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6 Jun 2006 : Column 576W—continued

LCD( 1) , court service and PGO—1 April 2001( 2)
	Headcount
	Full-time staff			Part-time staff			Full-time equivalent
Responsibility level	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
SCS level	—	—	—	—	—	—	62.41	20.56	82.97
Grade 6	—	—	—	—	—	—	56.75	24.35	81.10
Grade 7	—	—	—	—	—	—	137.15	108.81	245.96
SEO	—	—	—	—	—	—	222.00	180.33	402.33
HEO	—	—	—	—	—	—	438,05	588.01	1,026.06
EG	—	—	—	—	—	—	980.66	1,623.93	2,604.59
AO	—	—	—	—	—	—	1,540.93	3,093.90	4,634.83
AA	—	—	—	—	—	—	172,13.	207.90	380.03
Total	—	—	—	—	—	—	3,610.08	5,847.79	9,467.87
(1 )Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) prior to 2003 (2) 2001 and 2002 figures do not provide a breakdown between full and part-time employees.

Appendix B: Magistrates courts service staff by Gender 2005
	Full-time			Part-time
Data	Female	Male	Full-time total	Female	Male	Part-time total	Grand total
Sum of Up to:
£10,000	5	3	8	2	0	2	10
£10,001-£15,000	2,106	784	2,890	1,501	527	2,028	4,918
£15,001-£20,000	1,740	801	2,541	654	71	725	3,266
£20,001-£25,000	867	292	1,159	212	11	223	1,382
£25,001-£30,000	356	149	505	63	3	66	571
£30,001-£35,000	374	194	568	113	10	123	691
£35,001-£40,000	418	306	724	170	10	180	904
£40,001-£45,000	141	159	300	44	3	47	347
£45,001-£50,000	62	92	154	21	3	24	178
£50,001-£55,000	48	61	109	3	2	5	114
£55,001-£60,000	23	39	62	4	0	4	66
£60,001-£65,000	23	35	58	0	0	0	58
£65,001-£70,000	7	17	24	1	0	1	25
£70,001-£75,000	7	15	22	0	0	0	22
£75,001 and above	9	34	43	0	0	0	43
	6,186	2,981	9,167	2,788	640	3,428	12,595

Health

Abortions

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the medical profession about the interpretation by them of section one of the Abortion Act 1967; and if she will make a statement. [73269]

Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 28 March 2006, Official Report, column 947W.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the Government’s progress in reducing the number of abortions in England. [73270]

Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 21 March 2006, Official Report, column 250W.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will amend the abortion notification form to provide for the inclusion of the method of abortion known as partial birth abortion; and if she will make a statement. [73271]

Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 29 March 2006, Official Report, column 1056W.

6 Jun 2006 : Column 577W

Adverse Drug Reactions

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2006, Official Report, columns 736-7W on adverse drug reactions, when she expects the redesign of the drug safety monitoring database to be completed. [72449]

Andy Burnham: Reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the commission on human medicines through the spontaneous reporting scheme, the yellow card scheme.

The MHRA is currently implementing a major upgrade of the drug safety monitoring database and data reporting systems. The MHRA’s redesigned drug safety monitoring database was deployed on 31 May 2006.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the number of people hospitalised each year due to adverse reactions to (i) prescribed and (ii) unprescribed drugs; and if she will make a statement. [73588]

Andy Burnham: The most recent estimate of the burden of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in the United Kingdom (UK) comes from a study published in the British Medical Journal in July 2004. The study conducted in two large hospitals in Merseyside, suggested that ADRs account for one in 16 hospital admissions. This is a similar estimate to a number of studies worldwide, including figures from the United States. The study did not differentiate between prescribed and unprescribed medicines; however, the majority of ADRs were associated with prescribed medicines.

This study highlights the importance of effective systems for monitoring and responding to issues relating to the safety of medicines, a process called pharmacovigilance. This study, which was funded by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), underlines the MHRA’s commitment to improving the evidence base for pharmacovigilance in the UK. As part of this commitment to improving pharmacovigilance, the MHRA is working to strengthen and widen access to the yellow card scheme for reporting suspected ADRs. Access has recently been widened to allow patients to report under a pilot reporting scheme.

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