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23 Apr 2008 : Column 2129W—continued
Information on breast screening coverage in the Yorkshire and Humber Strategic Health Authority (SNA) area is shown in the following table. Coverage is the proportion of women resident and eligible that have had a test with a recorded result at least once in the previous three years.
| Breast screening programme: coverage of women aged 53-64 by specified organisations, at 31 March 2007 | ||||
| Eligible population( 1) | Number of women screened (less than three years since last test) | Coverage (less than three years since last test) (percentage) | ||
| Notes: 1. This is the number of women in the registered population less those recorded as ineligible. 2. The coverage of the breast screening programme is the proportion of women resident and eligible that have had a test with a recorded result at least once in the previous three years. 3. Coverage of the screening programme is currently best assessed using the 53-64 age group as women may be first called at any time between their 50th and 53rd birthdays. 4. The breast screening programme covers women aged 50-64 but it was extended to invite women aged 65-70 in April 2001. The last unit began inviting women aged 65-70 in April 2006 and full coverage should be achieved by 2008-09. Source: KC63 | ||||
Cardiovascular System: Screening
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged between 40 and 74 years of age received a vascular risk assessment in 2007. [199443]
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged between 40 and 74 years have access to vascular risk assessments. [199885]
Ann Keen:
There is no standardised format for a vascular risk assessment currently in use within the primary care system. However, we do know that many of the elements of the vascular check proposed in “Putting Prevention First” are offered to patients. Copies of this publication are available in the Library. These are not recorded under the heading of vascular risk assessment, but it is possible to make some estimates on the basis of samples of primary care data sets. For example, using a sample of 1.14 million general practice records for adults aged 40 to 74 provided by Q Research, relating to 2007, we can estimate numbers in that age
group in England who have records of the four measures we are proposing should form part of a vascular risk assessment. These measures are cholesterol, smoking status, body mass index and blood pressure.
We estimate that in the five years between 2002 and 2007 an average of 620,000 adults per annum will have undergone all four measures. This excludes people who already have one or more vascular diseases because they would not be eligible for primary prevention, which is what the vascular risk assessments are intended for. In addition, from the same data we estimate that 1.2 million people are being prescribed statins for primary prevention of disease and we can assume that each of these is likely to have undergone at least some of the elements of the proposed vascular risk assessment when the initial decision to prescribe statins was made.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has recently issued on the diagnosing of myalgic encephalomyelitis. [200599]
Ann Keen: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has published, in August 2007, a clinical guideline on the diagnosis and management of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis.
Commission for Social Care Inspection: Pensions
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the cash equivalent transfer value is of the public sector pension of the Chief Inspector of the Commission for Social Care Inspection; [198445]
(2) what pensions scheme is offered to staff joining the Commission for Social Care Inspection; what the rate of employer contributions to the scheme is; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the terms and benefits of the scheme. [198446]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We have been informed by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that the cash equivalent transfer value of the public sector pension of the Chief Inspector of CSCI equals £925,134.39p as at 31 March 2008.
We have also been informed by CSCI that the pensions scheme offered to staff joining CSCI is the Teesside Local Government Pension Scheme. For 2008-09, the employer contribution rate is 13.7 per cent. The scheme applies to the great majority of existing CSCI staff and to all new starters who opt for pension fund membership. In addition, when CSCI was created, it inherited some employees who were members of various other pension schemes. The employer contribution rate of these schemes ranges from 6.2 per cent. to 33 per cent.
The details of the terms and benefits of the scheme have been placed in the Library.
Continuing Care: Essex
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government have taken to ensure that those in the Mid Essex Primary Care Trust area entitled to continuing NHS healthcare are receiving it; [200592]
(2) what steps he has taken in the Mid Essex Primary Care Trust area to ensure that Government guidelines on the equitable entitlement to continuing NHS healthcare achieve their objectives. [200593]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The “National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care in England”, implemented from 1 October 2007, sets out the process for determining eligibility for national health service continuing healthcare. To minimise variation in interpretation of the principles outlined in the Framework and to inform consistent decision-making, the Department has developed the national decision support tool in conjunction with stakeholders. The decision support tool supports practitioners in obtaining a full picture of needs and indicates a level of need that could constitute a primary health need as set out in the Framework. The decision support tool, combined with practitioners’ own experience and professional judgment, will enable them to apply the primary health need test in practice, in a way that is consistent with the limits on what can be lawfully provided by local authorities. It is too soon to gauge the Framework’s impact. We will review the Framework and the decision support tool in September 2008.
We have been informed that Mid Essex Primary Care Trust is committed to the principles of continuing healthcare and to working with its partners to provide funding and support to any individual who meets the national criteria.
Dental Services: Fees and Charges
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost (a) per patient and (b) per visit for emergency dental treatment at a dental access centre in Milton Keynes has been since their inception. [200767]
Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected centrally. Primary care trusts (PCTs) set funding and service requirements for individual dental access centres, locally. The hon. Member may therefore wish to raise this with the chief executive of Milton Keynes PCT.
Departmental Legislation
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what criminal offences have been abolished by primary legislation sponsored by his Department since May 1997; [198294]
(2) what criminal offences have been created by primary legislation sponsored by his Department since July 2007. [198314]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested on what criminal offences have been abolished by primary legislation since May 1997 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
No new criminal offences have been created by primary legislation since July 2007. However, Regulations 27 and 185 of the European Qualifications (Health and Social Care Professions) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/3101), which amended the Medical Act 1983 and the Opticians Act 1983 respectively, expand the scope of existing offences in primary legislation. The Mental Health Act
2007, which was given Royal Assent on 19 July 2007 increases the maximum penalty for ill-treatment or wilful neglect (s.42).
Developing Patient Partnerships Programme: Finance
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason his Department decided to cease funding for the Developing Patient Partnerships programme; and what arrangements have been made for the continuity of the provision of its services to patients. [199338]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has supported Developing Patient Partnerships through two section 64 specific grants since April 2003. The latest grant covering 2006-08 was agreed with Developing Patient Partnerships on the basis they would no longer require central funding as they would be self-sufficient from April 2008 through increasing their subscriber base. Developing Patient Partnerships are currently in discussions with several organisations to make their material available to patients in the future.
Eyesight: Testing
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of people aged 60 and over had an NHS sight test in the last year for which figures are available. [199500]
Ann Keen: The number of general ophthalmic services (GOS) sight tests paid for by the national health service, for persons aged 60 and over, in England, in the year ending 31 March 2007 was 4,518,672. Based on Office for National Statistics population estimates for mid- 2006 the sight tests number is 41.9 per cent. of the population aged over 60.
This information is available in Table B4 of the “General Ophthalmic Services: Activity Statistics for England and Wales, Year Ending 31 March 2007” report. This table also includes the number of tests for persons aged 60 and over as a proportion of the total number of sight tests.
This report, published by The Information Centre for health and social care on 31 July 2007, is available in the Library and is also available on-line at:
Numbers of GOS sight tests paid for by the NHS, for persons aged 60 and over and as a proportion of the 60 and over population for the year ending 31 March 2008 are due to be published in the “General Ophthalmic Services: Activity Statistics for England and Wales—Year Ending 31 March 2008” report. This report is due to be published, by The Information Centre for health and social care, in July 2008. This report will also include the number of sight tests for persons aged 60 and over as a proportion of the total number of sight tests.
Forced Marriage
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring and evaluation his Department carries out on the implementation of its guidance on forced marriages; and if he will make a statement. [198786]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department does not monitor the FCO-led guidance on recognising forced marriages. It is for NHS trusts and primary care trusts to monitor the performance of their own staff in recognising domestic violence, including cases of forced marriage.
Health Professions: Training
Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are under consideration by his Department to ensure that strategic health authorities meet their service level agreement commitments regarding multi-professional education and training. [200175]
Ann Keen: In 2007-08 a service level agreement (SLA) and accountability framework has been issued to ensure that strategic health authorities (SHAs) are held to account for the training they support. The SLA also sets out that there should be a learning and development agreement in place with service providers to underpin the education and training funds passed to national health service trusts. The role of the Department should be to focus on outputs and accountability rather than on ensuring a fixed amount of money is spent for a particular purpose regardless of local priorities. Strategic health authorities (SHAs) provide relevant financial and activity data four times per year to the Department. SHAs also published an annual investment plan by 30 June 2007 setting out their planned investment in education and training for the year. We will be asking SHAs for an end of year report on the SLA shortly. They also provide relevant financial and activity data up to four times per year to the Department.
Health Services: Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many bids he has received for designation as an Academic Health Services Centre; and what criteria will apply to determining the outcome of such bids. [198388]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 2 April 2008]: The Department is currently in the process of developing proposals for the roll-out of Academic Health and Science Centres.
Medical Records: Disclosure of Information
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether his Department has published guidance on the duty of foundation trusts to release medical records to the next of kin of a patient who has died in their care; [198899]
(2) whether his Department has powers to require foundation trusts to release medical records to the next of kin of a patient who has died in their care. [198900]
Mr. Bradshaw
[holding answer 21 April 2008]: Access to deceased patients’ health records is permitted under the Access to Health Records Act 1990 (AHR) though this does not automatically provide a right of access for next of kin. Applications for access under the AHR may be made by the deceased’s personal
representative and any person who may have a claim arising from the patient’s death. This may be the next of kin in some cases.
The Department has provided the national health service with guidance on access to the records of deceased but is currently reviewing this guidance in light of recent legal cases. Essentially, the decision whether or not to disclose records of the deceased is the responsibility of the organisations holding the record, taking into account obligations of confidentiality and any directions provided by the deceased individual.
The Department does not have the authority to require foundation trusts to release health records of deceased patients, but foundation trusts must comply with the AHR in the same way as other NHS trusts.
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