| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
2 July 2009 : Column 400W—continued
NHS: Finance
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health under which budget headings the £80 million of savings from the temporary reduction in value added tax to be used by the NHS for complementary support will be allocated. [283220]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The £80 million of savings from the temporary reduction in the rate of value added tax has not been added to a specific budget but has been retained by primary care trusts (PCTs), as part of their general allocations. PCTs have been encouraged to use up to the £80 million savings to commission complementary services—including debt advice and family counselling—wherever there is local need.
NHS: Sponsorship
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department provides to primary care trusts (PCTs) on the acceptance of sponsorship from private enterprises; and how much each PCT received in private sponsorship in the latest period for which figures are available. [280654]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 18 June 2009]: Previously guidance was sent out by the Department in 2000, and has been placed in the Library.
The Department no longer gives specific guidance to primary care trusts on acceptance of sponsorship. National health service bodies may enter into commercial sponsorship arrangements to raise additional income, but they should avoid entering into arrangements with organisations that are perceived as being in conflict with health, for example tobacco companies.
It is a matter for local NHS organisations to determine their own policy on this matter and they should use local arrangements to publicly declare sponsorship or any commercial relationship linked to the supply of goods or services and be prepared to be held to account for it. The information requested is not held centrally.
Information on health services in the other United Kingdom countries is a matter for the other devolved Administrations.
NHS: Stress
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will undertake an assessment of the effects of use of meditation techniques by NHS staff. [283102]
Gillian Merron: The use of meditation techniques for national health service staff would be a local decision. As part of a range of relaxation techniques for hypertension, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance in 2005 stated that routine provision by primary care teams was not currently recommended.
NHS: Waiting Lists
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients died while on a waiting list for an NHS operation in (a) the East of England, (b) Essex and (c) Castle Point in (i) 1997 and (ii) each of the last five years. [282858]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: This information is not held centrally.
Pain: Health Services
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England were diagnosed with chronic pain in each year since 1997; [283116]
(2) what steps the NHS is taking to assist people diagnosed with chronic pain; [283152]
(3) how many specialist pain management services there are in the NHS in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England. [283154]
Ann Keen: The information requested on the number of people diagnosed with chronic pain and the number of specialist pain management services in the national health service is not collected centrally.
It is the responsibility of primary care trusts to commission services for people with chronic pain to meet the needs of their local population. The Department is supporting commissioning through the recent publication of an 18-week pathway for the management and treatment of chronic pain and treatments. NHS Choices has also provided information that will raise awareness of chronic pain and treatments.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by the NHS to tackle chronic pain in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in the latest period for which figures are available. [283153]
Ann Keen: The Department of Health does not hold the requested information for the Jarrow constituency. Figures detailing NHS expenditure on chronic pain in 2006-07 in South Tyneside Primary Care Trust (PCT)/North East Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and England are given in the following table:
| 2006-07 | |
| Gross expenditure (£000) | |
| Notes: 1. England level data are estimated gross expenditure, and include core Department of Health, SHA and some special health authority expenditure as well as expenditure by PCTs. 2. PCT level data are estimated expenditure on own population. 3. Continual refinements are made to the calculation methodology and to underlying data sources which makes like-for-like comparisons between years difficult. 4. Expenditure across all sectors is included. 5. Disease specific expenditure will not include expenditure on prevention, or general practitioner expenditure, but will include prescribing expenditure. 6. Subcategory data for chronic pain were collected for the first time in 2006-07. These should be used with caution as they are in the early days of development. | |
Pharmacy: Crime
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward legislative proposals to repeal the provisions of the Medicines Act 1968 which make a dispensing error by a pharmacist a criminal offence. [283610]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government recognise concerns that specific provisions contained in the 1968 Medicines Act may be used to prosecute pharmacists who make a dispensing error.
A full review of the Medicines Act is already under way by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This will include consideration of changes that may be made to the law to ensure that it provides the necessary safeguards for the public while being proportionate as to how instances of clinical error are dealt with. The MHRA is working closely with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and other stakeholders on the Medicines Act review.
Solihull Hospital: Maternity Services
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects on the provision of local maternity services of implementation of the proposed changes to the services provided on the maternity ward in Solihull Hospital; and if he will make a statement. [283213]
Gillian Merron: Service reconfiguration is a matter for the local national health service, in conjunction with clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders and an assessment of the potential changes to the services provided on the maternity ward in Solihull Hospital has therefore not been made by the Department.
The West Midlands strategic health authority (SHA) reports that there are potential changes to the provision of maternity services provided by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust. It is the responsibility of the SHA to work with local commissioners, in this case Solihull Care Trust and Birmingham East and North Primary Care Trust, to ensure that appropriate maternity services are commissioned, in line with “Maternity Matters: Choice, access and continuity of care in a safe service”, published on 3 April 2007 (a copy of which has already been placed in the Library), and “Safer Childbirth: Minimum Standards for the Organisation and Delivery of Care in Labour”, published by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in October 2007.
Swine Flu: Health Education
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of households in England have received information leaflets on swine flu. [282160]
Gillian Merron: It is estimated that the swine flu information leaflet was delivered to just under 95 per cent. of households in England. Distribution was carried out in May 2009.
Extra copies of the leaflet were sent to general practitioner surgeries, pharmacies, halls of residence and primary care trusts as well as members of the publicity register, which consists of intermediary organisations that deal with the public, all of which were able to order further copies for distribution.
The information leaflet is also available online at:
It is available in foreign language translations, large print, Braille, audio CD and tape, BSL and an easy read version for people with learning disabilities.
While every effort has been made to achieve delivery to 100 per cent. of households, residents in some flats or shared accommodation who have central mail boxes may have received only one leaflet per location.
Weather: Death
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will commission research into the number of deaths caused by excessive heat in developed countries which regularly experience summer temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius; and if he will make a statement. [283157]
Gillian Merron [holding answer 1 July 2009]: The Department currently funds the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine via the Medical Research Council to evaluate research on the effect of heat waves, including patterns of excess seasonal deaths. This work, which informs the annual review of the national heat wave plan, involves collaborating with other developed countries that typically reach higher summer temperatures than the United Kingdom. Therefore, the Department has no current plans to commission other specific research in this area.
Home Department
Detainees
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were being detained without charge on the basis of evidence which had not been disclosed to the detainee at the latest date for which figures are available. [283447]
Mr. Hanson: The requested information is not collected centrally.
The collection held by the Home Office on police detention under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) and terrorism legislation cannot separately identify the number of people detained without charge on the basis of evidence which had not been disclosed to the detainee.
Drugs: Crime
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the average street price of (a) cannabis, (b) ecstasy, (c) gamma hydroxybutyrate and (d) ketamine in each of the last 10 years. [281969]
Alan Johnson: Street prices for drugs vary considerably and are dependent on a number of factors. Prices are given where available in the following table.
All prices are based on collective data.
| £ | |||||||||||
| Commodity | Unit size | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 |
|
Insufficient data to provide accurate “range” or “common” prices | |||||||||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |