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13 Jan 2009 : Column 671W—continued
(6) what response he plans to make to the Audit Commission’s recommendation that reliable information flows between councils and police forces serving similar communities across the UK be developed, as contained
in paragraph 75 of its November 2008 report Preventing Violent Extremism: Learning and Development Exercise; [246199]
(7) what steps he plans to take to ensure that all neighbourhood policing teams are provided with sufficient (a) briefing and (b) awareness-raising training on extremism and terrorism, as mentioned in paragraph 118 of the Audit Commission’s November 2008 report Preventing Violent Extremism: Learning and Development Exercise; [246198]
(8) whether he plans to increase engagement between neighbourhood policing teams, council officers delivering frontline services and local communities, as suggested in paragraph 117 of the Audit Commission’s November 2008 report Preventing Violent Extremism: Learning and Development Exercise; [246197]
(9) what steps he plans to take to establish the effective local links between partnerships and prisons and probation services referred to in paragraph 112 of the Audit Commission report Preventing Violent Extremism: Learning and Development Exercise; [246176]
(10) what steps he plans to take to improve the engagement between the Counter Terrorism Network and borough command units referred to in paragraph 111 of the Audit Commission report Preventing Violent Extremism: Learning and Development Exercise. [246175]
Mr. Khan: I have been asked to reply.
A number of reviews took place over the summer which sought to draw out learning and emerging practice on the delivery of activity to prevent violent extremism, including the joint Audit Commission and HMIC Learning and Development Exercise (LDE). Though each review had a different focus, together they provide a useful package of learning material upon which local partners can draw and which will inform the Government’s approach to Prevent.
There are a number of common themes which run through all these reviews. Some of these require action from national Government, some from local partners and many from both. We have ensured wide distribution of the LDE report to enable local partners to benefit directly from the important learning it contains in taking forward their local Prevent response. We published “Delivering Prevent—Responding to Learning” on 10 December, which sets out the key strands of learning from the reviews and work already underway to address these key themes. We will continue to develop our response to the reviews throughout the year.
I will place a copy of “Delivering Prevent—Responding to Learning” in the Library of the House.
Health
Anaemia
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidelines his Department provides to GPs on the treatment of pernicious anaemia; [244915]
(2) what quantitative data his Department has compiled on the incidence of pernicious anaemia by (a) geographical location, (b) age and (c) presence of existing auto-immune disease; [244916]
(3) what steps his Department is taking to increase (a) prevention and (b) diagnosis of pernicious anaemia in infants and juveniles; [244919]
(4) what assessment he has made of awareness among medical professionals of the prevalence of pernicious anaemia; [244920]
(5) if he will give consideration to the replacement of treatments of hydroxocobalamin with cyanacobalamin; and what research his Department has commissioned into such treatment; [245729]
(6) if he will make routine pernicious anaemia testing available to vulnerable groups. [245834]
Ann Keen: The Department has not issued any recent guidance to general practitioners (GPs) on treatment of pernicious anaemia.
The Department does not itself compile any quantitative data on incidence of pernicious anaemia, as this condition is generally treated by GPs at primary care level. The link between low vitamin B12 status and subsequent development of adverse health outcomes and the incidence and prevalence of such outcomes is unclear. Some data are available from the General Practice Research Database (GPRD) which contains longitudinal medical records from approx 420 primary care practices throughout the United Kingdom (4 per cent. of total number in UK). The following table shows the number of patients (aged 65 years and over) in the GPRD with at least one record of pernicious anaemia (2005).
| Number of patients (aged 65 years and over) in the GPRD (2005) with at least one record of pernicious anaemia and at least one prescription for vitamin B12 | ||
| Country | Number of patients | As percentage of total number of patients aged 65 years and over registered in the GPRD for 2005* |
| Source: General Practice Research Database | ||
There are no steps currently being taken by the Department to increase prevention and diagnosis of pernicious anaemia in infants and juveniles. This is an extremely rare condition in children.
Assessments of medical professionals and their awareness of pernicious anaemia are not matters for the Department. It would be for the relevant specialist professional bodies such as the Royal College of Pathologists to provide guidance and professional development on matters relating to haematology.
Hydroxocobalamin is recommended in preference to cyanacobalamin by the Joint Formulary Committee of the British National Formulary, because it is retained in the body longer than cyanocobalamin and maintenance is thus required less frequently, at intervals of up to three months. The Department has not commissioned research into these treatments.
The UK National Screening Committee has not recommended in favour of routine screening for pernicious anaemia. However, the Committee does recommend that all pregnant women should be offered a test for anaemia (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Routine Antenatal Care Guideline).
Aseptic Dispensing
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has provided to hospital trusts on aseptic dispensing. [245613]
Phil Hope: Guidance was last issued by the Department in August 1997 in “Aseptic Dispensing in National Health Service Hospitals (EL(97)52).” A copy of this guidance has been placed in the Library. In addition, the National Health Service Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance Committee updated its publication “Quality Assurance of Aseptic Preparation Services” in October 2005.
Baby Care Units: Nurses
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of neonatal nursing staff in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) England; whether he plans to provide funding to increase those numbers; and if he will make a statement. [244221]
Ann Keen: It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) in partnership with local authorities, strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, and to commission services accordingly. On 25 January 2008, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that PCT baselines for 2008-09—2010-11 included £330 million of extra funding to support improvements in maternity services.
In response to the National Audit Report 2007 Caring for Vulnerable Babies the Department set up a Neonatal Taskforce which is working to develop targeted action plans to assist local workforce decision making incorporating skill mix, staffing levels, retention, recruitment and commissioning of education and training.
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is using agency nurses to ensure adequate services continue to be provided. The Trust has put in place a ‘grow your own’ policy sponsoring nurses to go onto appropriate neonatal nurse courses and to ensure that their reliance on agency nurses is reduced in future years.
British National Formulary
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 21 October 2008, Official Report, column 302W, on the British National Formulary, whether the distribution to hospital doctors has taken place. [245799]
Dawn Primarolo: Yes. The Department of Health's distribution of the September 2008 edition of the British National Formulary (British National Formulary 56) has been completed. Guidance for National Health Service organisations that need to order additional copies of the British National Formularies for their prescribers, is available on the Department of Health's website at:
A copy of the guidance has also been placed in the Library.
Cancer
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's presentation to the Cancer Policy Forum by Teresa Moss of June 2008. [245622]
Ann Keen: Teresa Moss heads the National Cancer Action Team, which is a national health service body. I have drawn the hon. Member's question to her attention, and she will write to him direct.
Cancer: Medical Treatments
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints by patients relating to the refusal by a primary care trust to fund (a) a cancer and (b) a non-cancer treatment have been made (i) in the NHS, (ii) to the Healthcare Commission and (iii) to the Health Service Ombudsman in each year since 1997-98. [245621]
Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected at this level of detail by the Department of Health, the Healthcare Commission or the Health Service Ombudsman.
Clinical Physiologists: Career Structure
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact of the current Modernising Scientific Careers proposals on the career pathways of clinical physiologists. [246215]
Ann Keen [holding answer 12 January 2009]: Proposals to transform the future training and career pathways of the health care science workforce as set out in “The Future of the Healthcare Science Workforce Modernising Scientific Careers: The Next Steps”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library are currently out for public consultation which is due to end on 6 March 2009. A response will be published in due course.
Clostridium
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of disinfectant wipes using quarternary ammonium-based formulas against Clostridium difficile. [246318]
Ann Keen: The Department has not made any specific assessments regarding the effectiveness of disinfectant wipes using quaternary ammonium-based formulas against Clostridium difficile. However these compounds are not recognised sporicides.
There are potentially a number of products for sale to the national health service that do not contain chlorine and claim to be sporicidal. The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency has therefore commissioned the research into commercial formulations that claim to be sporicidal and it is expected to be completed by the end of autumn 2009.
Dementia: Respite Care
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many respite care beds there are for people with dementia in each primary care trust area in England; [244528]
(2) how many people with dementia were waiting for respite care in each (a) primary care trust and (b) local authority area on 1 April 2008; and how many of these had been waiting (i) up to three months, (ii) between three and six months, (iii) between six and nine months and (iv) between nine and 12 months. [244529]
Phil Hope: Services for people requiring respite care are not condition-specific, and so the information requested is not available.
On 8 December 2008, we announced primary care trust (PCT) allocations for 2009-10 and 2010-11 which included £150 million so that all PCTs can increase the support they offer to all carers.
Dental Services
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to increase access to NHS dentistry; and if he will make a statement. [246168]
Ann Keen: The importance of developing dental services is reiterated in “The NHS in England: The operating framework for 2008-09” published on 9 December 2008, which places a priority on primary care trusts to develop dental services in order to provide access to anyone who seeks help in accessing services.
This document has already been placed in the Library and is available at:
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 the Operating Framework, which will take the total central allocation to £2,257 million (net of patient charge income).
However, there are still areas of the country in which people are unable to access an national health service dentist and we know that we need to do more to ensure that NHS dentistry is available for all who wish to access it. This is why we have appointed an independent review team chaired by Professor Jimmy Steele to help us understand what steps we can take to ensure that every person who wants to access an NHS dentist can do so.
Dental Services: Public Consultation
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of NHS dental patients (a) on the Isle of Wight and (b) in each primary care trust area in Hampshire were on their local dentists’ panel in each year since 1998. [246100]
Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested. However, the number of patients registered with a national health service dentist, in England, as at 31 March, 1997 to 2006 is available in Annex A of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006”. Annex B contains information on the proportion of the population registered with an NHS dentist. Information is provided by primary care trust (PCT) and by strategic health authority (SHA) where appropriate.
This information is based on the old contractual arrangements which were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. This report, published on 23 August 2006, has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
Under the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, patients do not have to be registered with an NHS dentist to receive NHS care. The closest equivalent measure to ‘registration’ is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services (‘patients seen’) over a 24-month period. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
The number of patients seen in the previous 24 months in England, as at quarterly intervals, from 31 March 2006 to 30 June 2008 is available in Table D3 of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics, Q1 2008-09” report. Table D4 contains information on the numbers of patients seen as a percentage of the population. Information is provided by PCT and SHA.
This report, published on 27 November 2008, has been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
The importance of developing dental services to this Government are reiterated in the 2009-10 Operating Framework published on 9 December 2008, which places a priority on PCTs to develop dental services in order to provide access to anyone who seeks help in accessing services. 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 the Operating Framework, which will take the total central allocation to £2,257 million (net of patient charge income).
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