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29 Mar 2010 : Column 776W—continued
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has made a recent estimate of the cost per bed day of treating a patient with asthma in each London borough. [323740]
Ann Keen: The Department has made no such estimate.
Autism: Drugs
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures are in place to ensure that adults with autism or special needs in care homes are asked whether they wish their next of kin to be informed when a course of powerful drugs is prescribed for them. [324766]
Phil Hope: There are no procedures that apply uniquely to adults with autism or special needs.
Adults with autism or special needs should be assessed to determine whether they have the capacity to consent to treatment. Where a person has been assessed as having the capacity to consent to treatment, it is up to the patient to decide whether they wish to inform any family members or discuss the treatment with family members. It would be inappropriate for staff at a care home or for health professionals to discuss such matters with the family, as this would be a breach of confidentiality.
If a person does not have the capacity to understand and to decide whether to consent or not, then health professionals have to take a "Best Interests" decision. The process is described in the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) Code of Practice, and requires professionals to follow certain steps.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 places a duty on health professionals to consult other people close to a person who lacks capacity on decisions affecting the person. Under section 4(7) of the MCA, health professionals have a duty to take into account the views of anyone involved in caring for the person and anyone interested in their welfare (for example family carers, other close relatives.) as part of a "Best Interests" decision. Therefore, the family should be consulted where the treatment is being made under a "Best Interests" decision because the person lacks capacity.
Blood: Contamination
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2010, Official Report, column 562W, on blood: contamination, what discussions he had with Lord Archer of Sandwell before publishing his estimate that the cost to the public purse of implementing the recommendations of Lord Archer's report on contaminated blood and blood products could be between £3 billion and £3.5 billion; and if he will provide a detailed breakdown of that figure. [324845]
Gillian Merron: The then Secretary of State for Health (Alan Johnson) and the then Minister of State (Dawn Primarolo) met Lord Archer on 11 March 2009 to discuss his report. There has been no discussion with Lord Archer of the cost of implementing his recommendations on financial relief to those affected by NHS-supplied contaminated blood and blood products.
Our initial estimate of £3-3.5 billion was based on an understanding that individual payments made in Ireland to infected patients ranged between £500,000 and £1,000,000, and was derived by multiplying the average of those figures by the estimated number of infected claimants in the UK. It did not take account of payments to dependents of those infected.
It is not possible to calculate an accurate figure for the cost of implementing Lord Archer's report because the Irish scheme uses a series of eligibility criteria which means that different claimants have received different amounts of compensation, depending on their circumstances. Therefore, unless each UK claimant is assessed individually against the same criteria, it would be impossible to give an accurate figure. It is also not possible to estimate with any certainty how many people in the UK might be eligible to apply.
Cancer
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on the (a) gender, (b) age, (c) postcode, (d) ethnicity and (e) sexual orientation of cancer patients undergoing treatment. [323690]
Ann Keen: Cancer registries hold information on age, gender, postcode and ethnicity. Coverage of age, gender, and postcode is 100 per cent. Coverage of ethnicity is around 75 per cent. The National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) has already published a number of reports relevant to inequalities, including those on ethnicity, gender, age and deprivation.
The NCIN will continue to work with cancer services to support improved recording of ethnicity. No data are currently held on sexual orientation. However, the NCIN will continue to collect and analyse data which will further develop the evidence base on equality issues.
The National Cancer Equality Initiative report on "Reducing cancer inequality: evidence, progress and making it happen" was published on 19 March. Annex 1 of the report includes a summary of the evidence base on inequalities in cancer in England according to deprivation, age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and religion.
The report is available on the Department's website at:
A copy of this report has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey to be conducted; and if he will make a statement. [323691]
Ann Keen: We have appointed an expert supplier to conduct the survey. We expect the survey to commence in spring 2010 with national and trust level reports due in autumn 2010.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to extend the Cancer National Awareness and Early Diagnosis programme to include all cancer (a) networks and (b) types. [323717]
Ann Keen: Through the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative we have allocated over £6 million to the national health service to implement services that will improve awareness of cancers and promote early diagnosis.
We recently announced that a further £8 million in 2010-11 will be available nationally to support primary care trusts (PCTs), building on progress achieved in 2009-10. This funding will help to accelerate and sustain work in this area and focus on the biggest cancer killers-breast, lung and bowel. PCTs are being encouraged to develop community based initiatives.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to publish one-year survival figures for cancer by primary care trust for (a) 2006, (b) 2007 and (c) 2008. [323917]
Ann Keen: The "Cancer Reform Strategy: Achieving local implementation-second annual report" published on 1 December 2009 includes one-year survival figures for breast, colorectal and lung cancer, by primary care trust (PCT). A copy has been placed in the Library. 2006 was the latest period for which PCT survival data were available.
The National Cancer Intelligence Network will produce annual primary care trust updates on one-year survival. 2007 data will be published in the 2010 "Cancer Reform Strategy" annual report.
Cancer: Greater London
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients aged (a) under and (b) over 75 years were diagnosed with (i) cancer and (ii) heart disease in each London primary care trust in each of the last five years; what proportion of those patients commenced treatment within (A) three, (B) six and (C) 12 months; and what proportion of those patients commenced treatment more than 12 months after diagnosis. [323825]
Ann Keen: The data requested for the number diagnosed with cancer are displayed in the following tables. Data on the number of patients diagnosed with heart disease are not collected centrally. Data on the date within which treatment commenced are not collected in the format requested.
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