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8 Nov 2005 : Column 388W—continued

Breast Screening

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received on the breast screening results from Epping hospital; and if she will make a statement. [22789]

Ms Rosie Winterton: There have been no representations to Secretary of State for Health on breast screening results from Epping hospital.

Cancer

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will discuss the effectiveness of Herceptin on early stage treatment of breast cancer with the Secretary of State for Scotland. [20994]

Ms Rosie Winterton: My right hon. Friend has no plans to discuss the effectiveness of Herceptin with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Scotland. Both have announced plans for the managed introduction of Herceptin once it is licensed.

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which groups are typically under-represented in the NHS routine breast cancer screening programme; and what steps she is taking to increase the uptake of routine breast cancer screening among these groups. [23968]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Evidence shows that groups who are less likely to attend for screening are those who live in deprived areas and women from some ethnic minority groups.
 
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We have taken a number of steps to encourage those women who are under represented to attend for screening. These include:

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received from (a) NHS organisations and (b) other interested parties on failures to ensure that the three-year interval for screening under the NHS routine breast cancer screening programme is being met. [23969]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Health Service Cancer Plan, published in 2000, stated that we would extend invitations for breast screening to women aged 65 to 70 and introduce two-view mammography at all screening rounds. Over 98 per cent. of local screening programmes have now implemented these changes. However, the changes together represent a 40 per cent. increase in the workload of the programme. We are aware that this has had an impact on some services maintaining the three-year interval for screening and we are taking steps to bring all screening intervals back to three years.

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department has taken to produce culturally-sensitive breast cancer awareness information in a variety of formats and languages. [24708]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 3 November 2005]: It is important that all women are breast aware and report any changes to their doctors. That is why in 1999 we produced the leaflet, Be Breast Aware", in collaboration with Cancer Research UK, giving advice on this issue. The leaflet has been translated into Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Polish, Punjabi, Urdu, Vietnamese, Greek, Hindi and Turkish. Over 3 million copies of the leaflet have been distributed since 1999, over 200,000 of which were in the translated versions.

In addition to the standard print versions, the Department is committed to providing alternative publication services and we supply on-demand to all requests for alternative formats, such as Braille, audio-tape and large print.

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost per capita was of treating cancer in England in each of the last five years. [19902]

Ms Rosie Winterton: We do not hold information about the proportion of national health service expenditure spent on treating cancer patients. It is for individual primary care trusts to decide the level of funding they allocate to cancer services for their population.
 
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Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the implications of the development of a vaccine for the virus which causes cervical cancer for the cervical cancer screening programme. [21777]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The vaccines in development are a preventative measure; however, they are only effective against approximately 80 per cent. of human papilloma viruses thought to be linked to cancer; they need to be given to women and girls before they become sexually active and we do not yet know how long they are effective for. We would therefore expect little or no effect on the cervical screening programme for a decade or more after the introduction of any vaccination programme.

Cervical screening currently remains the most effective way of preventing cervical cancer and the programme continues to encourage strongly all women between 25 and 64 to attend for regular screening when invited. The programme also continues to strive to improve its high quality, world-leading service through new research and developments in technology that could benefit both women and staff.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to fund the provision of HER2 testing for the suitability of Herceptin to all women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. [21963]

Ms Rosie Winterton: In this financial year, the funding for the provision of HER2 testing will have to come from existing budgets. However, Roche, the manufacturer of Herceptin, has undertaken to assist cancer networks in ensuring that high quality testing arrangements are put in place, for example through the provision of training for laboratory staff.

Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the UK's financial contribution to the cost of running the EU's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use was in each of the last five years. [20988]

Jane Kennedy: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency does not make any direct financial contribution to the European Medicines Agency for the cost of running the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, now known as the Committee on Human Medicinal Products.

Dentistry

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she plans to publish her Department's response to the Primary Care Dental Salaried Services Review; and if she will make a statement on the reason for the time taken to do so. [23279]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 31 October 2005]: Plans for publication of the response to the review of salaried dentists in primary care have not been finalised. We are currently considering the significant issues raised by the review's proposed reform of the career structure of the salaried services.
 
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Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2005, Official Report, column 205W, on NHS dentistry, how many patients were registered with an NHS dentist in each primary care trust in (a) 2002–03, (b) 2003–04 and (c) 2004–05, excluding those patients who pay for the whole of their treatment. [23892]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The relevant available information was placed in the Library. We have updated the information up to September 2005 and this has been placed in the Library.

The Department does not collect data on those patients who pay for the whole of their treatment because these are private patients.
 
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Departmental Consultation

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list formal consultations being sponsored by her Department and its agencies; and what the (a) commencement date and (b) deadline for responses is in each case. [22569]

Jane Kennedy: The table shows the 10 public written consultations currently being undertaken by the Department. The Department does not gather or hold information about consultations carried out separately by its executive agencies or other arm's length bodies.

All current and closed consultations are listed on the Department's website at

www.dh.gov.uk/Consultations.
Department/ agencyTitle of consultationCommencement dateDeadline for responses
Department of Health (DH)Arrangements for the provision of dressings, incontinence appliances, stoma appliances, chemical reagents and other appliances to primary and secondary care24 October 200523 January 2006
DHProposed changes to the regulatory framework for adult social care services14 October 200514 January 2006
DHEuropean Commission proposal for a programme of community action in the field of health and consumer protection 2007–1310 October 20056 January 2006
DHConsultation on the future governance arrangements for the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control10 October 200531 December 2005
DHThe acutely or critically sick or injured child in the District General Hospital: a team response15 August 200531 December 2005
DHDraft Revised Colorectal Measures for the Manual for Cancer Services 200430 September 200530 December 2005
DHProposals to simplify the reimbursement arrangements for NHS dispensing contractors: a consultation7 September 200530 November 2005
DHReview of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act: a public consultation16 August 200525 November 2005
DHYour Health, Your Care, Your Say12 September 200504 November 2005
DHCode of Conduct for Payment by Results: draft for consultation4 August 20054 November 2005


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