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18 Jan 2005 : Column 877W—continued
Bleeding Disorders
Mr. Connarty:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what measures are being taken to raise awareness among (a) health care professionals and (b) the wider public of bleeding disorders affecting women; [208095]
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(2) what steps he plans to ensure that those affected by von Willebrand disease are correctly diagnosed. [208096]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department provides core funding to the Haemophilia Society. In November last year the Haemophilia Society held a conference for health care professionals on women's bleeding disorders to help raise awareness.
The United Kingdom haemophilia centre doctors organisation working parties have published new peer reviewed guidelines, for the treatment and diagnosis of von Willebrand disease and for rare inherited haemostatic disorders, in 2004.
Chiropody Services
Andrew Selous : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of access to chiropody services for senior citizens. [208921]
Dr. Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Dame Marion Roe) earlier today.
Community Pharmacies
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community pharmacies in each London borough (a) opened and (b) closed in each year since 2000–01; and if he will make a statement. [207910]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information regarding the number of community pharmacies by London borough is not collected. However, the number of community pharmacies by health authority/primary care trusts per London strategic health authority is available.
The table shows a breakdown of community pharmacy openers and closures by London SHA between 2000–01 to 2002–03.
Cost-effective Prescribing
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether general practitioners are encouraged to let patients know if a drug they are prescribing is available more cheaply over the counter; and what rules or guidelines govern this area of practice. [208122]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Generally, we expect general practitioners to issue national health service prescriptions to meet an identified clinical need for their NHS patients. However, if an appropriate treatment is available over the counter the GP might advise a patient that the product is available directly from a pharmacist, particularly if the patient was not exempt from paying prescription charges. This would only apply to patients who are not exempt from paying prescription charges. This is a discretionary matter for the GP.
Dentists
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding his Department has allocated for increases in the number of NHS dentists in England by October 2005. [204984]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has provided funding to meet the service cost of the increase in dentists. £50 million was made available to the national health service last year to address local dental access issues. £3.8 million has been committed to recruit Polish dentists. The NHS is also engaging in local recruitment activity, funded from its own baseline allocation.
Domestic Violence
Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's publicity budget for
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domestic violence awareness is in the current year; what his Department's expenditure on domestic violence awareness was in each of the last six years; and if he will make a statement. [207902]
Miss Melanie Johnson: In the past four years, the Department has not had a dedicated budget for domestic violence awareness. However, in 2000 the Department spent £40,000 on printing "Domestic Violence (A Resource Manual for Health Care Professional". We are currently in the process of updating the manual.
Information prior to 2000–01 can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department is dedicating resources to domestic violence. We have appointed a national domestic violence co-ordinator to help the Department contribute to the cross-Government agenda, and have supported both financially and administratively, the national conference on domestic violence held in October 2004.
East Sussex Hospitals Trust
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of hospital-acquired infections have been diagnosed in the East Sussex Hospitals Trust in the last 12 months. [208113]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There are no nationally collated data on hospital acquired infections for individual acute national health service trusts.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce free prescriptions for claimants in receipt of incapacity benefit; and if he will make a statement. [208652]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We have no plans to introduce free prescriptions for claimants in receipt of incapacity benefit. It is the Department's policy to offer help with health costs based on a person's income, for example, to those receiving income support. As incapacity benefit is not income-based, it will not entitle a person to free prescriptions automatically but recipients may be entitled to help by making a claim under the national health service low income scheme.
IT Projects
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list his Department's IT projects in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) amount spent, (b) purpose, (c) cost of over-run and (d) time of over-run. [205787]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not hold records for information technology projects completed before the financial year 1999–2000. Details of IT projects costing £100,000 or more, completed in the financial year 1999–2000 onwards, listed by amount spent, purpose and time overrun, have been placed in the Library.
The Department's project monitoring processes do not routinely identify costs specific to time overruns. A detailed analysis of project records for relevant projects
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would be required to calculate these costs. This exercise would involve disproportionate cost and has not been undertaken.
Local Tobacco Alliances
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the role is of local tobacco alliances; what projects they deliver; and if he will make a statement. [208994]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Local tobacco alliances have a key role locally working alongside key partners such as trading standards, environmental health, Customs and Excise and smoking cessation co-ordinators.
Alliance projects are developed in collaboration with priorities such as addressing health inequalities, reducing people's exposure to secondhand smoke and supporting the work of the national health service stop smoking services. In future this will also include delivery of the White Paper "Choosing Health".
Medical Negligence Report
Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to implement the recommendations of the report, Making Amends, by the Chief Medical Officer on medical negligence (2003). [208042]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The "Making Amends" consultation ended on 17 October 2003. The responses are being used to help further develop detailed policy proposals. An announcement will be made in due course.
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