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10 Dec 2008 : Column 160W—continued
Hospitals: Closures
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals have been closed in (a) the East of England, South Central, South East Coast and South West strategic health authorities and (b) the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber strategic health authorities in each year since 2006. [240846]
Ann Keen: Information on hospital closures is not held centrally. It is for national health service organisations to decide locally what constitutes the best configuration of healthcare services and facilities for their populations, working in conjunction with clinicians, patients and other stakeholders.
Hospitals: Infectious Diseases
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision his Department has made to assist all hospitals in setting up dedicated isolation wards for patients who carry infections. [240744]
Ann Keen: The Department provides guidance on isolation practice but decisions on the provision of isolation facilities are made locally. However, isolation facilities do not have to be designated solely for this purpose and additional isolation facilities can be created to meet transitory demand by using general beds.
Human Papilloma Virus: Vaccination
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the estimated period of protection against cervical cancer afforded by the Cervarix vaccine. [240740]
Dawn Primarolo: The role of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is to advise the Secretary of State for Health and Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Ministers on matters relating to communicable diseases, preventable and potentially preventable through immunisation.
JCVI considered vaccine efficacy data for the Human Papilloma virus vaccines, presented from published papers and as provided by the manufacturers.
At the time of writing the statement (published 18 July 2008) JCVI concluded that both vaccines have a good safety record, and they are highly effective in protecting against the precursors of cervical cancer. Individuals who received the vaccines have been followed for at least six years in clinical trials so far, and the level of antibodies remains at a high level. Based on these high levels, the opinion of the JCVI was that the duration of immunity is expected to be at least 10 years.
A copy of the “JCVI statement on Human Papilloma virus vaccines to protect against cervical cancer” has been placed in the Library.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many females between the ages of (a) 11 to 14, (b) 15 to 17 and (c) 18 to 21 years old his Department estimates will be vaccinated with Cervarix in England in the next 12 months. [240751]
Dawn Primarolo: The routine Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme is ongoing and is available to 12 to 13-year-old girls. The routine HPV vaccination programme coincides with the school year and runs from September to September. A three year catch up campaign also commenced in September 08 and will make the HPV vaccine available for 13 to 18-year-olds. Girls aged 17-18 will be offered the HPV vaccine in the 2008-09 school year, girls aged 16-18 in the 2009-10 school year and girls aged 15-17 in the 2010-11 school year.
The Department estimated that there are approximately 300,000 girls in each age cohort in England and primary care trusts should be offering the vaccine to all of these girls.
Women over the age of 18 are not eligible for the HPV vaccine under the national programme. The Department has made no estimate of the number of women of this age who may be vaccinated with Cervarix. Doctors may prescribe the HPV vaccine to women over the age of 18 in exceptional clinical circumstances. HPV vaccines are also available privately.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on procurement and distribution of the Cervarix vaccine. [240753]
Dawn Primarolo: The only cost associated with the procurement of the Cervarix vaccine was for legal advice on the development of the tender documents. This amount was £52,934.59. The individual cost of the vaccine and the total cost to Government is commercial-in-confidence.
Primary care trusts (PCTs) were provided with funding to implement the national programme. A list of allocations per PCT is available from the following web link, which has also been placed in the Library.
The Department has a five year storage and distribution contract with Movianto UK. The Human Papillomavirus vaccine is distributed as part of the current distribution arrangements under this contract.
Infectious Diseases
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nosocomial cases of small round-structured viruses there were in each strategic health authority area in each of the last five years. [241054]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available. The best data are from the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) voluntary reporting system for outbreaks. This is not comprehensive but identifies where hospital outbreaks occur and the cases associated with these. Data for the last five years are shown in the following table by HPA region.
| Number of people affected in reported hospital outbreaks of norovirus (small round-structured viruses) by HPA region 2004 to 2008 | ||||||
| Region | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | Grand total |
| Note: The number of laboratory reports received underestimates the true number of affected individuals as specimens are not taken from everyone affected during outbreaks of norovirus (clinical diagnoses are often made once it is known that the virus is in circulation). Source: Health Protection Agency | ||||||
Kidney Patients: Children
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children with kidney problems resident in Essex are currently receiving treatment and dialysis at (a) Great Ormond Street and (b) Evalina at Guy’s and St. Thomas’s. [241333]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.
Maternity Services
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent progress the Child Health and Maternal Health Intelligence Unit has made towards its objectives; and if he will make a statement. [240732]
Ann Keen: The Child Health and Maternal Health Intelligence Unit was set up as a pilot in May 2008. It has been working well with all strategic health authorities, with primary care trusts and with the Association of Public Health Observatories, whose website it shares. The pilot ends in March 2009 and its future development is being reviewed.
Mental Health Services
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the guarantee of choice on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence approved treatments as outlined in the NHS constitution will apply to mental health treatment guidelines. [240536]
Dawn Primarolo: The proposed NHS constitution right applies to all drugs and treatments that are recommended in technology appraisal guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and covered by the associated funding direction.
MRSA: Screening
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice his Department has issued on the screening of patients for MRSA prior to admission into accident and emergency departments in England. [240742]
Ann Keen: The Department’s Saving Lives guidance(1) gives general guidance on screening, referring specifically to emergency orthopaedic and trauma admissions. The guidance issued covering elective patient MRSA screening(2) also includes information relevant to emergency patient screening. Both guidelines have been placed in the Library.
We currently require all relevant elective admissions to be screened for MRSA by April 2009, and all emergency admissions by April 2011. Further guidance will be issued as necessary.
(1) Department of Health (2007). Saving Lives: Reducing infection, delivering clean and safe care. Screening for meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonisation.
(2) http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersand circulars/Dearcolleagueletters/DH_086687
NHS: Buildings
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what his estimate is of the risk-adjusted backlog maintenance cost for the NHS in (a) England and (b) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997; [241050]
(2) what the maintenance backlog to reach estate code condition B was in (a) England and (b) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997. [241053]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information is shown in the following tables.
NHS Estates collects data on backlog maintenance annually from national health service trusts through its Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC). It has not been amended centrally and responsibility for its accuracy lies with the contributing NHS organisations. Risk adjusted backlog maintenance was introduced in 2004-05 and therefore not collected prior to that year.
The 28 strategic health authorities were created in 2002-03 and re-organised in 2006-07 into 10. For backlog maintenance data relating to before 2002-03, the national totals have been provided.
| National total | Total backlog maintenance (£ million) |
| National total | Risk adjusted backlog maintenance (£ million ) |
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