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16 Jun 2009 : Column 227W—continued
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency: Consultants
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency spent on consultants in each of the last five years. [279409]
Gillian Merron: The information is shown in the following table
| Medicines and Healthcare P roducts Regulatory Agency | |
| Spend (£000) | |
Mental Health Services
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 1 June 2009, Official Report, column 118W, on mental health services, whether the £13 million package of measures to support people with distress is new money. [279993]
Phil Hope: The £13 million funding for 2009-10 announced by the Government in March for the package of measures designed to support people who are experiencing depression or anxiety to get back to work is newly allocated money. This is additional to the existing funding for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme that will rise to £173 million in the third year (2010-11).
The new £13 million funding will help to fund a faster roll-out of talking therapies; a new network of employment support workers linked to every talking therapy service who will provide job support for people with common mental health problems; training of health advisers on the dedicated NHS Direct phone line who are being trained to spot people who might be experiencing depression because of economic problems and to refer them to help; and better online advice and information about the availability of services near to people's homes through NHS Choices.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has evaluated on the link between economic downturns and demand for psychiatric services; and if he will make a statement. [280052]
Phil Hope: Experience from previous recessions is that the need for psychological support increases as more people face financial, job and housing worries than at other times.
The £13 million funding for 2009-10 announced by the Government in March for the package of measures designed to support people who are experiencing depression or anxiety to get back to work is newly allocated money. This is additional to the existing funding for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme that will rise to £173 million in the third year (2010-11).
The new £13 million funding will help to fund a faster roll-out of talking therapies; a new network of employment support workers linked to every talking therapy service who will provide job support for people with common mental health problems; training of health advisers on the dedicated NHS Direct phone line who are being trained to spot people who might be experiencing depression because of economic problems and to refer them to help; and better online advice and information about the availability of services near to people's homes through NHS Choices.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (a) to issue its interim process guide for determining indicators for inclusion in the Quality and Outcomes Framework and (b) to call for evidence from interested parties for indicators for potential inclusion in the Quality and Outcomes Framework from 2010-11; and if he will make a statement. [279204]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published its interim process guide for determining indicators for inclusion in the Quality and Outcomes Framework on 5 June. NICE intends to make a facility available on its website for submitting proposals for new indicators or changes to existing indicators in the summer.
NHS: Foreign Workers
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent estimate is of the number of non-UK nationals (a) working, (b) working as doctors and (c) training to become doctors in the NHS. [279220]
Ann Keen: The Department does not collect these data centrally and is not therefore able to provide the information.
It is estimated that 7.5 per cent. of undergraduate medical students are non-EEA.
Nutrition Action Plan Delivery Board
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to receive the final report of the Nutrition Action Plan Delivery Board. [279482]
Phil Hope: We expect that the Nutrition Action Plan Delivery Board's final report will be completed in summer 2009.
Operational Efficiency Programme
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to promote the uptake of collaborative procurement strategies within the NHS and health sector, as recommended in HM Treasury’s May 2009 review, Operational Efficiency Programme: collaborative procurement. [279713]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department published the Commercial Operating Model “Necessity—not nicety” on 7 May 2009, which will meet future challenges by building procurement skills, organised through a clear and coherent system. The key elements of the commercial operating model include promoting the uptake of collaborative procurement strategies within the national health service and the Department. These include:
creating regional support units, which will bring together existing organisations and offer services to and be owned by the NHS locally;
seize savings benefits from pooling the NHS’s purchasing power through the NHS Supply Chain contract by making it work harder and smarter; and
creating a new departmental commercial centre to strengthen commercial and procurement support for the Department and to ensure alignment of the wider commercial landscape, including support for cross-government collaborative procurement strategies.
Copies of the Commercial Operating Model have already been placed in the Library.
Patients: Safety
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the rate for reporting to the Reporting and Learning System is for each NHS trust. [279203]
Ann Keen: Tables provided by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) have been placed in the Library. They set out the reporting rates for national health service organisations, based on patient safety incidents that occurred between April and September 2008 and were submitted to the Reporting and Learning System by the end of November 2008.
The response rate is calculated by taking the number of incidents, dividing by a denominator and multiplying by 100.
The NHS organisations are grouped into three clusters, each with their own specific denominator for ease of statistical comparison. The clusters are:
acute;
primary care with in-patient provision and mental health; and
primary care with no in-patient provision.
A summary of the denominators used for each cluster is set out as follows:
for acute NHS organisations it is the number of admissions in a six month period (April-September 2008);
for primary care organisations with inpatient provision and mental health organisations, it is the number of bed days in a six month period (April-September 2008); and
for primary care organisations with no inpatient provision, it is the population figure for the six month period (April-September 2008).
There is no suitable denominator for ambulance organisations and therefore no reporting rate is calculated. The NPSA are currently looking into ways to make comparisons across this cluster more meaningful.
The denominator data are drawn from the following sources:
Department of Health Hospital Episode Statistics database;
Welsh Assembly Government Statistical Directorate and; and
UK National Statistics.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nutrition-related adverse incidents have been recorded by the National Patient Safety Agency in each month since it was established. [279205]
Ann Keen: Information on the number of nutrition-related adverse incidents that have been recorded by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) in each month since it was established in 2001 can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
However the Agency's recent Quarterly Data Summary, published in May 2009, provides an overview of what has been learnt from an analysis of nutrition-related patient safety incidents reported as occurring during 2006 and 2007. A copy of the summary has been placed in the Library. The analysis was carried out by the King's College, London in collaboration with the NPSA.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patient safety incidents occurred in each NHS trust between April and September 2008 and were submitted to the Reporting and Learning System by the end of November 2008. [279483]
Ann Keen: A table, supplied by the National Patient Safety Agency, which sets out the number of incidents that occurred in each organisation between April and September 2008 and which were submitted to the Reporting and Learning System by the end of November 2008 has been placed in the Library.
Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he expects Professor Ian Gilmore's review into prescription charges to be (a) completed and (b) published; [279746]
(2) what resources his Department has allocated to Professor Ian Gilmore's review into prescription charges; [279749]
(3) what progress has been made on Professor Ian Gilmore's review into prescription charges. [279750]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government have asked Professor Ian Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians, to undertake a review of prescription charges. The review has sought the views of the public, clinicians and patient representative bodies on how to implement the proposed exemption for people with long-term conditions, including how it could be phased in. To date, this has included a web based survey, written submissions of evidence, deliberative research with the public and with general practitioners (GPs) and oral evidence sessions held with key stakeholder groups.
The review was due to report to Departmental Ministers in the summer. However, following discussions between Ministers and Professor Gilmore, he will undertake further work in order to ensure that proposals can be implemented smoothly and efficiently. Professor Gilmore is now due to report to departmental Ministers in the autumn. The report will also be published in the autumn.
The Department has a small team of officials supporting Professor Gilmore on his review. This includes three policy officials and two analysts. None of these staff are working solely on the review. In addition, the Department incurred expenditure of over £150,000 on the review in the last financial year, which includes the costs of deliberative research, stakeholder workshops and meetings. Further expenditure of this nature is likely as Professor Gilmore completes the review.
Social Services: Finance
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the formula by which the social care reform grant is disbursed. [279218]
Phil Hope: The Social Care Reform grant is allocated to a local authority according to its proportional share of the total adults' personal social services (PSS) relative needs formulae, with a minimum allocation of £10,000 for each local authority.
Details of the allocation basis for all PSS grants are published in the 2008 Local Authority Social Services Letter, a copy of which has been placed in the Library and is available at:
The formulae for the adults' personal social services relative needs formulae are contained in Chapter 4 of the Local Government Finance Report 2008-09. This is available in the Library and is also available at:
Sunbeds: Young People
Frank Cook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the merits of prohibiting the use of sunbeds by persons under the age of 18 years; and if he will make a statement; [279244]
(2) what assessment he has made of the merits of prohibiting the commercial use of unsupervised, coin-operated sunbeds; and if he will make a statement; [279245]
(3) what recent steps he has undertaken to improve public awareness of the health risks posed by sunbeds. [279246]
Gillian Merron: The Government advise against the cosmetic use of sunbeds, including coin-operated sunbeds, particularly by minors. The Cancer Reform Strategy commits the Government to reviewing the options for possible regulation of the sunbed industry, and we are expecting in the near future the publication of the report on sunbeds of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation and the Environment (COMARE).
SunSmart is the national skin cancer and sun protection campaign run by Cancer Research UK on behalf of the UK Health Departments. The 2009 campaign focuses on teenagers and young people, and aims to raise public awareness of the dangers of sunbeds and sunburn. As well as engaging with the media to promote skin cancer prevention, the SunSmart website at:
provides information, advice and downloadable resources on the risks to health of sunbeds and sunburn. The campaign has also created interventions to reach young people through social networking sites.
In addition the Department of Health in England has worked with the Health and Safety Executive who have recently issued revised guidance for sunbed operators and users.
Thalidomide
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent discussions he has had on compensation for thalidomide victims; [279259]
(2) what assessment he made of the average life-time cost to thalidomiders resulting from their disability. [279260]
Gillian Merron: The Department has received written representations from the National Advisory Committee to the Thalidomide Trust and others on the issue of Government compensation for thalidomide victims. No recent discussions have taken place.
Thalidomide victims are compensated through a private settlement, which was agreed between the Thalidomide Trust, which was established to administer annual payments to victims, and Distillers, which is now part of Diageo plc, the company that marketed the drug in the United Kingdom. The adequacy of the compensation fund is therefore a matter for the Thalidomide Trust and Diageo plc.
No assessment has been made of the cost to thalidomide victims resulting from their disabilities.
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