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26 Nov 2008 : Column 2072W—continued
Diabetes: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of (a) type 1 and (b) type 2 diabetes were diagnosed in each primary care trust area in Hertfordshire in each of the last five years, broken down by age group. [238233]
Ann Keen: Information is not collected in the format requested. Information is available from 2004-05 from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) about patients who are on diabetes disease registers, which is not the same as the number of people diagnosed with diabetes each year. This information does not distinguish between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, nor is it separated into different age groups.
The following table shows the number of patients aged 17 and over who were on diabetes disease registers in primary care trusts (PCTs) in Hertfordshire from 2004-05 to 2007-08.
| Number of patients on diabetes disease registers in Hertfordshire PCTs. | ||||
| PCT name | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| n/a = Not applicable. Notes: 1. East and North Hertfordshire PCT was created on 1 October 2006 from a complete merger of North Hertfordshire and Stevenage PCT, Royston, Buntingford and Bishop’s Stortford PCT, South East Hertfordshire PCT and Welwyn Hatfield PCT. 2. West Hertfordshire PCT was created on 1 October 2006 from a complete merger of Dacorum PCT, Hertsmere PCT, St. Albans and Harpenden PCT and Watford and Three Rivers PCT. 3. Patients will contribute to the QOF figures only if they are registered with a general practice participating in the QOF. 4. QOF data are collected annually and includes only people with diabetes aged 17 and over. 5. Figures are not available broken down into type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Source: Information Centre for health and social care | ||||
Diabetes: Medical Equipment
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the number of people who have insulin pumps; and how many insulin pumps are provided by the NHS every year; [238486]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of people who are on a waiting list for insulin pumps. [238487]
Ann Keen: Data on the number of people using insulin pumps are not collected centrally. However, in its suite of guidance on continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence estimates that the number of patients using insulin pumps in England could be up to 8,000.
Data on the number of people waiting for an insulin pump are not collected centrally. For those people with diabetes who have been identified by their healthcare professional as being suitable for insulin pump therapy, we would not expect there to be any unnecessary delays in the provision of insulin pumps.
Diabetes: Nurses
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diabetic specialist nurses there are; and what the ratio of nurses to patients is. [238488]
Ann Keen: The annual national health service workforce census does not separately identify diabetes specialist nurses. It is therefore not possible to provide the ratio of diabetes specialist nurses to patients.
The Government have supported the development of a range of specialist roles within nursing. It is for local NHS organisations to invest in training for specialist skills and to deploy specialist nurses in accordance with their local needs.
Diabetes: Pupils
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children of school age have been diagnosed with diabetes. [239810]
Ann Keen: Data for the number of children of school age diagnosed with diabetes are not available. However, estimates suggest there are an estimated 20,000 children with type 1 diabetes in England, and some experts suggest that there may also be up to 1,000 children with type 2 diabetes in England.
Diabetes: Research
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department expects to spend on research into diabetes in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011 and (e) 2012. [238485]
Dawn Primarolo: Expenditure on diabetes research from the Department's 2007-08 research and development budget amounted to some £29 million, and comparable Medical Research Council (MRC) expenditure in the same year to £22 million.
The usual practice of the Department's National Institute for Health Research and of the MRC is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. Future levels of expenditure on diabetes research will be determined by the success of relevant bids for funding.
Dietary Supplements: EU Action
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the likelihood of achieving in European negotiations the Government’s objectives for the setting of a maximum permitted levels of vitamins and mineral in food supplements; and what assessment he has made of the capacity of the Food Standards Agency to manage this process; [237909]
(2) what the likely future timetable is for the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals under the provisions of article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive; what consultations the Food Standards Agency will hold on any such proposed maximum permitted levels; and if he will take steps to ensure that hon. and right hon. Members are fully involved in consideration of those levels prior to their finalisation and adoption as national regulation; [237920]
(3) when he next plans to meet the European Commissioner for Health; what subjects he intends to raise at that meeting; if he will discuss with the Commissioner the implications for consumer choice within the UK of the setting of maximum permitted levels for nutrients in food supplements; and if he will make a statement. [237922]
Dawn Primarolo: The European Commission has indicated that it intends to publish proposals for minimum and maximum levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements in early 2009.
In the absence of proposals no formal assessment has been made of the likelihood of achieving the Government’s objectives in European negotiations.
