| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
16 Dec 2008 : Column 660W—continued
Health
Lyme Disease
8. Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines his Department has given to medical practitioners on diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. [243638]
Ann Keen: Guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is provided to general practitioners and other clinicians by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and is published on the HPA website
In addition, the HPA’s Lyme Disease Reference Unit advises clinicians directly on treatment and patient referral as appropriate, through its nationwide links to experts in infectious diseases, neurology, rheumatology and other specialities.
24. Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to encourage faster and better diagnosis of Lyme disease. [243654]
Ann Keen: The Department is fully satisfied that the diagnostic tests for Borrelia burgdorferi that are freely available to NHS clinicians are fully validated and offer the required level of specificity and sensitivity to accurately diagnose Lyme disease and that current guidance for clinicians on the detection and diagnosis of Lyme disease, as published by the Health Protection Agency, is entirely appropriate.
The Health Protection Agency's Lyme disease reference laboratory has been at the forefront of close international collaboration to improve diagnostic tests and to promote evidence based treatments.
GP-led Health Centres
9. Christine Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the first new GP-led health centre to open; and if he will make a statement. [243639]
Alan Johnson: I opened the first GP-led health centre on 28 November in Bradford. The second was opened by my hon. Friend the Minister of State (Phil Hope) in Corby on 9 December.
150 further such centres will provide GP services for any member of the public, regardless of where they are registered, from 8 am to 8 pm, 365 days a year, improving access and choice for all.
17. Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the first GP-led health centre to open. [243647]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Secretary of State for Health opened the first fully operational GP-led health centre on 28 November in Bradford.
Nottinghamshire primary care trust plans to open its new GP-led health centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield in April 2009.
Polyclinics
12. Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential effects of polyclinics on existing GP practices. [243642]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Government have no plans to introduce polyclinics in England. “Polyclinics” is a term that the NHS in London is using to describe ways of bringing existing GP services together with other services in convenient community-based settings.
In other parts of the country—including the hon. Member’s own constituency—the NHS is establishing GP-led health centres, to provide more choice and convenience for patients in how they access NHS services.
15. Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce polyclinics in (a) England and (b) Croydon. [243645]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Government have no plans to introduce polyclinics. “Polyclinics” is a term that the NHS in London is using to describe ways of bringing existing GP services together with other services, in convenient, community-based settings. Every PCT in England is procuring a GP-led health centre.
Croydon plans to establish its new GP-led health centre in central Croydon as part of its redesign of primary care networks.
Resource Allocation
13. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the allocation of resources to those areas with the greatest health need; and if he will make a statement. [243643]
Mr. Bradshaw: The new funding formula announced last week includes a separate health inequalities formula, that directs resources to the places with greatest need. My hon. Friend’s local NHS benefits from the new formula and will receive an 11.7 per cent. increase in funding over the next two years.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take in response to the resource allocation review; and if he will make a statement. [243640]
Mr. Bradshaw: The recommendations of the advisory committee on resource allocation informed the new funding formula announced on 8 December that the hon. Member’s local NHS—South East Essex—benefits from the new formula and will receive an 11.3 per cent. increase in funding over the next two years.
Mental Health and Criminal Justice
14. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on services for people in the criminal justice system with mental health conditions; and if he will make a statement. [243644]
Phil Hope:
Some primary care trusts have agreed schemes that are designed to avoid unnecessary referrals to hospital and promote more clinically appropriate alternatives. It is for primary care trusts to evaluate the
effectiveness of these schemes. The Department has made clear to the national health service that any such schemes must promote the most clinically appropriate care for patients.
Hospital Referrals
16. Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of incentives offered by primary care trusts to GPs for reducing numbers of referrals for hospital appointments on referral rates and the welfare of patients. [243646]
Mr. Bradshaw: Some primary care trusts (PCTs) have agreed schemes that are designed to avoid unnecessary referrals to hospital and promote more clinically appropriate alternatives. It is for primary care trusts to evaluate the effectiveness of these schemes. The Department of Health has made clear to the NHS that any such schemes must promote the most clinically appropriate care for patients.
Hospital Debt
18. Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of options to address the problem of historic debt accrued by NHS hospitals. [243648]
Mr. Bradshaw: As a result of introducing a new loans system in 2006-07, there were 17 NHS trusts where the financial challenges were such that they were designated as ‘financially challenged’.
By the end of 2007-08, 10 were able to demonstrate the ability to produce sufficient surpluses going forward to an extent that they were no longer deemed ‘financially challenged’.
The Department continues to work with the remaining seven to develop solutions.
Non-geographical Telephone Numbers
19. Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to discontinue the use of 084 telephone numbers in the NHS. [243649]
Mr. Bradshaw: We are considering discontinuing the use of telephone numbers such as 084 in the NHS, where the cost to the patient of calling those numbers is greater than the cost of a local rate call. We therefore launched a public consultation today on this issue, which is due to run until 31 March 2009, and which will inform the Government’s decision on the future use of such numbers in the NHS.
