ministerial team (a) received and (b) approved the publication of the Patient Environment Action Team scores. [205863]
Mr. Hutton: My noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, the Lord Warner, was notified of the results of the 2004 patient environment action team assessments on 26 November 2004 and these were published on 7 December 2004.
Public Bodies
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the membership is of the (a) National Biological Standards Board, (b) National Radiological Protection Board and (c) Dental Practices Board; what the (i) cost of salaries and expenses to members and (ii) running costs of each body were in the last year for which figures are available; and how many staff are employed to service each body. [203823]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The membership of the National Biological Standards Board, the National Radiological Protection Board and the Dental Practices Board are shown in the tables.
10 Jan 2005 : Column 107W
10 Jan 2005 : Column 108W
For each of the three bodies, the cost of salaries and expenses to members, the total operating costs and the staff employed are shown in the table.
Further details are in the bodies' annual reports for 2003–04, which are available in the Library.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency's expert working group report on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors was based on (a) consideration of raw clinical data and (b) summaries provided by the pharmaceutical companies. [205375]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The findings of the committee on safety of medicines' expert working group on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were based on detailed analysis of a number of sources of data including clinical trial data provided by pharmaceutical companies, studies on the general practice research database, the published literature and individual reports from health professionals and patients. Full details of the data considered and the conclusions of the expert working group are presented in its report, which is available on the website of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency at www.mhra.gov.uk. Copies of the report are available in the Library.
Sickness Absence
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many days sick leave were taken by civil servants in the Department in each year since 1997; and what the sickness absence rate was in each year. [204514]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The data on sickness within the Department is contained in the annual report, Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service, published by the Cabinet Office. Table A of the report gives details of both the average working days absence per staff year and the number of staff years on which that calculation is based on. The most recent of which, for calendar year 2003, was announced by written ministerial statement on 1 November 2004, Official Report, column 1WS and copies placed in the Library. Reports for 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 are available on the Cabinet Office web site at: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management information/conditions of service/caje/publications/index.asp#sickness.
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the attributable interviews that his Department's special advisers gave to (a) newspapers, (b) journals, (c) books and (d) other media in their official capacity between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004; [201428]
(2) if he will list the attributable (a) articles and (b) contributions that his Department's special advisers made to (i) newspapers, (ii) journals, (iii) books and (iv) other media in their official capacity between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004. [201453]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There were none in this period. All special advisers' contacts with the media are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the "Code of Conduct of Special Advisers".
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints were made by departmental civil servants regarding the conduct of special advisers between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004. [203469]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend, the then Minister for the Cabinet Office (Ruth Kelly), on 8 December 2004, Official Report, column 578W.
Statins
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has commissioned on the possible impact on the incidence of side effects of over-the-counter sales of statins. [202548]
10 Jan 2005 : Column 109W
Ms Rosie Winterton: The safety profile of simvastatin is well established and based on 14 years of experience as a widely used prescription only medicine. The committee on safety of medicines (CSM) has reviewed all the relevant safety data and the results of a full public consultation exercise and concluded that it was safe for simvastatin 10 milligram to be supplied by pharmacists, according to a protocol that has numerous safeguards to ensure that patients are appropriately advised.
As with all medicines, the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the CSM continually monitor the safety of simvastatin. Doctors and pharmacists report suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to medicines via the yellow card scheme. This system applies to both prescription and non-prescription medicines and will enable the continued monitoring of the safety of the medicine in pharmacy use.
The MHRA is exploring with the manufacturer the possibility of further research into the safety profile of simvastatin in over-the-counter use.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |