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22 July 2008 : Column 1107W—continued
Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Hertfordshire
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed at (a) Waverley Sexual Health Clinic, St. Albans and (b) in all genito-urinary medicine clinics in Hertfordshire in each of the last five years. [221436]
Dawn Primarolo: Information on the number of diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in genito-urinary medicine clinics (GUM) is currently only available at strategic health authority (SHA) level. The East of England SHA includes Hertfordshire.
The total number of new and other STIs diagnosed in the East of England SHA in the last five years is given in the table.
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| (1) New STIs include chlamydial infection (uncomplicated and complicated), gonorrhoea (uncomplicated and complicated), infectious syphilis, genital herpes simplex (first attack), genital warts (first attack), new HIV diagnosis, non-specific genital infection (uncomplicated and complicated), chancroid/lymphogranuloma venerum (LGV)/donovanosis, Molluscum contagiosum, trichomoniasis, scabies and Pediculus pubis. (2) Other STIs include early latent, congenital and other acquired syphilis, recurrent genital, herpes simplex, recurrent and re-registered genital warts, subsequent HIV presentations (including AIDS), ophthalmia neonatorum (chamydial or gonococcal) and epidemiological treatment of suspected STls (syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, non-specific genital infection). Notes: 1. There are 22 GUM clinics in the East of England SHA. 2. There are two GUM clinics in East and North Hertfordshire PCT and two GUM clinics in West Hertfordshire. 3. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are for diagnoses made in GUM clinics only. Diagnoses made in other clinical settings, such as General Practice, are not recorded in the KC60 dataset. 4. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are the number of diagnoses made, not the number of patients diagnosed. 5. The information provided has been adjusted for missing clinic data. Source: Health Protection Agency, KC60 returns | |||||
Smoking
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding his Department has provided in (a) cash and (b) real terms in current prices in social marketing initiatives designed to support people to stop smoking in each year since 2005-06; what social marketing initiatives his Department has funded in each of those years; in which ways each has focused on communities with the greatest smoking prevalence, as referred to in paragraph 2.24 of his Department's Cancer Reform Strategy, published on 3rd December 2007; and if he will make a statement. [221148]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given to the hon. Member for Leicester, South (Sir Peter Soulsby) on 15 July 2008, Official Report, columns 361- 363W.
The Department's marketing communication programmes are designed to target smokers from high smoking prevalence groups.
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many fines have been issued for smoking in a public place in (a) Cornwall, (b) each constituency in Cornwall, (c) the South West region and (d) England. [221682]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not available in the requested form.
The latest data on compliance with Smokefree legislation are published regularly by the Department at a regional and national level on the Smokefree England website at
Smoking: Mental Health Services
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what representations he has received on extending the exemption from the ban on smoking in public places granted to mental health in-patient units; and if he will make a statement; [219772]
(2) what assessment he has made of the variations in policy on the operation of the ban on smoking in public places in mental health in-patient units; [219773]
(3) what assessment he has made of the advice given on giving up smoking to patients with a mental health problem by (a) GPs and (b) clinicians in secondary care; [219774]
(4) what assessment he has made of whether there are beneficial effects from smoking on coping with symptoms of mental distress. [219775]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: A small number of representations have been made in recent weeks from a small minority of establishments who have had difficulties meeting the deadline; additional help has been available to them over the course of the last year and support and advice is still being provided to make sure that they operate within the requirements of the law; the vast majority of mental health units have not encountered difficulties and indeed are benefiting from an end to the smoking den culture in mental health establishments.
The Government commissioned the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre (TCCC) to provide support to mental health service providers in the lead-up to the implementation of the smokefree legislation in residential mental health units on 1 July 2008. Over the past year the TCCC wrote to all foundation trusts, national health service trusts and independent providers asking about their smokefree policies and inviting individual trusts to request additional support, such as visits. The TCCC has also worked with regional stop smoking leads to organise local workshops to address implementation issues. This initial contact was followed up by sending mental health providers smokefree resources, accompanied by a further offer of support to trusts on an individual basis. To date 24 mental health service providers have been visited.
Due to the one year gap between wider implementation of smokefree legislation and implementation in mental health units it is too early for comparisons to be made.
Currently, the Department has made no assessment of advice given on giving up smoking to patients with a mental health problem by either general practitioners or clinicians in secondary care and nor has an assessment been made of the beneficial effects of smoking on coping with symptoms of mental distress. However, the Government are committed to review the impact of the smokefree law in its entirety within three years of implementation.
