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9 Mar 2007 : Column 2280W—continued
Community Hospitals: Malvern
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the future of the proposed new community hospital in Malvern. [126565]
Andy Burnham:
NHS West Midlands will be agreeing with Worcestershire Primary Care Trust (PCT), in the light of its service and financial plans for 2007-08 onwards (to be finalised by the end of March 2007), the continued applicability and robustness of the business case for a new community hospital in Malvern. If the
case remains strong and the PCT can demonstrate affordability and value for money, then the strategic health authority will work with the PCT to secure capital funding by whichever route is most appropriate and expeditious, including the opportunity to bid against the national £750 million community hospitals fund.
Departments: Discrimination
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress her Department has made in achieving gender equality in public appointments to bodies which fall within her Department's responsibility since 1997. [125214]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 5 March 2007]: The appointment of national health service trust chairs has been delegated to the Appointments Commission by the Secretary of State. I have, therefore, asked the Commission to write to my hon. Friend with the detailed information she has requested.
Diabetes: Pregnant Women
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to minimise risks during pregnancy for women with diabetes. [124211]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Healthcare providers should remain alert throughout the entire antenatal period to signs or symptoms of conditions which affect the health of the mother and fetus, including diabetes.
In November 2006, the Department produced the diabetes commissioning toolkit. The toolkit supports national health service commissioners of diabetes care at both primary care trust and practice level.
The toolkit makes clear national and locally agreed guidelines and protocols that should be implemented in the care of pregnant women with diabetes. We expect local guidelines to reflect national guidelines and that all healthcare professionals will follow these guidelines in providing maternity care.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is currently developing guidelines on diabetes in pregnancy. The guidelines, which will cover the management of diabetes and its complications from pre-conception to the post-natal period, are expected to be published in November 2007.
Drinking Water: Public Places
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will assess the availability of fresh drinking water in public places; and if she will make a statement. [124147]
Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
Owners, or those who are responsible for the management of public buildings or other public places, may provide or make available a supply of drinking water. If they choose to do so, or are required to do so under a scheme of legislation, they may safely rely on the quality of the public drinking water supply.
Under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 employers are required to provide an adequate supply of “wholesome” drinking water for all people at work in the workplace. The supply should be readily accessible at suitable places, conspicuously marked by an appropriate sign where necessary for health or safety reasons. Unless the water is in a jet, employers should also provide cups.
Health Services: Cumbria
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library copies of the accounts for the (a) West Cumberland hospital, Whitehaven, and (b) the Cumberland infirmary, Carlisle, for each year since 1997. [122731]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not hold copies of annual reports of individual national health service organisations. These are available from North Cumbria acute hospitals NHS trust.
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on services commissioned at the (a) West Cumberland hospital, Whitehaven, (b) Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle, and (c) Cumberland Infirmary's predecessor in each year since 1997. [122739]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Income from activities (provision of healthcare services 1998-99 to 2005-06 | |||
| £000 | |||
| West Cumbria Healthcare NHS trust | Carlisle Hospitals NHS trust | North Cumbria Acute NHS trust | |
| Source: NHS trust audited summarisation schedules for the relevant trusts. | |||
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the financial allocations were for the Cumbria primary care trust and its predecessors in each year since 1997. [122732]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Revenue allocations were made to health authorities (HAs) between 1997-98 and to primary care trusts (PCTs) between 2003-04 and 2007-08. Table 1 shows the allocations to HAs in Cumbria. Table 2 shows the allocations to the PCTs which merged on 1 October 2006 to become Cumbria PCT.
| Table 1: Allocations to HAs in Cumbria | |||||||
| £ million | |||||||
| HA | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-00 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 |
| Table 2: Allocations to PCT in Cumbria | |||||
| £ million | |||||
| PCT | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| Note: The area covered by the former Morecambe Bay PCT is now split between Cumbria and North Lancashire PCTs | |||||
Hepatitis: Greater London
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of hepatitis C there were in each London borough in each of the last five years. [124400]
Caroline Flint: The numbers of laboratory cases of hepatitis C reported in the London region are shown in the table. Data for individual London boroughs are not collected centrally.
| Number of laboratory cases | |
| Notes: Laboratory serological tests are not able to differentiate between acute and chronic cases of hepatitis C infection. Therefore laboratory reports of hepatitis C contain both recently acquired and past infections. For this reason the data represent newly diagnosed cases of hepatitis C as opposed to newly acquired infections. Source: Health Protection Agency Data as at 28 February 2007. Data for 2006 are provisional. | |
Influenza
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to publish an updated contingency plan on pandemic influenza. [123142]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We are revising the existing plan for a response to pandemic influenza, updating it in the light of current knowledge and expanding it to cover all relevant Government Departments. The framework has been tested recently in Exercise Winter willow and will be made available to the public shortly for discussion before a final framework is produced and published in the summer.
