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27 Nov 2007 : Column 419W—continued
East Midlands Regional Strategic Health Authority
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what public consultation meetings will be held by East Midlands Regional Strategic Health Authority in December 2007; what the purpose of those meetings is; and who has been invited to them. [168703]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We understand that East Midlands Strategic Health Authority has no plans to hold any meetings as part of formal public consultations in the east midlands during December.
General Practitioners: Easington
John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many practising NHS general practitioners there are in Easington constituency; and what the ratio of GPs to head of population is in the constituency. [166032]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not available at constituency level. The following table shows the number of general medical practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars) per 100,000 population in the County Durham Primary Care Trust area as at 30 September 2006.
| Number (headcount) and percentage | ||
| GMPs (excluding retainers and registrars)( 1) | GMPs (excluding retainers and registrars)( 1) per100,000 population | |
| (1) General medical practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars) includes GP providers and GP others Sources: The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics Resident Population Estimates, Office for National Statistics | ||
General Practitioners: Greater London
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs there are per head of population in (a) Havering and (b) London. [167316]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is held at primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA) level.
The latest figures available for general practitioners (GPs) per head of population at Havering PCT and London SHA can be found in the following table.
| Health organisation | GPs per population as at September 2006 |
Health Centres
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the planned health centres to be open for seven days a week will be additional to the existing network. [165716]
Mr. Bradshaw: Yes. The £250 million access fund announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 10 October is for additional primary medical care services beyond existing provision.
Health Services: Speech Impaired
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has issued to general practitioners on referring children with a speech, language or communication disability to an appropriate service; and if he will make a statement. [167614]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 26 November 2007]: No such guidance has been issued.
The ability to communicate is fundamental to a child's learning and development. ‘Aiming High for Disabled Children: better support for families’ (published by HM Treasury and Department for Education and Skills, May 2007) recognised the importance of therapy services, such speech and language therapy, as being key to improving outcomes.
On 11 September my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families announced a review of services for children and young people with speech,
language and communications needs. The review will be lead by the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow).
The review will build on the investment and improvements to speech and language therapy and the resources made available in the last 10 years. The review will advise on a number of areas including examples of good practice in commissioning and delivering services which are responsive to the needs of children, young people and families and which can be viewed as benchmarks for the delivery of local services across England.
The review will make an interim report in March 2008 and a full report by July 2008.
Human Papilloma Virus: Vaccination
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who is responsible for the implementation of the national vaccination programme for human papilloma virus. [167525]
Dawn Primarolo: Primary care trusts (PCTs) will be responsible for local planning and delivery of the vaccination programme. National guidance will be issued by the Department in order to assist PCTs in their work.
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms will be used to (a) audit the take-up of the human papilloma virus vaccine through the national vaccination programme and (b) ensure comprehensive coverage of women over 16 years of age in the programme. [167526]
Dawn Primarolo: National immunisation statistics for primary care trusts (PCTs) in England will be collected by the Department.
PCTs will be responsible for commissioning immunisation services to vaccinate girls under the age of 18 as part of a catch-up programme. Mechanisms to achieve this will be decided by individual trusts.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised that human papilloma virus vaccination would be most efficiently delivered through schools.
Influenza
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) with reference to the answer of 15 October 2007, Official Report, column 923W, on influenza, what plans he has to stockpile antibiotics for use in the event of an influenza pandemic; [166321]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of courses of antivirals which would be required in order to offer chemoprophylaxis protection to NHS staff against future occurrence of the disease in the event of an influenza pandemic. [166456]
Dawn Primarolo: The range of antibiotics needed to treat bacterial complications arising from pandemic influenza has been identified and published in the form of Clinical Management Guidelines.
