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17 July 2007 : Column 232Wcontinued
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to ensure that children younger than six years are not prescribed methylphenidate drugs. [147886]
Dawn Primarolo: There are no specific measures in place to ensure that children younger than six years are not prescribed methylphenidate drugs.
Methylphenidate is licensed only for children over six years of age as part of a comprehensive treatment programme for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder where remedial measures alone prove insufficient. Drug treatment for ADHD should only be initiated by an appropriately qualified health 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.
A medical practitioner may, however, prescribe methylphenidate to children younger than six years (prescribing a licensed medicine for an unlicensed use, so called off-label prescribing). Medical practitioners are ultimately responsible for all their prescribing decisions. They should always satisfy themselves that all drugs or other substances they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed, that patients are adequately monitored and that, where necessary, expert hospital supervision is available.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps have been taken to allocate the £1 billion funding proposed in the public health White Paper between (a) health trainers, (b) sexual health services, (c) school nurses and (d) other services; and if he will make a statement; [148720]
(2) what representations he has received on ring-fencing the £1 billion funding proposed in the public health White Paper for health trainers, sexual health services, school nurses and other services; and if he will make a statement. [148721]
Dawn Primarolo: Primary care trusts were notified of their revenue allocations for 2006-07 and 2007-08 in February 2005. The allocations separately identify funding to support the initiatives set out in the White Paper Choosing Health: making healthy choices easier a copy of which is available in the Library. PCTs determine how to use the funding allocated to them.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 July 2007, Official Report, column 1450W, on leukaemia: drugs, what the reasons were for deciding not to refer dasatnib to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence; and in what circumstances the drug would be considered for referral in the future. [149958]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department has not received a proposal from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for an appraisal of dasatinib for chronic myeloid leukaemia. However, I understand that NICE is currently considering a proposal for an appraisal of this treatment against its published criteria for the selection of topics.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding has been allocated for maternity services at the Conquest and Eastbourne district general hospitals for the period 2008-09. [149318]
Ann Keen: Revenue allocations are made to primary care trusts and not directly to hospitals or national health service trusts. PCTs commission health care from providers according to their locally agreed priorities.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has commissioned into the impact on health of E number additives found in burgers and sausages. [149645]
Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency has responsibility for food additive issues. No research has been commissioned by the FSA into the impact on health of E number additives found in burgers and sausages.
All additives are subject to strict European Union legislative controls and are assessed for safety by independent experts before permission is granted for their use in food. Existing additives are re-evaluated in light of new scientific information and the European Food Safety Authority is currently re-evaluating all colours used in food.
EFSAs re-evaluation of the additive Red 2G (E128) a colour permitted in specific types of sausages and burgers has shown that in laboratory tests it may have the potential to damage the genetic material in cells and cause cancer in animals. Based on that opinion, the FSA has recommended that food producers stop using Red 2G.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of treating patients who are ill as a result of (a) alcohol, (b) smoking, (c) obesity and (d) poverty-related issues in the last 12 months. [149515]
Dawn Primarolo: While it is not possible to give exact figures for the past 12 months due to how and when data is collected(1), the following will give an indication of the annual cost in each of the areas requested:
Alcohol-related illness costs the national health service £1.7 billion each year
Smoking costs the NHS between £1.4 and £1.7 billion every year
Obesity costs the NHS approximately £1 billion per year.
Information about the cost to the NHS of treating patients who are ill as a result of poverty-related issues is not readily available.
(1)( )The information provided was also gleaned from a number of sources which may have computed the costs in different ways.
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost of treating foreign nationals who are not entitled to NHS care. [148259]
Dawn Primarolo: It is not possible to provide the information requested. Successive governments have not required the national health service to provide statistics on the number of foreign nationals seen, treated or charged under the provisions of the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended, nor any costs involved.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) average, (b) highest and (c) lowest (i) redundancy payments to those made redundant and (ii) early retirement packages for those taking them from the NHS were in the last 12 months. [146323]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 28 June 2007]: The costs of redundancy payments and early retirement packages for 2006-07 will not be available until the autumn.
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned on plagiocephaly; and if he will make a statement. [149953]
Dawn Primarolo: Neither the Department nor the Medical Research Council is currently funding research on plagiocephaly.
