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Diamorphine

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 27 January 2005, Official Report, column 549W, on diamorphine, how many general practitioners are licensed to prescribe diamorphine for the treatment of drug addiction; and how many were licensed to do so in 1997. [214925]

Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 27 January 2005, Official Report, column 549W. The policy operated by the Home Office, which issues the licences and my Department is generally to restrict the issue of licenses to consultant psychiatrists in charge of national health service
 
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addiction treatment clinics. From time to time, it has been deemed appropriate to extend licensing to general practitioners with demonstrable special skills in the field when they are acting under the supervision of a consultant.

I understand the information requested on precise numbers of such general practitioners licensed to prescribe diamorphine for the treatment of drug addiction is not readily available and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.

East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey PCT

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey primary care trust spent on mental health services in each of the past three years. [219404]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Expenditure on the commissioning of mental illness services by the East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey primary care trust (PCT) is shown in the following table. The PCT was established on 1 April 2002; therefore figures are only available for two years.
£000

	Amount
2002–03	38,142
2003–04	25,126

Notes:
1.The mental illness expenditure reported is the expenditure of the PCTs on the commissioning of secondary mental illness services from national health service bodies. This does not include all the relevant expenditure which cannot be separately identified centrally.
2.The figures do not include commissioning of mental illness services from independent providers. This expenditure is included within the commissioning of social care and cannot be separately analysed between mental illness, learning disability and similar services. Over the two years, there has been a £28.5 million increase in independent sector commissioning.
3.The figures are not comparable between PCTs and between years. There are a number of factors which may distort the figures, including PCTs commissioning on behalf of others, the devolution of mental illness budgets by health authorities and the increase in provision by the independent sector.
Sources:
Audited summarisation schedules of the East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey PCT, 2002–03 and 2003–04.

Eating Disorders

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what treatment is available on the NHS for people with eating disorders. [221150]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the location and type of service provided for people with eating disorders is not collected nationally. General services for people with eating disorders are normally available locally in primary and/or secondary care as a component of mental health service provision. Primary care trusts (PCTs), working in partnership, may also commission tertiary specialised services for those with the most severe conditions where planning is needed for a population considerably larger than that of a single PCT.
 
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Clinical guidelines, published in 2004 by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, are available on the range of effective treatments for people with eating disorders and the national specialised services definition set contains information on commissioning tertiary services. A group led by the national director for mental health is currently reviewing the national specialised services definition set with a view to publishing updated guidance later this year.

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were receiving treatment for eating disorders on the latest date for which figures are available, broken down by sex. [221151]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not available in the requested format. It is only available concerning those patients with eating disorders treated by a consultant medical practitioner. It is not available for those seen by other professionals.

In 2003–04, there were 1,690 finished consultant episodes in national health service hospitals in England for people with a primary diagnosis of eating disorders, of which eight per cent, were male ¹ . The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 diagnostic fields in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and illustrates the main reason for the admission.

Finished consultant episodes are a count of the number of HES records submitted on behalf of English NHS hospital providers that relate to episodes of in-patient care which ended during the HES year. These figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.

Note:

¹ Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data is ungrossed).

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of people in England who have eating disorders but who are not registered as receiving treatment. [221152]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not centrally available. However, we are aware that a considerable volume of independent research exists relating to the epidemiology of eating disorders, their prevalence, severity and the most effective treatments. We commissioned the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to develop a guideline on the management of eating disorders and their guidance, published in 2004, which contains useful information on all aspects of these important conditions. This guidance is available on the NICE website at www.nice.org.uk.

Fluoridation

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish the Government's response to the consultation on water fluoridation. [218692]

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to table statutory instruments which will permit strategic health authorities to hold a local ballot on fluoridation. [220888]

 
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Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 1 March 2005]: On 23 February, I laid before Parliament draft regulations on the consultations, which strategic health authorities would be required to undertake if they proposed to enter into, vary, maintain or terminate arrangements with a water undertaker to increase the fluoride content of the water supplied by the undertaker. The draft took account of the consultations the Department undertook in 2004.

Frenchay Hospital

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there are covenants relating to land owned by the national health service on the Frenchay Hospital site which restrict the use of that land; and if he will make a statement. [221404]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This is a matter for North Bristol national health service trust. I am informed by the Trust that although there are a number of planning restrictions, such as listed buildings, there are no restrictive covenants on the registered title.

Healthcare Commission Inspections

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether independent providers of care paid for by the NHS will be inspected by the Healthcare Commission under the same regime as (a) NHS providers and (b) other private providers. [219689]

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 4 March 2005]: national health service healthcare delivered by the NHS or on its behalf by independent providers is subject to the provisions of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003, including inspection by the Healthcare Commission.

Organisations providing independent healthcare continue to be subject to the provisions of the Care Standards Act 2000, which include registration and inspection by the Healthcare Commission, taking account of the National Minimum Standards for independent healthcare.

Healthy Eating

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Advertising Standards Agency on implementing in food advertising the recommendations of the Health Select Committee Report on Obesity. [220797]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Secretary of State has not had any such discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with fast food companies on the promotion of healthy eating. [220798]

Miss Melanie Johnson: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, met with representatives of the British Hospitality Association, jointly with my
 
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right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport and representatives of the National Farmers Union, the British Retail Consortium, the Food and Drink Federation and the Advertising Association in early autumn 2004 to discuss their proposal to work with Government in developing healthy eating education campaigns.

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