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4 Nov 2008 : Column 363W—continued
GP-led Health Centres
12. Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to introduce GP-led health centres across England; and if he will make a statement. [232542]
Mr. Bradshaw: Yes. Every local national health service (NHS) in England is in the process of procuring a new general practitioner (GP)-led health centre open 8 am to 8 pm, 365 days a year.
People will be able to use the new services and remain registered with their own GP. This will increase choice and convenience for the public who tell us easier access to GP services is a top priority for further improvements to the NHS.
Exceptional Cases Panels
13. Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will issue national guidance to primary care trusts on the composition and rules of procedure of exceptional cases panels. [232543]
Mr. Bradshaw: Yes. We are developing both a set of principles and detailed guidance to support local decision making including exceptional cases panels. We expect to publish both the principles and the new guidance in the new year. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be saying more on this in his statement.
Accident and Emergency Treatment
14. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent estimate is of the number and percentage of people attending hospital accident and emergency departments whose treatment could have been undertaken by a trained first aider. [232544]
Mr. Bradshaw: No estimate has been made by the Department.
However, it is sensible for the local NHS to minimise the number of avoidable accident and emergency attendances.
Computerised Patient Records
15. Mr. Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to permit GP practices to transfer computerised patient records electronically to another practice prior to the GP2GP system becoming operational. [232546]
Mr. Bradshaw: The GP2GP service provides a secure method for transferring a patient’s existing electronic health record when the patient first registers at a practice. Just under 60 per cent. of practices in England currently use this service and national health service Connecting for Health is working with suppliers to extend this service to more practices across England. Where practices do not yet have access to the GP2GP service, records may be transferred on paper or by a secure electronic medium approved by the primary care trust.
National Dementia Strategy
16. Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the national dementia strategy. [232547]
Phil Hope: A draft of the national dementia strategy was published on 19 June for consultation. The consultation closed on 11 September and we are currently considering all the responses received before deciding on the final shape of the strategy. We aim to publish the strategy by the end of the year.
Accident and Emergency Care: South-West
17. Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of accident and emergency care standards in the South West; and if he will make a statement. [232548]
Mr. Bradshaw: The independent health watchdog, the Healthcare Commission, recently reported excellent performance in the Plymouth health community across all of the services providing emergency care, including ambulance, accident and emergency out-of-hours GP services, emergency care provided by GPs and minor injuries units. It also said the NHS was improving faster in the south west than in any other region of England.
Resource Allocation
18. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the allocation of NHS resources to those areas with the greatest health needs; and if he will make a statement. [232549]
Mr. Bradshaw: Revenue allocations to PCTs are made on the basis of a fair funding formula that directs funding towards those areas of greatest need. The aim of the formula is to ensure there is sufficient funding to provide equal access to equal need and reduce avoidable health inequalities.
Pharmacy Licences: 100-hour Rule
19. Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of the application of the 100 hour rule for granting pharmacy licences to supermarkets on the future of dispensing; and if he will make a statement. [232550]
Phil Hope: Consultation on possible options for legislative reform in respect of pharmacies opening at least 100 hours per week, whether in supermarkets or elsewhere, began on 27 August 2008 and ends on 20 November 2008. The consultation document, “Pharmacy in England: Building on strengths—delivering the future—proposals for legislative change” is available on the Department's website together with associated impact assessments and copies have been placed in the Library.
Pharmacy White Paper
20. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on the Pharmacy White Paper. [232551]
Phil Hope: Since we published our White Paper “Pharmacy in England: Building on strengths—delivering the future” on 3 April 2008, the Department has received some 200 items of correspondence on this subject from hon. Members, Noble Lords, health professionals and members of the public up to 31 October 2008. In addition, consultation on proposals to reform the current legislative arrangements for NHS pharmaceutical services as promised in the White Paper began on 27 August 2008 and closes on 20 November 2008. The Department is receiving many representations as part of this consultation.
PCT Funding Formula: North Yorkshire
21. Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to revise the funding formula for allocations to primary care trusts in North Yorkshire for 2009-10. [232552]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) has recently reviewed the PCT funding formula. The new formula will inform revenue allocations post 2008-09. The allocations will be published alongside the operating framework later this year. ACRA's report of its review will also be published at this time.
NHS Treatment: Overseas Visitors
22. Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what checks are made on the eligibility of overseas visitors for NHS treatment. [232553]
Dawn Primarolo: NHS hospitals have a legal duty to establish eligibility to free hospital treatment for all overseas visitors. They consider whether exemption from charge categories listed within these regulations apply, based on the evidence provided by the patient. If patients are not exempt, hospitals make and recover charges from them.
Resource Allocation Review
23. Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on his Department’s resource allocation review; and if he will make a statement. [232554]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) has completed its review of the PCT funding formula. The new formula will inform revenue allocations post 2008-09. The allocations will
be published alongside the operating framework later this year. ACRA’s report of its review will also be published at this time.
Business Rates
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the sum his Department will pay in business rates in respect of its empty property in England in 2008. [232531]
Mr. Bradshaw: It is currently estimated that £198,000 will be paid by the Department in empty business rates in 2008-09. The Department is actively seeking to dispose of its interest in the properties concerned.
Abortion
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the partial regulatory impact assessment on the Prohibition of Abortion (England and Wales) Bill of Session 2005-06; and if he will make a statement. [231787]
Dawn Primarolo: This document has already been placed in the Library.
Alcoholic Drinks
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on his Department's proposals for a mandatory code of practice for the alcohol industry; and if he will make a statement. [Official Report, 13 November 2008, Vol. 482, c. 5MC.] [232134]
Dawn Primarolo: More than 3,300 representations have been received and are still being logged and analysed. These will be considered carefully.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of visits to accident and emergency departments related to patients requiring treatment where the primary or secondary diagnosis was excessive alcohol consumption in each of the last five years. [232136]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not collected centrally.
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by the NHS on drugs to combat alcohol dependency in each of the last 10 years. [232139]
Dawn Primarolo: There are a number of drugs that can be used to treat, or that are used in the treatment of alcohol dependency. However, the vast majority of these drugs are used to treat a range of other conditions and data on their use cannot be broken down to show use by disease group, therefore providing these data would be misleading.
However, disulfiram (Antabuse) and acamprosate (Campral) are used only in the treatment of alcohol dependency and the following table gives the cost of prescriptions of these drugs over the last 10 years.
| £ | |
| NIC( 1) of disulfiram and acamprosate | |
| (1) Net Ingredient Cost is the basic cost of a drug. It does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income. | |
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate he has made of the incidence of alcohol and cocaine poly-addiction. [232140]
Dawn Primarolo: The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse's National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS), collects local data about individuals in structured drug treatment and the treatment they receive.
The NDTMS reports that in 2007-08, 7,497 individuals, in specialist drug treatment, reported cocaine as one of their top three problem substances, with alcohol as either a second or third problem substance at the point of triage/initial assessment.
The NDTMS only records data for clients in specialist drug treatment in England and it excludes those whose primary problem is with alcohol.
Since April 2008, all providers of specialist alcohol treatment have been asked to submit data to the NTA's National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System on clients receiving specialist treatment for their alcohol misuse, however, these data are not currently robust enough for reporting purposes. Therefore, it is likely that the figure above underestimates the number of individuals addicted to both alcohol and cocaine in England.
It is only possible to collect data on those individuals who are addicted to both alcohol and cocaine when they enter treatment, therefore the data above take no account of those with poly-addiction who were not participating in treatment.
Alzheimer's Disease: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust in each of the last 10 years. [231096]
Phil Hope:
The national Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) records the number of people recorded on practice disease registers with a diagnosis of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 50-75 per cent. of
cases of dementia so the count of patients with dementia gives an indication of the number with Alzheimer’s disease. This register count is available only for the two latest releases of QOF, covering 2006-07 and 2007-08.
We are unable to supply this information for Hemel Hempstead as the data are only available for practices but can be aggregated to primary care trust (PCT) level. We have supplied information for the health area that best fits Hemel Hempstead, namely West Hertfordshire PCT.
These QOF figures are given in table 1. They are the totals for patients with dementia.
| Table 1: QOF data—number of patients on the dementia disease registers—West Hertfordshire PCT | |
| Financial year | Number |
| Notes: 1. QOF is the national Quality and Outcomes Framework, introduced as part of the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract on 1 April 2004. 2. Participation by practices in the QOF is voluntary, though participation rates are very high, with most Personal Medical Services (PMS) practices also taking part. 3. The published QOF information was derived from the Quality Management Analysis System (QMAS), a national system developed by NHS Connecting for Health. 4. QMAS uses data from general practices to calculate individual practices’ QOF achievement. QMAS is a national IT system developed by NHS Connecting for Health to support the QOF. 5. The system calculates practice achievement against national targets. It gives general practices, primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities (SHAs) objective evidence and feedback on the quality of care delivered to patients. 6. The Quality Management Analysis System captures the number of patients on the various disease registers for each practice. The number of patients on the clinical registers can be used to calculate measures of disease prevalence, expressing the number of patients on’ each register as a percentage of the number of patients on practices' lists. 7. Figures presented here are just the number of patients on the disease register for dementia. Source: The data supplied in table 1 are published on the website of the Information Centre for health and social care. (a) For 2007-08 see the “Quality and Outcomes Framework 2007/08” publication data tables at the following link (published 30 September 2008). http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/supporting-information/audits-and-performance/the-quality-and-outcomes-framework/qof-2007/08/data-tables The table for PCT level QOF for 2007-08 can be found at this link: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/QOF/2007-08/NewFilesGS/QOF0708_PCTs_Prevalence.xls This publication has already been placed in the Library. (b) For 2006-07 see “Quality and Outcomes Framework 2006/07” publication data tables at the following link (published 28 September 2007). http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/supporting-information/audits-and-performance/the-quality-and-outcomes-framework/qof-2006/07/qof-2006-07-data-tables The table for PCT level QOF for 2006-07 can be found at this link: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/QOF/2006-07/QOF0607_PCTs_Prevalence.xls This publication has already been placed in the Library. | |
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