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27 Mar 2008 : Column 412W—continued
General Practitioners
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether a decision has been taken on the locations of the 150 general practitioner-led health centres to be introduced in each primary care trust. [195746]
Mr. Bradshaw: Primary care trusts are currently talking to local stakeholders, including clinicians and patients, to determine the locations of these services based on local health need. It is unlikely that exact locations will be decided upon until the outcomes of local consultations have been considered.
Health Services: Voluntary Organisations
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of contracts awarded to third sector organisations that provide services in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) England are three-year contracts. [193318]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on the proportion of three year contracts awarded to third sector providers is not collected centrally. However, the Department fully supports the expectation that Government Departments pass on the certainty of longer-term funding, where appropriate, to the third sector organisations that they and their agencies fund.
The Office of the Third Sector has proposed a staged approach to implementing three-year funding. The Department will work between now and 31 October 2008, to establish the arrangements needed to ensure reporting in 2009 on the proportion of funding arrangements between primary care trusts (PCTs) and third sector organisations that allow for three year funding, that does not impose unnecessary burdens on PCTs.
The 2008-09 NHS Operating Framework included the message that PCTs should not feel prevented from entering into three year agreements with local partners including small and medium enterprises and the third sector that establish practical measures to maximise their capacity to deliver health and well-being outcomes.
Incontinence: Medical Equipment
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are prescribed (a) stoma and (b) other incontinence products as part of their treatment in the London borough of Havering. [196667]
Dawn Primarolo: Information about the number of people who are prescribed stoma and other incontinence products as part of their treatment is not held centrally. The following table shows the number of appliances prescribed by general practitioners (GPs), nurses, pharmacists and other non-medical prescribers working in Havering Primary Care Trust (PCT) area that were dispensed in 2007.
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. This information was obtained from the Prescribing Analysis and Cost Tool (PACT) system, which covers prescriptions by GPs, nurses, pharmacists and others in England that are dispensed in the community in the United Kingdom. 2. For data at PCT level, prescriptions written by a prescriber located in a particular PCT but dispensed outside that PCT will be included in the PCT in which the prescriber is based. 3. Prescriptions written in England but dispensed outside England are included. 4. Prescriptions written in hospitals /clinics that are dispensed in the community, prescriptions dispensed in hospitals and private prescriptions are not included in PACT data. It is important to note this as items from some sections of the British National Formulary have a high proportion of prescriptions written in hospitals that are dispensed in the community. | |
Medicines: Guernsey
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has made of whether the draft Medicines (Human and Veterinary) (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2008 conforms with the medicines legislation of the European Union; [196083]
(2) what information he has on the proposed timetable for the government of Guernsey to bring forward secondary legislation and enforcement measures to implement the proposed Medicines (Human and Veterinary) (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2008; and if he will make a statement. [196084]
Dawn Primarolo: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has reviewed the draft Medicines (Human and Veterinary) (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2008 in respect of human medicinal products and believes that it is not consistent with the Medicines Directive 2001/83/EC. The MHRA is already working with the Government of Guernsey to identify where Guernsey will need to introduce additional legislation and to agree a timetable for this.
Mental Health Services: Finance
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what funding is allocated for the provision of mental healthcare treatment for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences in 2007-08, broken down by funding source; and if he will make a statement; [196131]
(2) how much has been spent on providing mental healthcare treatment for offenders (a) in custody and (b) serving community sentences in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [196140]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information is not held in the format requested. For offenders in custody, in England the total amount allocated specifically to primary care trusts for national health service mental health services in prisons was £1,719,000 in 2001-02, £3,685,000 in 2002-03, £9,400,000 in 2003-04 and £20,000,000 for each year since 2005-06. Information is not available before 2001.
For offenders serving community sentences, offenders service community sentences will receive treatment provided by the local mental health care NHS provider, commissioned through the local commissioning primary care trust.
Palliative Care: Children
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will undertake research to compare primary care trusts’ effectiveness in inclusion of (a) children’s palliative care and (b) children’s hospice services in local development plans; [186167]
(2) what plans he has to monitor the inclusion of children’s (a) palliative care and (b) hospice services in primary care trusts’ local development plans. [186168]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Working with their local partners, including local authorities, primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for setting local delivery plans (LDPs). The levels of performance set in the LDPs will be agreed and signed off by the relevant strategic health authority (SHA). In turn, the Department will sign off SHA level plans, ensuring that national performance expectations are formally agreed.
Monitoring of individual LDPs is a role for the relevant SHA.
It is for PCTs to decide how best to resource the priorities set out in the National Health Service Operating Framework for 2008-09.
