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11 Jun 2007 : Column 862W—continued
The exact information requested at (b) is not available. Self-harm figures are derived from a national recording system of each incident of self-harm in prison, the majority of which are minor, and can be considered only as an estimate.
Young Offenders
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what criteria determine whether a 2052 SH form should be opened on a prisoner detained in a young offenders institution; and if she will make a statement. [141557]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The F2052SH (self-harm at risk form) has been replaced by an improved assessment and care planning tool known as the ACCT Plan (Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork). As with the F2052SH, in the event of any incident of self-harm, or whenever a member of staff believes a prisoner/trainee is at risk of suicide or self-harm, they must (where there is not one open already) open an ACCT Plan.
Health
Bicycles: Trains
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the carriage of bicycles on trains; and if she will make a statement. [139955]
Caroline Flint: There have been no specific meetings on this issue. The discussions between the Department and Department for Transport Ministers in the context of the inter-ministerial group on physical activity have covered broader issues on the importance of walking and cycling to the physical activity agenda.
Blood: Contamination
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many known haemophiliacs who acquired HIV and hepatitis C through blood transfusions there are in (a) Kent and (b) the UK. [140358]
Caroline Flint: Data are not collected on the number of patients with haemophilia infected with HIV and hepatitis C who are living in Kent. Data for the United Kingdom are provided in the table.
| Estimated number of haemophilia patients infected through contaminated blood products who are alive | |
| (1) Estimated data from the United Kingdom Haemophilia Centre Directors’ Organisation National Haemophilia Database. (2) Data from the Macfarlane Trust. | |
Breast Cancer: Screening
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women are on the waiting list for an appointment at the North London Breast Screening Service; and if she will make a statement. [139009]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
Strict quality assurance is operated across the national health service breast screening programme at a cost of £4 million a year and the performance of local screening services is kept under close review.
Following concerns in relation to the North London Breast Screening Service, it was temporarily suspended on 29 December 2006.
In April 2007, a report by NHS cancer screening programmes into services in North London was passed to Enfield primary care trust, and it, together with other stakeholders, reviewed the report's findings and recommendations and developed an action plan for improvement. As a result, the screening service resumed on 14 May 2007 and is being closely monitored to ensure quality and safety.
Cervical Cancer: Vaccination
Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when she expects to make a decision on the implementation of the human papilloma virus vaccine following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation meeting on 28 June 2006; [139170]
(2) if the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation will bring forward the date of its meeting on the human papilloma virus vaccine; and if she will make a statement; [139171]
(3) if she will ensure that she makes a decision on the introduction of the human papilloma virus vaccine as soon as possible after the relevant meeting of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation; and if she will make a statement; [139172]
(4) what discussions her Department has had with the Scottish Executive on the school-based vaccination programme for the human papilloma virus in Scotland; and if she will make a statement. [139174]
Caroline Flint: We are currently seeking expert advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the efficacy, safety and benefits that new vaccines against human papilloma virus (HPV) may offer. It is important that they thoroughly consider all the available evidence around HPV vaccines and that they only make recommendations when they are sure that all relevant information has been considered.
No decisions will be taken on introducing these vaccines into the immunisation programme until the main JCVI present their recommendations to Ministers for consideration.
Officials in my Department and the Scottish Executive have had discussions on this matter.
Dental Services
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance her Department has issued to primary care trusts on how they should interpret their duty to meet all reasonable requirements for NHS dentistry under the Health and Social Care Act 2003. [138262]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The commissioning framework set out in the Annex to “Health Reform in England”, published by the Department in July 2006, sets out
guidance for commissioning national health service services. Further guidance on commissioning is set out in the “Commissioning framework for health and well-being” published in March 2007. The principles and features of good commissioning set out in these documents, including the importance of assessing local needs, reviewing service provision, deciding priorities, designing services and seeking public and patient views, apply to commissioning primary dental care services.
Dental Services: Dorset
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices in (a) North Dorset Primary Care Trust, (b) South and East Dorset Primary Care Trust and (c) South West Dorset Primary Care Trust accepted NHS patients in the 12-month period up to April 2006. [140700]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on dental practices accepting national health service patients is not held centrally. However, information on the number of NHS dental practices and dentists in the North Dorset, South and East Dorset and South West Dorset Primary Care Trusts (PCT) in the 12-month period up to April 2006 is shown in the following table.
