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28 Apr 2009 : Column 1242W—continued


Gonorrhoea

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many marsupialisation operations have been performed to treat bartholinitis caused by neisseria gonorrhoeae infection in NHS trusts in England in each of the last five years. [271233]

Dawn Primarolo: Data for finished consultant episodes where the main procedure was marsupialisation operations performed for Bartholinitis and the primary diagnosis was Neisseria gonorrhoeae in England for the years 2003-04 to 2007-08 are given in the following table.


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Number

2007-08

1

2006-07

2

2005-06

4

2004-05

2

2003-04

0

Notes: Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). Finished consultant episode A finished consultant episode (FCE) is defined as a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. The figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. ICD 10 code used: A54.1—Gonococcal infection of lower genitourinary tract without periurethral and accessory gland abscess. Main procedure The main procedure is the first recorded procedure or intervention in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (e.g. time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedure. OPCS 4.4/4.5 code used: P03.2 Marsupialisation of Bartholin gland. Changes to coding classifications: OPCS-4 Operative procedure codes were revised for 2006-07 and 2007-08. The 2007-08 data use OPCS 4.4 codes, 2006-07 data use OPCS 4.3 codes, data prior to 2006-07 use OPCS 4.2 codes. All codes that were in OPCS 4.2 remain in later OPCS 4 versions, however the introduction of OPCS 4.3 codes enable the recording of interventions and procedures which were not possible in OPCS 4.2. In particular, OPCS 4.3 and OPCS 4.4 codes include high cost drugs and diagnostic imaging, testing and rehabilitation. Some activity may have been coded under different codes in OPCS 4.2. These changes need to be borne in mind when analysing time series and may explain some apparent variations over time. Care needs to be taken in using the newer codes as some providers of data were unable to start using the new codes at the beginning of each data year. More information about OPCS 4 changes is on the Connecting for Health website (www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk). Data quality HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data are also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Assessing growth through time HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. The quality and coverage of the data have improved over time. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what (a) statutory instruments, (b) departmental circulars and (c) other documents he has issued since December 2008 consequent on the provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008; and if he will make a statement; [271438]

(2) when he expects to bring into force those provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology
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Act 2008 which are not yet in force; and if he will make a statement. [271439]

Dawn Primarolo: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill received Royal Assent in November 2008 becoming the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (the 2008 Act). The first provisions of the 2008 Act came into force on 6 April 2009. These provisions related to parenthood. The majority of provisions will come into force on 1 October 2009 and it is intended that the remaining provisions (relating to parental orders) will come into force in April 2010.

Since December 2008, there has been one Statutory Instrument issued (the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (Commencement No. 1 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2009. No departmental circulars have been issued but the Department of Health has published a consultation on four sets of regulations, which are required to implement the provisions in the 2008 Act. The consultation closed on 30 March 2009.

Mental Health Services

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received cognitive behavioural therapy in each of the last five years. [271737]

Phil Hope: This information is not held centrally.

Mental Health: Unemployment

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps his Department is taking to tackle mental health disorders associated with unemployment; and if he will make a statement; [271189]

(2) what assessment has been made of the link between mental health disorders and rising rates of unemployment; and if he will make a statement. [271191]

Phil Hope: There are clear links between unemployment and poor mental health and well being. That is why in November 2007, my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) asked Dame Carol Black, National Director for Health and Work, to lead the development of a national strategy for mental health and employment. The strategy will help to ensure a co-ordinated approach across Government to the challenges faced by people of working age with mental conditions and improve their employment prospects. The strategy development is being overseen by representatives from the business, medical and academic worlds and will be published later this year.

Further, on 8 March 2009, my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced an additional £13 million to support a package of measures to help people who are distressed, depressed or anxious as a result of the economic downturn. These measures include a greater provision of talking therapies and a new network of employment support workers.

This extra money will build on the £4 million DWP initiative in which employment advisors are already working in 12 of the 35 new talking therapy services to help people keep their jobs if their mental health has put them at risk.