Influenza: Disease Control
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 February 2007, Official Report, column 49W, on influenza: disease control, whether the World Health Organisation was involved in Operation Winter Willow. [123768]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The World Health Organisation participated in the Exercise Winter Willow that was conducted to test the United Kingdom's response to an outbreak of pandemic influenza at local, regional and national levels.
Influenza: Vaccination
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements her Department has made to retain pharmaceutical production facilities in (a) the UK and (b) elsewhere to make a post-pandemic influenza virus vaccine; how many doses would be provided under such arrangements; what the timescale is for providing the vaccine following the identification of the virus; and if she will make a statement. [122617]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We are working closely with other countries, the World Health Organization, and the European Commission and are in regular dialogue with manufacturers to ensure that a vaccine can be developed as quickly as possible for the whole population once a pandemic influenza strain emerges.
The chief medical officer has invited manufacturers to tender for a contract to supply the UK with pandemic flu vaccine. This proposal, to purchase in advance the capacity needed to make pandemic flu vaccine, will make sure that an effective vaccine is available for use in the UK as quickly as possible after a flu pandemic starts. Tenders received are currently being evaluated.
Life Expectancy
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the evidential basis was of the statement made by the Minister of State with responsibility for delivery and quality on 14 December 2006, Official Report, column 357WH, that the burden of disease is higher in areas with the lowest life expectancy than it is in areas with the longest life expectancy; and what definition of the burden of disease she uses. [113036]
Andy Burnham: The evidential basis for my statement is four indicators: premature mortality rates in under 75s from cancer and coronary heart disease; and in under 65s from stroke, and the prevalence of diabetes in people of all ages, as a proxy for the burden of disease.
The following table shows that the 5 per cent. of primary care trusts (PCTs) with the longest life expectancy have a lower average burden of disease for
each of the four indicators than the 5 per cent. of PCTs with the shortest life expectancy.
| Males | Females | |||
| Averages for the five per cent of PCOs with the | Averages for the five per cent of PCOs with the | |||
| Shortest life expectancy | Longest life expectancy | Shortest life expectancy | Longest life expectancy | |
| Notes: 1. The aggregate figures are population weighted averages (using populations rounded to the nearest 100 for the life expectancy and mortality data). For the life expectancy and directly age-standardised mortality rates, using a population-weighted average is only an approximation to the actual figures for the aggregate of areas. 2. The 5 per cent. of primary care organisations with the shortest/longest life expectancy values have been selected by ranking all PCOs by life expectancy (for males and females separately). Around the “cut off” point, if two or more PCOs have the same life expectancy, all PCOs with that figure for life expectancy are included in the “longest” or “shortest” 5 per cent. grouping. 3. Life expectancy at birth—data for PCOs for 2001-03. Primary care organisations (boundaries as of April 2003) 4. Mortality rates are directly age-standardised rates (DSR) per 100,000 European Standard population Data years 2002-04 (pooled) Causes of death are based on the International Classification of Diseases version 10 Mortality from all cancers (ICD10 C00-C97) Mortality from coronary heart disease (ICD10 120-125) Mortality from stroke (ICD10 160-169) Data are based on the original underlying cause of death. Data are based on the latest revisions of ONS population estimates for the respective years, current as at 20 December 2005. 5. Diabetes—unadjusted prevalence—aggregate figures for PCT not accounting for age-sex distribution of the PCT population Unadjusted prevalence = (number on disease register/list size) *100 Data for financial year 2005-06 Sources: 1. For life expectancy and mortality rate data: Health and Social Care Information Centre. Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators/Clinical and Health Outcomes Knowledge Base (www.nchod.nhs.uk or nww.nchold.nhs.uk) National Statistics 2. For diabetes prevalence: Health and Social Care Information Centre, Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) QMAS database—2005-06 data as at end of June 2006 http://www.ic.nhs.uk/servicesnew/gof06/spreadsheets/ICfolder_view | ||||
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