| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
21 Feb 2005 : Column 152W—continued
E111 Forms
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of British citizens possessing E111 forms issued (a) before and (b) after August 2004; and if he will make a statement. [213292]
21 Feb 2005 : Column 153W
Mr. Hutton: About three and a half million old-style E111s were issued in each of the last three years. New-style E111s began to be issued, on a per person rather than per family basis, from August 2004. About three million have now been issued.
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to publicise the expiry of old E111 reciprocal health certificates and the introduction of new ones; and if he will make a statement. [215177]
Mr. Hutton: Old-style forms E111 ceased to be valid on 31 December 2004. The United Kingdom started issuing new style E111s from mid-August 2004. A marketing campaign was begun in October 2004 with a press release and paid advertising in the national press. 10 million information flyers, and associated posters, giving information about the need to obtain new E111s were made available at a number of high street outlets and through the travel trade. The Post Office has run a separate poster campaign in their offices. About 3 million new style E111s have been issued to date. A further marketing campaign about E111 and its eventual replacement by the European Health Insurance card is planned to run between now and September when issue of the card in the UK is planned to start.
Eating Disorders
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many strategic health authorities provide outreach workers to support people with eating disorders in the community; [215960]
(2) how many primary care trusts commission outreach workers to support people with eating disorders living in the community. [215961]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally. There are at least five assertive outreach teams operating within each strategic health authority. All such teams can have people with eating disorders on their caseloads. However, the activity information captured centrally for assertive outreach teams is not broken down by diagnostic criteria.
Engagements
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what ministerial visits are planned for each minister in his Department in the next six months; and if he will make a statement. [214022]
Ms Rosie Winterton: For reasons of security, it would not be appropriate to disclose the information requested.
EU Committees
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Committee on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the member states concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [215445]
21 Feb 2005 : Column 154W
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Experts' Committee established under Article 10 of European Union Directive 2001/37/EC has to date met three times on 23 September, 2002 (Italian presidency), 10 February 2003 (Irish presidency) and 15 November 2004 (Dutch presidency), each time at the headquarters of the European Commission in Luxembourg. The United Kingdom was represented at two of those meetings by a departmental official. However, no official attendance list was kept. A summary record of each of the meetings can be found on the European Commission website at www.europa.eu.int/comm/index_en.htm. In addition, an ad hoc expert working group on the directive met in September 2003 and 18 February 2004. The UK expert's role was to provide an update on regulation of tobacco nationally and to provide an update on the implementation of the Directive in the UK. The UK Government's priorities for the work of the expert committee are to ensure that the Directive provisions are implemented effectively across the EU and that the Directive is strengthened in line with responses to the 2004 consultation.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch Presidency of the EU the Advisory Committee on the training of dental practitioners met, when and where these meetings took place, what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [214774]
Mr. Hutton: The Advisory Committee on Dental Training did not meet during these presidencies, and is unlikely to do so again.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch Presidency of the EU the Advisory Committee on the training of chemists met, when and where these meetings took place, what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [214775]
Mr. Hutton: The Advisory Committee on Pharmaceutical Training did not meet during these presidencies, and is unlikely to do so again.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Committee of senior officials on public health met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [215912]
Mr. Hutton: The European Union Committee of Senior Officials on Public Health (CSOPH) met in Brussels on 30 June 2003, 3 December 2003 and 9 June 2004. The next meeting of the CSOPH is scheduled for the 17 February 2005 in Brussels. Two senior departmental officials attend these meetings.
I refer the hon. Member to the series of Command Papers on prospects for the EU-Cm 6174 laid in April 2004, Cm 6310 laid in September 2004 and Cm 6450 laid in February 2005, which cover the periods of the above presidencies. Copies are available in the Library and on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's website at: www.fco.gov.uk/commandpapers.
21 Feb 2005 : Column 155W
NHS Appointments
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of patients failed to attend NHS appointments in (a) England, (b) each region and (c) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997. [216375]
Mr. Hutton: The number of patients not attending an out-patient appointment which includes first and subsequent appointments in England from 1997–98 to 2003–04 is shown in the following table.
Source:
KH09 and QMOP Department of Health Returns
Information on the number of patients not attending an out-patient appointment, which includes first and subsequent appointments by region from 1997–98 to 2001–02 and by strategic health authority from 2002–03 to 2003–04 has been placed in the Library.
Female Prisoners
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of female prisoners who are users of prescription medication (a) on entering prison and (b) on release. [214984]
Dr. Ladyman: No such estimate has been made.
Freedom of Information
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is in respect of the publication (a) on the departmental website and (b) by placing copies in the Library of (i) all or (ii) a selection of the information disclosed in response to Freedom of Information requests since January. [215213]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department's policy is to assess each request for information in terms of both the public interest in disclosure and whether the information is of sufficient interest to justify publication on the Departments website. Information that passes both tests is placed on the website at the same time as it is released to the applicant. We do not place information released under Freedom of Information in the Library unless the applicant specifically asks us to do so.
Guidance on publication schemes, issued by the Department for Constitutional Affairs in July 2002, recommended that where information is disclosed to an individual in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, Departments and non-departmental public bodies should consider whether the information disclosed is of general interest and include released information in the publication scheme where appropriate.
21 Feb 2005 : Column 156W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |