| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
18 Dec 2006 : Column 1694W—continued
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | ||||
| SHA code | SHA name | Medical | Nursing, midwifery and health visiting | Medical | Nursing, midwifery and health visiting |
Alcohol Misuse
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many finished consultant episodes relating to alcohol there were in each strategic health authority area in England in each year between 1997-98 and 2005-06, broken down by (a) patients aged under 18 years and (b) patients aged 18 years and over; [108636]
(2) how many admissions to hospitals via accident and emergency departments in each strategic health authority area had an alcohol-related diagnosis in each year between 1997-98 and 2005-06, broken down by (a) those aged 18 years and over and (b) those aged under 18 years. [108637]
Caroline Flint: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Alzheimer's
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the savings to the NHS budget that are likely to be made following the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on drug treatments for Alzheimer's disease; what savings are estimated to be made in each primary care trust; and if she will make a statement. [108626]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence estimated that there will be a reduction worth perhaps £10 million in the overall use of Alzheimer’s drugs as a result of its revised appraisal.
No estimate has been made on savings in each primary care trust.
Anti-Depressants
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions for anti-depressants were made for children in 2005-06; and for how many patients these prescriptions were written. [105641]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In 2005-06 220,000 prescriptions for anti-depressants were issued for children aged under 16 and those aged 16 to 18 in full-time education. We do not collect information on the number of children in respect of which these prescriptions were issued.
Not all the prescriptions will have been to treat depression as some of these drugs are also used to treat disorders such as nocturnal enuresis, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and phobic states.
Audiology Services
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2006, Official Report, column 789W, on audiology services, what steps she plans to take to ensure that local commissioners use funding procured through the independent sector treatment centre programme for audiology procurement; and what factors were taken into account when deciding that the funding for additional audiology pathways was not to be ring-fenced. [108411]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department in conjunction with strategic health authorities and primary care trusts (PCTs) is currently scoping audiology requirements locally. PCTs will agree local demand for audiology services and confirm schemes are affordable within the context of their own resources before the procurement is advertised. This will ensure that there is local support and a real capacity requirement for additional audiology services.
Funding allocations are made direct to PCTs to put resources and responsibilities in the hands of front-line services. Individual PCTs are best placed to take the decisions on the commissioning of health care services, including audiology, for their local populations based on their knowledge of the local community.
Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of children in England (a) diagnosed and (b) undiagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder. [105651]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In March 2001 the Department commissioned the Medical Research Council (MRC) to produce a report on the prevalence, incidence and causes of autism. This was published in December 2001 and provides an authoritative overview of the current state of knowledge on the prevalence, incidence and causes of autism.
The report considers recent studies which suggest a prevalence of autism in young children of approximately 60 per 10,000 of the population and finds that much of the headline rise can be accounted for by changes in diagnostic practice and public awareness. It is available on the MRC website at:
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/pdf-autism-report.pdf.
We have not made an estimate of the number of children in England undiagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder.
Birth Rates
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what projections she has made of the number of births in (a) Worthing, (b) Adur and (c) West Sussex in each of the next 10 years; [107880]
(2) what projections she has made of the number of births at Worthing Hospital in each of the next five years. [107882]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Breast Cancer
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many breast cancer screenings took place in Surrey Heath in each year from 1997 to 2006. [104946]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is available only at primary care trust (PCT) level, and only from 2002 onwards. The following table contains details of the number of women aged between 53 and 64 screened under the breast cancer screening programme for each of the five former PCTs in Surrey from 2002 to 2005:
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on delays to breast cancer screening services at the Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal NHS Hospital Trust. [105529]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The average intervals between screenings for breast cancer by local screening units is not collected centrally. However, national health service cancer screening programmes requested data from the NHS breast screening programme on the percentage of local screening units achieving the 36-month national standard between screens for quarter four of 2005-06, i.e. January to March 2006.
In England, 60 per cent. of women were re-screened within the 36-month national standard. 82 per cent. of women were re-screened within 38 months.
The NHS cancer plan, published in 2000, stated that we would extend invitations for breast screening to women aged 65 to 70 and introduce two-view mammography at all screening rounds. Thanks to the efforts of the staff in the screening programme, these targets have now been achieved in all local breast screening units. The expansion is already showing an effect, with nearly 12,000 cancers diagnosed by the programme in 2004-05, an increase of 40 per cent. on 2001 when the expansion began.
However, the changes together represent a 40 per cent. increase in the workload of the programme. We are aware that this has had an impact on some services maintaining the three-year interval for screening and we are taking steps to bring all screening intervals back to three years.
The Department cancer programme board, chaired by the National Cancer Director Professor Mike Richards, has taken a particular interest in this area. The board is considering a course of action with the support of the Department's recovery and support unit.
Cancer Care
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions officials in her Department have had with officials in the Department for Work and Pensions on the provision of advice on financial support for cancer patients in NHS hospitals. [108697]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
Providing cancer patients with information on benefits is an important issue and the Department of Health has been working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to
explore options for publicising information about benefits, including the development of information prescriptions for people with cancer. This includes signposting people with cancer to information about benefits through helplines and website addresses on information prescriptions. Information prescriptions for people with cancer will begin piloting in early 2007.
Additionally we have arranged for information to appear on the Patient Advisory Liaison Service (PALS) website with links to the DWP and Disability and Carers Service (DCS) web pages to help provide PALS workers with information on benefits so as to better advise patients.
Cancer Treatment
Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the pilot studies for information prescriptions for prostate cancer patients will be completed. [106362]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information prescriptions pilots will take place initially in the areas of cancer, mental health and vulnerable older people. The pilots for cancer will focus on several conditions and are not particular to prostate cancer. The initiative has funding of £1.35 million. The cancer pilots are being developed in partnership with Macmillan and Cancerbackup and are expected to begin in December 2006.
Cancer and Heart Disease
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2006, Official Report, column 439W-40W, on cancer/heart disease (mortality rates), if she will estimate how many lives were saved by the reduction in (a) cancer and (b) cardiovascular disease mortality rates between 1989 and 1996. [108668]
Ms Rosie Winterton: ‘Lives saved’ is an assessment of the cumulative effect of year-on-year reductions to the numbers of deaths in a specific age group and from a specific cause of death. In this case, it relates to deaths from circulatory disease and cancer at ages under 75.
It is calculated by subtracting from the number of deaths that occurred in the first year of the period, the number of deaths registered in each subsequent year, and then totalling the differences.
An estimate of the ‘lives saved’ over the time period requested is as follows:
| ‘Lives saved’ at ages under 75 | ||
| Persons aged under 75 | ||
| Lives saved | Circulatory Disease (100-199) | Neoplasms (C00-C97) |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |