Previous Section Index Home Page

4 Feb 2008 : Column 873W—continued

Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust: Dental Services

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been allocated to the Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust for the provision of NHS dental services in 2007-08. [181695]

Ann Keen: The Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust (PCT) received a net allocation of £18.923 million for the funding of primary dental services in 2007-08. In addition, the PCT receives the benefit of all national health service dental charge income paid by patients attending local practices to help meet the gross cost of commissioning services from dental providers.

PCTs are also able to apply to their strategic health authority for separate, non-recurrent supplementary allocations to meet the costs associated with any recently qualified dentists who join local practices as dental vocational trainees for an initial period of training and supervised clinical experience.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many enquiries were received by the Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust on access to NHS dentists in each of the last three years. [181696]

Ann Keen: This information is not held centrally and may instead be available from the Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust.

Cervical Cancer: Death

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women (a) under 25, (b) 25 to 35, (c) 35 to 50, (d) 50 to 60 and (e) over 60 years of age died from cervical cancer in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [183762]

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.


4 Feb 2008 : Column 874W

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 4 February 2008:

Number of deaths from cervical cancer( 1) by age group, England and Wales, 2002-2006( 2)
Under 25 25-34 35-49 50-59 60+ All ages

2002

5

37

188

173

600

1,003

2003

7

49

170

150

577

953

2004

9

44

167

168

563

951

2005

2

51

170

153

541

917

2006

4

52

168

132

475

831

(1 )Selected using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C53.
(2 )Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.

Clostridium: Screening

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department intends to bring forward proposals to screen all patients entering NHS hospitals in England for C lostridium difficile. [181022]

Ann Keen: We are introducing universal screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus for all elective patients by March 2009 and for all emergency patients as soon as possible over the next three years. This will reduce the likelihood of a patient developing a clinical infection or passing it on to others in hospital who may be vulnerable.

We have considered whether universal screening of patients for Clostridium difficile ( C. difficile) is the best way forward for the national health service. However, the current clinical evidence does not suggest that universal screening would be clinically effective as universal screening would not identify the majority of patients who might be carrying C. difficile bacteria, and patients without symptoms are not considered to present an increased risk of infecting others. This is why we are targeting high risk patients for C . difficile screening. All over 65s in hospital with diarrhoea already should be screened for C . difficile as set out in current guidance. This will ensure the infection is identified quickly and appropriate measures are taken to treat the patient and minimise infection of other patients.

The measures for tackling health care associated infections such as C. difficile are set out in Health Protection Agency guidance, the ‘Saving Lives’ programme and ‘Clean, safe care’ strategy.

We will keep the clinical evidence for further C. difficile screening under review and will act quickly in response to new and emerging evidence.

Commercial Directorate: Operating Costs

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the costs of running the Commercial Directorate since it was established. [182937]


4 Feb 2008 : Column 875W

Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 28 January 2008]: The Department's Commercial Directorate was established in 2003-04. The direct running costs to 2007-08, which relate to civil servant pay and non-pay costs, are shown in the following table:

£ million

2003-04

2004-05

0.5

2005-06

1.0

2006-07

0.8

2007-08(1)

0.9

Total

3.2

(1) Forecast.

Departmental E-mail

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to reduce the number of hard copies of e-mails printed by officials in his Department. [179468]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has taken steps, over a number of years, to encourage staff not to print off e-mails, and other documents, unnecessarily. In particular, the following actions have been taken:

Diabetes: Children

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will consider implementing a screening programme for type 1 diabetes in children; [183599]

(2) what guidance his Department has issued to schools on managing children with type 1 diabetes; [183600]

(3) what information his Department provides for parents on the causes and symptoms of type 1 diabetes in children; [183601]


4 Feb 2008 : Column 876W

(4) how many children were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the years (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06 and (c) 2006-07; [183602]

(5) what steps he is taking to include screening for type 1 diabetes in children in the health screening programme recently announced by the Prime Minister. [183603]

Ann Keen [holding answer 31 January 2008]: Caring for children and young people with diabetes is fundamentally different from providing services for adults. It is a complex process that must be focused firmly on the child or young person and their family and/or other carers, supported by the skills and experiences of a wide range of healthcare professionals.

It is not currently possible to screen for type 1 diabetes in children. The Department therefore has no plans to implement a screening programme for type 1 diabetes in children. The onset of the symptoms of type 1 diabetes develops quickly, and they usually require immediate medical attention.

The Prime Minister’s announcement on 7 January 2008 outlined plans to develop a programme of vascular risk assessment, which includes diabetes. Proposals for this programme will be brought forward later in the year, but this will be a programme for adults.

The Department does not collect data about the number of children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. However, the current estimate of prevalence in the United Kingdom is one per 700-1,000 children, yielding a total of population of people with type 1 diabetes aged 25 years in the UK of approximately 25,000.

In April 2007, the Department of Health published “Making Every Young Person with Diabetes Matter”, the report of the Children and Young People with Diabetes Working Group, which looked at ways to improve diabetes services for children and young people. This report includes guidance on the management and support of type 1 diabetes in children and young people. Parents can also access guidance about the causes and symptoms of type 1 diabetes from the Diabetes UK website at:

and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at:

The Department for Children, Schools and Families, in close liaison with the Department, has issued guidance for schools on the development of policies for the management and administration of pupils’ medicines, and to help them put in place systems for supporting individual pupils with medical needs, including type 1 diabetes. The guidance is available at:

Dietary Supplements: EU Law

David Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 25 October 2007, Official Report, column 552W, on dietary supplements: EU law, whether the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has received responses from the Governments of Jersey and Guernsey to the letters it sent on 10 September 2007; and when a collective
4 Feb 2008 : Column 877W
meeting with the representatives of these Governments is planned to take place. [184398]

Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has not received responses from the Governments of Jersey and Guernsey to the letters sent on the 10 September 2007 and no meetings have been arranged with the FSA.

Fluoride: Children

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what advice his Department has issued to (a) parents and (b) dentists on the prevention of dental fluorosis in children; [182407]

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the causes of dental fluorosis in children, other than that of fluoride added to the water supply. [182409]

Ann Keen: Dental fluorosis is characterised by a flecking, or more rarely a mottling, of teeth, often only visible when teeth are dried. If severe, it may give some people concern about the appearance of their teeth. It does not, however, affect the extra resistance to dental decay provided by exposure to fluoride. It is often caused by very young children swallowing fluoride toothpaste unsupervised. When parents or dentists make inquiries, they are referred to advice contained in “Delivering Better Oral Health: An evidence based toolkit for prevention”, which was issued to all national health service general dental practices in November 2007. The guide, advises that

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned on the prevalence of dental fluorosis in children under the age of 10 years. [182408]

Ann Keen: To date, experience of researching fluorosis shows that there are wide differences in subjective assessments even when they are made by dentists on dried teeth. We are therefore supporting a research project on the use of intra-oral cameras to assess the extent of fluorosis. If, as we expect, the research shows that the measurement of dental fluorosis can be standardised, we will undertake a further study of its prevalence and aesthetic impact.

Gastrointestinal System: Health Services

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many specialist gastroenterology units there are (a) in England and (b) in each region of England; [178045]

(2) how many people in England have a gastrointestinal disease, broken down by condition; what plans he has for a National Service Framework for gastroenterology; and how many (a) gastroenterological consultants and (b) specialist gastroenterologist training posts there were in the national health service in England in each of the last five years. [178048]

Ann Keen: Data are not held centrally on specialist gastroenterology units. Data are not held in the form
4 Feb 2008 : Column 878W
requested for people in England with gastrointestinal disease. The Department does not currently have plans for a national service framework for gastro-intestinal disease.

However, the following table sets out the medical staff within gastroenterology.

Hospital and community health services: medical staff within gastroenterology showing consultants and doctors on training and equivalents by grade: England at 30 September each year
Number (headcount)
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

All staff

1,343

1,374

1,552

1,447

1,538

Of which:

Consultant

599

638

674

669

639

Doctors in training and equivalents

585

581

732

675

772

Registrar Group(1)

367

356

407

396

457

Senior House Officer

140

151

222

188

163

Foundation year 2

(2)

(2)

(2)

(2)

44

House Officer

78

74

103

91

108

(1) The majority of staff within this grade are specialist registrars. These doctors are undertaking specialist training within their chosen specialty.
(2 )Denotes not applicable.
Source:
The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census

Next Section Index Home Page