In section 2 of the operating framework under ‘Priorities’ it states “disabled children : identifying actions and setting local targets on improving the experience of, and ranges of services for, children with disabilities and complex health needs and their families. This includes significantly increasing the range of short breaks, improving the quality and experience of palliative care services, improving access to therapies and supporting effective transition to adult services”.
On 19 February, we launched a first ever national strategy for children’s palliative care “Better Care: Better Lives”. The Strategy will assist local commissioners, providers and regulators in will devising local strategies to enable every child and young person with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition access to high-quality, family centred, sustainable care and support with services provided in a setting of choice according to the child’s and family’s wishes. It sets out clear expectations for improving choice, access and continuity of care, and seeks to place palliative care at the centre of local children’s service provision.
We also announced an additional £20 million in funding to enable the Children’s Hospices and Hospice at Home Grant to continue in 2009-10 and 2010-11 with £10 million available in each year.
Palliative Care: Staffordshire
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data is used by commissioners to determine the need for specialist palliative and neurological care in the Tamworth constituency. [195419]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
It is for individual primary care trusts (PCTs), including South Staffordshire PCT, within the national health service to commission services for their resident population, including end of
life care and neurological care, based on an assessment of local needs and priorities. Strategic health authorities are responsible for monitoring PCTs to ensure they are effective and efficient.
The NHS operating framework for 2007-08 asked PCTs, working with local authorities, to undertake a baseline review of their end of life care services. These will allow local commissioners to assess current services, identify gaps and obtain a much clearer view of local need, which will inform local commissioning.
Regarding neurological care, the information strategy published alongside the “National Service Framework for Long-term (Neurological) Conditions” outlines commissioners’ information requirements and a series of local and national actions designed to meet those needs. A copy of the National Service Framework is available in the Library.
Patients
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2008, Official Report, column 762W, on patients, how many patients were receiving NHS in-patient treatment at (a) each date referred to in the answer and (b) in 1997; and if he will make a statement. [196394]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 25 March 2008]: Figures are not available on the number of patients receiving treatment on a given day. The number of in-patient admissions in each year since 1997 are shown in the following table.
| Emergency and elective general and acute (G and A) admissions, England( 1) | |||
| Thousand | |||
| Year( 2) | Total G and A admissions ( 3) | Non-Elective | Elective |
| (1) These figures are for admissions purchased by the national health service (‘commissioner-based’). (2) Figures for years prior to 2006-07 have been rebased to allow direct comparison. (3) G and A specialities do not include mental health, learning difficulties or maternity services. Source: Health Authority quarterly monitoring, Monthly Monitoring Returns | |||
Prescription Drugs: Misuse
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the National Treatment Agency has taken to improve the availability, capacity and effectiveness of treatment for prescribed drug addicts in England. [192782]
Dawn Primarolo: It is the responsibility of primary care trusts in each area to commission services for individuals who are not illicit drugs users but are dependent on prescribed drugs (such as benzodiazepines).
On the other hand, it is the responsibility of Drug Action Teams (DATs) to commission within their areas specialised treatment for clients who misuse illicit drugs.
The National Treatment Agency (NTA) provide a range of support guidance to DATs and to treatment providers. Most recently the NTA and the Department published “Drug misuse and dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management (2007)”, which includes a detailed section on the management of benzodiazepines. NTA also oversee the National Drug Treatment Monitoring Service and Treatment Outcomes Profile databases.
Prescriptions
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many prescriptions were (a) issued and (b) dispensed in England in each of the last five years; [195573]
(2) how many people in England (a) paid for prescriptions and (b) used a prescription pre-payment certificate in each of the last five years. [195574]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department does not hold information on the numbers of prescriptions issued, only the number of prescription items dispensed. This can be found in table one of the Information Centre for health and social care publication, “Prescriptions dispensed in the community. Statistics for 1996 to 2006: England”. A copy of this document has been placed in the Library and is also available on the Information Centre’s website at:
Similarly, we do not hold information on the number of people paying prescription charges, only on numbers of prescription items attracting a prescription charge, either at the point of dispensing or by a prescription prepayment certificate. This information can also be found in table two of the “Prescriptions dispensed in the community. Statistics for 1996 to 2006: England”.
Prescriptions for Ativan/Lorazepam
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions were issued for ativan/lorazepam in each year since 2000. [196705]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department does not hold information on prescriptions issued, only on prescription items that are dispensed. The following table gives the total number of items dispensed for all formulations of lorazepam, including ativan injection.
| Prescription items dispensed in the community in England (000) | |
| Lorazepam | |
| Source: Prescription Cost Analysis | |
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