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11 Feb 2009 : Column 2082W—continued
Motor Neurone Disease: Medical Treatments
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he expects the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to produce guidance on the use of non-invasive ventilation in the care of those suffering from motor neurone disease; [255344]
(2) when the use of non-invasive ventilation in the care of those suffering from motor neurone disease was first proposed as a subject for National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance. [255345]
Dawn Primarolo: Non-invasive ventilation for the treatment of motor neurone disease was first proposed as a topic for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in January 2006. NICE currently expects to issue a short clinical guideline for this topic in early 2011.
NHS: Drugs
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reasons he has identified for the change in the number of prescription items (a) dispensed in the community and (b) dispensed in hospital since 1997. [255453]
Phil Hope: The reasons for the increase in number of prescription items dispensed in the community since 1997 are likely to include an increase in the numbers of patients being treated, improved access to medicines, the availability of additional treatments and demographic changes.
Information on the number of prescriptions items dispensed in hospitals is not available, but we would expect to see an increase in the number of items dispensed in hospitals for similar reasons.
NHS: Reorganisation
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress his Department is making in bringing forward the pilot programme that was announced in the NHS Next Stage Review and the Primary and Community Care Strategy in 2008 to test and evaluate new models of integrated care; and if he will make a statement. [254547]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) on 26 January 2009, Official Report, column 247W.
Out-patients: Per Capita Costs
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost per outpatient attendance was across all specialties in each year since 1997-98. [254532]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Average cost, based on Trust or Trust and PCT data submitted | Average cost per outpatient attendance across all specialties( 1 ) (£) | |
| (1) The effect of inflation has not been accounted for in these figures. Were the figures to be adjusted for inflation (using the latest GDP deflator), this would give an average real terms increase in average cost of around 3.6 per cent. per year. (2 )Out-patient attendance cost data was not collected in 1997-98. (3) 2006-07 is the most recent year for which data has been published. Source: National Schedule of Reference Costs | ||
There have been a number of changes to the reference costs collection during the period covered by these figures. They generally fall into two key areas: (i) changes to the scope of the data collected (for example, over time an increased number of treatment function codes (TFCs) have been collected), and (ii) greater disaggregation over time (for example, separately collecting non-consultant-led activity from 2006-07). The changes over time mean that it is difficult to make comparisons between years without fully understanding the underlying changes. The figures presented are based on the full scope of outpatient attendance costs collected in Reference Costs in each year, and are therefore the most accurate reflection of the average cost per outpatient attendance in each year, based on the data collected.
PatientPak
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2009, Official Report, column 627W, on PatientPak, (1) on how many occasions in the last 12 months NHS hospitals have provided in-patients with special soap and shampoo to prevent viral and bacterial infections; [255621]
(2) which proven antimicrobial formula is contained in the special soap and shampoo provided to in-patients by NHS hospitals to prevent viral and bacterial infections; [255622]
(3) under which circumstances NHS hospitals provide in-patients with special soap and shampoo to prevent viral and bacterial infections when such an infection (a) has and (b) has not been detected in a hospital. [255623]
Ann Keen: The decision to provide patients with antimicrobial soap and shampoo is a local one based on local infection prevention and control policies.
Information on which products are used and how frequently is not collected centrally, however the antimicrobial compounds used in these products include chlorhexidine gluconate and triclosan as the active ingredients.
Pharmacy
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what percentage of all prescriptions issued (a) in England and (b) in each primary care trust area have been dispensed in instalments through repeat dispensing in each of the last two years; [255505]
(2) what proportion of prescription items were dispensed through repeat dispensing arrangements (a) in England and (b) in each primary care trust area in the latest year for which figures are available. [255506]
Phil Hope: Information is not held on the number of prescriptions issued, only on the number issued and then dispensed.
In 2007 the proportion of all items prescribed in the community in England and dispensed in the United Kingdom through repeat dispensing arrangements was 1.4 per cent. of all items dispensed, taken from the Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system database. Figures for individual primary care trusts in the same period are taken from the Prescribing Analysis and CosT tool (PACT) system and have been placed in the Library.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the evaluation of patient drug record cards, referred to on page 35 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431. [255508]
Phil Hope: A copy of An Evaluation of the Controlled Drug Recording System Pilot Final Report, commissioned by the Department and produced by the University of Birmingham Health Services Management Centre in March 2008, has been placed in the Library.
A working group is considering how the issues identified in the report can be resolved and effectively implemented.
Prescriptions
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2009, Official Report, columns 1202-3W, on prescriptions, on how many occasions there has been a report of (a) an incident of overdose with a controlled drug and (b) other serious incidents reported to the Commission for Social Care Inspection involving a resident in a care establishment in Warrington; and to which individual service each report was made. [250893]
Phil Hope: The requirement for care homes to report incidents to the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) is set out in the Care Home Regulations 2001. Regulation 37 requires reports to be made to CSCI without delay of:
The death of any service user;
The outbreak in the care home of any serious infectious disease;
Serious injury to a service user;
Serious illness of a service user (other than in a nursing home);
Any event in the care home which adversely affects the well-being or safety of a service user;
Any theft, burglary or accident in the care home; and
Any allegation of misconduct by the registered person or a worker at the home.
If a serious incident is reported to CSCI under Regulation 37 of the Care Homes Regulations, which governs notification of death, illness and other events in care homes, it is followed up by the CSCI regulation inspector or regulation manager associated with that service. Depending on circumstances, they may refer the issue to the pharmacist inspector. It is one of CSCI's referral criteria to contact a pharmacist inspector and this may result in inspection of the care home and a resulting report with requirements and recommendations. If the overdose is a result of an incorrect prescription from the general practitioner, the pharmacist inspector will liaise via the local intelligence network through the national health service accountable officer at the relevant primary care trust, who will deal with the issue.
We are informed by CSCI that there were 2,716 notifications to CSCI under Regulation 37 of incidents in care homes in Warrington in the years 2006 to 2008. The following table shows a breakdown of numbers of notifications between care homes. We are informed by CSCI that to extract the incidents involving overdose with a controlled drug from these notifications would involve disproportionate cost.
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