The Government have secured a stockpile of H5N1 vaccine for use by health care workers and is also
progressing work to ensure that the appropriate face masks are made available to them. The current stockpile of antivirals is intended for the treatment of symptomatic cases, not prophylaxis. There are currently no plans to offer them to NHS staff for prophylaxis in the event of an influenza pandemic.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Answer of 15 October 2007, Official Report, column 923W, on influenza, if he will estimate the proportion of excess deaths in each year since 1997-98 which occurred in those vaccinated against seasonal influenza. [166325]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current thresholds are for (a) baseline and (b) epidemic seasonal influenza activity, expressed in terms of the general practitioner consultation rate per 100,000 population; what the evidential basis underpinning these thresholds was; what representations his Department has received from (i) the Health Protection Agency and (ii) other interested parties on these thresholds; what discussions officials in his Department have had with the Health Protection Agency on the subject of thresholds for influenza activity; what the content of such discussions was; and if he will make a statement. [166384]
Dawn Primarolo: The current thresholds for baseline and epidemic seasonal flu activity is as follows:
GP consultation rates of 0 to 30 per 100,000 population per week—baseline activity rates of 30 to 200 per 100,000 population per week—normal seasonal activity rates of >200 per 100,000 population per week—epidemic activity.
The threshold level was changed in 2004-05 following assessment of the indicators of influenza activity by the Health Protection Agency, and in discussion with the Birmingham Research Unit of the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation Respiratory Panel.
The Department has asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to review the use of antivirals and threshold levels used for seasonal influenza.
Influenza: Vaccination
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations his Department has received from (a) officials in the Health Protection Agency and (b) other interested parties on the effectiveness of vaccination against seasonal influenza; what the content of these representations was; and if he will make a statement. [166386]
Dawn Primarolo:
The aim of the Government’s influenza immunisation policy is to protect those who are most at risk of serious illness or death should they develop influenza. Although vaccination may not protect all elderly people from flu virus infection experts, including those from the Health Protection Agency (HPA), advise that the majority of those
immunised benefit by suffering a less severe illness. The HPA press release of 24 October endorsed the Government’s influenza vaccine campaign.
United Kingdom policy is constantly under review by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to take into consideration all available evidence. A new study from the HPA on the causes of winter hospital admissions adds to the evidence base.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which groups of workers are eligible for (a) antiviral chemoprophylaxis and (b) vaccination against A/H5N1 in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza. [166438]
Dawn Primarolo: Based upon detailed risk assessments during an outbreak, all workers, and others, who are identified as having been at risk of exposure to the H5N1 virus will be offered chemoprophylactic preventative treatment with the antiviral Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) within 24-48 hours of disease confirmation. Additionally, all workers who are identified as being at risk of potential exposure, for example through engagement in culling and disposal of birds, will be offered antiviral chemoprophylaxis prior to commencing these activities.
All those offered antiviral prophylaxis will also be offered seasonal influenza vaccine. Vaccination with H5N1 vaccine is not offered during outbreaks of avian flu. There is a small stock of H5N1 vaccine which is held for possible use in the event of a human flu pandemic.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to strengthen the criteria for prioritisation of vaccination in the event of an influenza pandemic, as recommended by his Department’s Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations at its meeting of 20 June 2007. [166450]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department has commissioned a series of studies to predict the impact of vaccinating specific risk groups, including strategies that prevent the spread of disease as well as preventing flu cases and flu-related deaths. This work is being used to develop a detailed strategy for the prioritisation of pandemic flu vaccine.
Liver Diseases
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were admitted to hospital in England as a consequence of (a) alcoholic liver disease and (b) cirrhosis in each of the last 10 years. [166823]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is in the following table:
Code K70.3 is also included within the data for Alcoholic Liver Disease. These figures should not be added together as this would cause double counting.
NHS: EU Nationals
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what his estimate is of the number of French nationals in the UK who have accessed NHS services in each of the last five years; [167034]
(2) what the cost to the public purse has been of French nationals living in the UK accessing NHS services in each of the last five years. [167035]
Dawn Primarolo: Entitlement to free national health service hospital treatment is based upon ordinary residence in the United Kingdom, not nationality or payment of taxes. Successive Governments have not required the NHS to submit statistics on the number of foreign nationals living in the UK who have accessed NHS services, nor any costs to the public purse involved. It is therefore not possible to provide this information.
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