| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
18 Mar 2005 : Column 513W—continued
Health Promotion
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on advertising the dangers of (a) smoking, (b) poor diet and (c) alcohol in each year since 1997. [219678]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Health Education Authority ran the public education campaign on the dangers of smoking prior to 1999–2000. The tobacco control campaign run by the Department was launched in December 1999.
The following table shows advertising expenditure on the dangers of smoking from 1999–2000 to date.
18 Mar 2005 : Column 514W
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| Financial year | Tobacco control |
| 1999–2000 | 6.18 |
| 2000–01 | 8.97 |
| 2001–02 | 7.79 |
| 2002–03 | 7.87 |
| 2003–04 | 17.76 |
| 2004–05(16) | 25.00 |
(16) Estimated figure.
In my response to a question from the hon. Member on 3 November 2004, Official Report, column 324–25W, advertising expenditure on the dangers of smoking from 1999–2000 to date, the amount for 2003–04 was incorrectly listed as £19.36 million. The correct figure for 2003–04 is £17.76 million.
The Department does not advertise the dangers of poor diet. However, the Department promotes the positive benefits of a healthy diet through a range of on-going activities such as the five-a-day programme, including the school fruit and vegetable scheme, promotion of food in schools as well as promoting breastfeeding among the disadvantaged groups.
The following table shows expenditure on promoting healthy diet from 1998 to 2005.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| Financial year | Expenditure |
| 1998–99 | 0.37 |
| 1999–2000 | 1.26 |
| 2000–01 | 1.62 |
| 2001–02 | 1.74 |
| 2002–03 | 1.14 |
| 2003–04 | 3.24 |
| 2004–05 | 4.31 |
There has been no advertising campaign by the Department specifically on the dangers of excessive drinking in the last seven years.
The Department has funded, through its central communications budget, the production of a number of booklets or leaflets advising the public on sensible drinking. Expenditure for these is shown in the following table.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Expenditure | |
| 2002–03 | 96,764 |
| 2003–04 | 44,591 |
| 2004–05(17) | 39,954 |
(17) Up to and including quarter three.
Additionally, the Department funds the Drinkline helpline and a dedicated website. It is not possible to provide a separate cost for the operation of the helpline, Drinkline, as this is provided as part of a contract covering FRANK (drugs), Sexual Health Line, Drinkline and Know The Score, the Scottish helpline on drugs. These services have been provided under one contract and one operational model, for purposes of
18 Mar 2005 : Column 515W
cost efficiency. The approximate cost of operating the four services in 2004–05 is £1.8 million including VAT, or £1.5 million excluding VAT.
Health Spending
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the spending per head of the population on health services was in (a) England and (b) the Weston-super-Mare constituency in each year since 1992. [221901]
18 Mar 2005 : Column 516W
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is not collected centrally in the format requested. The table shows expenditure per weighted head of population in England, and by the health authority and strategic health authority areas covering the Weston-Super-Mare constituency, for 1996–97 to 2003–04, which is the latest year for which figures are available. Information in this format is not available prior to 1996–97.
Notes:
1. Expenditure is taken from audited health authority accounts and summarisation forms and primary care trust summarisation schedules, which are prepared on a resource basis and therefore differ from cash allocations in the year. Figures are given in cash terms.
2. Allocations per weighted head of population provide a much more reliable measure to identify differences between funding of health authorities and primary care trusts.
3. Figures for 1996–97 to 2001–02 have been prepared using gross expenditure figures. Figures for 2002–03 and 2003–04 have been adjusted to eliminate expenditure which would be double counted where an authority acts as a lead in commissioning health care or other services.
Sources:
Audited accounts of the health authorities 1996–97 to 1998–99.
Audited summarisation forms of the health authorities 1999–2000 to 2001–02.
Audited summarisation forms of the strategic health authorities 2002–03 and 2003–04.
Audited summarisation schedules of primary care trusts 2000–01 to 2003–04.
Weighted population figure.
In many health authorities there are factors which distort the expenditure. These include:
the health authority acting in a lead capacity to commission healthcare or fund training on behalf of other health bodies; and
The majority of general dental services expenditure is separately accounted for by the dental practice board (DPB). An element of pharmaceutical services expenditure is accounted for by the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA). Total expenditure on these items by the DPB and the PPA cannot be allocated to individual health bodies, therefore the total expenditure in the answer does not capture all NHS expenditure within the area.
The proportion of drugs expenditure accounted for by the DPB was larger in 1997–98 and 1998–99, which is why the total expenditure figures for those years appear low compared to 1996–97, 1999–2000, and 2000–01.
For these reasons expenditure cannot be compared reliably between health authorities or between different years.
Heat-related Illnesses
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had about the public health impacts of heat-related illnesses. [218811]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department is currently updating the report, "The Effects of Climate Change on Health in the United Kingdom", which was published in 2002. A group of experts, drawn from those who contributed to the original report, has met and is currently examining evidence. The effects of heat and cold on health will be carefully considered. An updated report will be published in the summer of 2005.
Hepatitis
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional provision has been made should the hepatitis B awareness campaign result in a large increase in people coming forward for treatment. [220785]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 10 March 2005]: The current health care professional and public awareness campaigns are for hepatitis C, rather than hepatitis B.
Over the three year period 2005–06 to 2007–08, funding for the national health service will increase on average by 7.1 per cent. a year over and above inflation—a total increase over the period of 23 per cent. in real terms. Over three years, this will take the total spent on the NHS in England from £69 billion in 2004–05 to £92 billion in 2007–08. This is a significant increase over historic levels of growth.
Hospital Waiting Times
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time in hospitals in (a) South Tyneside, (b) the North East and (c) the UK has been in each year since 1997. [221958]
Mr. Hutton:
The Department collects waiting times information by national health service trust.
18 Mar 2005 : Column 517W
Table 1 shows South Tyneside NHS Trust in-patient median waiting time, all specialities: provider based 1996–97 to January 2005.
| Year end month | Median (weeks) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | March | 15.6 |
| 1997–98 | March | 16.4 |
| 1998–99 | March | 14.9 |
| 1999–2000 | March | 12.4 |
| 2000–01 | March | 10.5 |
| 2001–02 | March | 9.5 |
| 2002–03 | March | 8.7 |
| 2003–04 | March | 8.3 |
| 2004–05 | January | 6.2 |
Source:
Department of Health KH07 (provider based).
The Department collects waiting times information from strategic health authorities (SHAs).
Table 2 shows Northumberland, Tyne and Wear SHA, in-patient median waiting time, all specialities: commissioner based 1996–97 to January 2005.
| Year end month | Median (weeks) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | March | 12.2 |
| 1997–98 | March | 12.3 |
| 1998–99 | March | 11.7 |
| 1 999–2000 | March | 11.1 |
| 2000–01 | March | 11.1 |
| 2001–02 | March | 11.8 |
| 2002–03 | March | 10.9 |
| 2003–04 | March | 9.6 |
| 2004–05 | January | 10.8 |
Source:
Department of Health, QF01 (commissioner based).
The Department does not collect waiting times data for the United Kingdom, but for England.
Table 3 shows England, in-patient median waiting time, all specialities: commissioner based 1996–97 to January 2005.
Note:
The introduction of time-bands from April 2004 has led to a more precise calculation of the median waiting time.
Source:
Department of Health, QF01 (commissioner based).
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |