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8 Nov 2006 : Column 1813W—continued
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department has spent on (a) information technology projects generally and (b) web-facing projects in each year since 2001, broken down by (i) expenditure on consultants and (ii) other costs. [97561]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is listed in the table by spend on information technology projects generally and web-facing projects in each year since 2001. It has not been possible to provide a breakdown of consultancy costs for these projects.
| £000 | |||
| Spend on information technology projects | Spend on web-facing projects | Total | |
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which of her Department’s databases are (a) wholly and (b) partly operated by external organisations or individuals; and which organisations and individuals own those databases. [97769]
Caroline Flint: The Department does not hold this information centrally and to obtain it would involve disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which databases operated by her Department are located (a) wholly and (b) partly outside the UK; and where each of those databases and parts of databases is located. [97770]
Caroline Flint: Records for all the Department’s databases are not held centrally. For those that are known none are located wholly or partly outside of the UK.
Depression
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial resources have been used to promote non-drug intervention for depression to (a) GP surgeries and (b) relevant patient groups. [100320]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published clinical guidance for the management of depression in primary and secondary care in 2004. The guidance draws on the best current available evidence for the treatment and management of depression and covers both psychological and drug treatments. Health professionals are expected to take NICE guidance fully into account when exercising their clinical judgement. Different versions of the guidance have been distributed to medical and nursing directors, general practitioners and patient advocacy groups in England and Wales.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of (a) the Beating the Blues programme and (b) other non-drug intervention for depression. [100321]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We are supporting the increased availability of evidence based psychological therapies through our programme “Improving Access to Psychological Therapies”, which began in May, and this policy was set out in our 2005 manifesto and in the “Our Health, Our Care, Our Say” White Paper.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidance on computerised cognitive behavioural therapies (CCBT) on 22 February 2006, building on its previous guidance on the management and treatment of depression. In reappraising CCBT, NICE has recommended “Beating the Blues” as an option for the treatment of mild and moderate depression and “FearFighter” as an option for the treatment of panic and phobia. We are committed to empowering people to take charge of their own treatment and we consider CCBT as an effective vehicle towards this aim.
Clinical guidelines on the management of depression in primary and secondary care were also issued by NICE, in 2004. The guidelines include recommendations for effective drug and psychological treatments for people with mild to moderate depression, anxiety or schizophrenia, and which health care professionals are expected to take fully into account when making decisions about treatment.
Diabetes
Mr. Dunne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with diabetes were offered retinal
screening in Shropshire County Primary Care Trust in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of people with diabetes in the area this represented. [100210]
Ms Rosie Winterton: 9,183 people were offered retinopathy screening in Shropshire County Primary Care Trust in the last 12 months to June 2006. This represents a proportion of 83.4 per cent. of people with diabetes.
Disabled Staff
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many disabled people were hired by her Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what percentage of the overall work force these figures represented in each year; and how many disabled people left their employment in her Department over the same period. [92465]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Data on the disabled status of Department entrants and leavers are available for 2004-05, 2003-04 and 2002-03 only.
Data in the table are rounded (to the nearest 10) and excluded (where numbers are less than 5).
It should be remembered that disability status is self-declared and voluntary.
| Entrants who declared themselves as disabled | All entrants | Staff in post | Disabled entrants as a percentage of all entrants | Disabled entrants as percentage of staff in post | |
Figures have been taken from the civil service website at:
www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/reports/index.asp.
It is not possible to produce a consistent series from earlier years’ data without incurring disproportionate costs.
Food Safety
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of systems of inspections of food establishments in other countries. [97603]
Caroline Flint: It is the responsibility of each country’s national authorities to ensure that food establishments are monitored for compliance with food safety rules. The Food and Veterinary Office of the European Commission has the task of ensuring that European Union legislation on food safety is properly implemented and enforced. It carries out inspections in EU and other countries in fulfilling this role.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will encourage local authorities in England to post the results of inspections of food establishments on the internet. [97604]
Caroline Flint: The Food Standards Agency supports increased transparency in food hygiene standards by publishing business scores on a website and the display of scores on premises.
The agency is currently launching with local authorities a number of pilots of such “scores on the doors” schemes. The aim of these trials is to help provide an evidence base to inform an agency recommendation for one preferred scheme nationwide.
Although the pilots will continue for up to two years, if it is clear that a particular approach is outperforming others a recommendation will be made sooner.
General Medical Services Contract
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable is for introducing changes following the decision to include oral evidence from stakeholders to the expert review group based at the University of Birmingham in the Quality and Outcomes Framework of the General Medical Services Contract. [93082]
Caroline Flint: NHS Employers and the General Practitioners Committee (GPC) of the British Medial Association (BMA) announced on 24 August the process for the ongoing development of the Quality and Outcomes Framework.
Building on their role in the previous review, Birmingham University, in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Society of Academic Primary Care, has been appointed on a three-year contract (May 2006 to May 2009) to inform the development of the QOF.
The expert panel will continue their work of reviewing the evidence base for current indicators. They will also consider on a continuing basis new evidence-based elements for possible future inclusion in the framework. Future development will depend on the strength of the evidence base and best practice, and the resources available to deliver it.
The work of the expert panel informs the continuing review and development of the QOF in negotiations with the BMA's General Practitioners Committee.
Generic Medicines
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what discussions she has had with members of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee on her Department’s consultation on the reimbursement of branded generic medicines in 2005; and what contact her officials have had with that body; [99865]
(2) whether her Department has had discussions with (a) pharmacists and (b) affiliated groups on her Department’s consultation on branded generic medicines in 2005; and if she will make a statement; [99866]
(3) when she expects to publish the results of her Department’s consultation on the sale of branded generic medicines. [99882]
Andy Burnham: In January and September 2005, the Department issued two consultation letters seeking views on its proposals for standard branded generics. The consultations were sent to all potentially concerned parties including the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), who provided a full and detailed response both by letter and during a number of subsequent meetings with the Department.
In addition to the PSNC response, the Department also received six replies from independent pharmacy contractors and seven from affiliated groups.
The responses raised complex issues which will be further reviewed in light of the outcome of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) review on the PPRS which is due in the first quarter of 2007.
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice her Department offers to primary care trusts on the purchase of (a) generic and (b) branded generic drugs. [99878]
Andy Burnham: The Department offers no advice to primary care trusts on this matter.
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department plans to offer primary care trusts advice on controlling their drugs budgets. [99879]
Andy Burnham: We have no plans to issue such advice. The NHS Business Services Authority, the Information Centre for health and social care and the NHS Institute provide primary care trusts with a range of information and analytical tools to aid the management of drugs budgets.
General Practitioners
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) new and (b) remodelled GP surgeries opened in each of the last 20 years. [93930]
Caroline Flint: Data on numbers of new or remodelled general practitioner (GP) surgeries were not collected 20 years ago. However, since 1997 there has been a 60 per cent. increase in investment in GP premises. Part of this was through NHS Plan targets to refurbish or replace by December 2004 3,000 GP premises and in addition create 500 primary care centres providing services appropriate to meet local need. These targets were achieved through the replacement or refurbishment of 2,848 GP premises and 510 primary care centres. We expect to see an additional 125 of these primary care centres built by the end of this year and in 2008 the total will stand at 750.
In addition, there are many examples of new premises provided under the national health service local improvement finance trust initiative (NHS LIFT) that fully satisfy the minimum standards. The LIFT programme has contributed to this progress and has proven to be a tremendous success. Already some £951 million private, and £210 million public, sector investment has been injected into GP premises and community facilities across the country. There are 42 NHS LIFT areas established with another seven in procurement.
This has, to date, delivered 97 new buildings open to patients with, on average, a building a week opening during 2006 and 2007.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact of the 48 hour access targets for general practitioners on the availability of pre-booked routine appointments; what plans she has to revise those targets; and if she will make a statement. [97634]
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