| General dental services (GDS) and personal dental services (PDS): Total numbers of GDS/PDS dentists and practices in specific primary care trusts (PCTs) as at 31 March 2006 | ||
| Primary care trust | Total number of GDS and PDS dentists( 1) | Number of dental practices |
| (1) Data are extracted from NHS Dentist Statistics for England Quarter 3: 31 December 2006 report published by The Information Centre on 23 March 2007. Notes: 1. Dentists will be counted more than once if they have contracts in more than one PCT. 2. The areas have been defined using practice postcodes within the PCT. 3. Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. Prison and emergency contracts are excluded. 4. A dentist with a contract may provide as little or as much NHS treatment as he or she chooses. Source: Business Services Authority The Information Centre for health and social care | ||
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices within Dorset Primary Care Trust are accepting NHS patients. [140701]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Data on national health service dental practices accepting new NHS patients are not available centrally under the new contractual arrangements. However, data on the number of NHS dentists (performers) contracted to perform NHS dental work at primary care trust (PCT) level are available.
Data on the number of NHS dentists (performers) are available quarter ending 30 June, 30 September and 31 December 2006 at England, strategic health authority and PCT levels in section G of annex 3 of the
NHS Dental Statistics for England Q3:31 December 2006 report published by The Information Centre for health and social care. This table also includes the population per NHS dentist.
This report has been placed in the Library and is also available at:
Data for the quarter ending March 2007 will be published 19 June 2007.
Doctors: Training
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements her Department (a) has made and (b) plans to make to analyse the security implications of the recent Medical Training Application Service website security breach for the Connecting for Health IT project. [136007]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 8 May 2007]: The Department has investigated the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) security breach and discovered that it resulted from a failure on the part of those contracted by the Department to provide this service to apply appropriate security safeguards.
MTAS was not implemented by the Department's NHS Connecting for Health agency, nor developed by any of its systems suppliers. There are no security implications for any of the applications or services which the agency is providing for the national health service via the national programme for information technology.
Drugs: Rehabilitation
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding her Department has provided for drug rehabilitation in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [139014]
Caroline Flint: Funding which has been made available, in the form of the pooled drug treatment budget (PTB) and local mainstream funding, for the treatment of drug misuse for England in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
| £ million | |||
| PTB | Local funding | Total | |
The PTB is allocated to drug action teams throughout the country, who use the funding to commission all forms of drug treatment services to best meet local need.
A further £54.3 million of capital funding was identified in 2006 to improve inpatient and residential drug and alcohol facilities and access to those services. There was a national bidding process held and the money will be available to fund the successful building projects over the next two years.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many places for drug rehabilitation were made available in each of the last five years, broken down by region; and if she will make a statement. [139021]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what legal limit applies to the quantity of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine that can be bought on the internet and imported to the UK; and whether her Department plans to criminalise such imports. [134666]
Caroline Flint: In the United Kingdom, there are strict legal controls on the retail sale, supply and advertisement of medicinal products. Pharmacy medicines must be supplied from a registered pharmacy by, or under the supervision of, a pharmacist. These controls apply equally to medicines sold or supplied through internet transactions and mail order. If supply is made through a UK pharmacy-based internet transaction then there is currently no legal restriction of quantity, although a pharmacist would use their professional judgment whether or not to supply the quantity sought.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) monitors the online availability of medicines. UK based websites which are identified dealing in breach of medicines legislation are referred for appropriate enforcement action. Websites discovered operating illegally outside of the UK are referred to the relevant authority in the country concerned for appropriate action.
As precursors that can be used in the manufacture of illicit drugs, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are subject to the 1988 UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and are scheduled as category 1 precursors under European legislation. Anyone who imports any quantity of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine is required to obtain a license from the Home Office. The Home Office is currently preparing legislation, to supplement European Union regulation, which will impose criminal penalties for the importation of scheduled substances, including ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, without a valid importation authorisation.
Fats: Health Hazards
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the typical unsaturated fat content of a serving of (a) oven chips, (b) deep fried chips, (c) chicken masala, (d) fish and chips and (e) samosa. [139727]
Caroline Flint: Data on the unsaturated fatty acid content of foods can be found in McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods series. Latest data from this series published in 2002 are set out in the following table.
| Food | Total unsaturated fatty acids (9/100g)( 1) | Typical portion size (g)( 2) | Total unsaturated fatty acids per serving (g) |
| (1) Data from Food Standards Agency (2002) McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, Sixth summary edition. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry. (2) Portion size information taken from Food Standards Agency (2002) Food Portion Sizes, 3rd Edition, London, HMSO. (3) The fat content of chips will be variable and dependent on a number of factors related to their preparation, including how thick they are cut and their shape, i.e. crinkle as opposed to straight cut. (4) Based on cod, in batter, fried in blended oil. | |||
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