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Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 18 March 2010

Prime Minister

Creative Industries

Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Prime Minister who has been invited to attend the meeting on the creative industries with his special adviser on 19 March 2010. [322856]

The Prime Minister: My officials and I have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals on a range of subjects.

Reading Berkshire

Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Prime Minister whether he sought to inform the hon. Member for Reading East of his visit to Reading on Monday 1 March in advance of the visit. [322487]

The Prime Minister: I understand my office did seek to inform the hon. Member of the visit in advance.

Wales

Departmental Buildings

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on office refurbishments in each of the last 10 years. [320465]

Mr. David: In the current financial year the Wales Office spent £8,186 on new furniture to provide a dedicated Video Conference facility which links our London and Cardiff offices. In 2008-09 there was no expenditure on refurbishment. In 2007-08 the Wales Office spent £52,900 on a refurbishment project to replace worn and damaged carpets, furniture and curtains, including bomb blast curtains, for health and safety as well as security reasons. There has been no expenditure on refurbishment in previous years.

Departmental Pay

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was paid in reimbursable expenses to special advisers in his Department in each of the last five years. [320478]

Mr. Hain: The amount claimed in reimbursable expenses by special advisers is:

£

2004-05

2,520.71

2005-06

2,037.60

2006-07

2,671.39

2007-08

1,462.17

2008-09

7,070.67


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The increase in costs in 2008-09 was because the Wales Office had only one special adviser who was based in Cardiff and who needed to be in London for work on a regular basis. All official travel by special advisers is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.

Departmental Theft

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps the Department is taking to deter theft from within the Department. [322657]

Mr. Hain: My Department operates a clear desk policy, ensuring that all personal or sensitive material is locked away at the end of each working day. We also have 24/7 security at both our London and Cardiff based sites.

Health

Arthritis

Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs with a special interest in rheumatology there are in (a) each primary care trust area and (b) England. [323219]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Information on the number of general practitioners with special interests in individual specialties is not collected centrally and could not be obtained other than at disproportionate expense.

Arthritis: Drugs

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Prime Minister's press conference of 25 January 2010, what steps (a) have been taken and (b) the Department of Health has been asked to take in relation to RoActemra. [322268]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and it would not be appropriate for Ministers to interfere in an ongoing technology appraisal. I wrote to the Prime Minister on 9 March 2010 to assure him that RoActemra for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is receiving a thorough assessment through NICE's technology appraisal process.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2010, Official Report, column 807W, on arthritis: drugs, if he will place in the Library a copy of his letter to the Prime Minister. [322269]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: No, because it relates to the formulation of Government policy.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on methadone replacement programmes in South Sefton Primary Care Trust in each year since 2000; and how many individuals have received treatment under these programmes. [322638]


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Gillian Merron: Figures for the amount of money spent on methadone programmes in South Sefton Primary Care Trust (PCT) are not collected centrally.

Drug treatment consists of packages of individualised care based on an assessment of an individual's need. Typically opioid substitution treatment with prescribed drugs like methadone and buprenorphine is only one of a number of components of effective treatment programme. This makes it difficult to isolate the cost of a single component, such as methadone prescribing.

The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) records the number of people receiving prescribed opioid substitute treatment (methadone or buprenorphine) from specialist services or their general practitioner (GP), but not which drug they are being prescribed. Figures for the Sefton drugs partnership area are shown in the following table:

Number

2005-06

985

2006-07

1,130

2007-08

1,156

2008-09

1,234

Notes:
1. Data for years before 2005-06 were not broken down to local areas and are therefore unavailable.
2. Figures combine numbers receiving prescribed opioid substitute treatment from specialist community services or GPs.
3. NDTMS does not record which drug is prescribed (methadone or buprenorphine).
4. Figures for South Sefton PCT are not collected centrally by the NDTMS.
Source:
National Treatment Agency

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Health Services: Dance

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the dance classes offered under his Department's Change for Life programme. [322238]

Gillian Merron: Free dance classes were offered on 6 and 7 March 2010 as part of the Let's Dance with Change4Life promotion. The Fitness Industry Association provided at no cost to the public purse the dance classes which had an equivalent value of £1.2 million. The Department spent £650,000 on publicising the classes and digital expenses related to the Let's Dance with Change4Life website.

Health Services: Greater London

Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on the number of patients who used accident and emergency services in London North West district in each of the last five years. [322443]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Information is not held in the format requested. Information is available on the number of attendances at accident and emergency (A and E) departments for individual national health service trusts.

The NHS trusts in London north west with an A and E department in at least one of their sites are: Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust; North West London Hospitals NHS Trust; Ealing Hospital NHS Trust; Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust; and Chelsea and Westminster Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The information is shown in the following table.

Total attendances at A and E departments and minor injury units, NHS organisations in England, including activity at partner PCTs, 2004-05 to 2009-10 Quarter (Q) 3
Name 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Q1-Q3

London north-west combined

827,016

916,634

923,512

957,951

970,629

780,613

The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust

86,996

115,142

117,189

126,226

129,866

102,328

North West London Hospitals NHS Trust

197,679

210,882

204,407

224,375

239,886

214,364

Ealing Hospital NHS Trust

97,375

101,134

102,801

102,101

98,324

74,861

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

130,905

266,927

205,777

St Mary's NHS Trust

139,529

155,588

154,134

78,676

n/a

n/a

The Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust

108,882

112,644

110,011

56,150

n/a

n/a

West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust

90,019

107,373

118,558

123,768

119,011

98,754

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

106,536

113,872

116,413

115,752

116,616

84,528

Notes:
1. Independent sector-provided services were added in Quarter 1 2007-08. These data were collected retrospectively at the end of 2007-08. They were added to the QMAE from Q1 2008-09.
2. "n/a" = not applicable. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust was formed on 1 October 2007 from the merger of St Mary's NHS Trust and the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust. St Mary's NHS Trust and the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust activity in 2007-08 is in respect to Q1 and Q2, while Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is in respect of Q3 and Q4.
Source:
Department of Health dataset QMAE. Published. Revised 12 February 2010 in line with the Department's revision policy.

Hearing Aids

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the number of people for whom analogue hearing aids (a) are the preferred and (b) most appropriate type of aid; [322903]

(2) how many (a) analogue and (b) digital hearing aids the NHS has issued in (i) Ribble Valley, (ii) Lancashire and (iii) England in each of the last five years. [322905]

Phil Hope: NHS hearing aids are provided by qualified audiologists who undertake individual assessments. The
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assessment determines whether an individual requires a hearing aid and if so what type is suitable for their hearing loss. The Department does not collect central information on the types of analogue or digital hearing aids that have been dispensed or individuals' preferences.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what obligation (a) strategic health authorities and (b) primary care trusts have in respect of NHS guidance on the provision of three cycles of in-vitro fertilisation treatment to NHS patients; [322809]

(2) how many primary care trusts provide up to three cycles of in-vitro fertilisation treatment to NHS patients; [322810]

(3) how many strategic health authority regions provide three cycles of in-vitro fertilisation treatment to NHS patients. [322811]

Gillian Merron: A Department survey of primary care trusts (PCTs), in 2009, showed that 27 per cent. provided three cycles of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment to patients who fulfilled the criteria for funding, an increase from 5 per cent. in 2007. A further 23 per cent. of PCTs provided two cycles and 47 per cent. provided one cycle. Information on IVF provision at the level of strategic health authority (SHA) is not collected centrally.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence was commissioned by this Government to produce a clinical guideline on fertility. Published in 2004, the guideline recommended the provision of up to three cycles of IVF for eligible couples.

There is no obligation on either SHAs or PCTs to adopt the recommendations set out in the fertility guideline, but the Government have made clear that they expect national health service organisations to do so over time using available resources.

To support PCTs in this we have undertaken a programme of work, including the publication of a commissioning aid considering the barriers to the provision of IVF, dissemination of standardised access criteria prepared by patient group Infertility Network UK, and have held the first ever conference for commissioners of fertility treatments.


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