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Prostate Cancer
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the programmes run by his Department to raise awareness of prostate cancer; [256124]
(2) how much his Department has spent on programmes to raise awareness of prostate cancer in each of the last five years; [256125]
(3) what advice his Department offers to the public on potential symptoms of prostate cancer; and what plans he has to initiate further public awareness campaigns. [256126]
Ann Keen: Raising the public awareness of prostate cancer is a key challenge. We want men to know what their prostate is, what it does, and what can go wrong with it. However, we have to raise awareness in a responsible way so as not to cause undue anxiety.
That is why the Prostate Cancer Advisory Group Public Awareness Working Group developed a definitive set of consistent key messages for the general public about the prostate, including prostate cancer. These messages provide men and their families with information about the prostate designed in such a way as not to cause unnecessary anxiety. The key messages have been agreed by 20 organisations, including charities, patient groups and professional bodies, as well as the Department. The messages are free for all organisations to use, and were published in 2008 in the Royal British Legion’s Members Directory and in supplements to the Daily Express and The Daily Telegraph at a cost of over £5,000.
The Department invested £100,000 in a pilot public awareness programme of the prostate and its function,
a joint programme with signatories to the Prostate Cancer Charter for Action who provided £50,000 of funding. The pilot took place in Coventry in 2006 to test the effectiveness of the key messages, the intervention used to promote the messages and the impact promoting the messages has on national health service (NHS) services. The final evaluation reports and recommendations of the pilot have been referred to the Cancer Reform Strategy National Awareness and Early Detection Initiative (NAEDI).
NAEDI aims to make the public and healthcare professionals more aware of the signs and symptoms of cancer, including prostate cancer, and encourage those who may have symptoms to seek advice earlier. An example of future work includes the Football Foundation’s awareness raising project, which is part funded by the Department, which will work to raise awareness of the signs, symptoms and risk factors associated with bowel, lung and prostate cancers in men aged over 55.
Other investment in the public awareness of prostate cancer in the last five years has included:
investing over £100,000 in UK Prostate Link, the first comprehensive online source of information of its kind, to help the public, prostate cancer patients, their families and health professionals to find all the information they want to know about prostate cancer, including signs and symptoms. This is a collaborative project, co-funded with signatories to the Prostate Cancer Charter for Action;
providing £30,000 to the Men’s Health Forum to help fund its publication, the “Men and Cancer Manual” in 2004;
providing £29,000 to the Men’s Health Forum to produce and distribute ‘mini’ “Men and Cancer Manuals”, including detailed information on prostate cancer, in 2007 and 2008. A further collaboration is planned for 2009; and
providing £105,000 to the Prostate Cancer Charity to improve awareness of the risks and symptoms of prostate cancer in African and Afro-Caribbean men between 2003 and 2006.
Prosthetics
Dr. Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision is being made by the NHS to provide modern prosthetic technology to those people with thalidomide related impairments who rely on prosthesis for independent living and mobility. [255523]
Dawn Primarolo: It is for primary care trusts in partnership with local stakeholders to assess the needs of their local population and to commission services accordingly. This process provides the means for addressing local needs within the health community including the provision of prosthetic services.
Speech Therapy
Mr. Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what ways his Department monitors the quality of service of speech and language therapy; and how he plans to inform patients of the findings of such monitoring. [256767]
Ann Keen: The quality of speech and language therapy (SLT) services is not monitored centrally. It is for primary care trusts, working with local stakeholders, to monitor the quality of these services and to disseminate their results.
As part of the improved allied health professional (AHP) service offer, which includes SLTs, announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health in October 2008, we will ensure that as part of the work described in ‘High Quality Care for AH’ to develop an integrated set of quality metrics, there is a clear focus on metrics related to services provided by clinical teams inclusive of AHPs. The metrics developed through this work will be shared across the country.
Spinal Injuries
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been treated in NHS hospitals for spinal cord injuries in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) the Tees Valley and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last 10 years. [254887]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.
Strokes: Health Services
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on (a) provision and (b) co- ordination of (i) transient ischaemic attack units, (ii) stroke units and (iii) hyper acute units in the same location to enable stroke response; what process is being followed to determine the adequacy of stroke care provision in North East London and the location of a new stroke care unit; what public consultation will take place as part of this process; and what provisions there are to challenge the outcome of the consultation. [253337]
Ann Keen: Policy for stroke services is set out in the national strategy for stroke services in England which was published in December 2007. A copy has already been placed in the Library. It provides a quality framework against which local services can secure improvements to services and address health inequalities relating to stroke over a period of 10 years. It also provides support and guidance for commissioners, strategic health authorities and others in the planning, development and monitoring of services.
How services are configured in response to the strategy is for local decision. Issues related to the provision of stroke services in London are a matter for NHS London and the primary care trusts (PCTs) within it.
The Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees jointly or individually can refer decisions to the Secretary of State if they consider them not in the interests of the health service locally. The Secretary of State may in turn seek advice from the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.
Suicide
Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to achieve a reduction in the number of suicides; and if he will make a statement. [255547]
Phil Hope: The “National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England: Annual Report 2007” highlights action taken to reduce suicides, action planned for 2008 and statistical information on suicides in England.
Since publication of this report, further statistics on suicide “Mortality Target Monitoring” have been published and can be found at:
Copies of both publications have been placed in the Library.
Dr. Ladyman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what non-governmental organisations working
towards the prevention of suicide have received funding from his Department since 1997. [255548]
Phil Hope: The Department has worked with and provided funding to a number of non-governmental organisations in the voluntary, statutory and private sector in taking forward work to prevent suicides including funding from Section 64 grants.
Tables detailing grant awards made to organisations working towards the prevention of suicide and support for those affected by it are as follows.
| 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
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Mainstreaming Carer Support (to assist delivery of enhanced CPA & DH targets on suicide/readmissions) | |||||||
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