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25 Jun 2009 : Column 1118W—continued
Hospitals: Fires
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms there are for hospitals where fires have occurred to share information with other hospitals about those fires. [281447]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: National health service organisations, excluding NHS foundation trusts, have a mandatory duty to report fire incidents to which the fire and rescue service has been called. Reporting is through the Estates Facilities Management (EFM) online information system as set out in “Firecode: Health Technical Memorandum 05-01 Managing healthcare fire safety”, which has been placed in the Library. Information from reported fire incidents is analysed to update the Department’s suite of fire safety guidance—Firecode.
Hospitals: Information and Communications Technology
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 21 May 2009, Official Report, column 1595W, on hospitals: ICT, if he will direct the NHS to develop a national IT protocol for an interface between the x-ray services provided by Centricity and Medway. [281680]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: This is a matter for the local national health service bodies operating the systems concerned. However, the NHS national programme for IT utilises industry standard messaging protocols when developing interfaces between systems, and has procured picture archiving and communications (digital imaging) systems that conform to the Dicom international standard. Use of standards, as opposed to developing bespoke protocols, ensures local flexibility within the NHS.
In Vitro Fertilisation
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many in-vitro fertilisation treatments were funded by the national health service in each region in each of the last three years. [282255]
Gillian Merron: Surveys on the number of cycles of in vitro fertilisation offered by primary care trusts were published on the Department's website in June 2008 and June 2009 and can be found at:
The surveys relate to information gathered for the years 2006-07 to 2009-10. Copies have been placed in the Library.
Muscular Dystrophy
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department is providing for research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 2009-10. [281772]
Gillian Merron: Both the Department and the Medical Research Council (MRC) support research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The MRC spent £2.1 million on such research in 2007-08. (Figures for more recent years are not yet available.) Projected Departmental expenditure in the current financial year is principally expenditure by National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research centres and amounts to £450,000.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of centres of excellence for people with muscular dystrophy. [282178]
Ann Keen: We have made no assessment of the adequacy of the number of centres of excellence for those living with muscular dystrophy. It is the responsibility of local health bodies to ensure adequate health and social care services to meet the needs of their local population with muscular dystrophy.
National Child Measurement Programme
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the results of the National Child Measurement Programme for 2008-09 to be published. [282254]
Gillian Merron: The NHS Information Centre will publish the results of the National Child Measurement Programme for 2008-09 in December 2009.
NHS: Drugs
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) requirements and (b) regulations govern the promotion of medicines outside their licensed indication by (i) manufacturers, (ii) healthcare providers and (iii) other parties. [281583]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The promotion of medicines is regulated under the Medicines (Advertising) Regulations 1994, which implement Title VIII of Directive 2001/83/EC. These regulations prohibit the promotion of a medicine outside its licensed indication. The prohibition applies to industry, healthcare providers and other parties.
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire of 24 November 2008, Official Report, column 927W, on the NHS: drugs, whether the review by strategic health authorities into collaboration in their areas to support effective decision-making has been concluded; and if he will make a statement. [281676]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: We would expect that all strategic health authorities will have complied with the NHS chief executive’s letter of 4 November 2008 asking them to review the arrangements in place in their local area and how collaboration could be encouraged to support better decision making. It is the responsibility of each organisation’s board to ensure that this has been followed in their area.
Since then, the NHS constitution, launched in January 2009, says that patients have the right to expect local decisions on funding of other drugs and treatments to be made rationally, following a proper consideration of the evidence. This right is underpinned by:
defining guiding principles for processes supporting local decision making about medicines, published in January 2009;
supporting rational local decision-making about medicines and treatments: A handbook of good practice guidance, published by the National Prescribing Centre in March 2009;
and
new statutory directions to primary care trusts (PCTs) and NHS trusts concerning decisions about drugs and other treatments 2009, which came into force on 1 April 2009
As a result of the various measures we have put in place, we expect to see significant improvements in PCTs’ decision-making processes, including increased transparency and consistency in the way these decisions are made. This will mean that patients and the public can be very clear about what the national health service is offering them by way of access to drugs and how those decisions about funding are taken.
Mark Simmonds:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress his Department has made in
commissioning a national audit of demand for unfunded drugs, as referred to on page 6 of Improving access to medicines for NHS patients; what estimate he has made of the cost of meeting such demand; and if he will make a statement. [281585]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: We are currently developing proposals for pilots—which should begin later this year—to audit the demand for unfunded drugs. Until we have carried out the pilots, we cannot estimate the cost of meeting the demand for unfunded drugs.
NHS: Fires
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much has been spent by his Department on fire response training for NHS staff in each year since 2003; [281444]
(2) what fire response training is being provided for NHS staff in 2009-10. [281445]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: National health service organisations determine locally the content, method of delivery and frequency of their fire response training based on a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. Information on the expenditure on fire response training in the NHS is not collected centrally.
NHS: Gypsies
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to ensure that Gypsies and Travellers have the same access as others to the NHS. [282088]
Phil Hope: The Department has embarked on a programme of work to improve the health status of Gypsies and Travellers. The programme, including Pacesetters, is aiming for better awareness of community needs among national health service professionals; more effective health promotion among Gypsy and Traveller communities; and better access to both primary and secondary care for community members. This work is based on engagement and partnership working with both the NHS and Gypsy and Traveller communities.
NHS: Management Consultants
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the national health service spent on external consultants in each of the last five years. [280339]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department does not collect the specific information requested centrally.
NHS: Private Sector
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps his Department has taken to inform primary care trusts of the Moving Beyond Sponsorship programme; and if he will make a statement; [281175]
(2) how many primary care trusts have participated in the Moving Beyond Sponsorship programme to date; and if he will make a statement. [281176]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: In February 2008, the Department published best practice guidance for joint working between the national health service and the pharmaceutical industry, where this benefits patients, and within appropriate governance arrangements. To support NHS organisations and companies who wish to enter into such projects, the Department published in March 2008 an interactive toolkit to support joint working, entitled “Moving Beyond Sponsorship”.
The Department has undertaken an awareness campaign to promote this to the NHS including attendance at 11 key conferences, including NHS Confederation—Primary Care Network, the NHS Alliance and NICE conferences. We will be working with strategic health authorities to raise awareness within their regions.
Joint working is taking place within a number of primary care trusts, however, the Department does not collect information on individual projects.
Patient Choice Schemes
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what expenditure his Department has incurred on services enabling patients to make hospital appointments in the last 12 months; and how many people worked on these services at the latest date for which figures are available. [281872]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Expenditure incurred by NHS Direct on services to support booking of first consultant outpatient appointments through the appointments line and the number of staff working in these areas is included in the following table.
| Expenditure (including staff and non-staff costs) April 2008 to March 2009 (£ million) | Staff (in whole - time equivalents) April 2008 to March 2009 | Expenditure (including staff and non-staff costs) April to May 2009 (£ million ) | Staff (in whole - time equivalents) April to May 2009 | |
| Source: NHS Direct | ||||
Prescription Drugs
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on the use of generic prescription drugs in the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [281833]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The pharmaceutical price regulation scheme (2008) announced that subject to discussion with affected parties, the Department will introduce generic substitution in primary care. This is a complex issue with many interested stakeholders. Discussions with key stakeholders and interested parties are still underway and are expected to continue into early summer. Some representations have also been received in written format. Issues covered are broad but include implementation implications, for example, whether to exclude certain categories of medicines for clinical reasons. We want to make sure we engage with all stakeholders in the best way possible and are currently considering how best to do so.
Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2009, Official Report, columns 230-1W, on prescriptions: fees and charges, how many respondents there were to Professor Ian Gilmore’s web-based survey of prescription charges; how many written submissions of evidence were made to his review of prescription charges; how many oral evidence sessions the review held with stakeholder groups; and with how many GPs deliberative research on prescription charges has been conducted in the last financial year. [282056]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The written consultation received 39 submissions. The web-based survey aimed primarily at the public received 1,750 responses. Oral evidence sessions were held with 18 key stakeholders. A total of six workshops were held across England as part of the deliberative research with general practitioners (GPs), involving 30 GPs in total.
Stem Cells: Research
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms his Department uses to ensure the efficient use of the funds allocated by his Department for the purpose of stem cell research. [281877]
Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government supports medical and clinical research. The MRC provides funding for research through a range of grants and personal awards to scientists in universities, medical schools and other research institutes. Applications are generally submitted by the scientific community in ‘response mode’ and the MRC always welcomes high quality applications for support into any aspect of human health. Funding is usually provided in open competition across all areas of science, though the MRC also issues targeted calls for proposals to stimulate research in strategic priority areas.
The MRC has also earmarked specific funding to build capacity through studentships and clinical training fellowships in the stem cell area.
All applications are peer reviewed by independent scientific experts in the UK and overseas. This peer review is the first part of a two-stage process, which helps the MRC’s research boards and committees to decide which proposals to consider at their funding meetings. The research boards use similar criteria to
those of the referees and also identify any ethical issues or risks to human participants that need further attention.
The primary considerations in funding decisions are research excellence and importance to health; however, high quality proposals in areas of particular strategic importance may be given priority in competition for funds.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to which (a) neurological research and (b) other projects his Department has allocated funding for the purpose of stem cell research. [281878]
Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government supports medical and clinical research.
The MRC spent £25.6 million on research on stem cells in 2007-08. A list of the projects, which includes neurological projects, will be placed in both Libraries of the House.
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