| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
23 Mar 2005 : Column 914W—continued
Opticians
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to bring dispensing opticians within the scope of NHS regulation; if he will change General Ophthalmic Services regulations to allow optometrists and ophthalmic opticians to refer patients directly to hospital eye services; what plans he has to amend section 24 of the Opticians Act 1989 to allow professionals other than ophthalmic opticians, optometrists and registered medical practitioners to conduct sight tests; for what reasons dispensing opticians are not paid for the general ophthalmic services they supply; and if he will make a statement on the progress of his review of the General Ophthalmic Service. [221960]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Dispensing opticians do not provide general ophthalmic services (GOS) and are therefore not paid by the national health service. We are planning to review the GOS arrangements shortly. This will include considering the relationship of dispensing opticians with the NHS, but we have no plans to amend section 24 of the Opticians Act 1989 to allow professionals other than ophthalmic opticians and registered medical practitioners to conduct sight tests.
The national health service (General Ophthalmic Services Supplementary List) and (General Ophthalmic Services Amendment and Consequential Amendment) Regulations 2005, which come into force on 1 April 2005, amend regulations to allow optometrists to refer patients directly to ophthalmic hospitals.
Regional Offices
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what regional (a) bodies, (b) institutions, (c) taskforces, (d) panels, (e) offices and (f) organisations the Government has established since May 1997 which are the responsibility of his Department. [219947]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No new regional bodies, institutions, taskforces or panels have been established since 1997. Some new or merged bodies have however set up regional presences or offices including:
South West London and St. George's NHS Trust
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the forecast expenditure against budget for South West London and St. George's NHS Trust is in 2004–05. [223551]
Dr. Ladyman: The audited information in respect of the 2004–05 financial position of national health service trusts will be published in their individual annual accounts. This information will be available centrally in autumn 2005. We have no plans to publish un-audited information.
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role is fulfilled by the third special adviser in his Department. [210486]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Special advisers in this Department are appointed under the terms and conditions set out in Code of Conduct for Special Advisers".
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the speeches his special advisers made in an official capacity between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004, broken down by date. [210565]
Ms Rosie Winterton: All meetings held by special advisers and all speeches given by special advisers are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers".
Springfield Mental Hospital
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been sectioned at Springfield Mental Hospital, Tooting, in each of the last 10 years. [222001]
Dr. Ladyman:
The information on the number of patients sectioned is not held centrally. Information on the number of detentions under the Mental Health Act,
23 Mar 2005 : Column 915W
1983, of patients, on admission and subsequent to admission in South West London and St. George's Mental Health National Health Service Trust is shown in the table. Information is collected on a NHS trust basis rather than by individual hospital units.
Notes:
1. Figures exclude previous legislation (fifth schedule) and other acts.
2. A patient may be detained more than once.
3. Detentions subsequent to admission include changes from Section 136 to Sections 2 and 3 and Informal to Sections 2 and 3, 5(2) and 5(4).
4. The table shows detentions for South West London and St. George's Mental Health NHS Trust from 1996–97 to 2003–04. Data is not available in a comparable format for earlier years.
Smoking
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent assessment he has made of whether the public service agreement target to reduce adult smoking rates to 21 per cent. or less by 2010 will be met; [219247]
23 Mar 2005 : Column 916W
(2) what recent assessment he has made of whether the public service agreement target to reduce adult smoking rates among routine and manual groups to 26 per cent. or less by 2010 will be met. [219248]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The public service agreement (PSA) targets for smoking prevalence in 2010 were set in summer 2004. A delivery plan for the White Paper, Choosing Health", has been developed in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders to contribute to achieving the PSA target.
The delivery plan, together with the tobacco control strategy currently in place, will see an expansion of the national health service stop smoking services and additional support to help smokers quit; further measures to reduce peoples exposure to second-hand smoke; further restrictions on tobacco advertising and promotion; continued highly effective national smoking campaigns; work with Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to reduce the supply of smuggled and counterfeit tobacco and measures to combat underage sales. All these measures will contribute to delivery of the PSA target.
Latest prevalence figures, for 2003, published in December 2004 are shown in the following table.
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| 2003 | |
| Routine and manual socio-economic group | 32 |
| All persons | 25 |
Source:
Office for National Statistics General Household Survey 2003.