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16 Oct 2007 : Column 1045W—continued
Chorley and South Ribble Hospital
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress on the development of the new clinical assessment treatment and support centre at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital. [158659]
Mr. Bradshaw: In terms of the development of Clinical Assessment, Treatment and Support (CATS) services in Chorley as part of the phase 2 independent sector procurement in the North West, the Department is currently working with the national health service to review the specifications of the remaining schemes in phase 2 of the central procurement process. This will ensure that future schemes best meet the needs of the local NHS, and are responsive to the needs of the communities in which they will operate. This exercise is ongoing, and expected to be completed in October. Once this process is complete, and all parties involved in negotiations have been informed of the outcomes, further information will be made available.
Following Central Lancashire primary care trust’s (PCT) receipt of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s (LTH) CATS written proposal for South Ribble, LTH and the PCT met on 10 October so that LTH could formally present their proposal to the PCT. A detailed review of this proposal is now being undertaken by the PCT with the outcome expected in mid-November. Formal confirmation to LTH will then follow. What the PCT has seen to date has been very encouraging.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Research
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans his Department has for further medical and scientific research into the cause or causes of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis; [157527]
(2) what medical research his Department has funded into the cause or causes of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis since 1997. [157528]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, North (Bill Etherington) on 3 July 2007, Official Report, column 1009W.
Dental Health: Children
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the health of the teeth of schoolchildren since Gateway Approval (ref 769800) was issued and the practice of negative permission was discontinued; and if he will make a statement. [156699]
Ann Keen: We are in no doubt that positive consent is required for school dental inspections. The first epidemiology programme since the issue of our guidance on discontinuing negative positive consent will be the five-year-old children's dental health survey to be conducted in England in 2007-08. The North West Dental Public Health Observatory is managing the survey on behalf of the other regional observatories and will assess the impact use of positive consent has on the results. In addition, the oral health unit within the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre at Manchester university, funded by the Department, is undertaking a randomised controlled trial to identify the most effective way of improving consent for national health service epidemiological surveys.
Dental Services: Lancashire
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists doing NHS work were practising in East Lancashire in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) at the latest date for which figures are available. [157580]
Ann Keen: Numbers of national health service dentists are available for Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale PCT as at 31 March 1997 to 2006 in Annex E of the NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006. These PCTs merged to form East Lancashire PCT on 1 October 2006.
The information in this report is based on the old contractual arrangements. This report is available in the Library and is available at:
Numbers of NHS dentists at strategic health authority (SHA) and PCT level in England as at 31 March 2007 are available in Table El of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2006-07 report. This is the most recent period for which figures are available. Information is available for East Lancashire PCT.
This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006. This report is available in the Library and is also available at:
The inclusion of dentists on trust led contracts in the data collection following the 2006 reforms means that data collected since April 2006 cannot be directly compared with data collected under the previous system.
In both reports, no account is taken of the level of service, if any, that each dentist provides. Both reports have been published by The Information Centre for health and social care.
Dental Services: Manpower
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists were employed under (a) general dental service contracts and (b) personal dental service contracts in each year since 1997; and how many general dental services and personal dental services dentists there were per 10,000 population (i) for England and (ii) in each strategic health authority area in the most recent period for which figures are available. [156418]
Ann Keen: Numbers of national health service dentists in England as at 31 March 1997 to 2006 are available in the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006”. Table 4 of this report includes information by contract type, including those on general dental services (GDS), personal dental services (PDS) contracts and those who have both a GDS and PDS contract.
This report has been placed in the Library and is also available at:
Numbers of NHS dentists per 10,000 of population are not published. Statistical convention is to publish NHS dental workforce figures per 100,000 of population and these numbers are available for England at primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA) level as at 31 March 2007 in table El of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2006-07” report. This is the most recent period for which figures are available.
This report has been placed in the Library and is also available at:
The inclusion of dentists on trust led contracts in the data collection following the 2006 reforms means that data collected since April 2006 cannot be directly compared with data collected under the previous system.
Dental Services: Pupils
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will reverse his decision on consent for dental screening epidemiological surveys for school children to enable the scheme to operate on a parental opt-out basis; and if he will make a statement. [157254]
Ann Keen: No, the legal advice we have received is that parents/carers should give positive consent where children are not judged competent to give consent to a dental examination. We are optimistic that statistically significant results can be obtained when surveys are conducted on this basis.
Dental Services: Standards
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in (a) England and (b) each primary care trust area have been required to pay back money to their primary care trust because they could not complete the number of units of dental activity required by their NHS contracts. [157994]
Ann Keen: Providers of national health service dental services have contracts with primary care trusts (PCTs) that set out the agreed annual contract sum and the corresponding level of services to be provided over the course of the year. These annual service levels are expressed mainly in terms of units of dental activity, which measure courses of treatment according to their relative complexity. Dental providers who under-deliver by up to 4 per cent. may carry this forward and make up the activity in the following year. Where a provider has delivered less than 96 per cent. of the agreed annual service level, it is at the PCT’s discretion whether the undelivered activity is carried forward to the following year or an appropriate proportion of the annual contract sum is refunded to the PCT. This is a matter for PCTs to decide locally in the light of individual circumstances, and their decisions are not collected or held centrally.
