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23 May 2007 : Column 1318Wcontinued
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department plans to take to decrease the time-lag between the conclusion of clinical trials and subsequent licensing of orphan medicines for the treatment of serious, life threatening or chronically debilitating illnesses and their availability to patients. [131655]
Caroline Flint: Applications for marketing authorisations for designated orphan medicinal products are required to be submitted via the European centralised procedure and hence applications for national United Kingdom marketing authorisations are not possible. The time taken from submission of a Marketing Authorisation application to licence issue is therefore outside of the control of the UK and follows the timetable for European centralised applications.
However, where there is a clear clinical need there is the possibility that orphan medicinal products can be made available to patients, prior to the grant of a marketing authorisation, under a compassionate use programme authorised by the European Medicines Agency and there is the possibility for accelerated consideration of a marketing authorisation application by that agency.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many outpatient appointments were missed (a) in England and (b) in each relevant NHS organisation in the most recent year for which figures are available; what proportion of the total number of out-patient appointments this figure represented for each relevant NHS organisation; and what estimate she has made of the overall cost to the NHS of such missed appointments. [137392]
Andy Burnham: The number of missed out-patient appointments in England in 2005-06 was 5,582,315 or 11 per cent. of all national health service out-patient appointments. Data for individual trusts have been placed in the Library. The Department has not estimated the cost of missed appointments. The choose and book system can be used to help reduce the number of missed appointments by giving patients greater certainty and choice over the date, time and place of their appointments.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2007, Official Report, column 1088W, on referral-to-treatment waiting times, when she plans to publish data related to admitted patients. [137365]
Andy Burnham: Publication will begin as soon as the data are of sufficient quality.
Referral-to-treatment times for admitted patients who completed that 18 week pathway in March 2007 will be published in June.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting time has been for a (i) magnetic resonance imaging, (ii) computerised tomography, (iii) non-obstetric ultrasound, (iv) barium enema, (v) DEXA scan, (vi) cardiology - echocardiography, (vii) cardiology - electrophysiology, (viii) peripheral neurophysiology, (ix) colonoscopy, (x) flexi sigmoidoscopy, (xi) cytoscopy and (xii) gastroscopy test in each month since January 2006. [123063]
Andy Burnham: The information requested is provided in the following table.
Commissioner based mean and median waiting time information for diagnostic test2006s | ||||||||||
Weeks | ||||||||||
Month end | January 2006 | February 2006 | March 2006 | April 2006 | May 2006 | |||||
Test | Median waiting time | Mean waiting time | Median waiting time | Mean waiting time | Median waiting time | Mean waiting time | Median waiting time | Mean waiting time | Median waiting time | Mean waiting time |
Weeks | |||||||||||
Month end | June 2006 | July 2006 | August 2006 | September 2006 | October 2006 | ||||||
Test | Median waiting time | Mean waiting time | Median waiting time | Mean waiting time | Median waiting time | Mean waiting time | Median waiting time | Mean waiting time | Median waiting time | Mean waiting time | |
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