| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
6 Oct 2008 : Column 452W—continued
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what his latest estimate is of the average cost to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence of completing a (a) single technology appraisal and (b) multiple technology appraisal; [222427]
(2) what estimate he has made of the average cost of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence of undertaking a technology appraisal. [222428]
Dawn Primarolo: The total average direct cost to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to develop either a multiple technology appraisal (MTA) or single technology appraisal (STA) is estimated at £100,000. The average cost to the National Coordinating Centre for Health Technology Assessment (NCCHTA), who carry out an independent assessment of the evidence in support of NICE’s appraisals, is estimated at £150,000 for an MTA and £50,000 for an STA. These estimates do not include the costs of publication, dissemination and implementation support nor do they include corporate overheads or support costs.
NHS
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to page 38 of his Department’s consultation on the NHS Constitution dated 30 June 2008, for what reason the wording of the seventh principle contained in the NHS Plan has been changed in the draft NHS Constitution. [222429]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The draft national health service constitution says that public funds for healthcare will be “devoted solely to the benefit of the people that the
NHS serves”, whereas the NHS plan said they would be “devoted solely to NHS patients”. The revised wording does not represent any change in policy, but simply recognises that not all NHS funding is spent on patients. For example, funding for public health campaigns is used to promote the health of the wider population.
The draft NHS constitution and the Government’s proposals are open for public consultation until 17 October 2008. The details, including how to feed in views, are available on the Department’s website at:
NHS Information Centre
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells of 21 May 2008, Official Report, column 370W, on NHS Information Centre: Grayling Political Strategy, if he will request the Chief Executive of the NHS Information Centre to provide the information requested on public expenditure. [222972]
Mr. Bradshaw: Grayling was engaged to supply a range of media and communication services including relations with trade and general media, events management and public affairs advice. They were appointed in 2006-07 and payment was made as follows:
| £ | |
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells of 21 May 2008, Official Report, column 370W, on NHS Information Centre: Grayling Political Strategy, what contribution the NHS Information Centre makes to the preparation of answers to the parliamentary questions put to him. [222973]
Mr. Bradshaw: The NHS Information Centre collects, analyses and distributes facts and figures for health and social care in England. It provides independent data for parliamentary questions covering a wide range of information from hospital admissions, statistics, national health service work force and salary data, alcohol, smoking and lifestyle surveys through to prescriptions data.
NHS: Drugs
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost to the NHS was of treating patients with (a) Gemtuzumab (Mylotarg), (b) Trastuzumab (Herceptin), (c) Imatinib (Glivec), (d) Alemtuzumab (Campath), (e) Capecitabine (Xeloda), (f) Paclitaxel (Taxol), (g) Rituximab (MabThera), (h) Azacytidine (Vidaza), (i) Docetaxel (Taxotere), (j) Temozolomide (Temodar), (k) Clorfaribine (Clolar), (l) Dasatinib (Sprycel), (m) Fulvestrant (Flaslodex), (n) Trabectadin (Yondelis), (o) Bortezomib (Velcade), (p) Irinotecan (Campto), (q) Gemcitabine (Gemzar),
(r) Nilotinib (Tasigna), (s) Infliximab (Remicade), (t) Topotecan (Hycamtin), (u) Yttrium-90, (v) Pemetrexed (Alimta), (w) Erlotinib (Tarceva), (x) Lenalidomide (Revlimid), (y) Letrazole (Femara), (z) Sorafenib (Nexavar), (aa) Sunitinib (Sutent), (bb) Bevaciazumab (Avastin), (cc) Cetuximab (Erbitux), (dd) Ibritumomab (Zevalin) and (ee) Cisplatin (CDDP) in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what research his Department has (i) commissioned and (ii) evaluated for bench-marking purposes on overseas (A) use and (B) spending on each drug. [224307]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department does not hold information on the average cost to the national health service of treating patients with the cancer medicines listed.
In developing the Ministerial Industry Strategy Group’s “Long-Term Leadership Strategy” report, the Department and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry carried out an analysis which compared the rates of uptake for a selection of medicines in the United Kingdom compared with Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland. This analysis included Trastuzumab (Herceptin), Imatinib (Glivec), and Rituximab (MabThera). The report has been placed in the Library and can be found on the Department’s website at:
NHS: Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been top-sliced from primary care trusts budgets in (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08 and (c) 2008-09, broken down by primary care trust; and for each year how much has been paid back in each case. [224302]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department collected primary care trust (PCT) top slice information in the format requested in 2006-07 only. This information, based on data collected in the 2006-07 Month 12 national health service financial monitoring forms, has been placed in the Library.
The 2007-08 NHS Operating Framework clearly stated that, because of the extent of the financial recovery across the NHS, PCTs should not need to contribute the same level of top slice from their revenue allocations as was the case in 2006-07. Consequently, in the 2007-08 NHS draft accounts, we collected data showing a single net value for the amount of top slice transferred to, and paid back by, strategic health authorities (SHAs) during the year, and the balance remaining with SHAs at the year-end.
