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10 Oct 2005 : Column 223W—continued
Medicine Disposal Costs
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the cost to the NHS of the disposal of patients' regular prescribed medication when they are admitted to hospital. [15732]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mental Health
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the cost of providing mental health services for adults who have previously been in care in the last year for which figures are available. [15712]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not centrally available.
Mifepristone
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has received regarding adverse effects associated with mifepristone; what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have had with (i) the United States Food and Drug Administration about mifepristone and (ii) the manufacturers of mifepristone about possible adverse effects of the drug; and if she will make a statement. [16242]
Jane Kennedy: Mifepristone (Mifegyne) is an antiprogestogenic steroid that is licensed for the medical termination of intra-uterine pregnancy of up to nine weeks, for softening and dilating the cervix prior to mechanical termination of pregnancy and, in combination with gemeprost, for terminating pregnancies of 13–20 weeks gestation.
The United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) receive reports of suspected adverse drug reactions to medicinal products via the yellow card scheme. Since marketing authorisation for mifepristone was first granted in 1991, the MHRA and CSM have received 47 reports of 79 suspected adverse drug reactions in association with its use. The reporting of a suspected adverse drug reaction does not necessarily mean that the drug was responsible for that event. Many factors, such as the medical condition that is being treated, other pre-existing illnesses or other medications may play a contributing role.
The MHRA has carefully evaluated the yellow card reports of suspected adverse reactions associated with the use of Mifegyne use in the UK and has concluded that they do not affect the balance of risks and benefits of mifepristone and that the safety profile of this
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medicine is adequately described in the summary of product characteristics provided to health professionals and in the patient information leaflet.
The MHRA is aware of recent regulatory action taken in the United States (US) following reports of suspected adverse drug reactions in association with the use of mifepristone in a manner that is not consistent with the approved labelling. However, serious adverse reactions associated with mifepristone have been recently reviewed by the regulatory authorities within Europe and an expert group of the CSM advised that since birth, menstruation and abortion create conditions that are conducive to an increased risk of infection there was currently insufficient data to warrant regulatory action. There has been no contact with the Food and Drug Administration or the manufacturer on this specific issue.
The manufacturer has a legal obligation to provide the MHRA with reports of serious adverse reactions to mifepristone within 15 days of their receipt, including the US/irrespective of the country of origin. Similarly, reports received by the MHRA are sent to the manufacturer within 15 days of receipt. This ensures that both the MHRA and the manufacturer have access to all the available information with which to monitor the safety of mifepristone.
As with all marketed medicines, the MHRA will continue to monitor the safety of mifepristone and will take any action to ensure patient safety is maintained.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to ensure that National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence decisions are sufficiently resourced to ensure rapid uptake of recommendations. [15714]
Jane Kennedy: Provision is made within national health service allocations for the estimated impact on the NHS of guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
Neonatal Care (Essex)
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been made available for neonatal care in the Essex Health Authority area in each of the last five years. [15610]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally. It is up to local national health service organisations to identify local priorities and decide on the distribution of their overall funding allocation across the range of services to be provided in the context of local need.
NHS (Spare Capacity)
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department has commissioned to assess the amount of spare capacity within the NHS. [15142]
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Mr. Byrne: Capacity requirements are assessed by each strategic health authority as part of its local delivery planning responsibilities. The Department has not commissioned specific research in this area but encouraged the necessary increase in capacity to improve patient access to services and reduce waiting periods.
NHS Consultants
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultant posts were vacant in the NHS in England on 31 March in each of the past five years; and what assessment she has made of (a) trends in levels of and (b) reasons for consultant vacancies. [12946]
Mr. Byrne: Information on the number and rate of vacancies for consultants lasting three months or more in each of the last five years is shown in the table.
The recent fall in vacancy rates consolidates last year's downward trend and comes at the same time as a considerable increase in consultants. There are 9,389, or 44 per cent. more consultants employed in the national health service than there were in 1997. Overall, the picture is one of growth and reducing vacancies.
Notes:
1.Three month vacancies are vacancies which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (full-time equivalents).
2.Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post.
3.Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number.
4.Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
5.*where the sum of the staff in post and number of vacancies is less then 10.
6.—where the sum of the staff in post and number of vacancies is zero.
Source:
Department of Health medical and dental vacancy survey.
Nurses
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many registered national health service nurses there are in each London borough; [16216]
(2) how many registered national health service midwives there are in each London borough; [16217]
(3) how many registered national health service psychiatric nurses there are in each London borough. [16331]
Jane Kennedy:
The information requested is collected as total qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in London government office
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region (GOR) by strategic health authority (SHA). The table shows the latest figures available as at 30 September 2004.
Source:
Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census 2004.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses are employed in the Essex Health Authority area on (a) permanent and (b) temporary contracts. [15601]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of nurses in the Essex Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area is not available in the format requested. However, the table shows the number of qualified nurses in the Essex SHA area and the number of bank nurses.
Source:
Health and Social Care Information Centre non-medical workforce census 2004
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent nursing vacancies there are in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire strategic health authority. [16615]
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Ms Rosie Winterton:
The number of nursing vacancies in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire strategic health authority area are shown in the
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following table. All vacancy rates are calculated on full-time equivalent vacancy numbers.
(71)=zero.
Notes:
Three month vacancy:
1.Three month vacancy information is as at 31 March 2005.
2.Three month vacancies are vacancies which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (full-time equivalents).
3.Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post.
4.Three month vacancy rates are calculated using staff in post from the non-medical workforce census September 2004.
5.Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
Staff in post:
6.Staff in post data is from the non-medical workforce census September 2004.
General:
7.Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number.
8.Calculating the vacancy rates using the above data may not equal the actual vacancy rates.
9.Due to rounding, totals may not equal the sum of component parts.
10.Strategic health authority figures are based on trusts, and do not necessarily reflect the geographical provision of healthcare.
Sources:
Health and Social Care Information Centre Vacancies Survey March 2005
Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census September 2004
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