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21 Feb 2005 : Column 309W—continued
Dentistry (Lancashire)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists are working in (a) Chorley and (b) Lancashire. [216240]
Ms Rosie Winterton: As of 31 December 2004, there were 79 general dental service (GDS) or personal dental service (PDS) dentists working in the Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust area and 454 GDS or PDS dentists working in the county of Lancashire.
Depression
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what resources are available from the NHS for people suffering from depression. [216334]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The national service framework for mental health sets out how people suffering from depression should be able to access a full range of effective national health service treatment and care in and through primary care, and in specialised secondary services, including in-patient care, where appropriate.
Guidance published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence further elaborates the services that may be needed for people suffering from chronic, treatment-resistant, recurrent, atypical, psychotic depression, and for those at significant risk.
Further information about the financial, service-related and workforce resources currently available nationally may be found in the National Service Framework for Mental Health—Five Years On", published in December 2004. Information about the resources and services in any one locality may be obtained from the relevant primary care trust.
Diabetes
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people suffer from diabetes in (a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley and South Ribble primary care trust. [215512]
Miss Melanie Johnson: This information is not collected centrally.
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent estimate is of the cost to the NHS in a year of treating (a) diabetes, (b) diabetes type 1 and (c) diabetes type 2. [217269]
Dr. Ladyman: The recent report by Wanless, Securing good health for the whole population: Final report—February 2004" states that the total cost to the national health service of treating type one and type two diabetes is £1.3 billion per year. The specific costs relating to treatment of type one and type two are not available.
Digital Hearing Aids
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Leicester, South are on waiting lists for digital hearing aids. [216943]
Dr. Ladyman:
This information is not collected centrally.
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Dr. Chai Patel
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what capacity Dr. Chai Patel advises his Department. [214849]
Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 8 February 2005]: Dr. Chai Patel does not act as an advisor to the Department.
Eating Disorders
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of outreach workers on the rates of readmission for in-patient care by people with serious eating disorders living in the community. [215958]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Assertive outreach has been shown to be an effective approach to the management of people with severe mental health problems with complex needs who have difficulty engaging with services and often require repeat admission to hospital. Using an assertive outreach approach can:
Assertive outreach teams work with people with severe and persistent mental disorders, which may include serious eating disorders. However, the Department does not collect diagnostic information centrally about case loads of such teams.
The evidence base for assertive outreach was set out in the Mental Health Policy Implementation Guide" (2001).
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department provides to primary care trusts on commissioning primary care services for people with serious eating disorders. [215959]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Tertiary eating disorder services are part of the national specialised services definition set (NSSDS), which provides guidance to commissioners on securing effective collective planning arrangements that take into account the needs of a planning population considerably larger than that of a single primary care trust. A group led by the national director for mental health is currently reviewing the NSSDS, with a view to publishing updated guidance later this year.
Local health communities should design the provision of their services for the treatment and management of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and related eating disorders in light of the clinical guidelines published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in 2004.
Elective Surgery
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has commissioned into the information on which patients would want to base their choices for elective surgery; and what steps he is taking
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to provide this information (a) through primary care trusts, (b) through strategic health authorities and (c) centrally. [210826]
Mr. Hutton: The Department has commissioned research through MORI and Dr. Foster and consulted with patients and clinicians through a number of workshops to identify the information that patients would want to make a choice of hospital. We have also drawn on a number of independent studies including those looking at the information and support needs of hard-to-reach groups.
We know from this body of research that patients require information on four key areas: waiting times, location and convenience factors, patient experience and clinical quality. The Department provides comparative information for national health service providers in these four key areas on its website at http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/PatientChoice/Choice/ChoiceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4084336&chk=j6/TOq
It has also asked primary care trusts to supplement this with local information on providers to further support patients.
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 for the implementation of the Community action programme on pollution-related diseases in the framework of the action plan for public health met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [214772]
Mr. Hutton: The committee for the implementation of the Community action programme on pollution-related diseases did not meet during the Italian, Irish or Dutch presidencies.
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 for the implementation of the Community action programme on health promotion information, education and training met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [214773]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Community action programme on health promotion, information, education and training ran from 1996 to 2002. The last meeting of the programme committee was held on 7 February 2002 in Luxembourg, prior to the commencement of the Italian, Irish and Dutch European Union presidencies, which fell within the period from July 2003 to December 2004.
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 for
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the implementation of the Community action programme on the prevention of drug dependence in the framework of the action plan for public health met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [215446]
Miss Melanie Johnson: None. The purpose of the committee for the implementation of the community action programme on the prevention of drug dependence was to assist the European Commission in implementing the action programme. The committee's work had been completed by the time the Italian presidency began.
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