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3 Mar 2009 : Column 1460W—continued
Departmental Art Works
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which works of art from the Government Art Collection each Minister in his Department has selected for display in a private office. [259443]
Mr. Bradshaw: Ministers have the following works from the Government Art Collection displayed in their offices:
| Artist | Title |
The Minister of State for Care Services does not currently have any works from the Government Art Collection on display in his office.
Departmental Data Protection
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department uses WPA2 encryption protocol on all its wireless networks. [259717]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department uses Wi-Fi Protected Access encryption on all its wireless networks.
Anne Main:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what auditing his Department undertakes to ensure
that IT security policies are being followed; and on how many occasions (a) IT security policies have been breached by employees and (b) a member of staff has been sanctioned for a breach of such policies in the last 12 months. [259718]
Mr. Bradshaw: Compliance audits are routinely and regularly undertaken. These include but are not limited to checks for removable computer media being left unsecured, passwords not carelessly written down and that accounts are being used in accordance with the Acceptable Use of information technology (IT) policy. These are either promoted in advance, but without giving a specific time or area, or carried out without warning. There are three types of compliance audit, one type focuses on IT security and six of these were performed in the last year. The Department is regularly reviewed against the Information Security Management Standard, ISO 27001.
On 154 occasions there were minor breaches of the IT security policies such as storing personal photographs or poor housekeeping. None warranted referral to HR. However, on each of these occasions the individual concerned was notified of the area of concern via their section head, was reminded of the relevant security policy and asked to modify their future behaviour.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s IT security hierarchy. [259719]
Mr. Bradshaw: Following is an organisational list showing the Department’s information technology (IT) security hierarchy. The Departmental Security Officer reports both to the Director of Information Services and to the Permanent Secretary as appropriate, for instance for leak inquiries.
Department of Health Security Organisational List :
Permanent Secretary
Director General of Finance, Chief
Operating Officer and Senior Information Risk Officer
Director of Information Services
Departmental Security Officer
IT Security Office
Eating Disorders
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase levels of awareness amongst GPs of bulimia and anorexia. [259400]
Phil Hope: We take the issue of eating disorders, especially among young people, very seriously. To help general practitioners (GPs) and other practitioners we commissioned clinical guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on the core interventions in the treatment and management of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and related eating disorders. We expect GPs to refer to this guidance.
We have also increased funding for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services by over 60 per cent. in three years and, to provide better support for adults with common mental health problems, including anorexia, we announced a £170 million expansion of psychological therapies.
Foetal Anti-convulsant Syndrome
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) children and (b) adults have been diagnosed with foetal anti-convulsant syndrome resulting from their mothers receiving sodium valproate treatment during pregnancy; and if he will make a statement. [259374]
Dawn Primarolo: Foetal anticonvulsant syndrome describes a group of disorders in which birth defects and developmental disorders occur in association with a characteristic facial appearance in children whose mothers took antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy. Information on the total number of individuals diagnosed in the United Kingdom with foetal anticonvulsant syndrome is not available, however epidemiological studies suggest that the incidence of birth defects in babies born to mothers receiving antiepileptic medicines is approximately two to three times higher than the background rate in the general population.
The UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Register was established in 1996 in order to gather further information on the outcomes of pregnancies in women receiving antiepileptic medicines. All pregnant women taking antiepileptic medicines are encouraged to notify their pregnancy or allow their clinician to notify their pregnancy to this register. Findings from this register were published in 2005 and suggested that almost 96 per cent. of live-births born to women with epilepsy did not have a major birth defect. It also confirmed that the likelihood of a baby being born with a birth defect is increased if the woman is taking more than one antiepileptic medicine (polytherapy).
The best established risk of abnormalities is associated with sodium valproate. An increased incidence of birth defects (including head and face deformities, deformities of the bones, malformations of the arms and legs and defects of the spinal cord and spine such as spina
bidifia) has been shown in children born to mothers who took sodium valproate during pregnancy. For sodium valproate taken as monotherapy, the report from the UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Register suggests that approximately five babies are born with a major birth defect for every 100 women taking this drug. This risk increases to approximately nine in 100 at higher doses (over 1,000 mg per day).
The authorised product information on sodium valproate for prescribers and the patient information leaflet contain clear advice about its safety of use during pregnancy. This includes information about the potential for birth defects and recommends that any woman taking sodium valproate who is likely to become pregnant should receive specialist advice on these risks. There is also a recommendation that if taken during pregnancy sodium valproate should be used as monotherapy at the lowest effect dose. Folic acid supplementation prior to pregnancy is also recommended as this may reduce the risk of having a baby with spina bifida.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has published a clinical guideline covering the diagnosis, treatment and management of epilepsies in adults and children. This clinical guideline specifically covers the treatment and management of epilepsy in pregnancy.
Great Western Hospital: Waiting Lists
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) average and (b) maximum waiting time for (i) in-patient and (ii) day case admissions was at the Great Western Hospital in each year since 1997. [259490]
Mr. Bradshaw: The data for the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, formerly known as the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, as at March for each specified year, are given as follows.
| In-patient and day case waiting list data—Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust( 1) | ||||||
| Median waiting time (in weeks) | Maximum waiting time | |||||
| Period ending | In-patient (ordinary) admission | Day case | All patients waiting | In-patient (ordinary) admission | Day case admission | All patients |
| (1) Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, March 1997-March 2008, in December 2008 it became Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Notes: 1. Figures show the median waiting times for patients still waiting for admission at the end of the period stated. 2. In-patient waiting times are measured from the decision to admit by the consultant to the admission to hospital. 3. Median waiting times are calculated from aggregate data, rather than patient level data, and therefore are only estimates of the position on average waits. 4. Data no longer collected by in-patient/day case split after 30 September 2007 5. Waiting times data collected in weekly time bands from 1 April 2007 and the maximum time band show the patient with the longest wait at the end of that period 6. Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust was in existence until December 2008, it then became the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Source: Department of Health Quarterly Waiting Times KH07 and MMRPROV | ||||||
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