Dispensing Services
20. John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on the future of dispensing services operated by GPs. [243650]
Phil Hope: Following the publication of the White Paper “Pharmacy in England: Building on strengths - delivering the future” in April 2008, we have received a large amount of correspondence from dispensing practices, their patients and the public.
We have also received several tens of thousands of responses to the consultation, “Pharmacy in England - Building on strengths, delivering the future - Proposals for legislative change” which was published on 27 August 2008 and closed on 20 November 2008.
We recognise the concerns that are being expressed by dispensing doctors, their staff and patients. We will make our decision as quickly as possible, following full consideration of the responses received.
Hospital Car Parks
21. Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what income was generated in the Mid-Essex Hospital Trust area by charging for hospital car parking in the last year for which figures are available. [243651]
Phil Hope: Income is reported voluntarily through the annual Estates Related Information Collection (ERIC) for car parking for staff and visitors. In 2007-08, the total income was £939,952. These data are provided by the NHS on a voluntary basis and have not been amended following their collection, nor have they been actively checked by the Department. They therefore cannot be confirmed to be accurate or complete.
Health Care: Disabled People
22. John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of health care available in the NHS for those with a disability. [243652]
Phil Hope: The Secretary of State for Health has produced his triennial disability equality report, showing that significant progress has been made towards equality for disabled people in the health and social care sector. The report was published on 1 December 2008 and a copy has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Health Outcomes
23. Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress his Department has made towards reducing inequalities in health outcomes. [243653]
Ann Keen: The latest 2005-07 data show a further slight narrowing of the infant mortality gap, no change in the gap in female life expectancy, and a widening gap in male life expectancy compared to 2004-06. In addition, cancer and circulatory disease mortality show a further narrowing of inequalities in absolute terms.
NHS Dentistry
25. Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of access to NHS dentistry. [243655]
Ann Keen: 26.9 million people saw an NHS dentist in the 24 months ending June 2008.
The importance of improving access to NHS dental services is reiterated in the 2009-10 Operating Framework published this week. And this is being supported by extra resources—an 11 per cent. uplift in our dental
funding allocations for the current year 2008-09, and a further 8.5 per cent. uplift for 2009-10 announced in this week's framework, which will take the total allocation to £2,257 million (net of patient charge income).
In addition, last week we announced we have set up a review to advise how we can ensure that everyone who wants to see an NHS dentist can do so.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards the new public service agreement target to reduce drug and alcohol harm, with particular reference to the new national indicator to measure change in the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions. [240372]
Dawn Primarolo: The aim of the public service agreement indicator relating to the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions is to achieve a lower rate of admission than predicted if current trends continue. For the reduction to be statistically significant, the rate needs to be 1.4 per cent. below the projected level. Data are currently available up to 2006-07. We expect data for 2007-08 and the first period of 2008-09 to become available before the end of March 2009.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in the number of alcohol-related (a) admissions and (b) visits to accident and emergency facilities since the implementation of changes affecting the sale of alcohol contained in the Licensing Act 2003; and if he will make a statement. [241289]
Dawn Primarolo: The following table gives the total number of alcohol-related finished admissions and the for the years 2004-05 to 2006-07.
| Alcohol-related finished admissions | |
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. The number of alcohol-related admissions is based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO). Following international best practice, the NWPHO methodology includes a wide range of diseases and injuries in which alcohol plays a part and estimates the proportion of cases that are attributable to the consumption of alcohol. Details of the conditions and associated proportions can be found in the report Jones et al. (2008) “Alcohol-attributable fractions for England: Alcohol-attributable mortality and hospital admissions”. Includes activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. 2. Finished admission episodes: A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. 3. Primary diagnosis: The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital. 4. Secondary diagnoses: As well as the primary diagnosis, there are up to 13 (six prior to 2002-03) secondary diagnosis fields in HES that show other diagnoses relevant to the episode of care. 5. Number of episodes in which the patient had an alcohol-related primary or secondary diagnosis: These figures represent the number of episodes where an alcohol-related diagnosis was recorded in any of the 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a HES record. Each episode is only counted once in each count, even if an alcohol-related diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record. | |
The information for alcohol-related attendances at accident and emergency departments is not collected centrally.
Bowel Cancer: Death
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the age-standardised mortality rate for bowel cancer was in each parliamentary constituency in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [242580]
Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the age-standardised mortality rate for bowel cancer was in each UK parliamentary constituency in each of the last five years for which figures are available. (242580)
The table provides the age-standardised mortality rate per 100,000 population, where bowel cancer was the underlying cause of death in (a) parliamentary constituencies in England and Wales, and (b) the UK from 2002 to 2006 (the latest year available). A copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |