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20 Jan 2006 : Column 1671W—continued

IT Projects

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department has spent on cost overruns on information technology projects in the NHS since 1997. [27501]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 11 November 2005]: Funding of information technology projects in the national health service has historically been the responsibility of individual NHS bodies. Before the advent of the national programme for information technology at the beginning of 2003, any funding provided by the Department was given as a contribution to local initiatives, for which business responsibility and overall expenditure control rested with the NHS bodies concerned.

All the systems being funded and deployed by the Department as part of the national programme are proceeding on budget. No additional costs have been incurred.

Late Payments

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many suppliers have waited longer than 30 days for payment in each year since NHS Professionals was established; and what the amounts of the payments were. [38870]

Mr. Byrne: NHS Professionals was established on 1 April 2004. In 2004–05, NHS Professionals paid 97 per cent. of its bills within 30 days or contract terms. 1,092 bills were not paid on time out of a total of 35,698; these bills amounted to a value of £1.9 million in comparison to a total value of £36.6 million.

Mental Health

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2005, Official Report, column 1565W, on antidepressants, if she will provide the information broken down by the following age groups: (a) 0 to 15 years, (b) 16 to 18 years and in full-time education and (c) people aged 60 years and over. [38892]

Mr. Byrne: Aged-based prescription data is available only for the exemption categories as shown in the following tables. The data refers to the quantity prescribed and the cost to the national health service in England for each antidepressant in 2004–05. Data is not available for other years.
 
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Table 1: Antidepressant quantities prescribed on the NHS in England 2004–05 for charge-exempt age categories

	Number of NHS prescriptions in England 2004–05
Name of antidepressant	0–15 years	16 to 18 years and in full-time education	60 years and over
Amitriptyline Embonate	0	0	18
Amitriptyline Hydrochloride	18,284	15,912	2,737,111
Amoxapine	0	0	1,441
Citalopram Hydrobromide	9,627	25,861	1,783,585
Clomipramine Hydrochloride	1,356	945	157,195
Desipramine Hydrochloride	0	0	10
Dosulepin Hydrochloride	2,672	5,607	1,239,658
Doxepin	144	371	77,104
Escitalopram	1,751	6,341	250,768
Fluoxetine Hydrochloride	26,422	40,991	1,163,009
Flupentixol Hydrochloride	480	739	109,057
Fluvoxamine Maleate	533	445	8,703
Imipramine Hydrochloride	10,896	1,392	131,384
Iproniazid	0	0	0
Isocarboxazid	0	0	2,840
Lofepramine Hydrochloride	1,075	2,576	235,138
Maprotiline Hydrochloride	20	81	7,472
Mianserin Hydrochloride	0	0	16,244
Mirtazapine	1,596	3,072	461,135
Moclobemide	20	79	10,426
Nefazodone Hydrochloride	0	0	1,295
Nortriptyline	564	343	85,906
Other Preparations	0	0	0
Oxitriptan	2	0	0
Paroxetine Hydrochloride	2,601	4,290	699,456
Phenelzine Sulphate	20	20	15,556
Protriptyline Hydrochloride	0	0	0
Reboxetine	2	8	539
Sertraline Hydrochloride	10,457	12,395	696,421
Tranylcypromine Sulphate	40	20	11,095
Trazodone Hydrochloride	943	1,373	280,134
Trimipramine Maleate	382	241	100,877
Tryptophan	20	20	1,774
Venlafaxine	2,913	8,037	1,007,590
Total	92,820	131,159	11,292,941

Table 2: Costs for antidepressants prescribed in England 2004–05 for charge-exempt age categories

	Cost of NHS prescriptions in England 2004–05 (£)
Name of antidepressant	0 to 15 years	16 to 18 years and in full-time education	60 years and over
Amitriptyline Embonate	0.00	0.00	79.53
Amitriptyline Hydrochloride	6,473.63	29,724.31	5,043,584.32
Amoxapine	0.00	0.00	19,026.28
Citalopram Hydrobromide	171,030.39	433,873.22	27,890,019.25
Clomipramine Hydrochloride	5,347.53	4,430.61	804,550.83
Desipramine Hydrochloride	0.00	0.00	433.18
Dosulepin Hydrochloride	8,833.79	17,562.96	4,522,827.49
Doxepin	286.83	506.97	158,515.61
Escitalopram	37,252.23	122,835.24	4,608,998.31
Fluoxetine Hydrochloride	204,598.43	202,509.17	4,484,031.00
Flupentixol Hydrochloride	1,027.75	2,036.23	330,810.78
Fluvoxamine Maleate	8,634.24	8,405.73	195,849.62
Imipramine Hydrochloride	29,999.15	4,049.12	378,914.75
Iproniazid	0.00	0.00	0.00
Isocarboxazid	0.00	0.00	123,693.77
Lofepramine Hydrochloride	11,012.53	24,204.80	2,386,055.58
Maprotiline Hydrochloride	539.72	910.48	56,736.44
Mianserin Hydrochloride	0.00	0.00	121,053.08
Mirtazapine	34,075.57	63,365.45	9,498,218.88
Moclobemide	137.72	959.88	209,039.98
Nefazodone Hydrochloride	0.00	0.00	30,432.85
Nortriptyline	4,779.73	2,964.45	691,438.62
Other Preparations	0.00	0.00	0.00
Oxitriptan	999.33	0.00	0.00
Paroxetine Hydrochloride	49,834.47	82,321.27	10,282,366.48
Phenelzine Sulphate	717.92	394.89	277,699.67
Protriptyline Hydrochloride	0.00	0.00	0.00
Reboxetine	47.28	138.06	8,880.03
Sertraline Hydrochloride	271,203.71	300,393.36	14,950,213.87
Tranylcypromine Sulphate	921.88	438.96	148,245.40
Trazodone Hydrochloride	7,587.43	13,773.85	3,311,005.90
Trimipramine Maleate	3,900.29	1,967.10	1,373,059.80
Tryptophan	521.79	4.60	43,975.80
Venlafaxine	99,938.48	264,447.15	33,149,022.21

 
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Methylphenidate

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if her Department will commission research into whether methylphenidate affects children's growth. [23993]

Jane Kennedy: It is recognised that stimulants such as methylphenidate can affect weight gain and growth in children following long-term use. The product information, for prescribers and patients or carers, and the British National Formulary contain warnings about this risk and advise that the child's weight and height should be regularly checked throughout treatment.

A number of studies have been conducted to investigate this issue and these inform current clinical guidance. It is unlikely that additional studies would impact on the current recommendations for regular monitoring and treatment breaks in children who are not gaining weight or growing as expected.

Midwife-led Birthing Centres

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwife-led birthing centres there are in Westmorland and Lonsdale. [42386]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 16 January 2006]: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Ministerial Visits

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she has plans to visit Coventry, South. [39236]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 20 December 2005]: The Secretary of State for Health has no current plans to visit Coventry, South.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence she has received to support the decision that Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is a valid syndrome. [30110]

Mr. Byrne: We no longer use the term Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy to refer to fabricated or induced illness. However, some adults do fabricate illness in their children, or exaggerate their symptoms, or sometimes even induce the illness, for example by poisoning. At least two mothers have received prison sentences after their children died because of illnesses induced by salt poisoning.
 
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National Trauma Service

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the Royal College of Surgeons' proposals for a National Trauma Service in a Level 2 hospital with particular reference to proposals for (a) a 24-hour Accident and Emergency department, (b) a consultant-led resuscitate trauma team, (c) Intensive Care Unit and trauma beds and (d) helicopter landing access; and if she will make a statement. [27254]

Mr. Byrne: The Department has not made any recent assessment of the Royal College of Surgeons' and the British Orthopaedic Association's joint proposals for a national trauma service, as set out in their July 2000 publication Better care for the severely injured.

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