Foetal Alcohol Syndrome
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps the Government are taking to ensure that doctors are trained to diagnose and treat foetal alcohol spectrum disorder; [102700]
(2) if he will take steps to encourage all medical colleges to include foetal alcohol spectrum disorder education in their curriculum. [102703]
Anne Milton: Although there is a broad consensus on the problems of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, there is not yet full international agreement on exact diagnostic criteria for all the categories currently described. However, general practitioners are expected by the General Medical Council to participate in continuing professional development activities to ensure they remain up-to-date in their practice.
In 2006, the Department announced funding to develop the curriculum for all new United Kingdom doctors in relation to substance misuse. Further funding support was provided in 2008 to assist in implementation of this agreed curriculum in English medical schools. This will help ensure that by 2018, around 600,000 doctors will have been trained to be able to recognise, assess and understand the management of alcohol use and its
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associated health and social problems, and so that in the future doctors can better advise women on the effects of substance use including alcohol, and the impact on foetal and maternal health.
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what education programmes for teenagers the Government have put in place on (a) avoiding alcohol in pregnancy and (b) children with alcohol-related brain damage to prevent foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. [102701]
Anne Milton: All schools must have a sex and relationship education policy. Topics that are covered in the programme, such as avoiding alcohol in pregnancy, are based on helping young people make sensible and informed decisions.
The Government continue to support high quality personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education as a means of ensuring that all children and young people learn how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The Department for Education (DfE) is currently considering responses to its review of PSHE education and will consult on its proposals later this year.
Advice on drinking in pregnancy and possible harmful foetal effects is currently incorporated in departmental public health materials.
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that GPs make referrals for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder diagnosis. [102702]
Anne Milton: The Department has provided funding to develop the curriculum for all new United Kingdom doctors in relation to substance misuse. This will help ensure newly qualified general practitioners are trained to be able to recognise, assess and understand the management of alcohol use and its associated health and social problems.
Although there is a broad consensus on the problems of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, there is not yet full international agreement on exact diagnostic criteria for all the categories currently described. However, general practitioners are expected by the General Medical Council to participate in continuing professional development activities to ensure they remain up-to-date in their practice.
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what programmes he has in place to prevent women giving birth to children with alcohol-related brain damage. [102704]
Anne Milton: Advice on drinking in pregnancy and possible harmful foetal effects is currently incorporated in the Department's public health materials. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) 2007 guideline also includes recommendations for doctors and midwives on the advice they should give to pregnant women about drinking alcohol.
There are programmes in place for supporting appropriate training and continuing professional development of health care staff, including for medical undergraduate training.
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Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to inform the public about drinking in pregnancy and Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in the last year; and what plans he has for such a campaign in the next 12 months. [103008]
Anne Milton: The Change4Life campaign, launched in February, focuses on the health harms from drinking above the lower-risk guidelines.
The Department's Start4Life campaign is being broadened to incorporate maternal health and will include specific messaging on reducing alcohol consumption.
The Department is also working to make digital advice and information for parents starting from early in pregnancy more accessible and relevant to the stage of pregnancy and age and development of their child.
Folic Acid
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the fortification of foodstuffs with folic acid; and if he will make a statement. [102763]
Anne Milton: The Department of Health currently advises all women who are planning a pregnancy to take a daily supplement containing 400 micrograms of folic acid before conception and until the 12th week of pregnancy, as well as to increase their consumption of folate rich foods, to reduce the risk of a neural tube defect (NTD)-affected pregnancy.
The Department promotes the importance of taking folic acid supplements for women of childbearing age and folate-rich foods in all relevant mainstream communications, such as the Pregnancy Book and the NHS Choices website, as well as a specific leaflet entitled “Folic acid: An essential ingredient for making healthy babies”.
