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24 Mar 2005 : Column 1043W—continued
Abortion
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many babies have (a) survived and (b) been born alive following abortion since 1991; [221741]
(2) what methods are used to record incidences where babies (a) survive abortion and (b) are born alive following abortion. [221961]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Under the Abortion Act 1967, as amended, any registered medical practitioner who terminates a pregnancy is required to notify the Chief Medical Officer. The abortion notification form does not collect information on whether the foetus survived the abortion.
When a foetus is born which shows signs of life and subsequently dies, the birth and death must be registered in the district where the birth and death happened.
Alzheimer's Disease
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients he estimates would be affected by the implementation of the recommendation by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence that Reminyl, Aricept and Exelon should not be prescribed to NHS patients with Alzheimer's disease and dementia. [223572]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The draft appraisal of drugs for Alzheimer's disease published recently National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is a consultation document and does not constitute the institute's final advice to the national health service. NICE will issue a final version of the revised guidance later in the year, after considering responses to its consultation. Until then, NICE's original 2001 appraisal continues to apply.
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Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with primary care trusts which do not make available the full range of drugs for treatment of Alzheimer's disease approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. [221023]
Dr. Ladyman: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently issued for consultation a revised version of its technology appraisal on drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. I have had no specific discussions with primary care trusts about compliance with the existing NICE guidance. Until NICE issues a final version of this new guidance, its original 2001 appraisal continues to apply.
The Government have now submitted their response to the current consultation and a copy has been placed in the Library.
Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the measures of cost-effectiveness applied by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in evaluating whether acetylcholinesterase inhibitors should continue to be available to treat sufferers from Alzheimer's disease; [223627]
(2) what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in improving cognitive and global outcomes for sufferers from Alzheimer's disease. [223628]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) published its draft technology appraisal guidance on drugs for Alzheimer's disease for consultation on 1 March 2005. NICE is an independent body with an internationally recognised reputation for the robustness of its technology appraisal development process. The Department responded to NICE'S consultation on the guidance on the 22 March and a copy of the response is available in the Library. NICE will be issuing a final version of this new guidance later in the year, after considering responses to its consultation. Until then, the recommendations in NICE's original 2001 appraisal continue to apply.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department defines dementia as a long-term neurological condition; and whether the principles of the National Service Framework for Long-Term Conditions apply to the care and treatment of people with dementia. [223801]
Dr. Ladyman: Although the National Service Framework (NSF) for Long-term Conditions focuses on people with neurological conditions, much of the guidance it offers can apply to anyone living with a long-term, progressive condition such as dementia. Commissioners are, therefore, encouraged to use this NSF in planning service developments for people with other long-term conditions.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what criteria the National Institute for Clinical Excellence used to determine the appropriateness of drugs for use in the treatment of dementia; and what assessment has been made of the impact of the withdrawal of these drugs on people suffering with dementia; [223815]
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(2) what assessment he makes of (a) cost and (b) clinical need in the determination of the allocation of drugs. [223816]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the process by which the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) conducts its technology appraisals, and the factors it takes into account, are available on the Institute's website at www.nice.nhs.uk. NICE is an independent body with an internationally recognised reputation for the robustness of its technology appraisal development process. NICE published its draft technology appraisal guidance on drugs for Alzheimer's disease for consultation on 1 March 2005 and the Institute will be issuing a final version of this new guidance later in the year, after considering responses to its consultation. Until then, the recommendations in NICE'S original 2001 appraisal continue to apply.
The Department does not allocate drugs. The Department allocates revenue resources to primary care trusts on the basis of the size of the population it serves, the need for health care of the population and unavoidable differences in the cost of providing health care.
Arthritis
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce an NHS National Service Framework for (a) inflammatory arthritis, (b) osteoarthritis and (c) psoriatic arthritis. [223184]
Dr. Ladyman: In recognition of the need for a greater focus on the needs of the 17 million people with long-term conditions, including arthritis, the Government has already published this year:
Liberating the talents of nurses who care for people with LTCs"—describing the new clinical function of community matrons.
As part of this work on LTCs, it is intended to publish best practice guidance on musculoskeletal conditions, which include inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis and; psoriatic arthritis, later this year. The work is being developed with a wide range of stakeholders including the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital admissions there were for (a) inflammatory arthritis and (b) psoriatic arthritis in the last year for which figures are available. [223186]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Condition | Total |
|---|---|
| Inflammatory arthritis | 55,960 |
| Psoriatic arthritis | 2,488 |
Notes:
1. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
2. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
3. Diagnosis codes used:
(a) Inflammatory arthritis M05—M14 Inflammatory Polyarthropathies.
(b) Psoriatic arthritis—Primary: L40.5 Arthropathic psoriasis.
4. As well as the primary diagnosis, there are up to 13 (six prior to 2002–03) secondary diagnosis fields in HES that show other diagnoses relevant to the episode of care.
5. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
Source:
HES, Department of Health.
24 Mar 2005 : Column 1046W
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many children in England suffer from juvenile idiopathic arthritis; [223187]
(2) how many adults in England suffer from (a) inflammatory arthritis, (b) psoriatic arthritis and (c) moderate to severe osteoarthritis of hands, knees or hips. [223188]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department does not routinely and comprehensively collect the data requested.
Epidemiological data for arthritis is, in the main, collected in surveys or from registers, the main sources being Government, academic institutions and charitable organisations.
We are aware that the Arthritis Research Council, a respected major charity, commissioned a large scale study of epidemiological data on arthritis. The Department has not validated its findings. However, it showed that:
At least 4.4 million people in the United Kingdom have x-ray evidence of moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the hands; 0.55 million of the knees and 0.21 million of the hips 1 .
Approximately 387,000 people are estimated to have rheumatoid arthritis (one of the inflammatory arthritides).
1 Source: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES] survey, United States of America.
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