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17 Jan 2006 : Column 1302W—continued

Lymphoedema

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been diagnosed with lymphoedema in (a) Tamworth constituency, (b) Staffordshire, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each year since 1997. [22154]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Data on the incidence of lymphoedema are not available centrally.

Macular Degeneration

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to make photodynamic therapy available on the NHS to treat age-related macular degeneration. [40605]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued their guidance on photodynamic therapy on 24 September 2003. Implementation of the NICE guidance was co-ordinated by local specialist commissioning groups. All primary care trusts are funding photodynamic therapy treatment for patients with both the wholly classic and predominantly classic forms of age-related macular degeneration.
 
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Media Monitoring

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library copies of (a) print and (b) broadcast media monitoring undertaken for her Department since 2002. [36975]

Jane Kennedy: The current arrangements for regular national and regional media monitoring and analysis started in late 2004. The Department monitors the print media only in the regional media. A small proportion of the national broadcast media is monitored but the large majority of media monitoring covers the print media only.

Over the summer of 2005, a summary of media coverage for December 2004 was published as part of the Department's communications research publication scheme under the freedom of information (FOI). Officers considered the merits of different methods of publication for all the research, including the Department's Library and its website. The Department's website was chosen as the most cost-effective method and the best fit with FOI requirements.

The Department has committed to publishing summaries of its communications research every six months. The next publication date is February 2006. This will include summaries of media analysis from January to June 2005. Copies of the December 2004 analysis has been placed in the Library.

Nappies

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much the NHS spent on disposable nappies in each year since 1997; [40972]

(2) what recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with regard to the use of reusable nappies in NHS hospitals; [40973]

(3) what estimate she has made of the effect on costs to NHS hospitals of supplying reusable nappies on maternity wards in place of disposable nappies. [40974]

Mr. Byrne: Information on national health service expenditure on disposable nappies is not collected centrally.

I have had no recent discussions with ministerial colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about the use of reusable nappies in national health service hospitals. It is for individual NHS trusts to decide on the practicalities, including the effect on costs, of promoting the use of reusable nappies in their own maternity units.

NHS Central Registration System

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of new registrants with general practitioners who had previously been resident outside the UK in each of the last three years for which information is available, broken down by local authority area. [38507]

Mr. Byrne: The Department does not hold this information centrally.
 
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NHS Gift Card Scheme

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Healthwhat involvement her Department has had in the NHS Gift Card Scheme; and if she will make a statement. [40376]

Jane Kennedy [holding answer 9 January 2006]: The Department has had no involvement in the NHS gift card scheme.

NHS Tariff Uplift

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the size of the NHS tariff uplift (a) will be between 2005–06 and 2006–07 and (b) was between 2004–05 and 2005–06. [39283]

Mr. Byrne: Details on the 2006–07 tariff will be published in January 2006.

NICE Guidance

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what direction her Department has given to the NHS regarding the implementation of clinical guidelines emanating from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. [40234]

Jane Kennedy: Clinical guidelines issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) are included within the national standards set out in Standards for Better Health" (2004). NICE'S clinical guidelines are part of the developmental standards which national health service bodies are required to take into account in discharging their functions. The Healthcare Commission also takes these standards into consideration when undertaking their annual review of NHS bodies.

Nurses

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many qualified nurses are on maternity leave from the NHS; and how many of these nurses qualified in the last 12 months. [39303]

Mr. Byrne: This information is not collected centrally.

Nursing and Midwifery Council

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints were referred to the Fitness to Practice Department of the Nursing and Midwifery Council in each of the last five years. [41105]

Jane Kennedy: This information is not held centrally. Data about fitness to practice cases can be obtained directly from the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Osteoporosis

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received advocating the incorporation of osteoporosis in the new Quality and Outcomes Framework of the General Medical Services contract from April 2006. [39327]

Mr. Byrne: The quality and outcomes framework is a national agreement as part of the general medical services contract. Negotiations have just concluded for the 2006–07 contract and were held between NHS
 
17 Jan 2006 : Column 1305W
 
Employers (NHSE) and the General Practice Committee of the British Medical Association. As part of the review process NHSE secured an independent review panel at the University of Birmingham to receive submissions and representations from interested parties.

Payment-by-results

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any NHS organisations which have suspended the operation of payment by results for elective activity; whether suspension of payment by results has been sanctioned by her Department; and if she will make a statement. [39368]

Mr. Byrne: 2005–06 is the first year of transition from locally negotiated prices to a national tariff. The use of risk-sharing mechanisms by a few health authorities is reasonable in this context. This is a mature and sensible approach and amounts to a minor modification of the planned roll out of payment by results rather than its suspension.

Pesticide Residue

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent (a) assessment she has made of and (b) reports she has commissioned into the health implications arising from the presence in food of a combination of (i) additives and (ii) pesticide residues. [41920]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 16 January 2006]: The independent Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) considered the health implications of mixtures of pesticides in 2002 and mixtures of additives in 2004. They advised that the health hazard due to mixtures of such chemicals at levels found in food is likely to be small. The COT report can be found on the Food Standard Agency's (FSA) website at: www.food.gov.uk/science/research/researchinfo/foodcomponentsresearch/mixturesresearch/t10prog/

The FSA advises that it is funding research to meet the COT recommendations to investigate possible health effects of mixtures of chemicals, including a project on food additives and a programme on mixtures of pesticides. Details of this research can be found on the FSA's website at: www.food.gov.uk/science/research/researchinfo/foodcomponentsresearch/mixturesresearch/t10prog/

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