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11 Jan 2006 : Column 716W—continued

Animal Insulins

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the pharmaceuticals company Novo Nordisk will continue to produce pork insulins for use in the UK; [40154]

(2) what recent discussions she has had with Wockhardt regarding maintaining the supply of animal insulin; and if she will make a statement; [40156]

(3) pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2005, Official Report, column 2108W, on diabetes, what steps she has taken to ensure that patients requiring insulin treatment have access to their usual insulin species while in hospital as an in-patient. [40448]

 
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Jane Kennedy [holding answer 9 January 2006]: Novo Nordisk has informed the Department that it will make a decision about the continued supply of its animal insulin in the United Kingdom in 2006.

The Department is in regular contact with Wockhardt UK. The company has confirmed that it has no plans to discontinue supply of its animal insulin's in the UK.

Animal insulin's are available in the UK to treat patients in hospitals, as well as those in the community. It is up to the clinician, in consultation with the patient, to decide which treatment is most suitable.

Aylesbury Vale PCT

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account she has taken in decisions on funding for Aylesbury Vale primary care trust of changes in the number of people in the area was reported living with a limiting long-term illness between the 1991 and 2001 census. [39675]

Caroline Flint: The weighted capitation formula used to inform allocations to all primary care trusts in England includes an age standardised measure of limiting long-term illness from the 1998 to 2000 Health Survey for England in the component of the formula that measures relative additional need for primary medical services.

Cancer Treatment

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects the (a) Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency product licence and (b) National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance to be issued on the use of Herceptin for the treatment of early stage breast cancer. [23964]

Jane Kennedy: On the 22 September 2005, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) issued a press statement anticipating that Roche would submit a product licence variation application for use of Herceptin in early stage breast cancer by the beginning of 2006. The statement further indicated that similar types of submissions in important oncology indications in the past have been dealt with by the EMEA in an expedited review within two to three months.

Herceptin for early stage breast cancer was referred to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on 21 July 2005. Herceptin will be one of the first drugs to be appraised using NICE'S new single technology appraisal process, which will allow guidance to be issued shortly after any licence is granted.

Lynda Waltho: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients with suspected cancer waited less than two weeks for a specialist appointment in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [38578]

Ms Rosie Winterton: In the last 12 months some 498,310 (96.6 per cent.) patients with suspected cancer were seen by a specialist within two weeks of urgent referral by their general practitioner.
 
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Cardiac Rehabilitation Services

Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how long on average patients who had had a heart attack waited for cardiac rehabilitation services in (a) England, (b) Kettering hospital NHS Trust and (c) Northampton General hospital NHS Trust in 2004–05. [40538]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.

Cholesterol

Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate she has made of the annual cost to the NHS of treating people with unhealthy cholesterol levels. [36760]

Caroline Flint: £769 million was spent on lipid-regulating drugs for the treatment of unhealthy cholesterol levels in England in 2004. The wider costs of treatments for people with raised cholesterol have not recently been estimated.

Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by (a) her Department and (b) the NHS on (i) dietary advice and (ii) drug treatment for those at risk of raised cholesterol. [36765]

Caroline Flint: To date, the Department has spent approximately £6.9 million on promoting positive benefits of a healthy diet and approximately £2.82 billion on lipid-regulating drugs, used to treat those at risk of raised cholesterol. The Department has not separately estimated the cost of dietary advice for those at risk of raised cholesterol.

Contingency Planning

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultation has been undertaken concerning the preparation of the draft emergency regulations which could be made under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 in the event of a health emergency. [35051]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government maintains a set of draft emergency regulations which could provide the basis for emergency regulations should the criteria for the use of emergency powers set out in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 be met. The development of these draft regulations has been informed by the regular dialogue which takes place within and beyond government on the full range of civil contingencies issues, including health emergencies.

Dentistry

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the potential impact of the new general dental services contract on NHS dentistry. [38905]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 20 December 2005]: The impact of the new general dental services contract means that instead of being paid separate fees for each individual item of treatment, dentists will carry out an agreed number of courses of treatment over the course of a year. The required commitment will be 5 per cent. below traditional levels of activity.
 
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The evidence from pilot personal dental services schemes, where dentists do not work on the item of service system, is that moving away from the 'item of service' treadmill allows dentists to follow a more preventive approach, with fewer, individual items of treatment within the average course of treatment.

Primary care trusts (PCTs) will now hold their own dental budget for primary care services. For the first time, PCTs will be able to commission new services to replace capacity where a dentist leaves the national health service or reduces their NHS commitment, and to determine where new practices are established to meet local needs.

Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices in Manchester, Withington constituency have stopped carrying out NHS work since 1997. [40406]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Within the Withington constituency, one dental surgery working in the national health service general dental service (GDS) or personal dental service (PDS) ceased to provide a GDS or PDS service between September 1997 and September 2005.

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she intends to abolish the maximum annual patient dental charge with the introduction of the new General Dental Services contract in April 2006. [36432]

Ms Rosie Winterton: No maximum annual patient dental charge currently exists. The maximum charge per course of treatment is £384. The new charging regime means that from April 2006 the maximum charge for national health service dental treatment will be a band three charge, which for 2006–07 is £189—a reduction of over 50 per cent. from the current maximum charge for treatment.

Departmental Staff

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in her Department were (a) civil servants, (b) contractors and (c) other staff in each year since 1997. [27444]

Jane Kennedy: For the number of civil servants between 1998 and 2004, I refer the hon. Member to table C in Civil Service Statistics 2004 which covers permanent staff numbers (full-time equivalent basis) in the Department. Civil Service Statistics 2004 are available in the Library and on the Cabinet Office Statistics website at:

www.civilservice.gov.uk/management_of_the_civil_service/stat istics/civil_service_statistics/index.asp

The data for 1997 can be obtained from table C in Civil Service Statistics 2003, which is also available in the Library.

Information on the number of contractors within the Department is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

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