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15 Dec 2008 : Column 448W—continued
Diabetes: Children
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children have been diagnosed with diabetes in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (a) primary care trust area and (b) strategic health authority area. [242871]
Ann Keen: Data for the number of children diagnosed with diabetes are not available. However, estimates based on the National Diabetes Audit, suggest there are an estimated 20,000 children with diabetes in England (the vast majority of them type 1 diabetes) and some experts suggest that there may also be up to 1,000 children with type 2 diabetes in England.
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children under the age of 16 have (a) type 1 and (b) type 2 diabetes in (i) England, (ii) the North West, (iii) the Stockport Primary Care Trust area and (iv) Cheadle constituency. [243072]
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 diabetes in England (the vast majority type 1 diabetes), and some experts suggest that there may be up to 1,000 children with type 2 diabetes in England.(1)
(1) Data sourced from the Paediatric National Diabetes Audit and Diabetes UK
Doctors: Career Structure
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of on-call time worked by junior doctors was classified as (a) inactive and (b) active at the latest date on which figures are available. [241555]
Ann Keen: The inactive and active on-call time categories are included in proposed amendments to the European working time directive (EWTD) that the European Parliament plans to consider on 17 December. The Department does not collect figures on inactive and active time.
Following the SiMAP and Jaeger European Court of Justice Rulings, any time a doctor is required to be on-call in the workplace counts as working time, even if the doctor was inactive or asleep. These rulings have virtually ended resident on-call working for doctors in training because on-call time (counted as working) significantly reduces the remaining time available for medical training and treating patients. Most doctors in training now work shift patterns.
Under the new deal contract for doctors in training, information on working patterns and hours are collected by NHS Employers. The latest figures can be accessed on their website via
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of hospitals have rota gaps; what assessment he has made of the effect of such gaps on junior doctors; and if he will list the hospitals and the departments within them that have rota gaps. [241786]
Ann Keen: Local national health service organisations must plan according to their priorities as they are best placed to assess the health needs of their local health community and will commission the required number of training places to develop the workforce to meet those needs. NHS workforce planning is supported by engagement with all key stakeholders, including the medical profession.
We have more doctors in training than ever before, over 46,700, and an increasing number of undergraduate medical students. Consultant numbers have increased year on year since 1997 and now stand at a record high of over 33,600.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether active on call time will begin when (a) a doctor receives a call, (b) a doctor responds to a call or (c) a doctor arrives with the patient; and if he will make a statement; [241787]
(2) how (a) inactive and (b) active call time is calculated; and how it will be calculated when the Working Time Directive comes into force with regard to the NHS. [241788]
Ann Keen: A doctor who receives a work related call is counted as working. The proposed changes to the European Working Time Directive (EWTD), supported by the Council of Ministers, would not change this interpretation.
Guidance on the Working Time Regulations can be found on the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's website via:
The “inactive part of on-call time” has been defined as the period during which the on-call worker “has the obligation to be available at the workplace to intervene, at the employer's request, to carry out his activity or duties”, but is not required to carry out his activity or duties. The active time is the period when the worker carries out his activity or duties.
Any changes to the EWTD require the support of both the European Council and the European Parliament under the co-decision process. The Parliament plan to vote on the possible amendments to the Directive on 17 December 2008. Their view will then be passed back to Council for consideration. Member states will have three years from any agreement to implement changes and the United Kingdom would consult openly before so doing.
Drugs: Rehabilitation
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health according to the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, how many clients in each local authority structured drug treatment (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 10 years. [240767]
Dawn Primarolo: Although the data requested are collected via the National Drugs Treatment Monitoring System, 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 their current form would be misleading. The NTA are addressing these data quality issues and expect to publish these data, with an assessment of their quality, alongside their annual statistics release in October 2009.
Food: Safety
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many public analyst laboratories were open in each year since 1997. [240402]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not held centrally. However, we are aware that there are currently 21 public analyst laboratories in the United Kingdom.
General Practitioners: Pharmacy
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the future of dispensing GP practices in (a) Kettering constituency, (b) Northamptonshire and (c) England. [243865]
Phil Hope: Following publication of the White Paper “Pharmacy in England—Building on Strengths, Delivering the Future” in April, a consultation on proposals for reform was carried out between 27 August 2008 and 20 November 2008. The consultation included partial impact assessments on the four options relating to control of entry for dispensing doctors. The impact assessments looked at the likely effect of each of the options on dispensing doctors in England—they did not look at individual localities.
We recognise the concerns that are being expressed by dispensing doctors, their staff and patients. There is no intention to abolish dispensing doctors. They play an important role in ensuring continued access to pharmaceutical services and providing patient care for those who need it. We will make our decision as quickly as possible, following full consideration of the tens of thousands of responses received.
Health Services: EU Countries
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on provision of health care for British citizens who are taken ill while on holiday. [243772]
Dawn Primarolo:
The European Health Insurance Card which entitles citizens of European Economic Area (EEA) to state-provided health care during a visit to any EEA country, was adopted in 2005 by all member
states. The United Kingdom continues to take part in discussions with European bodies and other member states around the practicalities of the use of the card when, and if, the need arises.
Health Services: Private Sector
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) older people, (b) people with a learning disability, (c) people with a sensory impairment and (d) people with a physical impairment partially purchase their own care packages. [242864]
Phil Hope: These data are not held centrally.
Hospitals: Closures
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued to strategic health authorities on (a) the closure of hospitals and (b) the transfer of hospital services to alternative locations. [240845]
Ann Keen: Proposals for the reconfiguration of services are a matter for the national health service locally working in conjunction with clinicians, patients and other stakeholders.
Leading Local Change, published by the Department in May this year, makes very clear that any changes to the NHS have to be locally led and clinically driven, built upon a sound clinical case for change. A copy of the publication has been placed in the Library.
Malnutrition
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library copies of all the reports made to the National Reporting and Learning System in December 2007 of patient safety incidents concerning malnutrition. [241427]
Ann Keen: The National Patient Safety Agency's Reporting and Learning System (RLS) is a confidential incident reporting system, which relies on voluntary reports of patient safety incidents. In order to protect the confidentiality of patients and national health service staff, individual incident reports are not publicly available. It is therefore not possible to make available the reports made to the RLS in this way.
Maternity Services
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of pregnant women had a health and social care needs assessment by a midwife or healthcare professional within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in the last 12 months. [240730]
Ann Keen: Data for the last 12 months on the proportion of pregnant women who had a health and social care needs assessment by a midwife or healthcare professional within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy are not yet available.
The first quarterly data that will enable an assessment of performance based on the revised data definitions that support monitoring of the public service agreement indicator will be available in mid August 2009.
Medical Treatments
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department takes to protect patients from the risk posed by the varying bioequivalence of therapies used for the same indication; and if he will make a statement. [241549]
Dawn Primarolo: All medicines are licensed in accordance with European directive 2001/83/EC on human medicinal products. Each different medication used for an indication will undergo a full and thorough evaluation of its quality, safety and efficacy by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Generic products, which are non-branded formulations of an established product that has been licensed for at least eight years in the European Community, are not required to generate original clinical data to prove the safety and efficacy of the active medicinal substance that they contain. However they are assessed for bioequivalence with the branded reference product to ensure that they have the same therapeutic effect.
Details about the product will be set out in the Summary of Product Characteristics, which helps prescribers to choose which product to prescribe by providing them with the necessary information about the use of the product, its dosage and any necessary safety warnings or precautions for use as well as information about possible side effects. An equivalent document, the Patient Information Leaflet informs and educates patients about the medicines prescribed for them including information on how to take or use it appropriately.
Medical Treatments Abroad
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to his Department of (a) EEA health care claims and (b) UK health care claims against other EEA countries was in 2007-08; and what estimate he has made of such costs in 2008-09. [241103]
Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of the costs of European Economic Area (EEA) health care claims are made annually for the purposes of provisions made in the Department's accounts in accordance with Treasury resource accounting rules. For 2007-08 the totals are set out in the following table.
| Resource outturn totals: 2007-08 activity | |
| £ | |
| Note: Totals are rounded to nearest £100,000. Source: 2007-08 Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) exercise. | |
The estimates of such costs for 2008-09 have yet to be completed and could not be made available in advance of the publication of the Department's 2008-09 resource accounts.
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency: Standards
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many yellow card reports the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency received in
each year since 1997; to which (a) drug and (b) device each such report related; and how many such reports were made by (i) patients and (ii) healthcare professionals in each year. [241152]
Dawn Primarolo: Reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Commission for Human Medicines (CHM) through the spontaneous reporting scheme; the Yellow Card Scheme. Approximately 20,000 reports of ADRs are reported to the MHRA/CHM through this scheme each year. The scheme collects ADR reports from across the whole United Kingdom and includes all medicines, including those from prescriptions, over-the-counter or general retail sales. Reports are also received for herbal medicines and other unlicensed medicines. Reports for adverse incidents with medical devices are not collected by the Yellow Card Scheme.
With regard to a breakdown of suspected drugs reported via the Yellow Card Scheme, due to the sheer volume of data, we refer the hon. Member to the MHRA website at:
At this website, Drug Analysis Prints (DAPs) can be found. DAPs are freely available in the public domain and list all suspected reactions reported for a particular medicinal active substance. A breakdown of total numbers of reports received for a particular medicinal active substance and the number of suspected reactions are also stated on a DAP.
Table 1 shows the number of suspected ADRs received by the MHRA between 1997 and 2007. The second column shows the total number of ADR reports submitted including those from marketing authorisation holders through their legal obligations. Columns three and four provide the number of reports received directly from patients and health care professionals via the Yellow Card Scheme.
| Table 1 | |||
| Year received by MHRA | Total number of spontaneous suspected ADR reports received (including company ADR reports) | Number of spontaneous UK suspected ADR reports submitted directly by patients | Number of spontaneous UK suspected ADR reports submitted directly by health care professionals |
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