| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
22 July 2008 : Column 1085W—continued
Diabetes: Health Services
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what arrangements are in place to manage the transition from paediatric to adult services for young people with diabetes; and what guidance his Department has given to primary care trusts to ensure the transition takes place at the appropriate time and is negotiated with and planned around the needs of each individual young person; [219500]
(2) whether his Department is undertaking an assessment of the implementation of “Making Every Young Person with Diabetes Matter”. [219538]
Ann Keen: It is for local national health service organisations to make their own arrangements to manage the transition from paediatric to adult services for young people with diabetes. The 2007 report “Making Every Young Person with Diabetes Matter” (copies of which have already been placed in the Library) gives support and guidance on managing the transition period, as well as other aspects of diabetes care for children and young people. Implementation of this guidance will be continually reviewed and will also be assessed through the Child Health and Maternity Services mapping exercise, which aims to create an inventory of all dedicated child health services provided in England.
In the 2007 Child Health Mapping returns, of 242 general paediatric services, 207 (86 per cent.) provided
services for children and young people with diabetes, 148 of which had protocols in place for transition to adult diabetes services, and 134 provided a diabetes transition key-worker on all, or most, occasions.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average ratio of children to paediatric diabetes specialist nurses is in England. [219502]
Ann Keen: The information is not collected centrally. It is for local national health service organisations to deploy specialist nurses according to their local needs.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts in England have carried out a local needs assessment as part of the development of services for children and young people with diabetes; and if he will make a statement. [219505]
Ann Keen: This information in not collected centrally. Responsibility for developing services for children and young people with diabetes rests with the national health service, and it is for primary care trusts to commission services that meet the needs of their local population.
In April 2007, the Department published “Making Every Young Person with Diabetes Matter”, the report of the children and young people with diabetes working group, which looked at ways to improve diabetes services for children and young people. This report includes guidance to commissioners on the planning, design and provision of diabetes services for children and young people, copies of the Report have already been deposited in the Library.
The “Diabetes Commissioning Toolkit”, published in November 2006, describes the importance of carrying out a health needs assessment for local diabetes populations.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts have protocols to support the delivery of a consistent level of care for people with diabetes when in hospital. [219610]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally. Responsibility for developing protocols to support the delivery of in-patient care for people with diabetes rests with the national health service, and it is for primary care trusts to commission services that meet the needs of their local population.
We recognise the importance of ensuring that people with diabetes receive good standards of care while in hospital. In March 2008 the National Diabetes Support Team, in partnership with the Department and Diabetes UK, published the report “Improving Emergency and In-patient Care for People with Diabetes”. The report is intended to provide quality information and standards for commissioners and providers, and tools for service improvement in in-patient care.
Dietary Supplements
Mrs. Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to ensure that botanical food supplements containing ingredients for which claims are approved under the provisions of the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation continue to be able to be marketed under food law. [220536]
Dawn Primarolo: Botanical food supplements bearing claims can continue to be marketed providing they comply with the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation and all other aspects of food law. In particular they must comply with the Food Supplements Directive, and all novel food ingredients must undergo a pre-market safety evaluation.
Disabled: Respite Care
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to paragraph 3.11 in the Carers at the heart of 21st-century families and communities report, how much of the £150 million funding for breaks for carers of disabled children will be provided by his Department over each of the next two years. [220304]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In response to the high value placed upon breaks by carers, the Department is investing £150 million via primary care trusts over the next two years. Of this, £50 million will be provided in 2009-10 and £100 million will be provided in 2010-11. This money will support all carers and will not be targeted specifically at carers of disabled children.
Between 2008-2011, we will be making a further investment of £720 million to councils to enable them to support carers with breaks and other services. This is in addition to funding of over a billion pounds paid to councils since 1999 through the carers grant.
Doctors: Housing
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of trainee doctors who will be paying for hospital-provided accommodation in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [220228]
Ann Keen: Whether a junior doctor pays for accommodation depends on the contract of employment of the individual doctor. As with all other national health service staff, terms and conditions provide that there should be no charge for accommodation where junior doctors are contractually required to be resident. This is a matter for local NHS employers in terms of the contract of employment of each individual employee, and the Department does not hold this information centrally.
Emergency Services: Telecommunications
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he expects the bandwidth for emergency service communications to be finalised; and what the reasons are for the time taken in determining, costing and allocating spectrum for emergency and public safety communications; [219732]
(2) when the public safety extension band (PSEB) manager will (a) decide on the allocation of, (b) submit the full costs schedule for and (c) provide the licence for the 2x13Mhz spectrum from the PSEB for the Government's chosen provider of emergency and public safety communications airwave solutions. [219733]
Mr. Bradshaw:
This is a new approach to licensing radio spectrum. New processes are being established.
This is a complex matter involving this Department, Ofcom and others. An offer has been made in principle. The detailed contract and licensing documentation will be completed as soon as possible.
Exercise
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence his Department has on the (a) cost-effectiveness and (b) clinical effectiveness of exercise referral services as referred to on page 36 of his Department's document High Quality Care for All, Cm. 7432. [219363]
Dawn Primarolo: In 2006, the National Institution for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) examined four commonly used methods to increase physical activity in England, including exercise referral. It considered the reviews of the evidence and an economic appraisal.