Figures for 2008-09 will be available from the 2008-09 NHS draft accounts after the end of the financial year.
NHS: ICT
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the carbon dioxide emissions generated by (a) the NHS IT programme (i) to date and (ii) over the lifetime of the programme and (b) (A) the Connecting for Health Agency and (B) information technology usage in the NHS in the last 12 months. [222412]
Mr. Bradshaw: There are a range of initiatives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions across the national health service and in the use of information technology, including initiatives extended to IT suppliers. However, information is not collected centrally that would enable such estimates to be made and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
NHS: Negligence
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish details of the accord between the NHS Litigation Authority and FirstAssist in relation to the level of insurance premiums recovered in respect of after the event insurance provided in connection with clinical negligence claims funded by conditional fee agreements. [222625]
Ann Keen: A copy of the Accord between the NHS Litigation Authority and FirstAssist has been placed in the House Library.
The Accord is a non-binding statement of intent which seeks to give effect to the judgment of Senior Costs Judge Hurst in the RSA Pursuit Test Cases(1) and to provide an informal means for resolving disputes between the NHSLA and First Assist. The NHSLA specifically reserves the right to challenge premiums where it believes the premium is disproportionate to the size of the damages obtained. The Accord was entered into with the intention of providing an element of certainty in this area of litigation and with the aim of avoiding unnecessary costs associated with satellite litigation.
(1) Reference (2005) EWHC 90003 (Costs) 27 May 2005, BAILII
NHS: Plants
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the sum spent by NHS trusts on ornamental plants and seeds in the most recent year for which figures are available. [222498]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not collected centrally.
NHS: Private Sector
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which are the largest 10 private sector providers contracted for direct health care in the NHS in terms of (a) turnover and (b) patient throughput. [224441]
Mr. Bradshaw: Primary care trusts are responsible for commissioning the majority of direct health care provision in the NHS. The detail of their contracts is not held centrally.
The largest 10 independent sector providers, by value, of services under the nationally procured independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) programme and the extended choice network (ECN) in 2007-08 are listed in the following table.
The turnover for providers cannot be released at this time for reasons of commercial sensitivity but the Department is working with providers with the intention of releasing as much information as possible in the future. By the end of November this year, contract details relating to the Phase 2 ISTC contracts will be
published on the Department’s website in line with the Wave 1 information that is already available there.
The largest 10 independent sector providers, by value, of services under the nationally procured ISTC programme and the ECN in 2007-08
| £ rank | Independent sector provider | Patient throughput |
| Note: Patient throughput includes procedures, diagnostic assessments and episodes of primary care but not out-patient assessment appointments for elective procedures through ISTCs and the IS ECN. | ||
NHS: Working Hours
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 June 2008, Official Report, column 1235W, on NHS: working hours, whether the pilots will reflect the proposed changes to the terms of the European Working Time Directive. [222411]
Ann Keen: No. The pilots are designed to meet the 48 hour week under the current legal interpretations.
Nursing and Midwifery Council
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations his Department has received on the governance and performance of the Nursing and Midwifery Council in the last three years. [222363]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department has received a number of representations over the last three years, including from the following individuals and bodies: former and serving members of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), unions representing NMC registrants in the United Kingdom, the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE), members of the UK Parliament and members of the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland and Wales.
The Department was made aware of concerns about the NMC. As a result of these representations, the Department asked the CHRE to expedite its annual performance review of the NMC in 2008.
The Department has accepted the recommendations made by CHRE in the ‘Special report to the Minister of State for Health Services on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’ and it is moving towards a newly constituted council via reforms in the Nursing and Midwifery (Amendment) Order 2008, which will deliver a new, wholly appointed Council by the new year. This piece of legislation has now received Royal Approval. In future, all Council members will be appointed rather than elected.
Obesity
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the Government did not set a target to reduce levels of obesity between 1997 and 2004. [223725]
Dawn Primarolo: From the 1998 comprehensive spending review until 2004, the Department agreed a range of targets (public service agreements) to improving health that were related to obesity. For example, in 2000 the Department published a public service agreement (PSA) to substantially reduce the mortality rates from major killers by 2010, including heart disease and cancer—obesity is a contributing factor to both of these health issues.
Olympic Games 2012
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent members of staff in (a) his Department and (b) its associated public bodies are working on projects related to the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games; how many of those are working on (i) project management, (ii) legacy planning, (iii) project oversight and (iv) financial oversight; and what plans he has for future staffing levels in each case. [221867]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information is as follows.
| The Department of Health | |
| Current full-time equivalent (FTE) members of staff working on projects related to London 2012 (as at 12 September 2008) | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |