| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 May 2007 : Column 1497W—continued
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assumptions were made about the number of live births in each year until 2009 in order to inform her Department’s document “Maternity Matters”, gateway reference 7586 of 3 April 2007. [137394]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Population predictions, including predictions of birth rates and trends, are developed by the Government Actuarial Department. We have used these forecasts as the basis for future trends in live births.
“Maternity Matters” is a comprehensive programme for improving choice, access and continuity of care in maternity services. It sets out a strategy that will put women and their partners at the centre of their local maternity service provision. It highlights how commissioners, providers, maternity professionals and user representatives will be able to use the health reform agenda to shape provision to meet the needs of women and their families.
In implementing the recommendations of “Maternity Matters” local managers will need to take into account a range of issues. These include how their services are organised within a maternity network, the provision of safe, responsive care for women with complex and straightforward pregnancies at all times, and arrangements for transfers across the network that take into account emergencies and geographical factors.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many births there were in each hospital consultant-led maternity unit in (a) 2005 and in (b) 2006. [138708]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 22 May 2007]: Information is not collected centrally in the form requested. “NHS Maternity Statistics, England: 2004-5”, the last year for which we have figures, shows there were 584,100 hospital births and 13,700 home births. This equates to 97.7 per cent. hospital and 2.3 per cent. home births. Of the hospital births, 54 per cent. were in consultant wards, 40 per cent. were in joint consultant/midwife/general practitioner (GP) wards, 4 per cent. in midwife-led wards and 1 per cent. in GP wards. We are not able to break down these figures by national health service trust.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of Health, (1) what action her Department is taking to reduce the length of time taken to diagnose chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis; [138399]
(2) what her strategy is to ensure that local service providers meet local need for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome services. [138400]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In 2004 the Department formally requested the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce clinical guidelines on the diagnosis and management of chronic fatigue/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). NICE expects to publish this guidance in August 2007.
Local national health service organisations have the responsibility to demonstrate that they are making progress towards achieving the level of service quality described in the National Service Framework for Long-term Conditions (the NSF). Since publication of the NSF, the Department has co-ordinated a range of activity to help local health and social care organisations take forward implementation of the NSF. This includes:
working with key NHS, social care, voluntary and independent sector stakeholders, as well as service users and carers, to identify and address key issues in neurological services and the stakeholders' role in implementation;
ensuring that other key delivery programmes, most especially the White Paper ‘Our Health, Our Care, Our Say’ and the long-term conditions strategy help deliver key NSF objectives; and
work with the Care Services Improvement Partnership to promote implementation of the NSF through a co-ordinated work programme, including regional workshops, a web-based getting started pack and self-assessment tool for services.
Cochlear Implants: Waiting Lists
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many (a) children and (b) adults have been waiting more than (i) three months, (ii) six months and (iii) one year for a cochlear implant operation; [138259]
(2) how many cochlear implant operations have been performed on (a) children and (b) adults in each NHS trust since 2002-03. [138260]
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cochlear implants were carried out in each year between 2000 and 2006 in each health trust. [138254]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of children and adults waiting for a cochlear implant operation is not held centrally.
Information on how many cochlear implant operations have been performed on children and adults in each national health service trust since 2002-06 has been placed in the Library.
Colorectal Cancer: Bevacizumab
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects Bevacizumab to become routinely available on the NHS for the treatment of bowel cancer. [138598]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 22 May 2007]: On 24 January 2007, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidance to the national health service on the use of Bevacizumab for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.
NICE’s guidance did not recommend Bevacizumab as a treatment option for metastatic colorectal (bowel) cancer. However, the guidance states that patients who were receiving Bevacizumab should have the option to
continue to do so until they and their consultants decide that it is the right time to stop treatment.
It will be for individual primary care trusts to decide whether to fund Bevacizumab for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer in the light of NICE’s recommendations. It would be inappropriate for Ministers to intervene.
Dental Services
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists operating under (a) general dental
services contracts and (b) personal dental services agreements left the NHS in each year since 1997-98; and what percentage these figures represent of the number of dentists in the NHS (i) in total and (ii) in each strategic health authority area. [137275]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The latest information available is set out in the following tables. Information is not available broken down by general dental services and personal dental services and could be provided in that format only at disproportionate cost.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |