| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
30 Jan 2006 : Column 166W—continued
Gene Therapy
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to provide further funding for the MDEX consortium gene therapy clinical trials. [45441]
Jane Kennedy: In 2004, the Department awarded £1.6 million to the muscular dystrophy campaign, headed by Professor Francesco Muntoni at Imperial College London for research on duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). If successful, this research should lead to the first UK gene therapy clinical trial aimed at treating DMD. The Government will carefully monitor developments in this area in considering future funding needs.
Genetic Testing
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps she is taking to build capacity for genetic testing services in the NHS; [44781]
(2) what funding she has made available for expanding genetic testing services since 1997, broken down by area of expenditure. [44906]
Jane Kennedy: Genetic testing is one component of specialised medical genetics services. These are commissioned by specialised commissioning groups, funded by their constituent primary care trusts (PCTs) from PCTs' normal allocations to provide services for their local populations.
The Government have undertaken a number of initiatives since 2001 to strengthen genetic services. In 2002, nearly £11 million was awarded over up to three years across England to provide new laboratory equipment and pump-prime new substantive posts in both clinical and laboratory services. Over 40 clinical scientist and technical posts were funded.
The genetics White Paper, Our Inheritance, Our Future—Realising the potential of genetics in the NHS" in June 2003 built further on this investment. Up to £3.5 million is being made available for a programme to increase the laboratory workforce. This will fund up to 90 new laboratory scientist trainees and the equivalent of 10 full time trainer posts. We have also invested £1.5 million so far in a scheme to train 50 new genetics counsellors over a period of five years.
30 Jan 2006 : Column 167W
The White Paper committed to £18 million to expand and modernise National health service genetic laboratory capacity. This investment, made during 2004–05 and 2005–06, will support genetics laboratories in delivering the genetics White Paper standards for making test results available more quickly.
We have also invested over 4 million to date on several initiatives, including two national genetics reference laboratories and staffing support for the UK Genetic Testing Network, that help laboratories make best use of their capacity.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which genetic tests are offered by NHS organisations in England; which providers offer genetic testing services; which conditions can be diagnosed by these genetic tests; and if she will make a statement. [44904]
Jane Kennedy:
The UK Genetic Testing Network (UKGTN) is a network of the main national health service molecular genetic laboratories in the United
30 Jan 2006 : Column 168W
Kingdom. It produces the 'NHS Directory of Molecular Genetic Testing' which lists molecular genetic tests available through NHS genetic services (www.ukgtn.org) as well as a database of all UKGTN laboratories and the tests that they offer. As many tests are rare and volumes are often low no laboratory offers all the tests listed but tests are sent to other laboratories as necessary.
In addition to these molecular genetic tests offered through the UKGTN some tests will be offered through other laboratories such as those serving haemophilia services and there are other types of genetic test provided for example through cytogenetics laboratories.
The services in England are shown in the following table; they deal with a wide range of genetic disorders, including inherited cancers. There is a further service at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, which deals with inherited cancers only. In general the same trust is host to both the clinical and laboratory services.
Good Hope Hospital
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the contract with Secta at Good Hope Hospital Trust was terminated; and if she will make a statement. [42850]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 24 January 2006]: Birmingham and The Black Country strategic health authority reports that the board of Good Hope Hospital National Health Service Trust reviewed its strategic objectives in conjunction with its franchise partner, Tribal Secta, and decided that the best way to achieve foundation trust status by 2008 was to seek a local NHS partner to work with. As a result, the board has accepted interim management support from Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and has given the new management team a specific remit to assess whether Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust can stand alone or should seek a merger partner. The contract with Tribal Secta, which was scheduled to run until August 2006, was therefore terminated by mutual agreement eight months early to facilitate the trust's new strategic objective of achieving foundation trust status.
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the out-turn against budget at Good Hope Hospital Trust has been in each month of the last five years. [42851]
Ms Rosie Winterton
[holding answer 24 January 2006]: The information is not available in the format requested. The table shows the annual turnover and out-turn for Good Hope Hospital National Health Service Trust in each of the last five years.
30 Jan 2006 : Column 169W
| Turnover | Surplus/deficit | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 71,544 | 48 |
| 2001–02 | 82,551 | 53 |
| 2002–03 | 89,050 | -839 |
| 2003–04 | 93,715 | -5,014 |
| 2004–05 | 106,570 | -3,576 |
Notes:
1. 'Turnover' is the sum of 'income from activities', and 'other operating income'.
2. 'Surplus/deficit' figures relate to the 'retained surplus/deficit for the year' of the trust, in each case.
Source:
Audited summarisation schedules of the Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust.
Greenwich District Hospital
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the change in methodology in the calculation of profit from the sale of the former Greenwich District Hospital site; and who has been affected financially as a consequence of this change. [44324]
Jane Kennedy: This is a local matter. However, the South East London Strategic Health Authority has advised that the methodology used in the calculation of profit of sale of the former Greenwich District Hospital site did not change. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Trust made a net £1.1 million surplus from the disposal of this site in 2004–05 arising from the difference between the net sale proceeds and the value of the asset in the trust's audited accounts. This benefit reduces the size of the deficit that the trust has to recover.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |