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19 July 2007 : Column 596Wcontinued
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many children under 18 years have had an abortion in each of the last 10 years; [150367]
(2) how many children under 18 years have had a second abortion in each of the last 10 years. [150368]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is set out in the following table.
Abortions to women age under 18 | Second abortions to women age under 18( 1) | |
(1) Number of abortions to women age under 18 who have had an abortion in the year shown and who have also had one previous abortion. |
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many girls under the age of 18 years had abortions in each of the last three years, broken down by age. [151070]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is set out in the following table.
Total abortions to women age under 18, resident of England and Wales, 2004-06 | ||||||
Age | ||||||
Under 14( 1) | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Total under 18 | |
(1) Totals for individual ages within the age group under 14 are suppressed for reasons of confidentiality in line with the Office for National Statistics guidance on the disclosure of abortion statistics (2005). Note: Totals refer to the number of abortions in each year not number of women, i.e. women may have more than one abortion within a calendar year. |
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many alcohol awareness programmes have been set up in (a) 2007 and (b) the last five years. [150413]
Dawn Primarolo: In October 2006 the Government launched the Know Your Limits campaign, the first in the past five years, aimed at binge drinkers.
Safe. Sensible. Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy committed the Government to campaign to end the tolerance of drunkenness and
raise awareness of the sensible drinking message, specifically how to use units to calculate alcoholic intake. Although neither campaign is due to be launched until 2008, work is currently underway to facilitate this.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to highlight the dangers of drinking alcohol to adults, particularly amongst the over 60s. [150477]
Dawn Primarolo: The Governments Renewed Alcohol Strategy, Safe, Sensible, SocialNext Steps in the National Alcohol Strategy aims to focus future action on reducing the types of harm that are of most concern to the public, by creating an environment that actively promotes sensible drinking and increasing the publics awareness of the risks associated with excessive consumption and how to get help.
The Government are aware that many adults of all ages do not realise their drinking patterns may be damaging their physical and mental health and may be causing substantial harm to others. A ground-breaking agreement between Government and the alcohol industry to place health information on alcohol product labels will help people to monitor their alcohol intake more easily. This will be supported by a sustained national communications campaign that will raise the publics knowledge of units of alcohol and ensure that everyone has the information they need to estimate how much they really do drink.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what strategy the Government are taking to inform females, especially younger women, about the risks of binge drinking. [150482]
Dawn Primarolo: The Governments renewed alcohol strategy, Safe. Sensible. Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy, emphasises the need to challenge the binge drinking culture. Sustained national campaigning will challenge public tolerance of drunkenness and drinking that causes harm to health.
From 2008, national campaigning will raise the publics knowledge of units of alcohol, to ensure that everyone, women and men, has the information they need to assess how much they drink in relation to advice on sensible drinking.
The Government are concerned that young people aged 16-24 years are significantly more likely than people in other age groups to have consumed more than twice the recommended sensible drinking limit.
The Know Your Limits campaign, launched by the Government in October 2006, provides a range of advice to women on how to remain safe if they find themselves in vulnerable situations as a result of having consumed too much alcohol. In addition, the Government have recently issued revised advice informing women of the risks posed by excessive alcohol consumption during pregnancy and for women hoping to conceive.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to set health-related alcohol targets. [147979]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department is developing a new outcomes framework for local accountability and decision-making on health and social care. Key stakeholders views are currently being sought on the framework. Final decisions on it will be made as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in the recorded number of (a) incidents of binge drinking leading to accident and emergency admissions and (b) alcohol related illnesses since the publication of the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy report in 2004. [150481]
Dawn Primarolo: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data cannot determine when an admitted patient has been involved in an incident of binge drinking, and the vast majority of incidents of binge drinking do not result in an admission to hospital. While HES data can be used to determine the number of episodes where the patient had an alcohol related illness, many patients may not be admitted to hospital and would instead be treated in other settings such as primary care or outpatients. Neither can HES supply data that could be used to accurately assess the change in the number of alcohol related illnesses since 2004. While it is likely that alcohol-related attendances at accident and emergency (A&E) departments will be higher than those for alcohol-related admissions to hospital, these data are not recorded.
The following table provides a count of finished admission episodes (FAE), for which data are available, with an alcohol-related primary diagnosis where the patient was admitted via A&E.
Count of FAE with an alcohol-related primary diagnosis admitted via A&E for 2004-05 and 2005-06: National health service hospitals, England | |
Admissions | |
Notes: Alcohol-related diagnoses defined by ICD-10 codes: F10 Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol; K70 Alcoholic liver disease; and T51 Toxic effect of alcohol. Admission methods 71: Emergencyvia A&E services, including the casualty department of the provider and 28: Emergencyother means, including patients who arrive via the A&E department of another health care provider Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. Diagnosis (primary diagnosis) The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital. Data quality Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. Whilst this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). Source: HES, The Information Centre for health and social care |
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will discuss with the Chancellor of the Exchequer reviewing existing alcohol control policies to include the introduction of increased taxation on alcohol products and the implementation of policies limiting the availability of alcohol; and if he will make a statement. [150274]
Dawn Primarolo: Taxation, including alcohol excise duty, is a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with( )decisions on the appropriate levels of tax being taken each year at the time of the Budget.
As described in Safe. Sensible. Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy,( )significant progress has been made in delivering actions under the 2004 strategy. The( )Governments renewed strategy sets out a co-ordinated approach to change our drinking( )culture, which recognises the responsibilities of industry as well as Government and other( )partners.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many teenagers (a) are undertaking and (b) have undertaken regular medical treatment as a result of alcohol abuse in (i) 2007 and (ii) each of the last five years. [150409]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not held centrally.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) male and (b) female teenagers were admitted to accident and emergency departments on grounds related to drunkenness in each month of (i) 2007 and (ii) the last five years, broken down by NHS trust; and what treatments they required, broken down by category. [150469]
Dawn Primarolo: We do not collect data relating to alcohol-related attendances at accident and emergency departments.
Tables have been placed in the Library which supply data for teenagers admitted to hospital via accident and emergency with a primary diagnosis of T51 toxic effect of alcohol (i.e. more severe than general drunkenness and loss of inhibitions) for the last five years, broken down by gender and health care provider. The information provided in the tables does not include instances of the toxic effects of alcohol as secondary diagnosis.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the withdrawal of funding for the British Fluoridation Society upon his Departments goal to reduce oral health inequalities. [149692]
Ann Keen:
The British Fluoridation Society (BFS) advises strategic health authorities (SHAs) and primary care trusts on the potential that the fluoridation of water offers for reducing inequalities in
oral health in accordance with our policy that decisions on fluoridation schemes should be taken by SHAs, following local consultations. I understand that the BFS has identified a source of funding which should enable it to continue its core activities in 2007-08.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting time is for a reassessment of registered nursing care contribution banding awarded to an individual patient in each primary care trust; and if he will make a statement. [150089]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not collected by the Department.
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department funds the provision of aprons and gloves for carers. [150769]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: No. It is for care providers, such as domiciliary care agencies and care home operators, to ensure that care staff are equipped with suitable protective clothing and that regulations governing hygiene and health and safety are complied with.
Providers will budget for the cost of protective clothing when negotiating prices for their services with commissioners, such as local authorities.
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the closure of the Birmingham/West Midlands Clinical Network Co-ordinating Centre for myalgic encephalomyelitis. [150768]
Dawn Primarolo: The local national health service determines the configuration of local services and organisations, including those organisations that provide services to patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalagic encephalomyelitis.
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