Fortification of foodstuffs with folic acid is a complicated issue, with a balance of benefits as well as potential risks. The Department was advised by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and the Food Standards Agency Board in 2007 on fortification options as a measure to reduce the risk of pregnancies being affected by NTDs. Additional advice on folic acid and cancer risk was requested by the then chief medical officer and provided by SACN in 2009.
The papers underpinning the advice from SACN have not yet all been peer reviewed and published in a scientific journal. Ministers would like to see all information in the public domain before making any decision and will then make a decision.
Food: Safety
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will take steps to ensure that food ingredients accepted as safe for use in the UK are not prohibited under the provisions of the Addition of Nutrients to Food Regulation unless a prima facie case has been made that the ingredient is unsafe and demonstrably used in food within the EU; [102772]
(2) what assessment he has made of the adequacy of procedures adopted by the EU under the provisions of the Addition of Nutrients to Food Regulation for the
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addition of substances to lists of
(a)
banned substances and
(b)
under scrutiny substances in preventing member states from securing the prohibition of the use of food ingredients that are accepted as safe for use in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [102773]
Anne Milton: Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 provides for a procedure to prohibit, restrict or place under Community scrutiny, a substance other than vitamins or minerals, added to foods for a nutritional or physiological effect, if a potential risk has been identified.
A European Commission regulation establishing implementing rules for the application of the article 8 procedure, was agreed at the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health meeting on 5 December 2011 by a qualified majority of member states. The regulation is currently under scrutiny by the European Parliament, and is expected to be published later this year.
The European Commission may only restrict or prohibit the use of a substance following a risk assessment by the European Food Safety Authority and agreement by member states. United Kingdom officials will be involved in the decision-making process and, if substances are placed under scrutiny, there are several consultation steps which will enable member states and any interested party to submit evidence on the safety of the substance. The procedure is as yet untested, but it will be monitored once it is adopted and implemented into European law.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a list of the foods that contain high levels of naturally occurring anti-angiogenic chemicals. [102916]
Anne Milton: The Department does not hold data on foods that are considered to be high in anti-angiogenic chemicals, therefore currently we are unable to publish this information. This information is not captured by our work on nutrient composition of foods because anti-angiogenic chemicals are not classed as nutrients.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the use of foods that contain high levels of naturally occurring anti-angiogenic chemicals in prevention of (a) cancer and (b) obesity. [102917]
Anne Milton: The Department is aware that it has been suggested that certain components in food, such as anti-angiogenic chemicals, may prevent cancer and the accumulation of fat cells. Research in this area has been conducted in laboratory experiments in test tubes rather than in people, so we cannot be certain whether the same effects would be replicated in the body. The causes of cancer are multifactorial and no single food can prevent the condition from occurring. To reduce the risk of developing cancer the best advice continues to be not to smoke or drink too much alcohol, to keep to a healthy weight and eat a healthy balanced diet. Weight gain occurs when more calories are consumed than the body needs, and it is unlikely that consumption of foods high in anti-angiochemicals alone would prevent weight gain without reducing energy intake and increasing physical activity.
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General Practitioners: Working Hours
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure all patients who need it have access to an out of hours GP service; and if he will make a statement. [103123]
Mr Simon Burns: Primary care trusts have a legal responsibility to ensure they provide, or secure provision of a high quality, sustainable out of hours service for their local population.
Genito-urinary Medicine
Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress his Department has made on developing its sexual health policy document; and when he expects it to be published. [102986]
Anne Milton: The Department is preparing a sexual health policy document and plans to publish the document later this year.
Health Services: Staffordshire
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what personal medical service allocation was provided to North Staffordshire in the last five years; what his policy is on allocation of resources to areas of high health inequalities; and if he will make a statement. [102592]
Mr Simon Burns: Funding for personal medical services is currently included within the revenue allocations made to primary care trusts (PCTs). These allocations are not broken down by service or policy area. PCTs commission the services they need locally to meet the specific health care needs of their local populations.
Tackling health inequalities is a Government priority and we are committed to tackling the differences in access to, and outcomes of, national health service treatment; addressing the wider, social causes of ill health and early death; and improving individual healthy lifestyles.
From 2013-14, the NHS Commissioning Board will be responsible for commissioning family health services including all primary medical services. The board will have a duty to have regard to reducing inequalities in access to, and the outcomes from health care.
Also, from 2013-14, the Department will allocate a ring-fenced public health grant to local authorities, based on relative population health. We are developing a new Health Premium incentive that will reward communities for the improvements in health outcomes they achieve and incentivise action to reduce health inequalities. Disadvantaged areas will see a greater incentive if they make progress, recognising that they face the greatest challenges.
Health Visitors
Mr Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health visitors there were in (a) St Helens South and Whiston constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) England in each of the last five years. [103092]
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Anne Milton: Information relating to the number of health visitors in St Helens South and Whiston constituency and Merseyside is not collected by the Department.
The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent health visitors in England over the last five years.
| Full-time equivalent health visitors in England as at 30 September each year | |
| Number | |
| Source: NHS Information Centre for health and social care. | |
This decrease is in line with expectations and a gradual decline in numbers is expected until autumn 2012. From this date, the results of the recruitment drive will start to be seen as the 2011-12 cohort of health visiting trainees, which is three times larger than the 2010-11 cohort, begins to enter the work force.
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Hospitals: Admissions
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients spent a night in hospital but not in a (a) hospital bed and (b) ward in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) the latest period for which figures are available in 2012. [101793]
Mr Simon Burns: The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to approach individual national health service bodies to confirm whether this information is collected locally.
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the five most common causes of admission to hospital were for (a) children and (b) adults in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) the latest period for which figures are available in 2012. [101794]
Mr Simon Burns: The information available is shown in the following table:
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in each age category were readmitted to hospital within three days of being discharged in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) the latest period for which figures are available in 2012. [101826]
Mr Simon Burns: The information requested would require a special analysis of the available data in the Hospital Episodes Statistics dataset and could not be prepared at proportionate cost. Some limited information for years up to 2006-07 was published in a Department of Health paper, ‘Emergency readmission rates: further analysis’, in October 2008 and a copy has already been placed in the Library.
Hospitals: Food
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to assess patient satisfaction with hospital meals in the latest period for which figures are available. [102435]
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Mr Simon Burns: Patient experience must be a key arbiter of all national health service services. The Operating Framework for the NHS in England makes it clear that NHS organisations must ensure there are systems in place to capture the views and experience of patients. This can include acting on complaints, patient comments and local or national surveys.
National patient surveys, co-ordinated by the Care Quality Commission, collect feedback on the experiences of people using a range of health services supplied by the NHS including hospital food. The most recently published adult in-patient survey (published April 2011) asked patients how they would rate the hospital food. Survey results showed that 57% rated the food as being ‘very good’ or ‘good’, an improvement on the previous year's figures of 55%.
Since 2000, the quality of hospital food provision has also been measured via the Patient Environment Action Team Inspections programme. This is being replaced from April 2013 by a programme of patient-led hospital inspections that will also include similar assessments.
The importance of good quality food for patients is recognised both in terms of improving their health and in relation to their overall experience of services.
Hospitals: Infectious Diseases
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to combat superbug infections in hospitals. [102139]
Mr Simon Burns:
The Government have set a zero tolerance approach to all avoidable health care associated infections. “The Operating Framework for the NHS in
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England 2012-13” (published 24 November 2011) reinforces our approach, and sets new objectives to drive further improvements in Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream and Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infections.
The objectives seek to achieve a further 29% reduction in MRSA bloodstream infections and a further 18% in C. difficile infections by April 2013, compared to the October 2010 to September 2011 baseline period. Those organisations with the highest rates of these infections will be required to make the largest reductions in 2012-13 with the aim to raise standards across the national health service for all patients in England.