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Missing Persons

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent progress has been made in the development of information-sharing protocols between NHS hospitals and the police to enable appropriate communications to take place in missing persons investigations. [271338]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has for a number of years required national health service trusts to establish protocols for the sharing of confidential patient-identifiable information with other organisations where that need arises. These must be governed by clear and transparent procedures that satisfy the requirements of law and associated guidance, and regulate working practices in both disclosing and receiving organisations.

It is the responsibility of individual NHS organisations to determine which organisations should be included within local protocols and to ensure that information is shared appropriately.

NHS: Statistics

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what items of information are collected centrally from NHS organisations in respect of the critical care minimum dataset. [271183]

Mr. Bradshaw: The items collected centrally through the critical care minimum dataset are as follows:

Nurses: Manpower

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent nurses in each specialty there were working in the NHS in England in each of the last five years. [271187]

Ann Keen: A table showing the number of full-time equivalent nurse by speciality in the years requested has been placed in the Library.

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average ratio of nurses to patients was at each hospital in (a) England, (b) the North East and (c) the Tees Valley in each of the last 10 years. [271347]

Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.


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Obesity: Children

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were (a) overweight and (b) obese in the last period for which figures are available. [271740]

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available in the form requested.

Information on the proportion of children aged two to 15 in England that are overweight or obese, broken down by age is collected by the Health Survey for England.

This information can be found in tables 8.2 on page 236 of” Health Survey for England 2007: Volume 1 lifestyles: knowledge, attitudes and behaviour”, which was published on 16 December 2008. This publication has been placed in the Library.

Further information on the proportion of children that are overweight or obese in England is also collected through the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). The NCMP report provides high-level analyses of the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children, in Reception year (aged four-five years) and Year 6 (aged 10-11 years), measured in England in the school year 2007-08.

This information is available in the “National Child Measurement Programme: 2007/08 school year, headline results” which was published on 11 December 2008. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children in England is shown in table 1 of the NCMP 2007-08 data tables. This publication has already been placed in the Library.

Obstetrics: Consultants

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many obstetric consultants were employed in England in each of the last five years; and how many were employed in each hospital trust in the most recent year for which figures are available. [271403]

Ann Keen: The number of consultant obstetricians employed by the national health service in England in each of the last five years and the numbers by hospital trust in the most recent year for which figures are available are given in a table which has been placed in the Library.

Pharmacy

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community pharmacies have (a) opened and (b) closed in each of the last five years. [270406]

Phil Hope: Information for England and Wales is available in tables 5 and 5a of the bulletin “General Pharmaceutical Services in England and Wales 1998-99 to 2007-08”, published by the Information Centre for health and social care.

Copies of the latest bulletin have been placed in the Library and at:


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Prescriptions

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 26 January 2009, Official Report, column 252W, on prescriptions, which primary care trusts have a procedure to report errors relating to the prescribing and supply of drugs to the National Patient Safety Agency. [271447]

Phil Hope: The information is not held centrally. The National Patient Safety Agency encourages the reporting of patient safety incidents which are submitted on a voluntary basis from national health service organisations including primary care trusts.

Energy and Climate Change

Carbon Emissions

Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will review his Department's programme designed to promote energy efficiency to ensure effectiveness. [269514]

Joan Ruddock: We review and evaluate our energy efficiency policies on a continual basis, with the most recent summaries published in the 2006 Climate Change programme, the 2007 Energy White Paper, and the 2007 Energy Efficiency Action Plan. The Heat and Energy Saving Strategy consultation, currently underway, has provided a fresh opportunity to review our strategy. In doing so, our aim is to ensure that our policies are capable of meeting the increased challenges over the next decade, particularly in light of our recently proposed carbon budgets over the period to 2022, and our legally-binding target to cut UK greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent. by 2050.

Departmental Assets

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when his Department last reviewed its assets and land and property holdings with a view to identifying and disposing of surpluses. [269859]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: DECC has no land and property holdings and no other surplus assets have been transferred to the Department since formation.

Economic Situation

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2009, Official Report, column 404W, on the economic situation, which energy and oil ministers attended the meeting hosted by his Department on 18 and 19 December 2008. [271000]

Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 24 April 2009]: The following Ministers attended the London Energy Meeting on 18 and 19 December 2008:


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