The Department funds national health service research and development through the National Institute for Health Research. The institute's research programmes support high quality research of relevance and in areas of high priority to patients and the NHS. Details, including the scope of the programmes and the arrangements for making applications for support from them, are available on the NIHR website at:
Funding awards are in all cases made after open, competitive peer review.
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 May 2007, Official Report, column 623W, on Psychiatry: Drugs, how his Department measured the efficacy of the use of Prozac on children; what baseline was used; and what scientific methodology was employed. [148193]
Dawn Primarolo: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency evaluated data in two double-blind placebo-controlled trials submitted by the applicant which included children and adolescents aged eight to 18 years. (A double-blind trial is one where the person administering and receiving the medication does not know what the medication is placebo or active treatment in this case). The duration of these trials was eight weeks and one year. In addition, there was a trial published in the literature which included adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. It was a double-blind placebo-controlled trial and included comparator groups with cognitive behaviour therapy alone or a combination of fluoxetine and CBT.
Various rating scales were used to measure efficacy and these included the childrens depression rating scalerevised, the clinical global impressions of severity, clinical global impressions of improvement, Montgomery Asberg depression rating scale and others.
The measurement of efficacy was a clinically significant change in the severity of depression as measured on a rating scale developed specifically to diagnose depression and determine its severity. The baseline used was the childs depression score prior to treatment which had to indicate depression of at least moderate severity.
Differences between treatment and placebo were evaluated using statistical methodology and clinical assessment.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in the West Kent primary care trust have used NHS stop smoking services to set a quit date since 2001; and how many had stopped smoking at four-week follow up. [149305]
Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available in the format requested.
Data are available on the number of people who have set a quit date through the national health service stop- smoking services and, of those, how many people had successfully quit smoking at the four-week follow up (based on self-report) for West Kent primary care trust, from 2002-03 to 2005-06. These figures are presented in the following table.
Data for 2001-02 are unavailable by PCT.
Data for 2006-07 are due to be published during the week commencing 13 August 2007.
24. Gordon Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the potential effect of social exclusion on future levels of homelessness. [149817]
Gillian Merron: There are many factors linked to social exclusion that may contribute to homelessness, for example unemployment, relationship breakdown or substance abuse. One of the first social exclusion unit reports set out the Government's strategy for tackling rough sleeping. This was followed in 2005 by "Sustainable Communities: Settled Homes; Changing Lives", which is our strategy for reducing and tackling broader homelessness.
25. Mr. Mackay: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on trends in the level of Government funding for voluntary sector organisations. [149818]
Phil Hope: Recent surveys indicate that Government funding for voluntary sector organisations has doubled between 1996-07 (£5 billion) and 2004-05 (£10 billion). Initiatives like Futurebuilders, Capacitybuilders, the Invest to Save budget, expansion of Gift Aid and the new youth volunteering charity, v, have helped build the third sector's ability to make a real difference in local communities. The announcement of the £30 million community assets fund and the £80 million scheme for grants for small community organisations continues to demonstrate the Government's commitment to supporting the third sector.
27. Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on Government policy on funding for the third sector. [149820]
Phil Hope: There have been a number of discussions with ministerial colleagues on third-sector issues generally, including on funding. Recent surveys indicate that Government funding for voluntary sector organisations has doubled between 1996-97 (£5 billion) and 2004-05 (£10 billion). The announcement of the £30 million community assets fund and the £80 million scheme for small community organisations continues to demonstrate the Governments commitment to supporting the third sector.
28. Jessica Morden: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the costs and benefits of intervening in the early years of a child's life to prevent social exclusion. [149821]
30. Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the costs and benefits of intervening in the early years of a child's life to prevent social exclusion. [149824]
Gillian Merron: Early intervention is a core principle in the social exclusion action plan. For example this document highlighted the relative costs and benefits of a rigorously tested programme in the US, the Nurse Family Partnership, that provides intensive home visiting by health visitors to disadvantaged mothers from pregnancy until the child is two years old.
29. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received on the role of the third sector in contributing to the delivery of Government policy. [149823]
Phil Hope: As part of the third sector review, we have undertaken the largest consultation we have ever done with the third sector. This included 93 open consultation events held around the country and, themed roundtable discussions. Over 250 written responses were also received.
The interim report of the third sector review summarised the main messages from the consultation. A fuller analysis of the consultation is also available. The Government consult with the third sector on a regular basis, through the strategic partners programme and key advisory bodies.
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