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28 Oct 2005 : Column 577W—continued
Fluoridation
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much has been spent by her Department on promotion of fluoridation of the water supply in each of the last five years; [18851]
(2) what steps her Department is taking to promote fluoridation of the water supply; [18852]
(3) what steps are being taken by primary care trusts in the Surrey and Sussex strategic health authority to promote the fluoridation of the water supply; [18854]
(4) if she will define the threshold for strong local support before strategic health authorities approve fluoridation of local water supplies. [18855]
Caroline Flint: It is our policy that decisions on fluoridation schemes should be taken locally by strategic health authorities (SHAs), following consultations with the populations they serve. The previous legislation governing fluoridation left water companies responsible for final decisions on fluoridation. The main initiative the Government have taken on fluoridation has been to introduce amending legislation to make SHAs responsible for decisions and to define in greater detail how they should conduct consultations. The Department has also made grants totalling £428,000 over the period 2001–02 to 2005–06 to the British Fluoridation Society to promote the benefits of fluoridation. This forms part of a wider programme of work to improve oral health and reduce oral health inequalities.
The guidance on consultations and ascertaining public opinion is available in the Library. Under this guidance, SHAs are expected to have regard to both the extent of support for the proposal and the cogency of the arguments advanced. Numbers of representations are not to be the sole determinant of the SHA's decision. I am not aware of any primary care trusts in the Surrey and Sussex SHA area that are currently taking steps to promote the fluoridation of the water supply.
Hearing Aid Provision (Edgware Hospital)
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will review the provision of services for those with hearing aids at Edgware hospital; and if she will make a statement. [20577]
Jane Kennedy: The Department has invested £125 million into the modernising hearing aid services project since 2000. As a result, from April 2005 all 164 national health service audiology services in England should be routinely fitting digital hearing aids.
The provision of local health services rests with primary care trusts.
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Heart Disease (Gravesham)
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals in Gravesham suffer from (a) coronary heart disease, (b) stroke and (c) diabetes; and what steps are being taken to reduce the numbers of people suffering from such diseases. [20058]
Caroline Flint: The number of individuals in Gravesham suffering from coronary heart disease (CHD) and diabetes is collected at primary care trust (PCT) level from the local delivery plan returns. The number of patients diagnosed with CHD identified by practices in Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley PCT is 6,696 and the number of patients with diabetes within the same PCT is 8154. Information on the number of people suffering from strokes is not collected centrally.
The Department has set out plans for tackling CHD, stoke and diabetes in the national service frameworks (NSF for CHD in 2000, stroke as a standard within the NSF for older people in 2001 and NSF for diabetes in 2001.) The Department has convened a vascular programme board to improve co-ordination across, CHD, stroke and diabetes.
The Department's public health campaigns make a significant contribution to reducing the numbers of people suffering from CHD, stroke and diabetes. These include campaigns on smoking and healthy eating, and the Food Standards Agency's campaign on reducing salt consumption.
HER2 Testing
Dr. Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many centres in England carry out the test for the HER2 protein; what the capacity is of each; and how much each test costs. [20357]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the number and capacity of centres which carry out the test for the HER2 protein is not collected centrally.
HER2 testing kits cost around £40 per patient.
I have asked Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director, to ensure that arrangements are in place to implement HER2 testing in all primary care trusts as quickly as possible.
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which primary care trusts applied the HER2 test to everyone diagnosed with early breast cancer, prior to her recent announcement on HER2 testing; [20752]
(2) what estimate she has made of the additional cost in this financial year of introducing HER2 tests for early-diagnosed breast cancer patients from October. [20753]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is estimated that the additional cost to the national health service of expanding HER2 testing is likely to be around £2 million a year.
Information on which primary care trusts applied the HER2 test to everyone diagnosed with early stage breast cancer prior to the recent announcement on HER2 testing is not collected centrally.
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I have asked Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer director, to ensure that arrangements are in place to implement HER2 testing in all primary care trusts as quickly as possible.
HIV/AIDS
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in England in each of the last five years for which records are available. [17834]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3,850 |
| 2001 | 5,038 |
| 2002 | 6,188 |
| 2003 | 7,213 |
| 2004 | 7,271 |
Note:
This data is from reports received by the end of September 2005. However, the surveillance of HIV diagnoses is subject to a time lag because of the time it takes for a report to be completed at the clinic/laboratory and sent to the Health Protection Agency (HPA). This will mean that the number of HIV diagnoses shown in the table for 2004 will rise. To a lesser extent, those shown for 2003 may also rise.
Source:
HPA
Hospital Food
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate she has made of the average amount spent on hospital food per patient per day; and what assessment she has made of whether there is variation in spending in different regions; [18938]
(2) what proportion of total patient main meals in hospitals untouched meals represented in each year from 1997–98. [18943]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is shown in the table. Data were not collected before 2001–02.
| Average cost of patient main meals per day (£) | Average percentage of untouched/ unserved patient meals | |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 2.19 | 8.86 |
| 2002–03 | 2.41 | 10.44 |
| 2003–04 | 2.37 | 10.71 |
| 2004–05 | 2.60 | 10.26 |
No central assessment is made of spending on main meals in different regions. However, performance indicators on this and related areas are available to all trusts through the estates return information collection system to support local monitoring and decision making.
Data on untouched meals" form part of a wider question on untouched/unserved meals". This includes food delivered to the ward and not served, for example, because a patient has gone home, as well as that served but not eaten.
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Hospital Treatments
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Healthwhat the average cost was of NHS-funded (a) orthopaedic and (b) ophthalmic procedures carried out in (i) NHS and (ii) private healthcare establishments in the last five years for which figures are available, broken down by type. [18912]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the organisations and individuals consulted before the Review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, A Public Consultation was issued; and if she will make a statement. [20698]
Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 25 October 2005, Official Report, columns 265–66W.
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