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2 Apr 2008 : Column 1099W—continued
Kidney Patients: Medical Treatments
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people received dialysis treatment in each of the last five years, broken down by trust; [195395]
(2) what the average waiting time for the commencement of dialysis treatment is, broken down by trust. [195400]
Ann Keen: The Department does not collect this information.
Information on acceptance rates onto renal replacement therapies, the percentage of patients on each modality of treatment, and the referral to treatment times for incident patients is collected by the UK Renal Registry. The annual reports containing analysis of data from 1997 to 2006 can be found on the Renal Registry’s website at:
Macular Degeneration: Drugs
Mr. Swire:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects clinical trials for the use of avastin in
the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration to commence. [196809]
Dawn Primarolo: Avastin has not been licensed for use in wet age-macular degeneration (AMD) and the companies that make Avastin have not applied for a licence for the treatment of AMD.
The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme commissioned a head-to-head trial of Avastin and Lucentis in July 2007 to compare their clinical and cost-effectiveness in the treatment of wet AMD. Funding for the trial will amount to £2.8 million over a period of 42 months.
Further details about the trial can be found at:
The law does allow 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 individual primary care trusts.
Maternal Mortality
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of UK (a) maternal and (b) infant mortality rates against EU benchmarks; and if he will make a statement. [195397]
Ann Keen: The United Kingdom is one of the safest places in the world to have a baby. The UK rate for 2000-02 of seven maternal deaths per 100,000 pregnancies is comparable to that of France (17), Switzerland (seven) and the USA (14).
For the past 52 years, the UK is the only country in the world in which health professionals submit their work to review by their peers and they proactively notify the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health of any women they know have died.
The infant mortality rate for England was 5.0 per 1,000 live births in 2004, compared to the 2004 European Union average of 5.3 per 1,000, according to the latest World Health Organisation data. These rates have fallen by around 40 per cent. in the last 15 years and they are broadly comparable to other industrialised countries, according to the latest United Nations Children's Fund report. Action to reduce health inequalities in infant mortality continues to be a national priority.
It is difficult to make international comparisons due to differential definitions and data registration systems, and comparisons should be made with caution. The review system used to establish maternal death in the UK, unlike in other countries, covers not just those where death certificates name maternal death. The differences in registrations of live births mean that there are variations between countries in reporting live births and infant deaths.
Maternity Services: Closures
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many maternity units in England have closed since May 2005. [198451]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally. Any decisions on changes to services should be locally led and transparent, with full consultation with local people. It is only right that decisions about service reconfiguration and which maternity units remain open or close, are matters for local primary care trusts to determine, taking into account local population needs, priorities and resources, and having followed all appropriate processes, including public consultation.
Maternity Services: Finance
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on maternity services in each of
the last five financial years for which figures are available, broken down by (a) region and (b) NHS trust. [195753]
Ann Keen: Information is not available by individual trust. The following table shows expenditure by region. The expenditure shown is for the commissioning of secondary healthcare (maternity) by strategic health authorities (SHAs) and primary care trusts (PCTs).
On 25 January 2008, we announced extra funding over the next three years, totalling £330 million to ensure mothers get the best possible care. The funding which will available to trusts from April 2008 will also ensure a growth in the maternity work force.
| SHA area | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
| Sources: Audited SHA summarisation forms 2002-03 Audited PCT summarisation schedules 2002-03 to 2006-07 | |||||
Maternity Services: Negligence
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many claims under Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts there have been relating to maternity services since 1995; and what the value has been of such claims. [195748]
Ann Keen: The information requested is shown in the following tables.
| Numbers and values of open Obstetrics claims by year since 1995 | ||||||
| NHSLA notification year | Number of claims | Provision (£) | Damages paid (£) | Defence costs paid (£) | Claimant costs paid (£) | Total paid (£) |
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