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3 Dec 2007 : Column 1004W—continued


Health Services: Public Participation

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what further steps he proposes to take to ensure that the views of public and patient groups are taken into account in the conclusions of the Enhancing Confidence in Professional Healthcare Regulation sub-group; and if he will make a statement. [170083]

Mr. Bradshaw: The report will be made available on the Department of Health's website, which includes mechanisms for people to directly feed in their views to the working groups.

Wider feedback will be invited as part of the National Advisory Group Meeting planned for spring 2008.

We are proposing to hold an event specifically for patient and public representatives in new year 2008. The purpose of this event would be to ensure that the views of patient and public representatives are invited across the range of issues raised in the programme set out in the White Paper, “Trust, Assurance and Safety”.

Health Services: Regulation

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account will be taken of the report from the Enhancing Confidence in Professional Healthcare Regulation sub-group during the drafting of (a) existing and (b) future section 60 orders under the Health Act 1999. [170082]


3 Dec 2007 : Column 1005W

Mr. Bradshaw: The report of the Enhancing Confidence in the Professional Regulators Working Group will be taken into account when preparing Section 60 Orders planned for the second half of 2008. We will also consider the implications of the report alongside other responses to the consultation on the Health Care and Associated Professions (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2008, and to the forthcoming consultation on a further, similar Order covering professions where the regulation is devolved.

Hospitals: Construction

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new hospital schemes have been (a) given the go-ahead by his Department, (b) opened and (c) cancelled in each financial year since 1997-98 for which figures are available. [162236]

Mr. Bradshaw: The information has been placed in the Library.

In preparing the answer to this parliamentary question, officials have discovered that the answer given on 9 March 2007, Official Report, column 2288W, contained an error. The £250 million private finance initiative scheme at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust which was cancelled in 2003 was mistakenly omitted from the answer.

Human Embryo Experiments

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many human embryos were created specifically for the purposes of research in each year since the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. [169603]

Dawn Primarolo: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has informed me that data on the number of embryos created specifically for research purposes were not collected before 1999. Since then, the HFEA’s register indicates that only two embryos were created specifically for research purposes.

Human Papilloma Virus: Vaccination

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to include women between the ages of 18 and 26 years in the human papilloma
3 Dec 2007 : Column 1006W
virus vaccination programme; and if he will make a statement. [169364]

Dawn Primarolo: We are currently considering the advice received from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the effectiveness of a national vaccination programme for all women over the age of 18. However women not covered by the vaccination programme will still be invited to be screened routinely as part of the national cervical screening programme.

Labelling: Alcoholic Drinks

Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent discussions he has had with the brewery industry on alcohol warning labels required by different European Union states; and if he will make a statement; [166023]

(2) what plans his Department has to seek uniformity in alcohol warning labels across the European Union. [166021]

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.

We do not exclude the possibility of greater commonality of approach in future. It is unlikely that a consensus exists at present across the European Union (EU) on the content of consumer information related to health on alcohol labels. The United Kingdom prefers an approach which provides information to consumers on alcohol unit content and sensible daily consumption.

The Department’s officials have discussed with the Wine and Spirits Trade Association formal notifications by Finland and Poland to the European Commission seeking to introduce legislation in each country requiring alcohol warning labels. The UK has proposed that common approaches to providing consumer information should be explored through the EU Alcohol and Health Forum, since that is part of the Forum’s agreed remit.

Liver Diseases: Alcoholic Drinks

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diagnoses there were of alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver in those of (a) 18 to 25, (b) 26 to 35, (c) 36 to 45 and (d) over 45 years of age in (i) England and (ii) Devon Primary Care Trust area in each of the last five years. [168294]

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is shown in the following table:


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3 Dec 2007 : Column 1008W
Count of Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) with a diagnosis of alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver in primary or secondary fields for England and Devon primary care trusts (PCTs) by age at start of episode , d ata for NHS hospitals England for 2001-02 to 2005-06
Age
18-25 26-35 36-45 over 45

England

2005-06

57

814

3,365

15,109

2004-05

25

654

3,040

12,932

2003-04

39

555

2,707

10,882

2002-03

25

476

2,244

9,563

2001-02

17

433

2,037

8,047

Devon PCTs

2005-06

40

210

2004-05

23

186

2003-04

14

196

2002-03

*

7

110

2001-02

7

95

Notes:
Low Numbers
Due to reasons of confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been suppressed and replaced with “*” (an asterisk). “—“ represents zero.
All Diagnoses count of episodes
These figures represent a count of all FCE’s where the diagnosis was mentioned in any of the 14(7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record.
Diagnosis code used: K70.3 Alcoholic Cirrhosis of Liver.
Assessing growth through time
HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. During the years that these records have been collected the NHS there have been ongoing improvements in quality and coverage. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series.
Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example a number of procedures may. now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time.
Data Quality
HES are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and PCTs 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.
FCE
A FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.
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.
Devon PCTs have need defined as the PCT responsible for the patient. This is derived from the general practitioner practice with which the patient is registered:
5CV South Hams and West Devon PCT
5FQ North Devon PCT
5FT East Devon PCT
5FV Mid Devon PCT

Lung Cancer: Tarceva

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of different entitlements to Tarceva of patients in different parts of the UK on levels of care of patients in England and costs associated with that care; and if he will make a statement. [169521]

Ann Keen [holding answer 29 November 2007]: Tarceva is licensed for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer whose cancer has continued to grow despite having chemotherapy. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is currently appraising Tarceva for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Final guidance is expected to be published April 2008. In the meantime, it will be for primary care trusts to decide whether to fund Tarceva for individual patients, taking into account the available evidence.

No assessment has been made of the effects of different entitlements to Tarceva of patients in different parts of the United Kingdom on levels of care of patients in England and costs associated with that care.

Maternity Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2007, Official Report, column 830W, on maternity services, how many midwife-led units were (a) situated alongside consultant-led units and (b) stand-alone units. [170002]

Ann Keen: The information requested is as follows:

SHA Number midwife-led units situated alongside consultant-led units Number of stand-alone midwife-led units

East Midlands

0

3

East of England

3

6

London

11

2

North East

1

5

North West

2

7

South Central

4

12

South East Coast

3

3

South West

4

17

West Midlands

3

7

Yorkshire and the Humber

2

6

Total

33

68


I regret that the information given in my answer on 20 November 2007, Official Report, column 830W, was incorrect. The correct information is in the following table.


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Region Number of consultant-led units Number of midwife-led units

East Midlands

11

3

East of England

19

9

London

30

13

North East

12

6

North West

28

9

South Central

11

16

South East Coastal

16

6

South West

16

21

West Midlands

19

10

Yorkshire and Humber

19

8

England

181

101

Source:
National statistics for maternity units are collected by trust, instead of by individual unit Therefore there are no regular data collections of the number of units. The information in the table is from an amalgamated list kept by the Department from the Dr. Foster Birth Guide questionnaire (conducted between July and September 2006), BirthChoiceUK and National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit The data in this list are known to be out of date, coming mainly from 2005-06. More up to date data will be available when the Healthcare Commission report on maternity services is released in January.

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