Mandatory surveillance was extended in January 2011 to Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) bloodstream infections and in June 2011 to E. coli bloodstream infections.
Intensive Care: Greater London
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many intensive care beds are available at each London acute hospital; and what recent estimate he has made of their rate of occupancy. [102235]
Mr Simon Burns: The assessment of critical care capacity is a matter for the local national health service. The most recent data on critical care bed capacity were published by the Department on 23 March 2012. The data for London are shown in the following table and can also be accessed at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/Performancedataandstatistics/EmergencyActivityandCriticalCareCapacity/index.htm
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Internet
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of maintaining his Department's website was in each of the last two years. [102440]
Mr Simon Burns: The cost of maintaining the Department's website for the last two years was:
2010-11: £730,662.26 (excluding VAT)
2011-12: £928,125.16 (excluding VAT).
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) page hits and (b) visitors his Department's website received in the last two years. [102498]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department's website received:
14,655,544 visits
49,630,241 page views
14,736,705 visits
46,380,100 page views
Leukodystrophies
Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make it his policy to make a test for leukodystrophies a part of standard perinatal procedure; and if he will make a statement; [102968]
(2) what steps he is taking to promote the early diagnosis of Adrenoleukodystrophy. [102969]
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Mr Simon Burns: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the national health service in all four countries about all aspects of screening. The UK NSC has not considered either antenatal or newborn screening for leukodystrophies because of the lack of peer reviewed evidence relating to the test and treatment.
The UK NSC regularly reviews policy on screening for different conditions in the light of new research evidence becoming available. Where stakeholder organisations or individuals feel that there is enough evidence published in peer reviewed journals to consider screening for a condition they can submit a policy proposal to the UK NSC.
Early diagnosis is important for any rare genetic condition including Adrenoleukodystrophy. NHS genetics services are among the best in the world and the Government continue to support the development and adoption of genomic technology in health care. In January 2012, the Human Genomics Strategy Group published their report ‘Building on our inheritance: Genomic technology in healthcare’. The report recommended a plan of action to ensure that the United Kingdom maintains its lead in this area. Government have welcomed this report and the Department of Health is working with its partners to develop a shared strategic framework to implement its recommendations.
Departmental Staff
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many officials of his Department are in its redeployment pool. [102188]
Mr Simon Burns: There are a total of 37 departmental officials in the redeployment pool, as at 27 March 2012. As the Department is going through a period of change and restructuring, it is expected that this number will rise. However, we are not able to accurately predict future numbers of staff who will be in the redeployment pool, as this is affected by external factors such as staff securing new roles as part of the Department's restructuring which is currently under way or by transferring to a new body.
McKinsey and Company
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what outstanding contracts his Department has with McKinsey and Company. [102603]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department's central procurement system (for core Department of Health and Connecting for Health) shows no record of open contracts with McKinsey and Company on 26 March 2012.
Medical Treatments: Cortisone
Gordon Birtwistle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the value for money of (a) hospitals and (b) GPs giving cortisone injections. [102317]
Mr Simon Burns:
Cortisone injections are used in the treatment of acute hypersensitivity reactions, rheumatic diseases, and soft tissue inflammations. Depending on the indication it may be appropriate for the injections to
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be given by either a general practitioner or a hospital specialist. No assessment has been made of the cost-effectiveness of either approach.
Medicine: Education
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with interested organisations on the effect of the provisions of the Higher Education Regulations (Basic Amount) (England) 2010 and the Higher Education Regulations (Higher Amount) (England) 2010 on the arrangements for tuition fee funding and the NHS Bursary scheme for medical degrees from academic year 2013-14; and if he will make a statement. [101809]
Anne Milton: As part of the discussion on the interim solution for the funding of students beginning a medical course in 2012-13, the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), and the Minister for Universities and Science, my right hon. Friend the Member for Havant (Mr Willetts), asked their departmental officials to take forward joint work to agree the funding arrangements for 2013-14. This work is continuing and we plan to be at a stage where we can discuss proposals with stakeholder organisations shortly and in advance of an announcement.
Mental Health Services
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the cost saving to the Exchequer resulting from the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme; [102769]
(2) how many (a) patients were treated and (b) therapists were trained under the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme in each quarter of the last four years. [102770]
Paul Burstow: The impact assessment on the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme that was carried out in February 2011 estimated that over the four-year period of the spending review from April 2011 to March 2015 the IAPT programme will create net savings to the national health service of £272 million and a total saving of £302 million to the public purse. This figure does not include the cost and benefits of the development of IAPT services for children and young people, people with long-term physical health conditions, people with medically unexplained symptoms and people with serious mental illness which have yet to be quantified.
The following table gives the number of people who have entered treatment since the IAPT programme started in October 2008. The figures for Quarter 4 2011-12 will be published on the NHS Information Centre website in June 2012.
| People entering treatment | |
| Number | |
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The numbers of therapists that have successfully completed training in the first three academic years of the programme are as follows: 871 in 2008-09, 1,530 in 2009-10, and 822 in 2010-11; a total of 3,223. In the current academic year an additional 496 trainees have started IAPT training courses (January 2012) and more will be starting later in the academic year.
Mental Health Services: Sexual Offences
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sexual assaults took place in NHS mental health facilities in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) the latest period for which figures are available in 2012. [101796]
Paul Burstow: The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) receives reports of sexual incidents from mental health hospitals. They received 893 reports in 2010 and 994 in 2011, which is also the latest available figure. This information is used to inform the need for staff training in sexual safety on mental health wards. The NPSA does not investigate or validate these reports; this is the responsibility of the hospital which should investigate them and call in the police if it appears that a sexual assault has taken place.
Mental Health Services: Waiting Lists
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the (a) average and (b) longest waiting times for outpatient psychiatric care in each NHS trust in the latest period for which figures are available. [102684]
Paul Burstow: This exact information requested is not held centrally.
However, the Health and Social Care Information Centre is able to provide the mean and median length of time waited (in days) for first outpatient psychiatric care attendances in 2010-11 for each provider trust. The mean is the average length of wait and the median represents the middle value if all the values were placed in ascending order. Neither of these calculations take account of waits recorded as zero. This information has been placed in the Library.
The overall breakdown of time waited for first outpatient psychiatric care attendances in 2010-11 for each provider trust, by standard time waited groupings, has also been
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provided. This gives the number of patients waiting over 18 months at each provider. However, it is not possible to provide reliable data about the longest waiting times as data quality issues can lead to unreliable estimates.
These data only give information on consultant-led outpatient activity, and do not include activity carried out by other members of a multi-disciplinary team. The footnotes should be referred to when interpreting these tables.
Mental Illness: Prisoners
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners diagnosed with serious mental illnesses in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) the latest period for which figures are available in 2012; and if he will make a statement. [101789]
Paul Burstow: The Department does not routinely collect information about the numbers of prisoners with serious mental illness.
The 1997 Office for National Statistics survey of the psychiatric morbidity of offenders showed that 90% of offenders had a psychiatric problem and that 7% of male sentenced offenders, 10% of males on remand and 14% of female offenders had functional psychosis.
As part of its work to develop liaison and diversion services, the Department is considering how best to establish a new baseline of psychiatric morbidity in prisoners and the wider offender group and expects to commission a research study later this year.
Midwives
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he holds on the number of registered midwives who were not practising in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) the latest period for which figures are available in 2012; and if he will make a statement. [101786]
Anne Milton: The Higher Education Statistics Agency is the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about higher education.
The following table shows the percentage of midwifery graduates who have not started work as midwives in the national health service within six months of graduation in each year. These are the latest figures available.
| Percentage not working as midwives | Percentage working as midwives | |
| Notes: 1. Numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of five, so components may not sum to totals. 2. Percentages are based on unrounded figures and are given to one decimal place. Subject information is shown as full person equivalents (FPEs) in the table. FPEs are derived by splitting student instances between the different subjects that make up their course aim. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency, Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey. | ||
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Multiple Sclerosis
Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the quality of NHS data on prevalence of and mortality from multiple sclerosis. [102447]
Paul Burstow: We have made no recent assessment of the prevalence of, and mortality from, multiple sclerosis.
Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the recording of multiple sclerosis on death certificates. [102448]
Paul Burstow: Doctors are required under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 to complete the medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) “to the best of their knowledge and belief”. Internationally accepted guidance from the World Health Organisation requires only those conditions that contributed directly to the death to be recorded on the death certificate, and whether a condition contributed is a matter for their clinical judgement.
Books of MCCDs have short notes at the front on how to complete the MCCD and when to refer deaths to the coroner. Additional guidance for doctors has been produced and it is available to download from the General Register Office website at:
www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/medcert/index.asp
Neurology: East Midlands
Nicky Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the progress by NHS East Midlands Specialised Commissioning Group in developing neuromuscular services in the east midlands. [102390]
Mr Simon Burns: The provision of neuromuscular services is a matter for the local national health service. The East Midlands Specialised Commissioning Group has created a neuromuscular network that includes clinicians, patients, patient groups and commissioners, with the aim of improving services for patients in the region.
NHS Foundation Trusts
Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to bring forward regulations under section 56 of the National Health Service Act 2006 relating to consultation by NHS foundation trusts seeking to merge. [102938]
Mr Simon Burns: The Health and Social Care Act 2012 removes section 56(7) of the National Health Service Act 2006 which required the Secretary of State for Health to bring forward regulations relating to consultation by NHS foundation trusts seeking to merge.
The new Act amends section 242 of the NHS Act 2006 to place a duty of public involvement on foundation trusts in relation to matters such as planning of service provision, proposals for changes in the way services are provided, and decisions affecting the operation of services.
Foundation trust mergers would be caught by the public involvement duties set out in section 242 of the 2006 Act as amended by the new Act. This duty of public involvement includes foundation trust mergers.
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The Department will also be consulting on regulations concerning local authority health scrutiny functions including the matters on which relevant NHS bodies and relevant health service providers, must consult local authority scrutiny functions. It is intended that relevant NHS bodies would include foundation trusts.
NHS: Innovation
Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the potential benefits for medical technologies experiencing difficulties in gaining access to the NHS market of the Specialised Commissioning Innovation Fund in the 2012-13 financial year; [102365]
(2) what types of innovation will be covered by the Specialised Commissioning Innovation Fund. [102366]
Mr Simon Burns: ‘Innovation Health and Wealth: accelerating adoption and diffusion in the NHS’ was published on 5 December 2011, which recommended establishing a Specialised Services Commissioning Innovation Fund.
Development of the scope of the Specialised Services Commissioning Innovation Fund is under way. This work will develop appropriate criteria for what will be covered, which we expect will include all specialised services innovations including medical technologies, diagnostics, devices, medicines and service design.
The detailed operating arrangements will be tested later this year, ahead of the Specialised Services Commissioning Innovation Fund being fully operational from 1 April 2013.
NHS: Procurement
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to create a public register of contracts to provide services to the NHS that are not subject to commercial confidentiality; and if he will make a statement. [103045]
Mr Simon Burns: Government contracts worth more than £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts Finder also holds live opportunities with central Government Departments including their agencies, non-departmental public bodies, national health service bodies and local authorities, prime contractors to Government Departments as well as the wider public sector.
Contracts Finder can be accessed at:
www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk
NHS: Redundancy
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many former NHS trusts or parts of trusts which have been transferred to new social enterprise companies have made their former NHS staff redundant; and how many redundancies have been made for the latest year for which records are available. [102524]
Paul Burstow: The Right to Request scheme to establish social enterprises only applied to staff working for primary care trusts, not national health service trusts. No staff would have transferred from NHS trusts under this scheme.
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Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many employees of (a) primary care trusts and (b) strategic health authorities who have accepted redundancy or job termination arrangements have been (i) reappointed to work elsewhere in the NHS and (ii) employed to work for national agencies which provide services to the NHS or his Department. [102525]
Mr Simon Burns: Information on the number of national health service employees who have received a redundancy payment or an exit package who have then gone on to work in another NHS role or national agency that provide services to the NHS or the Department is not collected centrally.
NHS: Training
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the cost of the NHS bursary scheme in each of the financial years from 2012-13 to 2015-16; and if he will make a statement. [102444]
Anne Milton: The budget for national health service student support funds both NHS bursaries and a contribution to student loans. In 2012-13 an estimated £486 million of this budget will be spent on NHS bursaries and allowances. This is based on an analysis of the 2011-12 outturn and expected student numbers in 2012-13. The level of funding for student loans has not yet been agreed.
Estimates of the cost of the NHS bursary scheme in each year beyond 2012-13 will be made as part of the settlement of the annual budget in each of those years and the budget will change depending on the number of students and the package of support available to each student.
Nurses: Pensions
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons frontline nursing staff are to be exempt from the provisions made for uniformed services regarding normal pension age under the new public sector pension proposals. [103173]
Mr Simon Burns: Lord Hutton of Furness's final report of the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission applied to the uniformed services which comprised of armed forces, police and firefighters.
Since 1 April 2008, all new entrants to the NHS Pension Scheme have a pension age of 65. This is the same for all frontline national health service staff, including nurses.
Special Class Status whereby nurses and mental health officers have the right to retire on an unreduced pension at 55, in view of the arduous nature of the work, was withdrawn for new members from 6 March 1995. Advances in safe handling and other working practices made nursing less physically arduous than it had been in the first half of the 20th century.
A tripartite review has been agreed between the Department, the NHS trade unions and NHS Employers to address the impact of working longer in the NHS.
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Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the potential impact on health and safety for nursing staff of the proposed increase to the normal pension age to 68 years for nursing staff; [103174]
(2) what assessment he has made of the potential impact on patient care of the proposed increase to the normal pension age to 68 years for nursing staff; [103175]
(3) what assessment he has made of the potential impact on future recruitment and retention in the nursing profession as a result of the proposed increase to the normal pension age to 68 years for nursing staff. [103176]
Mr Simon Burns: The decision to link state pension age and normal pension made for public service pension scheme members, was made by the Government in response to the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission led by Lord Hutton of Furness.
A tripartite review, included in the proposed final Agreement on reforms to the NHS Pensions Scheme for England and Wales, has been agreed between the Department, NHS Employers and the NHS trade unions to address the impact of working longer in the national health service. This is in particular reference to the staff working in frontline and physically demanding roles. A review group is in the process of being established and the terms of reference have been agreed.
The objectives of the group include determining the impact on the delivery of health care to patients if the NHS workforce works until the state pension age. The review will also assess the impact of working longer on the NHS workforce as well as identifying strategies to support the extension of working lives.
Nurses: Standards
Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that nursing care is delivered to the highest possible standards in England. [102537]
Anne Milton: At the heart of the health care reforms is a focus on improving the quality and outcomes of health care for patients. One of the NHS Commissioning Board's roles will be to provide national leadership in driving up the quality of care. The board, along with clinical commissioning groups, will have a legal duty to secure continuous improvement in the quality of services and outcomes. The Chief Nursing Officer will have a specific remit to improve the safety and people's experience of nursing care.
On 6 January 2012 the Prime Minister announced a series of measures to improve the quality of nursing care and free up nurses to provide the care patients and their relatives expect. These include setting up a new independent Nursing and Care Quality Forum, tasked with ensuring that best nursing practice is spread throughout the national health service and social care.