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in (a) England and (b) each primary care trust area have completed (i) 96 per cent. and (ii) 100 per cent. of the number of units of dental activity in their NHS contracts. [158007]
Ann Keen: Information is not available in the form requested.
Information on the total units of dental activity delivered in 2006-07 at England, strategic health authority (SHA) and primary care trust (PCT) level is contained in “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006”. This report is available in the Library.
The Dental Services Division (DSD) of the NHS Business Services Authority holds data on dental activity provided under national health service dental contracts, together with information provided by PCTs on the levels of activity commissioned for each contract. However, the DSD does not routinely publish these data. Following a freedom of information request, the DSD expect to make a comparison of the two data items for 2006-07 available by the end of this month. This will provide information by contract broken down by SHA area. This information will be placed in the Library once available.
Dental Services: Waiting Lists
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time in England for orthodontic appointments was for the (a) first consultation and (b) start of treatment in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the national target times are in each case. [158482]
Ann Keen: Information is not collected centrally on waiting times for national health service orthodontic treatment provided in primary care.
Information is available on average hospital waiting times from referral to first out-patient appointment, and from decision to admit to hospital admission, both day case and in-patient. The latest period for which data is available is June 2007. The average waiting time for a first out-patient appointment in this period was 3.6 weeks, and 6.7 weeks for admission.
The NHS operating standard of no more than 13 weeks to first out-patient consultation, and 26 weeks to admission applies to orthodontics delivered in secondary care.
By the end of 2008, the maximum wait for any medical or surgical consultant led treatment, including orthodontic treatment, will be just 18 weeks from initial referral to start of treatment for all patients who want it and for whom it is clinically appropriate.
Departments: Consultants
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what stakeholders regularly consulted by his Department are known to take a (a) pro-life and (b) pro-choice position on abortion-related issues; and if he will make a statement. [158380]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not collected by the Department.
Drugs: Counterfeit Manufacturing
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the problem of counterfeit drugs in the NHS supply chain; and if he will make a statement. [157205]
Dawn Primarolo: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is concerned about the increase in the number of counterfeit medicines discovered in the United Kingdom regulated supply chain. Since August 2004, counterfeit medicines have been discovered in the UK regulated supply chain and recalled on nine occasions. In addition, counterfeit medicines have been discovered at wholesale-dealer level on five separate occasions.
Although this represents a very small percentage of medicines supplied nationally, MHRA is developing a strategy which will address the risks to patient safety posed by counterfeit medicines and introduce measures to minimise the risk of counterfeit products reaching patients through both the regulated and unregulated supply chains. The strategy will be published later this year.
Avastin
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is his policy that Avastin eye injections should be available on the NHS free of charge to (a) all patients and (b) pensioners who require them; and if he will make a statement. [158724]
Ann Keen: Avastin has not been licensed for use in macular degeneration. However, the law allows the use of either unlicensed medicines or the prescribing of a licensed medicinal product “off-label”—that is outside the terms of its marketing authorisation in order to meet special clinical needs. Such prescriptions are subject to the individual clinician’s judgment and are on the personal responsibility of the prescriber, and subject to funding by the primary care trust.
Food: Labelling
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many proposed claims have been submitted to the Food Standards Agency for consideration for authorisation for use on products under the provisions of Article 13 of the Nutrition and Health Claims Made on Food Regulations; if he will give a breakdown of that total by the major categories of the substance to which those claims refer, including (a) macronutrients, (b) vitamins and minerals, (c) botanical ingredients and (d) other substances. [157228]
Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency is currently processing submissions under the Article 13 process and estimates that between 1,500-2,000 claims have been submitted. The exact number, and breakdown by category and substance will only be known when all the submissions have been assessed, and any duplications taken into account.
Kate Hoey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to ensure that the Food Standards Agency assists manufacturers submitting
applications for authorisation of claims under the Nutrition and Health Claims Made on Food Regulations to support those applications through the authorisation process; and what steps the agency intends to take to support small and medium sized businesses involved in this process. [157229]
Dawn Primarolo: Health claims must be substantiated by scientific evidence, and be well understood by the average consumer. The substantiating science is to be assessed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Authorisation of the claims will then be by joint decision of the Commission and member states in the appropriate regulatory committee. The Food Standards Agency will support claims that comply with the necessary criteria and will push to ensure that the requirement in the regulation that the Commission and EFSA make available technical guidance and tools to assist small and medium sized businesses in the preparation and presentation of an application is fulfilled.
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when officials of the Food Standards Agency last met representatives of (a) manufacturers of specialist herbal food supplements and (b) specialist health food retailers to discuss the submission of claims under the nutrition and health claims made on food regulations. [157230]
Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency last met with representatives of manufacturers of specialist herbal food supplements and specialist health food retailers on 15 August 2007.
General Medical Council: Disciplinary Proceedings
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines his Department has issued to ensure that complete independence and objectivity apply to all General Medical Council disciplinary hearings; and if he will make a statement. [157773]
Mr. Bradshaw: No guidelines have been issued by the Department in relation to the independence and objectivity of General Medical Council (GMC) fitness to practise hearings.
In 2004, the GMC introduced a package of reforms to its fitness to practise procedures that included changes to the adjudication process.
Key aspects of the changes included:
the separation of functions between investigation and adjudication;
GMC Council members no longer have any role in fitness to practise casework and decision-making; and
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