In the meantime, the Food Standards Agency has been holding bilateral meetings with its counterparts in other member states to promote the Government’s objectives, in addition to promoting these objectives in working group meetings with the European Commission and other member states.
We have been advised by the Food Standards Agency that they have sufficient staff resource capacity to manage the process of setting maximum permitted levels of vitamins and minerals in food supplements.
When the proposals for setting maximum levels are published, the Food Standards Agency will conduct a full consultation with United Kingdom stakeholders in line with the Government Code of Practice on Consultation. The Food Standards Agency will ensure that copies of the consultation documents are placed in the Libraries of the House to ensure that parliamentarians are aware of the consultation and can participate in the process.
There are no current plans for Health Ministers to meet the European Commissioner for Health to discuss matters relating to the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements.
Disease Control: Meat Products
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the process if for raising the age limit for the over 30 months scheme; and what the Food Standards Agency’s responsibilities are in this regard. [239528]
Dawn Primarolo: A European Commission Decision has been agreed that would permit the United Kingdom to raise the age above which cattle slaughtered for human consumption are tested for BSE from the current 30 months to 48 months. The Decision is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2009. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is responsible for advising Government on whether or not any increase in the food-borne risk to UK consumers arising from the change in BSE testing age would be acceptable. Subject to favourable FSA advice and agreement by Health Ministers, implementation of this change in the UK is by an amendment to the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (England) Regulations 2008 and the equivalent devolved legislation.
Drugs: Rehabilitation
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many clients in structured drug treatment in each local authority area (a) had a child aged 16 years or under and (b) were living with a child aged 16 years or under in each of the last five years. [234728]
Dawn Primarolo: Although the data requested are collected, the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) have identified problems with the quality of these data and it believes that releasing these data in its current form would be misleading. The NTA are addressing these data quality issues and expect to publish these data, with an assessment of its quality, alongside their annual statistics release in October 2009.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals have been discharged from treatment for drug misuse on the grounds that they completed treatment drug-free in England in 2007-08. [236693]
Dawn Primarolo: The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) records data from local drug services about clients in structured drug treatment and the treatment they receive.
Data for 2007-08 show that a record number of 35,411 individuals successfully completed drug treatment programmes. They were recorded in three categories: treatment completed (17,306), treatment completed drug-free (7,324), and referred on to other agencies after treatment (10,811).
However, the National Treatment Agency (NTA) has identified that treatment services have used a variety of interpretations on how they code the success of individuals completing and leaving the treatment system.
With my agreement from the NTA announced in October that a new more robust coding system will begin from April 2009 which will ensure all services return data to NDTMS in the same way.
Drug addiction is a chronic lapsing condition which requires treatment over an extended period, and in some cases it can take between five and seven years for
drug users to be able to stay off illegal drugs without taking prescribed medicines.
Nevertheless, research indicates that remaining in drug treatment for at least 12 weeks has a lasting positive impact in reducing the harms associated with addiction. During 2007-08 a further 133,000 people were retained in structured drug treatment and therefore derived benefit from it.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds in drug rehabilitation units were available in each of the last five years. [239241]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Cardiff, Central (Jenny Willott) on 3 November 2008, Official Report, columns 81-83W.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received prescriptions of (a) heroin and (b) heroin substitutes in each of the last five years; and how many were receiving a prescription for each at the latest date for which information is available. [239242]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department does not hold information on the number of patients treated with a particular drug. However we are able to provide two related sources of data, which are (1) the number of heroin prescriptions and (2) the number of people receiving specialist prescribing treatment for drug misuse.
Heroin (diamorphine hydrochloride) is used occasionally as an analgesic and as a cough suppressant. Substitute drugs are used in cases of opioid dependence, which will include heroin addiction as well as addiction to other drugs. Two drugs, buprenorphine and methadone hydrochloride are primarily used as substitutes in the treatment of opioid addiction, although these too have other uses.
The following table shows, for diamorphine hydrochloride, the number of items dispensed for all uses.
| Heroin (diamorphine hydrochloride) | |
| Calendar year | Total number of items ( T housand) |
The following table shows, for heroin substitutes buprenorphine and methadone hydrochloride, the number of items dispensed for use in opioid dependence only.
| Heroin substitutes (buprenorphine and methadone hydrochloride) | |||
| Number of items ( T housand) | |||
| Calendar year | Buprenorphine Hydrochloride (use in opioid dependence only) | Methadone Hydrochloride (use in opioid dependence only) | Total |
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