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24 Nov 2008 : Column 912W—continued
Departmental NDPBs
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the remit is of each non-departmental public body sponsored by his Department; and what budget each has been set for (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11. [236924]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department publishes details of its public bodies on an annual basis. The latest version, Public Bodies 2007 is available on the Appointments Commission website at:
A copy has been placed in the Library.
The 2008-09 budgets for the executive non-departmental public bodies (ENDPBs) are:
| 2008-09 Recurrent Budgets | ||
| £000 | ||
| Near cash | Non case | |
The advisory non-departmental public bodies (ANDPBs) sponsored by the Department incur little or no expenditure and are resourced from within the Department. As a result, information on budgets for 2008-09 is not available.
No decisions have yet been made on the ENDPB budgets for 2009-10 and 2010-11 onwards.
Diabetes: Children
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children under the age of 16 years have type 1 diabetes in (a) Winchester and the Meon Valley, (b) Hampshire and (c) England. [238275]
Ann Keen: Data on the number of children under the age of 16 years with diabetes in Winchester and the Meon Valley and Hampshire are not collected centrally.
At a national level, exact figures for the number of children diagnosed with and treated for diabetes are not available. However, estimates suggest that approximately 20,000 children are currently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in England.
Drugs: Rehabilitation
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment his Department has made of the use of the anti-opiate drug buprenorphine/naloxone; whether any assessments has been undertaken of buprenorphine/naloxone where the comparator was buprenorphine alone; and what benefits were detected; [236364]
(2) what assessment the NHS has made of whether buprenorphine/naloxone is regarded as having any advantages over buprenorphine alone in helping patients recover from the physical and behavioural aspects of opioid dependence; and if he will make a statement. [236365]
Dawn Primarolo: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) provides independent guidance on public health, health technologies and clinical practice, including the use of drugs by the national health service.
In January 2007 NICE published the ‘Technology Appraisal’ “Methadone and buprenorphine for managing opioid dependence”, which recommended the use of both methadone and buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid dependence. However, this appraisal did not consider Suboxone, a newer product which combines buprenorphine and naloxone.
In 2007, the independent expert group commissioned to develop the United Kingdom clinical guidelines on the management of substance misuse considered the available research evidence on prescribing of Suboxone and the limited clinical experience in the UK. Their considered advice is included in the four UK Health Departments' publication, “Drug misuse and dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management”, published in September 2007 (a copy of which has already been placed in the Library), and can be found at:
As with all new medicines, Suboxone's exact place in treatment is still being established, although the Department's clarification of August 2007 that Suboxone can be dispensed using existing instalment dispensing arrangements may have removed a possible barrier to the availability of Suboxone.
Both Suboxone and buprenorphine are available on the national health service. The decision to use either drug is a clinical one, taken following consultation with the patient about their clinical needs and priorities.
Food: Imports
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what rules his Department applies to the labelling of food and food products imported from (a) Israel, (b) Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, (c) Israeli-controlled areas of the Palestinian territories and (d) areas of the Palestinian territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority; whether he plans to make any changes to those rules; and if he will make a statement. [238064]
Mr. Bradshaw: Country of origin information is legally required for certain foods (fresh or frozen beef, veal, fish and shellfish, wine, honey, olive oil and most fresh fruit and vegetables). For other foods, the EC food labelling directive (2000/13/EC) requires an indication of the place of origin of a food if failure to give it might mislead a purchaser to a material degree about its true origin or provenance. These rules are implemented by the UK Food Labelling Regulations 1996.
The Government consider that it would be considered to be misleading to declare produce from the Occupied
Palestinian Territories as produce of Israel. We also consider that goods labelled as ‘produce of the west bank’ should indicate to consumers whether they are buying goods from a Palestinian producer in the west bank or from an illegal Israeli settlement in the west bank. The Government are currently considering the development of voluntary guidance for retailers and manufacturers on clearer labelling on products from illegal Israeli settlements.
General Practitioners
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many copies of his Department's guidance and competencies for the provision of services using GPs with Special Interests: dermatology and skin surgery, have been printed; what the budget for distribution of the documents is; what criteria were used for the dissemination of the documents to (a) commissioners of services, (b) general practitioners and (c) other clinicians and health professionals; and if he will make a statement. [235882]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department's current guidance document, ‘Guidance and Competencies for the Provision of Services using GPs with Special Interests’, was published on the Department's website in April 2007, and publicised through the websites of the British Association of Dermatology, Primary Care Contracting and other routes. A small number of copies on CD were made available at the launch event. There is no budget for distribution of the guidance in hard copy. A copy has been placed in the Library.
General Practitioners: Pharmacy
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department plans to take steps to minimise variations in service specifications across primary care trust areas in implementing proposals set out in the Pharmacy White Paper. [236488]
Phil Hope: The White Paper “Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths—Delivering the Future”, set out the Government's proposals to strengthen commissioning in pharmacy and recognised that primary care trusts’ (PCTs) local needs assessments are a valuable part of that process. It also recognised that there was considerable variation in the scope, depth and breadth of pharmaceutical needs assessments developed by PCTs to identify local needs and that they required further review and strengthening to ensure they are an effective and robust commissioning tool.
To help implement this, NHS Employers has been developing an appropriate support programme for PCTs. Guidance is expected to be finalised in the near future.
Health Centres
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 3 November 2008, Official Report, column 83W, on health centres, for what reasons he has not asked primary care trusts to assess the expected (a) volume of activity and (b) local demand prior to opening a health centre. [235604]
Mr. Bradshaw: Primary care trusts are planning the delivery and location of the general practitioner-led health centres and the services each will offer based on local health needs assessments and following an affordability and demand planning exercise which includes estimating the volume of patient activity required to meet expected capacity of the new service tendered for.
Health Education
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health trainers there are in each primary care trust (PCT); and how many people have been helped by health trainers in each PCT in the last 12 months. [237399]
Ann Keen: Figures are not available centrally in the precise form requested.
In April 2008 there were 3,657 health trainers (individuals not whole-time equivalents) employed, funded, or supported by the national health service in primary care trust (PCT) areas.
Data on the number of clients seen by health trainers are not available centrally for all PCTs on a consistent or comprehensive basis.
The following table shows the distribution of health trainers between PCTs.
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