NICE determined that, other than as part of research studies where their effectiveness can be evaluated, there was insufficient evidence to recommend the use of exercise referral schemes to promote physical activity. However, the Department encourages the provision of high quality exercise referral schemes where they address management of condition specific or individual health conditions.
Food Standards Agency: Public Appointments
David Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what account was taken of the undertaking given on 14 January 1998, Official Report, columns 357-8, in relation to the proportion of members of the board of the Food Standards Agency with relevant interests in the appointment of the current board members; and if he will make a statement; [220279]
(2) how many and what proportion of the members of the board of the Food Standards Agency have a (a) current and (b) recent commercial interest in bodies regulated by the agency. [220280]
Dawn Primarolo: The commitment given was that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) would be “tough and independent”. This is fulfilled by the Food Standards Act 1999 which set up the FSA and by the code of conduct governing the conduct of its board members. The Act requires, and the capability of the agency's board depends upon, the independence and a wide range of skills and experience of members, who together act in the public interest without regard for their own financial or other interests which could prejudice the exercise of their duties. The balance of skills and experience of the whole board is reviewed at the time of each new appointment to ensure that appropriate independence of the board is maintained.
Details of board members' interests and their broad biographical backgrounds are published by the agency on its website and updated quarterly at
However information about previous interests is not recorded when no longer held. The current register of interests of board members is published as a Standing Order paper with the papers for all the agency's open board meetings and these are also published on the website. Where relevant to the topic, those interests are
also declared in advance of discussion at all board meetings. The process of appointment of members also ensures that potential conflicts of interest are thoroughly explored.
Food: Prices
Mrs. Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of rising food prices on levels of general health. [220038]
Dawn Primarolo: We are not aware that rising food prices have had a significant impact on food consumption patterns and hence healthy eating and healthy lifestyles. However, as part of our ongoing work to deliver the objectives of the Government’s Healthy Weight Healthy Lives strategy, we will be working with key stakeholders across Government, industry, and the voluntary sector to share information on food purchase patterns.
Genito-urinary Medicine
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of patients attending genito-urinary medicine clinics in (a) St. Albans, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) England were offered an appointment to be seen within 48 hours in each of the last three months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [221405]
Dawn Primarolo: The percentage of patients contacting genito-urinary clinics who were offered an appointment within 48 hours in St. Albans, Hertfordshire Primary Care Trusts and England between March and May 2008 are shown in the following table.
| Percentage | |||
| March 2008 | April 2008 | May 2008 | |
| Source: Department of Health Form, Gumamm | |||
Health and Social Care Act 2003
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the operation of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003; what amendments have been made to this Act since receiving Royal Assent; and what amendments are planned during the next 12 months. [214043]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The key elements of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 were as follows. The Act made provision for the creation of national health service foundation trusts (FTs), accountable to local communities rather than the Secretary of State; placed a duty on NHS bodies to monitor and improve the quality of healthcare that they provide; gave the Secretary of State power to publish standards in relation to healthcare; created a Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (usually referred to as the Healthcare Commission (HCC)) and a Commission for Social Care Inspection; and made new provisions in relation to primary dental services.
There are now 103 NHS FTs in place. NHS FTs have demonstrated their ability to establish strong finances and deliver high quality services; the Healthcare Commission’s Annual Healthcheck for 2006-07 showed that FTs are delivering better care and improved finances compared to non-FTs.
The Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection, or HCC, reports directly to Parliament on the state of healthcare in England, and on the quality of NHS and independent healthcare, and its value for money. The assessment of individual providers of NHS healthcare takes into account the standards for healthcare published by the Secretary of State. By bringing together the expertise of previous health inspection bodies, the HCC is helping to reduce the fragmentation of inspection, easing the burdens on front-line staff.
Similarly, the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) is an independent body, which provides a comprehensive picture of the quality of social care services and the performance of local authorities in meeting social care needs in their areas. It gives a star rating to councils annually and, from 2008, a quality rating to care services. The CSCI regulates, inspects and reviews all adult social care services in the public, private and voluntary sectors in England. It does so on the basis of regulations and standards issued by the Secretary of State. It makes an annual report to Parliament on the state of social care that gives a comprehensive overview of the social care sector in England.
The following amendments were made to this Act following the granting of Royal Assent on 20 November 2003:
Section (s) 7 (prior to its repeal)—s.7(5) amended by Health Act 2006, s.80, Sch.8, para.54;
s.25 (prior to its repeal)—s.25(3A) inserted by Health Act 2006, s.74(6);
s.28 (prior to its repeal)—s.28(3A) inserted by Health Act 2006, s.74(7);
s.33—s.33(2) amended by National Health Service (Consequential Provisions) Act 2006, s.2, Sch.1, para.236;
s.45—s.45(3) amended by National Health Service (Consequential Provisions) Act 2006, s.2, Sch.1, para.241;
s.50—s.50(4) substituted and s.50(4A) inserted by Health Act 2006, s.15(2);
s.51—s.51(4)(a) amended by Health Act 2006, s.15(3);
s.52—s.52(3)(5) substituted and s.52(5A) inserted by Health Act 2006, s.15(4), (5);
s.54—s.54(2) amended by Health Act 2006, s.15(6);
s.60—s.60(5)(1A) inserted by Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004, s.66, Sch.2, para.58;
s.69A—Inserted by Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004, s.66, Sch.2, para.59;
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |