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26 Jun 2008 : Column 504W—continued
Contraceptives: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many morning-after pills were distributed by each primary care trust in (a) the Dacorum Borough Council area and (b) Hertfordshire in each in each of the last five years. [210140]
Dawn Primarolo: Information is not held in the format requested. Information is held at national health service trust level. Due to primary care trust (PCT) reorganisations over the requested period and the PCTs in control of dispensing contraceptives changing, figures are only available for 2006-07 for East and North Hertfordshire PCT and West Hertfordshire PCT, which serve Hertfordshire including the Dacorum area.
The following table shows numbers of post-coital hormonal contraceptives dispensed at community contraceptive services and prescribed in the community in the East and North Hertfordshire PCT and West Hertfordshire PCT areas.
| NHS contraceptive services: numbers of post-coital hormonal contraceptives dispensed at community contraceptive services and prescribed in the community in the East and North Hertfordshire PCT and West Hertfordshire PCT areas since 2006-07 | |
| Number | |
| (1) Figures are for the number of post-coital hormonal contraceptives issued at community contraceptive clinics. Figures supplied are for East and North Hertfordshire PCT. (2) PACT data: these figures are for East and North Hertfordshire PCT and West Hertfordshire PCT. This information was obtained from the PACT system, which covers prescriptions prescribed by general practitioners, nurses, pharmacies and others in England and dispensed in the community in the United Kingdom. For data at PCT level, prescriptions written by a prescriber located in a particular PCT but dispensed outside the PCT will be included in the PCT in which the prescriber is based. Prescriptions written in England but dispensed outside England are included. 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 some British National Formulary (BNF) sections have a high proportion of prescriptions, written in hospitals that are dispensed in the community. For example, BNF chapter 4 ‘Central Nervous System’ has a fair proportion of items written in mental health clinics that are dispensed in the community—these prescriptions are not included in the PACT data. Note: Figures are for the financial year April 2006 to March 2007. Source: 1. The Information Centre for health and social care KT31 return; and 2. Prescribing Analysis and Cost Tool (PACT) | |
Dental Services
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental accident and emergency units there are in England. [212212]
Ann Keen: There are 203 major multi-specialty consultant-led accident and emergency (A and E) units in England. Major multi-specialty A and E units accept all accident and emergency patients including dental emergencies unless otherwise specified. There are also 82 consultant led single speciality A and E units, of which five have been specifically self reported by the NHS as dental units.
Minor dental emergencies such as acute toothache are usually treated through primary dental care out of hours services. Out of hours primary care is provided through high street dentists and in some areas local dental access centres. Major emergencies requiring maxo facial surgery would be referred either direct or via A and E to these specialist secondary care services.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people saw an NHS dentist at least once in the year from (a) 1 March 2006 and (b) 1 March 2007. [212668]
Ann Keen: Information on the number of people seen by an NHS dentist in a 12 month period could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Information is available and is published each quarter on the number of patients seen by an NHS dentist, in England in a 24 month period. The latest information is available in Table CI of Annex 3 of the ‘NHS Dental
Statistics for England: Quarter 3, 31 December 2007’ report. Information is available for the 24-month periods ending 31 March 2006, 31 March 2007, 30 June 2007, 30 September 2007 and 31 December 2007.
This report was published by the Information Centre for health and social care on 5 June 2008. Copies are available in the Library and is also available at:
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dental practices have (a) opened and (b) closed in each constituency in each year since 1997-98. [213676]
Ann Keen: Information on the number of national health service dental practices that have opened or closed is not collected centrally.
The number of NHS dental practices in England, as at 31 March of each year from 1997 to 2006, is available at Table 7 in the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006”. This information is based on the old dental contractual arrangements which were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) Dental Services Division (DSD) can provide validated information on the number of NHS dental practices by constituency only at disproportionate cost.
This publication is available in the Library and is also available on the information centre for health and social care at:
Under the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, NHSBSA DSD can provide validated information on the number of NHS dental practices only at disproportionate cost.
Dental Services: Lincolnshire
Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people accessed NHS dental treatment in (a) north-east Lincolnshire and (b) north Lincolnshire in each month for the last two years. [212840]
Ann Keen: The information is not available in the requested format. The NHS Business Services Authority Dental Services Division can only provide validated monthly information on the number of people seen by an national health service dentist at disproportionate cost.
The number of patients seen by an NHS dentist in England, over the previous 24 months period, is provided at Table CI of Annex 3 of the ‘NHS Dental Statistics for England: Quarter 3, 31 December 2007’ report. Information is provided by strategic health authority and primary care trust. This report, published on 5 June 2008, is available in the Library and is also available on the Information Centre for health and social carer's website at:
Departmental Training
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what training courses were (a) available to and (b) taken up by civil servants in his Department in the last 12 months. [210578]
Mr. Bradshaw: The corporate training courses available to and taken by staff in the Department between September 2007 and May 2008 are shown in the following table:
| Course title | Number of courses held | Number of attendees |
The requested information has only been collated in the form presented since September 2007, and therefore cannot be provided for the whole of the last year.
In addition to corporate training, decisions will have been taken at a local level to send staff on external training courses where a need was identified for training
not provided within the Department. There is no centrally held record of this type of action, and it would involve disproportionate cost to gather the information.
Dietary Supplements
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what progress was made at the Working Group of the Council of Ministers held in June 2008 to discuss the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive; [213446]
(2) when he next plans to discuss with his European counterparts the objectives of the Government for the setting of maximum permitted levels for nutrients in food supplements; and if he will make a statement; [213447]
(3) whether the regulatory impact assessment to be conducted on the future proposed maximum levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements will include an assessment of impact upon (a) consumer choice, (b) specialist small and medium sized manufacturers, (c) specialist health food retailers and (d) public health. [213448]
Dawn Primarolo: The European Commission has confirmed that the next European Commission-led working group meeting with member states on setting maximum and minimum levels of vitamins and minerals in food supplements will be held on 27 June.
We have been advised by the Food Standards Agency that its officials are planning a further round of bilateral meetings with their counterparts in other member states to build on discussions held at the working group meeting.
The potential impact on all stakeholders of the European Commission's proposals for setting maximum and minimum levels will be assessed in the associated impact assessment, according to Government guidance issued by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Doctors: Working Hours
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account the agreement reached on the amendment of the Working Time Directive took of the European Court of Justice judgments in the SiMAP and Jaeger cases; what provision the agreement makes for the treatment of on-call time; what amendments to the Directive are foreseen as a result; and if he will make a statement. [213336]
Ann Keen: The European Council agreed that the inactive part of on-call time should not count as work and for compensatory rest (for missed rest) to be taken within a reasonable period. The text now moves to the European Parliament for their consideration as part of the codecision process.
The Government, like the majority of member states supported this text and we have always considered that the SiMAP and Jaeger judgments took the principle of what should be included as working time too far.
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