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5 Jun 2008 : Column 1103W—continued
Concerning lottery funding, although the Big Lottery Fund has supported projects in the fields of drug and alcohol abuse, information in the form requested is not held centrally.
Benzodiazepines: Misuse
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance the Chief Medical Officer has issued to doctors and other medical practitioners on benzodiazepine withdrawal. [208544]
Dawn Primarolo: In January 2004, following concerns about continued reports of problems with long-term use of benzodiazepines, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) issued a reminder that benzodiazepines should only be prescribed for short-term treatment in his newsletter CMO Update. The most recent publication of relevance from the Department of Health was CMO Update 37 of 9 February 2007 which reminded all doctors in England about safe prescribing of benzodiazepines. This publication is available on the Department's website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersand circulars/CMOupdate/DH_4070172
Care Homes: Fees and Charges
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to consult on proposals for changes to the Care Home Charging Regulations and the Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide. [208420]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department will undertake public consultation in 2008 on the recommendations of a group of key stakeholders on changes to the Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide (CRAG). These consultations will be in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance, allowing 12 weeks for comments to be submitted. Any changes agreed by Ministers will be implemented at an appropriate date after the end of the consultation.
From 2007, the Department has not consulted on the uprating of items in the regulations and CRAG, such as the capital limits and personal expenses allowance, where any such changes are simply being uprated using the formula applied in previous years. However, consultation will take place if there are other proposed changes.
Dementia: Research
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2008, Official Report, column 619W, on dementia research funding, how (a) the £18.3 million of funding from his Department and (b) the £6 million Medical Research Council funding for 2006 was spent. [208365]Dawn Primarolo: The main part of the Department’s expenditure on dementia research in 2005-06 (some £16.5 million) was spent by national health service providers from the allocations made to them for research and development to meet NHS priorities and needs and the costs to the NHS of hosting research supported by external funders. Details of individual NHS supported research projects undertaken during that time are available on the archived national research register at:
https://portal.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/NRRArchiveSearch.aspx.
The balance was spent on projects commissioned by the Department’s Health Technology Assessment, Service Delivery and Organisation, and Policy Research Programmes; and on the first year costs of the Dementias and Neurodegenerative Disease Research Network.
The total Medical Research Council (MRC) expenditure in 2005-06 was devoted to 38 grants and programmes in MRC units and institutes,
Departmental Computers
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has issued guidance to staff in his Department to switch off personal computers when not in use; and if he will make a statement. [208176]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has a policy of encouraging staff to switch off all electrical equipment when not in use, including personal computers. The issue has been highlighted at a number of staff awareness events, and all e-mails sent by staff in our Information Services Directorate have the strapline “Save energy - shut down your PC and turn off your monitor every night”.
All our current information technology (IT) equipment conforms to the current ‘Quick Wins’, specification for power management. ‘Quick Wins’ are a set of mandatory minimum environmental standards for the procurement of a variety of goods, including IT equipment. Looking to the future, the Department is developing a green IT strategy which will include a commitment to review our power management arrangements and systems.
Dietary Supplements: EU Law
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in negotiations on maximum permitted levels for nutrients under the Food Supplements Directive; and if he will make a statement. [208231]
Dawn Primarolo: The European Commission (EC) has indicated its intention for proposals in the form of draft amending legislation to go forward to the Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) for consideration in early 2009.
To inform its proposals, the EC has to date held two working group meetings with Member states, the last on 17 December 2007. The EC's principal aim for these meetings was to obtain member states' initial views on an orientation paper it had issued in the summer of 2007.
We have been advised by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that general discussions in the meetings revealed that whilst member states support the broad objective of setting maximum levels on the basis of safety and science, many are yet to establish a position. In these initial meetings the FSA has promoted the use of scientific evidence in establishing maximum levels.
Disabled: Medical Equipment
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether installation and personal advice will be part of any extension of home delivery of disability equipment under the Transforming Community Equipment programme; and if he will make a statement. [208689]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The installation and personal advice provided as part of community equipment home delivery services are included in the Transforming Community Equipment Programme.
Local authority and health partnerships will continue in their statutory duty to meet the needs of those individuals who require state support. Retailers will continue to offer a range of services, including installation and personal advice, to those who self fund.
Incontinence: Children
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance he issues to primary care trusts on working with local authorities on joined-up services for children with continence issues; [208229]
(2) what estimate he has made of the capacity of children's continence services. [208230]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services (The NSF) included guidance on the importance of joined up continence services for children and young people. We have not made any formal estimate nationally of the capacity of children's continence service. Copies of the NSF are available in the Library.
Methamphetamine: Misuse
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people were treated for addiction to methamphetamine in each of the last five years; [208059]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of users of methamphetamine in England; and if he will make a statement. [208061]
Dawn Primarolo:
Methamphetamine is part of the amphetamine family and is commonly known as crystal meth or ice, its chemical name is methylamphetamine. Although the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) does collects data on people in structured
drug treatment for amphetamine misuse, these data are not broken down further into the different types of amphetamine.
In 2005, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) used NDTMS data in their review of methylamphetamine, “Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Methylamphetamine Review”. The ACMD review reported that
“very few drug users applying for treatment were reporting methylamphetamine as either their primary drug or as a secondary drug”
MMR Vaccine
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2008, Official Report, column 1886W, on vaccines, (1) how many doses of the differently labelled MMR vaccines were (a) supplied and (b) distributed, broken down by financial year;. [203617]
(2) in what way the labelling on the MMR vaccines not destined for the UK differed from the UK-licensed product; [203618]
(3) on what dates the differently labelled MMR vaccines were supplied; [203619]
(4) on what date further supplies of UK-licensed MMR vaccine were received, allowing the wrongly-labelled vaccines to be written off. [203620]
Dawn Primarolo: 19,999 doses of United States (US) MMRII and 96,998 doses of Portuguese MMRII were supplied to the Department between May and June 2005. Of these, 16,879 doses of US MMRII and 4,244 doses of Portuguese MMRII were distributed. The labelling of these measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines was consistent with the licensing requirements of the countries for which they were originally destined. Scanned images of the packaging of these products and the packaging of a United Kingdom-licensed product supplied by the same company have been placed in the Library.
Further supplies of the UK-licensed MMR vaccine were received in June 2005.
Nanotechnology: Clothing
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effect on public health of the use of nanotubes in clothing materials. [208253]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department has not made any specific assessment of the effect on public health of the use of nanotubes in clothing materials.
To work properly, nanotubes must be tightly bound within a matrix and are very unlikely to be released as free particles. Exposure to free particles is most likely to take place during manufacture, unless appropriate occupational hygiene measures are taken. The expert advice provided to Government is that public exposure to free nanotubes is negligible.
NHS: Drugs
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to his Department’s publication Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths - Delivering the Future, Cm 7341, how the new Expert Panel on Health Services Research in Pharmacy will assess the longer term effect of medicines use reviews on compliance with prescribed medicines. [207814]
Dawn Primarolo: Once it has been set up, we expect the Expert Panel on Health Services Research in Pharmacy to consider the longer term impact of medicines use reviews on compliance with prescribed medicines as part of its wider remit to advise on future priorities for health service research in pharmacy.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) with reference to his Department’s publication Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths—Delivering the Future, Cm 7341, how the Government plans to make stronger provision for primary care trusts to prioritise medicines use reviews to meet their health priorities locally and to monitor service delivery more effectively; [207815]
(2) with reference to his Department’s publication Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths—Delivering the Future, Cm 7341, how the Government will change the funding structure for medicines use review to ensure that the service delivers to those who will benefit most. [207816]
Dawn Primarolo: We have asked NHS Employers to discuss with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee what mechanisms might be put in place to enable medicines use review services to be prioritised to better meet local health needs and monitored more effectively, as well as how the funding structure can ensure that these services are being delivered to those who might best benefit, while rewarding the health outcomes achieved.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to his Department’s publication Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths—Delivering the Future, Cm 7341, how the Government plans to encourage joint working between prescribers and dispensers to increase repeat dispensing. [207817]
Dawn Primarolo: We have asked NHS Employers to convene and lead a working group of pharmacy, medical and public representatives to formulate a series of actions to promote more effective professional relationships and, as part of this, identify and agree mechanisms that can support further incremental implementation of repeat dispensing.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) with reference to his Department’s publication Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths - Delivering the Future, Cm 7341, what estimate he has made of the cost of supplying alarms and medicines administration charts to patients who would otherwise not take their medicines; [207818]
(2) what discussions on appropriate measures will be carried out with interested parties on the subject of adherence to medicines, as stated in paragraph 3.26 of
the Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths - Delivering the Future White Paper, Cm 7341; and if he will make a statement. [207819]
Dawn Primarolo: “Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths - Delivering the Future”, Cm 7341, recognises that further work is needed to strengthen the commissioning of services to support patients’ adherence to medicines. We will therefore be holding discussions on the most appropriate way forward in partnership with interested parties.
No estimates have been made of the cost of supplying alarms and medicines administration charts to patients to support adherence to medicines.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how pharmacy should take steps to ensure that it develops robust interfaces between other providers of urgent care services such as general practice, community hospitals and out-of-hours service providers, as suggested in the Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths - Delivering the Future White Paper, Cm 7341. [207820]
Dawn Primarolo: It is for primary care trusts, as planners and commissioners of urgent care services, and pharmacy itself to ensure that pharmacy plays a key role in providing integrated urgent care services that best meet the needs and wishes of local communities.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monthly targets his Department expects pharmacists to meet; and if he will make a statement. [207822]
Dawn Primarolo: No monthly targets have been set. Community pharmacy contractors are required to deliver services according to their terms of service under the National Health Service (pharmaceutical services) Regulations 2005 and other relevant legislation. It is for primary care trusts to monitor their performance.
NHS: Expenditure
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the public expenditure per capita on (a) primary care, (b) emergency care and (c) NHS dental provision in each trust in London was in each year since 1997. [204913]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is available for the years 2000-01 to 2006-07 and copies have been placed in the Library. Information has been provided by previous and current primary care trusts within the London area.
Nurses: Car Allowances
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on the adequacy of the mileage allowance for district nurses. [208813]
Ann Keen: Representations have been made to the NHS Staff Council managed by NHS Employers. The NHS Staff Council is working towards a resolution.
Palliative Care
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is given to NHS hospitals on provision of support to patients who are dying and their families. [202217]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In 2004, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence issued guidance on “Improving the provision of supportive and palliative care for adults with cancer”. This key document includes specific recommendations about the care provided by all healthcare staff for the dying, including specialist support for those patients and families with complex problems at the end of life. While this guidance is oriented towards cancer, many of the principles and recommendations apply equally to other conditions.
Through the End of Life Care Programme, we have invested £12 million to support the rollout of end of life care tools such as the gold standards framework, the Liverpool Care Pathway and the preferred place of care. By December 2007, 85 per cent. of all national health service hospitals had implemented one or more tools on three or more wards.
The Government are committed to improving care and people's choices at the end of life, regardless of their condition or their location. We are taking this work forward through the development of a national End of Life Care Strategy for adults, this country’s first, which is due for publication in the summer. In addition, end of life care is also one of the eight pathways that strategic health authorities have been examining as part of their work on the NHS Next Stage Review.
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