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18 Nov 2008 : Column 354W—continued
Drugs: Misuse
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he holds on the number of people aged 18 years or under who died as a direct or indirect result of abusing (a) cannabis, (b) cocaine, (c) ecstasy, (d) alcohol, (e) crystal methadone and (f) prescription drugs in (i) 2007 and (ii) 1997. [231945]
Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated November 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what information is held on the number of people aged 18 years or under who died as a direct or indirect result of abusing (a) cannabis, (b) cocaine, (c) ecstasy, (d) alcohol, (e) crystal methadone and (f) prescription drugs in (i) 2007 and (ii) 1997. (231945)
Table 1 attached shows the number of deaths of persons aged 18 years or under for which the underlying cause was drug poisoning and (a) cannabis, (b) cocaine or (c) ecstasy was mentioned on the death certificate either alone or together with other substances.
The common term (e) ‘crystal meth’ refers to methylamphetamine, an amphetamine, rather than to methadone, an opiate. Table 1 also includes figures for drug poisoning deaths mentioning amphetamines (other than ecstasy) or methadone. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of drug poisoning deaths by substance where the person died as an indirect result of abusing drugs.
The National Statistics definition of alcohol-related deaths only includes those causes regarded as being most directly due to alcohol consumption. It does not include external causes of death such as road traffic accidents, other accidents or violence, where alcohol may have been a contributory cause. Table 2 attached shows the number of deaths of persons aged 18 years or under where (d) an alcohol-related cause was the underlying cause of death or was mentioned as a contributory factor on the death certificate. Figures in all cases are provided for (i) 2007 and (ii) 1997.
ONS data on drug-related deaths identify all substances which were mentioned on the death record. However, since in some cases the same substance could be prescribed, bought legally, or obtained illegally, it is not possible to ascertain which deaths were due to (f) prescription drugs.
| Table 1. Number of deaths attributed to drug poisoning where cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, any other amphetamine, or methadone was mentioned on the death certificate, persons aged 18 years and under, England and Wales, 1997 and 2007( 1,2) | ||
| Deaths (persons) | ||
| 1997 | 2007 | |
| (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Deaths were included where the underlying cause was due to drug poisoning (shown in the following table) and where cannabis, cocaine, any amphetamine, ecstasy or methadone was mentioned on the death certificate. (2) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. | ||
| Table 2. Number of deaths where an alcohol-related cause was mentioned on the death certificate, persons aged 18 years and under, England and Wales, 1997 and 2007( 1, 2) | ||
| Deaths (persons) | ||
| 1997 | 2007 | |
| (1 )Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for 1997, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) for 2007. The specific causes of death categorised as alcohol-related, and their corresponding ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes, are shown in the following table. (2) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. | ||
| Box 1. Alcohol-related causes of death - International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) | |
| Cause of death | ICD-9 code(s) |
|
Unspecified chronic liver disease without mention of alcohol | |
| Box 2. Alcohol-related causes of death - International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) | |
| Cause of death | ICD-10 code(s) |
Eyesight: Testing
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pensioners in Enfield North constituency have received free eye tests in each year since tests were introduced. [235439]
Ann Keen: Information is not available by constituency.
Information on the number of General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) sight tests paid for by the NHS, by patient eligibility at primary care trust (PCT) level, will be available in the “General Ophthalmic Services: Activity Statistics for England and Wales: Year Ending 31 March 2008” report. This report is due to be published by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care on 20 November 2008, and will be placed in the Library.
Information by patient eligibility will be provided at a national level from 1999-2000 (when NHS sight tests were extended to those aged 60 and over) and will be provided at PCT and strategic health authority (SHA) level for the year 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. Information on the number of sight tests by patient eligibility, at PCT and SHA level is not available for earlier years.
Food: Standards
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps (a) his Department and (b) the Food Standards Agency has taken to ensure compatibility between the work of the Food Standards Agency and the European Food Safety Authority in relation to food standards; and if he will make a statement. [235601]
Dawn Primarolo: The remit of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) principally concerns the assessment and communication of risk relating to food and animal feed safety. Its scientific opinions underpin the regulatory framework put in place by the European Parliament and member states.
A key objective for EFSA is delivering its strategy on scientific cooperation. This strategy aims to assist member states in taking co-ordinated, effective and timely decisions in the field of food and feed safety, while avoiding duplication of work. The Food Standards Agency, as the lead Department in the UK for food safety, was influential in developing this strategy and is active in its delivery. The Department has little direct involvement with EFSA.
Genetics Insurance Committee: Finance
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) capital, (b) revenue and (c) other funding his Department has given to the Genetics Insurance Committee since its inception. [235207]
Dawn Primarolo: The Genetics and Insurance Advisory Committee is an advisory committee to the Department. There has been no capital funding. Revenue funding and other costs are accounted for as part of general administration budget expenditure, where it is not customary to separate the running costs of individual advisory committees.
Health: Insurance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the availability of top-up health insurance in England; and what information his Department holds on providers of top-up health insurance; [235613]
(2) what assessment he has made of the average annual cost to an individual patient of top-up health insurance; [235614]
(3) what estimate he has made of the (a) current annual value and (b) likely increase as a result of his announcement on access to NHS care on 4 November 2008 in the annual value of top-up health insurance purchased in England. [235621]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Government response to Professor Richards's review, ‘Improving access to medicines for NHS patients’, set out a package of measures which will reduce demand for additional private drugs, as more drugs will be available on the national health service, more quickly.
As more drugs will be available on the NHS, the Department considers that this will mean fewer NHS patients are likely to want to take out so called “top-up” health insurance than would otherwise have been the case.
As with all stakeholders who had an interest, Professor Richards and his team heard the views of some insurance companies as part of the review process. This did not amount to an assessment of the availability of particular types of health insurance, given the Department's policy is not to encourage the expansion of private health insurance.
Hepatitis: Vaccinations
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken by his Department to ensure that hepatitis B vaccines are made available free of charge to essential workers in nursing homes; what criteria are used by his Department in determining who receives hepatitis B vaccines free of charge; what recent representations he has received on this issue; and if he will make a statement. [235525]
Dawn Primarolo: Responsibility for occupational hepatitis B immunisation rests with the employer and it should be provided through an occupational health service. It is the responsibility of the individual trusts/employers to determine their own programme and fund the immunisation of their staff.
The Department has received very low levels of correspondence relating to vaccinations for health care workers. The response to these letters stated the aforementioned departmental policy.
Hospitals: Admissions
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the average cost per day of a patient staying in hospital in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [235460]
Mr. Bradshaw: It is not possible to provide an estimate of the average cost per day, as the data collected as part of the annual national health service reference cost collection include all costs associated with treatment and service provision, and not just the cost of the stay in hospital.
Hospitals: Liverpool
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses work in (i) Aintree and (ii) Royal Walton Hospital; and how many did so in 1997. [236694]
Ann Keen: The following table shows the number of national health service staff in each specified staff group for the Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery NHS Trust as at 30 September each specified year.
| 1997 | 2007 | |||
| Medical and dental staff | Qualified nursing staff | Medical and dental staff | Qualified nursing staff | |
| Notes: 1. Work force statistics are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England. 2. The 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. 3. Processing methods and procedures are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where this happens, any impact on figures already published will be assessed but unless this is significant at national level they will not be changed. Where there is impact only at detailed or local level this will be footnoted in relevant analyses. Sources: The Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census | ||||
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