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22 Nov 2006 : Column 138W—continued



22 Nov 2006 : Column 139W

Hepatitis C Action Plan

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans are in place to monitor progress on the Hepatitis C Action Plan for England, published in July 2004; and if she will make a statement. [100638]

Caroline Flint: Implementation of the Hepatitis C Action Plan for England is being monitored in a variety of ways including:

Influenza

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking in order to meet the World Health Organisation's target of vaccinating 75 per cent. of at-risk groups against seasonal influenza. [101683]

Caroline Flint: In 2003, the World Health Assembly urged member states to aim at vaccination coverage of elderly people of at least 50 per cent. by 2006 and 75 per cent. by 2010. This target was achieved in 2005-06 when uptake in those aged 65 and over reached 75.3 per cent.

Macular Degeneration

Mrs. Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether laser treatment is available on the NHS to treat wet macular degeneration; [100951]

(2) whether tests to diagnose macular degeneration are carried out as part of the routine NHS eye test. [101315]

Ms Rosie Winterton: When a doctor or optician tests an individual's sight, they have a duty to perform such examinations as may be necessary to allow them to detect signs of injury, disease or abnormality. The doctor or optician then has to give the patient a written statement to indicate whether or not they are referring the patient to a doctor for further investigation or treatment. These rules apply to sight tests whether provided privately or under general ophthalmic services arrangements within the national health service.

Some people with wet age-related macular degeneration may be suitable for photodynamic therapy. This involves the use of a photosensitive dye which, when activated in the back of the eye by a low energy laser beam, closes abnormal retinal blood vessels.


22 Nov 2006 : Column 140W

Photodynamic therapy treatment is available on the NHS for patients with both the wholly classic and predominantly classic forms of age-related macular degeneration.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people in England have wet age-related macular degeneration; [101434]

(2) what NHS funded treatments are available for treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration; and if she will make a statement. [101420]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of people with age related macular degeneration is not collected centrally. A study sponsored by the Macular Disease Society in 2001 estimated that in the UK there were 182,000 people with age-related macular degeneration with a best eye visual acuity below that judged appropriate for certification as blind or partially sighted.

Photodynamic therapy treatment is available on the national health service for patients with both the wholly classic and predominantly classic forms of age-related macular degeneration. Photodynamic therapy involves the use of a photosensitive dye which, when activated in the back of the eye by a low energy laser beam, closes abnormal retinal blood vessels.

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure patients have access to the drugs (a) Macugen and (b) Lucentis for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration. [101693]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Lucentis is under assessment by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) and is currently not approved for marketing in the European Union. Macugen already has approval for marketing in the European Union.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently carrying out an appraisal of Macugen and Lucentis for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration and final guidance is due to be published in August 2007. NICE'S appraisal will take into account the outcome of the EMEA's assessment of Lucentis.

Where guidance from NICE is not yet available, primary care trusts are expected to apply local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies. These arrangements should include an assessment of the available evidence.

NHS Blood Products

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why haemophiliacs with hepatitis C virus contracted through blood transfusions in the last 25 years have been paid less per person in compensation than those with HIV. [101606]

Caroline Flint: Unlike the Macfarlane and Eileen Trusts, which administer schemes for those infected with HIV, the ex gratia payment scheme for those
22 Nov 2006 : Column 141W
infected with hepatitis C as a result of national health service treatment with blood or blood products, known as the Skipton Fund, is not a charitable trust.

The Skipton Fund has been designed to make lump sum, ex gratia payments to those living with the hepatitis C virus. The payments are not compensation.

Non-UK Nationals (NHS Care)

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was invoiced by the NHS to other countries in the European Union for services received by those countries’ citizens in the UK in the last financial period for which figures are available, broken down by country; and what payments (a) have been received and (b) are still outstanding. [100939]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The following table shows, in resource terms, the estimated costs of treatment provided by the national health service to persons insured in other European Economic Area (EEA) member states under the terms of Regulations (EEC) 1408/71 and 574/72, and which the United Kingdom (UK) would reclaim from the states concerned. These are estimated claims in according with existing arrangements under the Regulation 574/72. During 2005-06, the UK settled £56.7 million claims for the treatment provided up to March 2006 by the NHS.

