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21 May 2007 : Column 1134W—continued
| Percentage | |||||
| 2005 | Male | Female | Unknown | ( 1) Male | ( 1) Female |
| Percentage | |||||
| 2004 | Male | Female | Unknown | ( 1) Male | ( 1) Female |
Qualified Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff—broken down by gender 2004-06.
The percentage of all qualified male nurses, health visitors and midwives has increased from 10.9 per cent. in 2004 to 11.1 per cent. in 2006.
The number of male nurse consultants has increased from 97 in 2004 to 136 in 2006.
The number of male registered midwives has increased from 100 in 2004 to 176 in 2006.
The number of male 1(st) level nurses has increased from 32,459 in 2004 to 34,283 in 2006.
Obesity: Health Services
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether she plans to allocate any points in the quality and outcomes framework of the General Medical Services contract to encourage general practitioners (a) to provide advice on weight management and (b) to refer patients to weight management services; [131780]
(2) whether she plans to allocate more points to the management of obesity in the new quality and outcomes framework of the General Medical Services contract. [131781]
Caroline Flint: Currently there are eight points available in the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) which measures the body mass index of patients as the indicator in the obesity clinical domain. There are currently no plans to increase the number of points for the obesity indicator in QOF or to include additional incentives in QOF for advice on weight management or referral to weight management services. However, continuous improvement is an underpinning concept of the current contractual arrangements with general practitioners and we will keep under review the quality indicators within the QOF.
Plastic Surgery
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints have been received by the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency about dermal fillers in the last five years; and what investigations have been undertaken by the agency as a result. [117964]
Caroline Flint: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has received 24 incident reports within the last five years involving dermal fillers. The agency assesses and investigates each adverse incident report on a case by case basis and issues appropriate advice as necessary to the health service. Most of the reports received referred to the development of nodules or lumps in the vicinity of the injections, which is a known complication associated with dermal fillers. From an analysis of these reports, MHRA could not identify any trends for any particular product.
Pregnancy: Screening
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will bring forward legislation to ban the use of tests which can tell an unborn baby's gender at six weeks; what recent representations she has received on such tests; and if she will make a statement. [136801]
Caroline Flint:
Prospective parents may desire to know the sex of a foetus for a variety of reasons. However, antenatal sexing of the foetus is not a routine part of antenatal care nor has the Department issued
any guidance to hospitals on whether or not parents should be told the sex of their baby. The Government recognise that there is concern that the availability of information about the sex of their foetus could lead some women to seek an abortion if the foetus is of a particular sex. However, there is no evidence that this is happening in the United Kingdom. The grounds on which abortion may lawfully be carried out are set out in the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended). These do not include foetal sex alone. Although the Government are aware of companies offering foetal sex identification through genetic tests they have received no recent representations relating to this issue.
The availability of tests on samples collected privately also raises important questions of privacy. The Human Tissue Act 2004 makes it an offence to use a person's tissue for DNA analysis without their consent. The Government continue to keep the developing area of genetic tests under review but have no current plans to bring forward further legislation in this area.
Ritalin: Children
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were prescribed ritalin in each of the last five years; and what evidence has been reported of its (a) utility and (b) side effects. [126895]
Caroline Flint: Information on the number of children prescribed ritalin is not collected. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended that drug treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) should only be initiated by an appropriately qualified health care professional with expertise in ADHD and should be based on a comprehensive assessment and diagnosis. Continued prescribing and monitoring of drug treatment may be performed by general practitioners, under shared care arrangements. Drug therapy should only be part of a comprehensive treatment programme that includes advice and support to parents and teachers.
Information provided by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on the number of reported adverse reactions to ritalin for the last 10 years is in the following table.
| Year received by the MHRA | Number of reports of adverse reactions to r italin |
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