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26 Nov 2008 : Column 2120W—continued
Prostate Cancer: Medical Treatments
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with prostate cancer have received brachytherapy treatment in each treatment centre in each of the last five years. [237400]
Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested.
A table containing information on the number of finished consultant episodes per provider in England where the primary diagnosis was prostate cancer, and the procedure was brachytherapy, has been placed in the Library. The information covers each of the last five years from 2002-03 to 2006-07.
Racial Harassment
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints of racial abuse relating to staff for which his Department is responsible have been (a) investigated and (b) upheld in the last 12 months. [236897]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has received fewer than five complaints of racial abuse in the last 12 months, so is unable to provide specific information on the grounds of confidentiality.
The Department has taken a number of initiatives recently to continue to address issues of bullying and harassment. It launched new bullying and harassment and dispute resolution policies in March 2008. These policies reaffirm the Department's commitment to encouraging and maintaining good employee relations, recognising that everyone working in the Department has a responsibility to maintain good working relationships and not harm the well-being of others, and the right to be treated with consideration, fairness, dignity and respect with absolutely no place in the workplace for abuse of any sort. In particular, the bullying and harassment policy states that bullying or harassment is unacceptable and confirms that the Department has a zero-tolerance policy.
The Department actively supports the national Ban Bullying At Work Day, which was held this year on 7 November. The bullying and harassment policy is supported by an anti-bullying and harassment film, available via the Department's Intranet, which aids awareness and supports training. Tailored workshop sessions are also run in individual business areas. Progress on addressing bullying and harassment is also monitored through annual and quarterly staff surveys.
Revlimid
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will report on the results of the public consultation that has taken place on the provision of Revlimid as a treatment for those suffering from myeloma. [238753]
Dawn Primarolo: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently appraising lenalidomide (Revlimid) for the treatment of multiple myeloma in people who have received at least one prior therapy. NICE issued its appraisal consultation document (ACD) for a period of public consultation which closed on 18 November 2008. The comments received are now being considered by NICE’s appraisal committee. Further information can be found on NICE’s website at:
School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the (a) total cost and (b) unit cost per child of the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme if it applied to all primary school children; [239238]
(2) what the unit cost of the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme per child served by the scheme was in the last year for which data are available. [239239]
Dawn Primarolo: The unit cost of the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is £20.48 per child per year and the estimated total cost of the scheme if applied to all primary school children is £83,968,000 based on 4.1 million primary school children.
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England have been diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder in the last 10 years. [227778]
Phil Hope: Information is not available in the requested format.
Sight Impaired: Elderly
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people under the age of 65 years are registered blind, broken down by (a) region and (b) constituency; and if he will make a statement. [239309]
Phil Hope: Data on the number of registered blind people are not collected centrally by constituency but are available for Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities and Government Office Regions.
The number of people under the age of 65 who registered with Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities as at 31 March 2008 as being blind (39,760) is almost 7 per cent. greater than at 31 March 2006 (937,250).
A table showing numbers by Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities and Government Office Regions has been placed in the Library.
Smoking: Ethnic Groups
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2008, Official Report, column 1204W, on smoking, which specific projects are supported by his Department at regional level to reduce the rate of smoking amongst ethnic minority communities. [237682]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not collected centrally.
A wide range of projects are run at national, regional and local level to reduce smoking prevalence among ethnic minority communities.
Examples of regionally funded projects are those with the Bangladeshi and Polish communities and with smokers who use water pipes.
The national health service and local authorities provide services and run projects with minority ethnic communities, in response to the needs of their local communities. The Department also produces information and provides telephone support for smokers from ethnic minorities.
Research and intelligence gathering activities commissioned by the Department on smoking cessation and wider tobacco control also include an ethnic component.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health trainers have been recruited from local communities to effect a reduction in smoking amongst ethnic minority groups in each year since 2004. [237703]
Dawn Primarolo: Health trainers are not recruited to be smoking cessation advisers. Their role is to work with individuals to assess their health and lifestyle risks, helping to build their motivation to change. Where appropriate they will signpost individuals to local smoking cessation services.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total budget is of the Asian Tobacco Helpline; and how many full-time staff are employed by the helpline. [237704]
Dawn Primarolo: In the financial year 2008-09 it is estimated that the total spend for the national health service Smoking Helpline will be £2.6 million. There are currently 33 staff who are fully trained to answer calls for this service, which is open seven days a week from 7 am to 11 pm.
It is estimated that the specific spend for the NHS Asian Tobacco Helplines will be £12,100.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in which languages his Department provides resources designed to effect a reduction in smoking amongst ethnic minority groups. [237705]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department produces resources to help smokers to quit in the following languages: Albanian, Arabic, Belarusian, Bengali, Czech, Estonian, Farsi, French, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Kurmanji, Latvian, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Somali, Sorani, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu and Vietnamese.
Smoking: Foster Care
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department and its agencies has provided to local authorities on whether adults who smoke may be eligible to become foster parents. [235927]
Beverley Hughes I have been asked to reply.
The Fostering Services Regulations 2002 set out in detail the process for approving foster carers and require fostering services to conduct an assessment of the suitability of the prospective carer based on a range of prescribed information. The regulations require information about the health of the potential carer to be considered as part of this assessment, and while the regulations do not ban smokers from becoming foster carers, smoking is an issue which fostering providers would be expected to take into account as part of the approvals process.
Standard 12.1 of the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services requires of each fostering provider that it 'provides foster care services which help each child or young person in foster care to receive health care which meets her/his needs for physical, emotional and social development.'
It is for the fostering provider, taking account of the regulations and the National Minimum Standards, to decide whether a person is suitable or not to be approved as a foster carer and to foster a particular child or young person.
Surgery
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current NHS tariff rates are for (a) hip replacement, (b) stent and (c) gallbladder operations. [238267]
Mr. Bradshaw: The following tables show the 2008-09 tariffs for hip replacement and gallbladder operations.
There is no tariff for stent operations, as this is a device which is used within cardiac and other procedures. Tariffs for these procedures are published as part of the 2008-09 mandatory prices, which have been placed in the Library, and are available on the Department’s website at:
The tariff prices provided below are net of the market forces factor (MFF). MFF is the mechanism through which the basic tariff price paid to hospitals is increased to take account of unavoidable local cost pressures.
Tariff prices for other bladder-related procedures are published as part of the 2008-09 mandatory prices.
Surgery: Medical Equipment
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many staff providing surgical equipment sterilising services to the NHS are employed by (a) NHS trusts and (b) private companies; [238414]
(2) how many NHS trusts have (a) in-house and (b) private suppliers under contracts for the provision of surgical equipment sterilising services. [238426]
Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested.
The number of staff providing surgical equipment sterilising services to the national health service, either employed directly by the NHS or by private companies, is not collected centrally.
The NHS provide information on contracted out services relating to sterile supply by NHS organisations excluding foundation trusts. For 2007-08, 27 organisations reported that they had at least one fully outsourced surgical equipment sterilising services contract.
Surgery: Waiting Lists
Mr. Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting times were for (a) heart and (b) cancer operations in Bolsover constituency in each year since 2001-02. [237898]
Ann Keen: The information is not collected in the format requested. However, figures for median days waited for a heart operation and finished consultant episodes where a heart operation was the main or secondary procedure where Derbyshire county primary care trust (PCT), or each of the forerunner organisations, was the PCT of responsibility are shown in the tables:
| Activity in English national health service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector | ||
| Median waiting time | Finished consultant episodes | |
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