Strokes
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) heart attacks and (b) strokes were recorded in Westmoorland and Lonsdale in each month of (i) 2007 and (ii) 2008. [221516]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected in the format requested. However, information for the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay National Health Service Trust for 2006-07 is shown in the following table.
| Number of admissions for primary diagnoses of heart attacks and strokes for the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust for 2006-07. | |
| Primary diagnosis | Number of admissions |
| Notes: 1. Data are only available for the year 2006-07 and cannot be broken down by month. 2. The information can only be collected at trust level. The University of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust is the trust which closely corresponds to the Westmorland and Lonsdale area. 3. Data cannot be provided for the number of heart attacks and strokes recorded but are provided as the number of admissions to hospital with a primary diagnosis of a (a) stroke and (b) heart attack. 4. Finished admission episodes—A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. 5. Data Quality—HES are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data are also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. 6. Assessing growth through time—HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. During the years that these records have been collected there have been ongoing improvements in quality and coverage. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be accounted for when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in NHS practice also need to be accounted for when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time. 7. Diagnosis (primary diagnosis)—The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital. 8. Ungrossed Data—Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the NHS Information Centre for health and social care. | |
Sunbeds
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress his Department is making towards gathering information about (a) the number and distribution of sunbeds and (b) the scale of sunbed use by minors, as referred to in paragraph 2.43 of his Department’s Cancer Reform Strategy. [220932]
Ann Keen: We have carried out some preliminary scoping work and are examining the findings. We are also considering whether to commission further data collection and will make a decision about this in due course.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the Health and Safety Executive since 3 December 2007 on the regulation of the sunbed industry; and if he will make a statement. [220933]
Dawn Primarolo: Officials from the Department of Health and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have been in discussion concerning the revised, draft HSE guidance for tanning salon operators “Reducing health risks from the use of ultraviolet (UV) tanning equipment”. We have also discussed with the HSE the need for possible further data to inform considerations on options for regulating the sunbed industry.
Transsexuality
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of gender reassignment operations which will be carried out by NHS trusts in 2008-09. [214755]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
The Department has made no estimate of the number of gender reassignment procedures which will be carried out in 2008-09. The provision of these procedures is the responsibility of primary care trusts,
who will take into account a patient's individual clinical needs and the resources available to provide healthcare for their wider population.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many gender reassignment operations were carried out by NHS trusts in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08. [214756]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Figures for 2007-08 are not yet available. In 2006-07 there were 155 finished consultant episodes (FCEs) where an operative procedure for sexual transformation was performed by the national health service. A FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Figures for FCEs do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.
Urology
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on NHS genito-urinary medicine clinics in (a) Ribble Valley constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) England in each year since 2000. [221203]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not collected centrally.
The funding to support sexual health services is not allocated separately to primary care trusts (PCTs) but is contained within the mainstream revenue allocations made to PCTs. It is the responsibility of PCTs to commission the health services they need to meet the health requirements of the local populations they serve.
Wheelchairs
Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received seeking publication of the new model for the delivery of wheelchair services as a matter of urgency; and what steps he has taken in response. [219403]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department has replied to five parliamentary questions concerning the publication of the new model for the delivery of wheelchair services. In addition, the Department has received approximately 100 pieces of correspondence concerning the broader issues relating to the provision of wheelchairs services, these include a number seeking details on the publication of the new model.
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 22 July 2008
Defence
Departmental ICT
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) mobile telephones, (b) personal digital assistants and (c) laptop computers issued to departmental staff were reported (i) lost, (ii) missing and (iii) stolen in each year since 2001. [184322]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: As a result of the recent theft of a laptop, the Ministry of Defence has initiated an investigation into the details of all lost or stolen electronic media since 2003. This investigation involves the collation and examination of reports from across the Department including final disposal action, where available. While every effort is being made to gather the information as quickly and accurately as possible, not all the details are presently available. In addition, it should be noted that details of such incidents were not collated centrally before 2003 and therefore will not be available.
I will write to the hon. Member when the information has been collated and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Substantive answer from Bob Ainsworth to Sarah Teather:
The Minister of State for the Armed Forces undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 18 February 2008, (Official Report, column 95W) about lost, missing or stolen mobile telephones, personal digital assistants and laptop computers. I am responding on his behalf.
Currently, all incidents are categorised as either lost or stolen. There was no centralised reporting of lost or stolen personal digital assistants (PDAs) prior to 2003 so it is not possible to provide the information for the earlier years. Prior to 2003 the reporting of lost and stolen laptops was not centrally collated and it has been found that the figures for the period 1995 to 2002 included in the replies to previous questions on 22 June 2005, (Official Report, column 1069W) and 19 January 2007, (Official Report, columns 1363-4W) may be incomplete. As the details of incidents for the 1995/2002 period are no longer available it is not possible to provide updated figures. MOD units are not required to report centrally incidents of loss or theft of mobile phones, but some reports have been provided where the incidents have security significance or have been associated with the theft of other property.
The following figures are derived from the data collated as a result of the investigation into details of computer and other electronic media lost/stolen since 2003 and provided to Sir Edmund Burton as part of his review. These figures continue to be adjusted as a result of additional thefts and losses along with subsequent clarification of historic incidents. The following table shows the number of mobile telephones, PDAs and laptops centrally reported as lost or stolen from the Department since 2003:
| Mobile telephones | PDAs | Laptops | ||||
| Lost | Stolen | Lost | Stolen | Lost | Stolen | |
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