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22 Jan 2007 : Column 1582W—continued
Alzheimer’s
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the number of patients in the (a) early and (b) late stages of Alzheimer’s disease who will be affected by the recommendations set out in the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on drug treatments for Alzheimer’s disease; and how many such patients there are estimated to be in each primary care trust. [108625]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We have made no such estimate.
David Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s guidelines on Alzheimer’s drugs treatment for patients in the intermediate stage of Alzheimer’s disease do not have an adverse effect on older people's mental health services. [109950]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's clinical guidelines on dementia will be very important in supporting improved standards of health and social care for people with dementia, including those with moderate Alzheimer’s disease and their families. The Department’s programme to develop older people’s mental health services will seek to ensure that all older people with dementia receive appropriate treatments.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that primary care trusts provide funding to enable clinicians to prescribe the most effective drug treatments available to patients with Alzheimer’s disease who may benefit. [112825]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidance on the most clinically and cost-effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease to the national health service on 22 November 2006.
NICE technology appraisals are covered by a three-month funding direction. Primary care trusts have a legal obligation to provide funding for treatments recommended by NICE within three months of the guidance being issued.
Benefit Claimants
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are issued by her Department to GPs on the presence or absence of claimants when writing disability living allowance and incapacity benefit. [115029]
Mrs. McGuire: I have been asked to reply.
GPs complete reports containing clinical information in relation to their patients’ claims to incapacity benefit and disability living allowance. GPs are expected to be able to complete these reports based on the information contained in the patient’s clinical record and the doctor’s knowledge of the patient. It is not necessary to conduct a separate examination to complete these forms and the patient therefore does not need to be present while the report is completed.
This information is provided to GPs in ‘IB 204: A guide for registered medical practitioners’ which has been issued to all medical practitioners who have direct patient contact.
Burial Places
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps she is taking to promote the provision of burial places in and around Greater London for use by Islamic communities; [117313]
(2) what estimate she has made of the number of burial places available in Greater London. [117314]
Ms Harman: I have been asked to reply.
Provision of burial space is a matter for individual boroughs to decide, including how much space should be set aside for the use of Islamic or other faith communities. The Department's recent guide for burial ground managers recommended seeking the requirements of local faith communities as a matter of good practice.
The returns received in response to the recent burial ground survey of England and Wales are expected to provide an indication of available burial space in London once analysis has been completed. A detailed survey of the position in London was carried out in 1997 by the London Planning Advisory Committee.
Capture, Assess, Treat and Support Service
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the expected (a) set-up costs and (b) total first- year costs are of the capture, assess, treat and support service in the South Lancashire area. [117187]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The provision of the capture, assess, treat and support service in the South Lancashire area is the subject of ongoing commercial negotiations. Information on set-up and total first-year costs is commercially sensitive.
Community Hospitals
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the £750 million she made available for capital spending on community hospitals has been drawn down; and by which organisations. [115751]
Andy Burnham: To date £44.5 million has been allocated to four primary care trusts (PCTs) . The schemes that we are funding are:
the Washington Primary Care Centre, Sunderland PCT;
Gosport War Memorial Hospital, Hampshire PCT ;
the Yate Community Health Centre, South Gloucestershire PCT; and
the West Somerset Healthy Living Park, Somerset PCT.
Arrangements are being made for the funds to be drawn down.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she makes the final decision on the closure of community hospitals and cottage hospitals; and what record is kept of such decisions. [115752]
Andy Burnham: Decisions on national health service reconfigurations are taken by local NHS organisations following appropriate public consultation with local stakeholders, which include the overview and scrutiny committees (OSC) of local authorities.
Where an OSC believes that a proposal to close a hospital is not in the interests of the local health service it can refer the matter to the Secretary of State, who may make a final decision on the proposal.
The Department only maintains a record of decisions relating to service reconfiguration proposals that have been formally referred to the Secretary of State by an OSC.
Corporate Entertainment
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much each (a) NHS trust and (b) primary care trust spent on musical instruments in each year since 1997; [115566]
(2) how much each (a) NHS trust and (b) primary care trust spent on corporate entertainment in each year since 1997. [115567]
Andy Burnham: The information requested is not held centrally.
Counselling Services
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the availability of counselling services as part of general practitioner services in the national health service; and what plans she has for future provision of such services. [113529]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Counselling services are increasingly available in and through primary care services, however, the availability of these services is quite varied. The Healthcare Commission is therefore considering commissioning a detailed audit of the availability of psychological therapies within primary and secondary care. The Royal College of Psychiatrists' research and training unit is currently identifying priorities for this audit and planning how it will be conducted if it is commissioned.
In addition, a programme to improve access to psychological therapies was launched in May 2006. This programme is considering the national requirements for evidence-based psychological
interventions for common mental disorders as set out in the NICE guidance, and two demonstration sites have recently been established.
The sites will test the theory that improved access to talking therapies can help tackle suffering, promote the well-being of the general population and have a significant economic impact by helping more people with depression or anxiety return to work or help them stay in employment.
To date, the demonstration sites have seen in excess of 2,000 patients with depression and anxiety disorders, and early indications with regard to clinical outcome and overall patient satisfaction are very favourable.
Crisis Resolution Teams
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the (a) role and (b) budget of each crisis resolution team. [115719]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Crisis resolution home treatment teams (CR/HT) are set up to engage with adults aged 16 to 65 years who experience severe mental illness with an acute psychiatric crisis such as schizophrenia, a manic or a severe depressive disorder. Patients are treated in the community, rather than as hospital in-patients to minimise any disruption to their lives.
Financial data on CR/HT teams is not collected centrally. Mental health strategies collect information on planned investment in adult mental health services for the Department. Planned investment in 2005-06 for crisis resolution/home treatment teams was £155 million.
The responsibility for providing and commissioning mental health services within the national health service rests with provider trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) respectively. It is for PCTs and provider trusts, in conjunction with their strategic health authorities to plan and develop services according to the needs of their local communities.
Dental Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment she has made of the difference between the (a) originally anticipated level and (b) actual level of patient charge income under new general dental services contracts and personal dental services agreements. [114992]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is for primary care trusts to monitor and manage patient charge revenue locally in the context of managing their overall net financial commitments. The Department is not in a position to make a reliable estimate of patient charge revenue at national level ahead of receiving final outturn data for the full financial year. The Information Centre for Health and Social Care will be publishing information on income from dental patient charges in due course.
Departmental Computer Data
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any corrupt data have been detected on her Department's computer systems. [108469]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not keep records about individual instances when data have been detected as being corrupt. The Department has robust data recovery procedures that, in most situations, enable information that becomes lost by whatever means, including corruption, to be recovered.
Departmental Energy Policy
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to make her Department carbon neutral. [105742]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department is committed to achieving carbon neutrality in its London administrative estate by 2012. This is in line with Government-wide targets.
We are currently working with the Carbon Trust and others to minimise our overall energy efficiency. Carbon emissions from unavoidable energy consumption will be offset from 2012.
This information relates only to the Department's main London estate. The Department also occupies a building in Leeds, where the major occupier is Department of Work and Pensions, and another building in London where the major occupier is HM Revenue and Customs. Both these Departments are subject to the same Government-wide targets. We will be doing whatever we can, such as encouraging our staff to save energy, to support them in meeting the targets.
Diabetes: Pregnant Women
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the merits of the introduction of pin-prick blood tests for diabetes for pregnant women. [113733]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Routine screening of all women for diabetes is not recommended. However, selective screening of women with high-risk factors such as a family history of diabetes, a current or previous big baby and recurrent glycosuria in pregnancy are indicators for testing by a glucose tolerance test. Health care providers should remain alert throughout the entire antenatal period to signs or symptoms of conditions which affect the health of the mother and foetus, including diabetes.
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of babies who died before birth as a result of undiagnosed maternal diabetes in each of the last five years. [113734]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Data on mortality rates of babies who died before birth as a result of undiagnosed maternal diabetes is not collected.
Folic Acid
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to receive a formal recommendation from the Food Standards Agency on the fortification of flour with vitamin folic acid; and if she will make a statement. [116925]
Caroline Flint: We expect to receive this advice during the summer. The agency's board will be taking into account the results of the current public consultation on options to improve the folate status in young women, consumer research and the final report of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition in developing its recommendations.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the take- up of vitamin folic acid by women adjacent to the time of contraception in the (a) (i) C2 and (ii) DE demographic groups and (b) (A) under 24 years of age and (B) over 25 years of age groups; and if she will make a statement. [116928]
Caroline Flint: The United Kingdom national infant feeding survey takes place every five years and asks mothers about the benefits of taking folic acid during pregnancy. In 1995, three-quarters (75 per cent.) were aware of the benefits of taking folic acid and this increased to over nine out of 10 (92 per cent.) by 2000. Most women who knew of the increased benefits of taking folic acid had taken some action to increase their intake of folic acid. Three in 10 (31 per cent.) had changed their diets and almost three-quarters (73 per cent.) had taken supplements, with some women doing both. The 2000 survey was not able to differentiate whether the action was prior to conception or after they were aware that they were pregnant. The report did not provide any further breakdown based either on age or demographic groups.
The results of the 2005 national infant feeding survey are expected in spring 2007.
The health survey of England provides more up-to- date information on the use of folic acid supplements prior to and during pregnancy for mothers who had planned their pregnancy. Nearly four out of five mothers (79 per cent.) reported increasing their folate intake during pregnancy. The proportion of mothers taking action increased with age from 32 per cent. for those aged 16 to 24 up to 60 per cent. for those 35 years and older. Slightly more than four in 10 (43 per cent.) mothers in the most socio-economically deprived areas were likely to increase their folate intake compared with seven in 10 (70 per cent.) mothers in the least socio-economically deprived areas.
Food Standards Agency
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what science-based studies underpinned the Food Standards Agency's food labelling traffic light scheme; and what plans she has to extend the scheme to the catering sector. [113786]
Caroline Flint: The Food Standards Agency's (FSA) front-of-pack signpost recommendations for a traffic light labelling approach for use in retail outlets is supported by extensive scientific research and consultation with stakeholders.
A programme of consumer research was carried out during 2004 and 2005 to test various signposting approaches, comprising a series of studies that provided information on:
Preference—what signpost formats appeal to consumers;
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