Estimated claims against other EEA member states: 2005-06
Country £000

Austria

474

Belgium

2,182

France

3,312

Germany

16

Greece

807

Iceland

9

Ireland

20,742

Italy

4,034

Netherlands

1,699

Portugal

3

Spain

815

Sweden

773

Notes:
1. The information is compiled in line with the requirements of Government Accounting 2000 and National Audit Office (NAO) and used for resource accounting and budging purpose during 2005-06.
2. Figures are in thousands and rounded to the nearest thousand.
3. Claims against new member states would be included in future years.
4. We have a waiver arrangement with a number of member states which means they have agreed to bear the costs of each other insured persons.

22 Nov 2006 : Column 142W

Primary Care

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the likely outturn cost to the public purse of the reconfiguration of primary care in Cambridgeshire in the financial year 2006-07; and if she will make a statement. [101719]

Andy Burnham: The costs of the changes that were announced on 16 May will depend on a number of factors, including the location and staffing of new organisations. These issues are still under consideration and it is not possible at present to forecast final costs.

Commissioning a patient-led national health service is designed to deliver £250 million recurring savings from administration costs through streamlining for reinvestment in frontline services. The savings are expected to be realised by the end of 2007 and then every year for reinvestment beginning in 2008-09.

Smoking

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is given to health trusts about patients smoking in day care facilities for mental health; and whether the guidance includes circumstances in which patients may be permitted to smoke. [101317]

Caroline Flint: The Health Development Agency (now part of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) published “Guidance for Smokefree Hospital Trusts” in January 2005. The guidance includes discussion of the issues specific to mental health trusts. It sets out that special arrangements may have to be made to permit a patient to smoke on a trust site. It confirms that where an exception has been made to a trust’s smokefree policy,

A copy is available in the Library.

Waiting Times

Mr. Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for (a) routine and (b) urgent bone scans is in each NHS Trust. [100516]

Andy Burnham: The waiting times for bone scans are not available split by routine and urgent tests. The latest figures on waits for DEXA scans are published monthly and the table contains the figures for September 2006.


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Waiting times for DEXA scans by NHS trust, September 2006
SHA code Org code Org name Total Waiting Number waiting over 13 weeks Number waiting over 26 weeks Median wait (weeks

Q30

5J8

Durham Dales PCT

30

0

0

2.5

Q30

RE9

South Tyneside Healthcare NHS Trust

117

0

0

5.7

Q30

RLN

City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust

210

0

0

3.3

Q30

RTD

The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust

81

0

0

1.0

Q30

RTF

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust

86

0

0

1.8

Q30

RVW

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals

130

8

1

5.6

Q30

RXP

NHS Trust

78

0

0

1.2

Q31

RBL

Wirral Hospital NHS Trust

271

1

0

4.2

Q31

REM

Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust

62

0

0

0.8

Q31

REP

Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Trust

444

0

0

5.6

Q31

RNL

North Cumbria Acute NHS Trust Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University

498

1

0

4.5

Q31

RQ6

Hospitals NHS Trust

871

290

0

9.7

Q31

RRF

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust

85

22

0

6.4

Q31

RTX

Morecambe Bay Hospitals NHS Trust

312

41

28

3.4

Q31

RVY

Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust

95

0

0

2.7

Q31

RW6

Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

26

0

0

1.5

Q31

RWJ

Stockport Health Services NHS Trust

79

2

0

2.6

Q31

RXL

Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust

97

2

0

0.6

Q32

RAE

Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust

366

13

0

4.4

Q32

RGB

York Health Services NHS Trust Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare

41

2

0

1.8

Q32

RCC

NHS Trust

157

0

0

6.2

Q32

RCD

Harrogate Health Care NHS Trust

123

0

0

3.5

Q32

RCU

Sheffield Children's Hospital NHS Trust

18

0

0

4.8

Q32

RHQ

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS

1501

45

11

3.7

Q32

RJL

Trust

97

0

0

2.4

Q32

RP5

Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Trust

93

0

0

7.5

Q32

RR8

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

112

0

0

1.7

Q32

RWA

Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

172

0

0

2.4

Q32

RWY

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust

58

0

0

2.5

Q33

SAM

Mansfield District PCT Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital

56

0

0

2.2

Q33

RFS

NHS Trust

246

3

0

4.5

Q33

RNS

Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust

31

0

0

1.2

Q33

RTG

Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

140

0

0

1.7

Q33

RWD

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust

462

163

41

7.8

Q33

RWE

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

145

0

0

2.3

Q33

RX1

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

223

4

2

2.9

Q34

5ME

North Stoke PCT

388

6

1

6.2

Q34

RJD

Mid-Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust

310

11

0

7.2

Q34

RJF

Burton Hospitals NHS Trust

67

4

1

4.8

Q34

RJH

Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire

87

0

0

2.9

Q34

RKB

NHS Trust Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and

257

2

0

2.1

Q34

RL1

District Hospital NHS Trust

533

1

0

2.4

Q34

RL4

Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust

65

0

0

1.6

Q34

RQ3

Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Trust Birmingham Heartlands and Solihull Hospitals NHS

