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22 Mar 2006 : Column 451W—continued
Independent Sector Treatment Centre
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library a copy of the business case produced for the establishment of an Independent Sector Treatment Centre in Southampton. [57753]
Caroline Flint: The procurement process for an independent sector treatment centre in Southampton is in its early stages. The business case relating to the Southampton scheme contains information that is commercially sensitive and we consider that its release would be likely to jeopardise the ability of the Department and the national health service to secure the best value for money.
Mr. Denham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will make it her policy to ensure that all operations carried out in the proposed Southampton Independent Sector Treatment Centre are additional to those currently carried out by the Southampton University Hospitals Trust; [57755]
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(2) what estimate she has made of the number of operations that will be transferred from the Southampton University Hospitals Trust to the Southampton Independent Sector Treatment Centre in the first year of operation. [57756]
Caroline Flint: We are working with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and New Forest and Southampton City Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to determine the exact number and type of operations that will be carried out in the proposed independent sector treatment centre (ISTC). The decision as to whether or not there will be transferred activity in an ISTC is generally made by the local national health service. In this instance, it is possible that the amount of transferred activity may amount for up to 37 per cent. of the activity but the final decision regarding the case-mix and proportion of operations that will be transferred will be made in consultation with the SHA and the PCTs, and following further discussion with a preferred bidder.
Leukaemia Specialists
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many leukaemia specialists are employed by the NHS in (a) Shropshire and (b) Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency. [50098]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is not available in the format requested.
The table shows medical consultants in the main cancer specialties within Shropshire and Staffordshire strategic health authority (SHA) by organisation.
Source: NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre, Medical and Dental Workforce Census
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the resources available to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to inspect wholesaler dealers' licences. [59099]
Jane Kennedy: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the government body responsible for the safety and licensing of medicines in the United Kingdom, employs six full time good distribution practice inspectors. These inspectors inspect the facilities of licensed wholesale dealers of medicines for human use to confirm compliance with the European Commission's guideline on good distribution practice and UK medicines regulations.
This level of resource is sufficient to maintain a regular and repeated inspection programme, of the distribution sites of licensed wholesale dealers.
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2005, Official Report, column 989W, on the private finance initiative (PFI), if she will list the PFI schemes which (a) had not made unitary payments as at the end of 2003–04 and (b) began unitary repayments in financial year (i) 2004–05 and (ii) 2005–06; what unitary payments have been made by each trust in each year; and what future payments are expected to be made by each trust. [57420]
Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 January 2006, Official Report, column 1855W, which stated that a detailed list of unitary payment for schemes which have reached financial close had been placed in the Library.
The unitary charge columns shows which schemes had commenced payments in each of the given financial years.
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Pharmaceutical Industry
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is the policy of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency that any form of misconduct or non-compliance within a pharmaceutical company which significantly impacts on patient safety is an example of an expeditable safety concern, with reference to 'notification of safety concerns' as described in the draft of Volume 9A, updated to take account of Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 and Directive 2004/27/EC. [59208]
Jane Kennedy: Pharmaceutical companies as marketing authorisation holders have a legal duty to report to Competent Authorities, in the United Kingdom, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, any information impacting on the benefits and risks of a medicinal product for which they hold an authorisation. If misconduct or non-compliance with the legislation impacted on the risks and benefits of a medicinal product and was not reported, then a criminal offence may have been committed.
The revised draft Volume 9A of the Rules Governing Medicinal Products for Human Use—Guidelines on Pharmacovigilance for Medicinal Products for Human Use" does not specify that misconduct or non-compliance within a pharmaceutical company is an expeditable safety concern.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether pharmaceutical wholesalers are subject to the same (a) licence application tests, (b) standards of distribution and (c) inspection regimes irrespective of size. [59145]
Jane Kennedy: All applications for a wholesale dealer's licence for the distribution of medicinal products for human use, received by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), are subject to the same administrative processes. The applicant's site(s) is also subject to inspection to confirm compliance with the European Commission's guideline on good distribution practice and United Kingdom medicines regulations.
The facilities of licensed wholesale dealers of medicines for human use are regularly inspected to confirm compliance with the European Commission's guideline on good distribution practice and UK medicines regulations.
The MHRA's licensing and inspection regime for the distribution of medicinal products for human use applies, regardless of the size or nature of the wholesale distribution operation.
Physical Activity
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department has spent on (a) promoting regular physical activity and (b) physical activity interventions for children since 1997. [59953]
Caroline Flint:
The Department and the national health service promote the benefits of physical activity in many ways to professionals, the public and other stakeholders. In particular, primary care trusts are
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required to have systematic and managed health promotion programmes, including action on exercise, that are responsive to local needs. Spending on the promotion of sport and physical recreation by the NHS is not recorded centrally.
Alongside spending by the NHS to support local delivery of physical activity programmes for adults and children, the Department has funded pilot work to inform interventions, as well as supporting projects through the Section 64 Scheme of Grants. This has included:
The local exercise action pilot scheme (LEAP), which is jointly funded by the Department, Sport England and the Countryside Agency with an overall cost of £2.5 million over three years;
A pilot in 2002–03 to test the effectiveness of offering pedometers as motivational tools to patients in general practitioner surgeries under a loan system to encourage greater walking, jointly funded by the Department and the Countryside Agency; and
A joint Department, Department for Education and Science, and Youth Sport Trust pilot programme Schools on the Move", which includes resource materials for schools, teachers and young people to help integrate pedometers into the life of the school.
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