8

0

0

n/a

Q34

RR1

Trust

158

16

8

3.7

Q34

RRK

University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust

469

0

0

6.5

Q34

RWP

Worcestershire Acute Hospital NHS Trust Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS

180

1

0

3.3

Q34

RXK

Trust

48

6

0

1.7

Q35

RAJ

Southend Hospital NHS Trust

144

0

0

2.2

Q35

RC1

Bedford Hospital NHS Trust

227

1

0

7.3

Q35

RC9

Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust

383

122

0

9.2

Q35

RDD

Basildon and Thurrock General Hospitals NHS Trust

59

0

0

6.6

Q35

RGN

Peterborough Hospitals NHS Trust

231

3

0

3.7

Q35

RGP

James Paget Healthcare NHS Trust

29

0

0

0.8

Q35

RGQ

Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation

7

0

0

n/a

Q35

RGT

Trust

680

6

0

4.1

Q35

RM1

Norfolk and Norwich Healthcare NHS Trust

307

3

0

2.9

Q35

RQ8

Mid-Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust

17

1

0

3.0

Q35

RWG

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

27

0

0

3.6

Q35

RWH

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

520

11

0

3.3

Q36

5C5

Newham PCT

28

0

0

3.3

Q36

RAL

Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust

613

0

0

5.5

Q36

RAN

(London)

456

124

34

3.9

Q36

RAX

Kingston Hospital NHS Trust

2

0

0

n/a

Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS

Q36

RF4

Trust

369

47

15

3.5

Q36

RG2

Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust

264

0

0

2.8

Q36

RG3

Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust

3

0

0

n/a

Q36

RGC

Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust

313

0

0

3.5

Q36

RJ1

Guy's and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Trust

518

46

0

1.2

Q36

RJ5

St Mary's NHS Trust

103

7

0

7.3

Q36

RJ6

Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust

720

186

2

8.3

Q36

RJ7

St George's Healthcare NHS Trust

354

19

4

6.3

Q36

RNH

Newham Healthcare NHS Trust

53

0

0

2.0

Q36

RNJ

Barts and the London NHS Trust Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS

314

28

0

6.0

Q36

RP4

Trust

2

0

0

n/a

Q36

RQM

Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust

97

0

0

1.0

Q36

RQN

Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust

22

0

0

1.2

Q36

RV8

North West London Hospitals NHS Trust

1,990

1,269

442

17.4

Q37

5L9

Western Sussex PCT

50

0

0

1.7

Q37

RDU

Frimley Park Hospital NHS Trust

159

1

0

1.7

Q37

RN7

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust

18

0

0

5.5

Q37

RPA

Medway NHS Trust

157

1

0

4.9

Q37

RPL

Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust

109

5

0

3.5

Q37

RTK

Ashford and St Peters' Hospitals NHS Trust

627

9

0

6.0

Q37

RW

East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust

348

0

0

2.6

Q37

RWF

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

165

9

0

2.1

Q38

RBF

Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS

176

5

0

1.9

Q38

RD7

Trust

31

0

0

1.5

Q38

RHM

Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust

403

0

0

3.0

Q38

RHU

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust

246

0

0

3.4

Q38

RHW

Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospital NHS Trust

151

14

0

5.7

Q38

RN1

Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust

45

0

0

2.3

Q38

RXQ

Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust

277

60

1

7.7

Q39

RA7

United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust

310

75

7

7.3

Q39

RA9

South Devon Healthcare NHS Trust

80

0

0

3.1

Q39

RBA

Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases

203

0

0

2.3

Q39

RBB

NHS Trust

220

11

0

4.2

Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals

Q39

RDZ

NHS Trust

311

0

0

2.7

Q39

REF

Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust

1,642

1,438

1,243

52.0

Q39

RH8

Royal Devon and Exeter Healthcare NHS Trust

190

3

0

1.7

Q39

RK9

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust

209

2

0

4.5

Q39

RN3

Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust

43

0

0

1.4

Q39

RTE

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust

109

0

0

3.5

Note:
Median waits not calculated where waiting list is less than 10.
Source: DM01

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