Older People: Loneliness
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what engagement his Department had with WRVS at the recent Loneliness summit; [103115]
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(2) what steps his Department is taking to reduce loneliness among the elderly. [103148]
Paul Burstow: On 15 March 2012, the Department co-hosted a loneliness summit with the Campaign to End Loneliness (CEL). The event saw charities, businesses, hon. Members and public sector organisations come together to start a conversation about loneliness and isolation in older age and how it could best be tackled. CEL has also been commissioned by the Department to produce a digital toolkit for health and social care commissioners to combat loneliness and isolation.
The CEL is a coalition of five partner organisations: Age UK Oxfordshire, Independent Age, Manchester city council, Sense and WRVS, all of whom played an active role at the summit. During the summit, representatives from all of the partner organisations (including WRVS) had the opportunity to engage with the Department. The chief executive of WRVS spoke at the event and answered questions as part of a panel with other speakers.
Organs: Donors
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have registered to be organ donors in each of the last five years. [102202]
Anne Milton: The information requested is provided in the following table.
| Number on the organ donor register (ODR), by year 2007 to 2011 | |
| Number on ODR | |
| Source: NHS Blood and Transplant | |
Palliative Care
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what initiatives his Department is taking to enhance palliative care. [102117]
Paul Burstow: The Government remain committed to improving choice and quality in end of life and palliative care and we continue to work to implement the Department's End of Life Care Strategy. Important initiatives we are taking include the national survey of bereaved relatives, the roll-out of electronic palliative care co-ordination systems, the work on palliative care funding, support for the national Dying Matters coalition, and implementation of the End of Life Care for Adults Quality Standard developed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
Parkinson’s Disease: Prescriptions
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on ending prescription charges for people diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease; and if he will make a statement. [103122]
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Paul Burstow: In the six-month period, 1 September 2011 to 29 February 2012, a search of the Department’s records indicates no relevant written representations were received on this matter.
Pay
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) bonuses and (b) incentives were paid to (i) consultants and (ii) contractors engaged by Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible in each of the last two years. [102384]
Mr Simon Burns: No bonuses or incentives have been paid to consultants or contractors engaged by the Department's Executive agency and non-departmental public bodies in each of the last two years.
Photographs
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on (a) ministerial photoshoots and (b) the production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last two years for which figures are available. [102496]
Mr Simon Burns: Ministers have always had official photographs, to be used, for example, in official publications. Since May 2010, the Department has spent £537.43 on official photographs of Ministers. Records of any expenditure on video footage involving Ministers is not held centrally.
Prescription Drugs
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 22 March 2012, Official Report, column 800W, on prescription drugs, what steps his Department has taken as a result of meetings held with national supply chain stakeholders on the supply of prescription drugs. [102374]
Mr Simon Burns: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stourbridge (Margot James) on 2 February 2012, Official Report, column 770W.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether he has asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to examine the efficacy of anti-angiogenesis in treating (a) cancer and (b) obesity; [102920]
(2) what assessment he has made of the use of anti-angiogenesis for the treatment of cancer. [102934]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department has made no assessment of the use of anti-angiogenesis for the treatment of cancer or obesity. Nor have we asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to produce guidance on this topic separately from the appraisal guidance it has published or has been asked to develop on individual drug treatments.
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Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans any increases to prescription charges in the next three years; and if he will consider providing exemptions for people living with long-term conditions such as HIV and multiple sclerosis. [103015]
Mr Simon Burns: The prescription charge in England is reviewed annually. In terms of extending the list of medical conditions qualifying for prescription charge exemption, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) on 4 May 2011, Official Report, columns 856-57W.
Procurement
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many contracts his Department had with (a) Capita and (b) Serco in the last 12 months. [103163]
Mr Simon Burns: The core Department's central procurement system holds information on the number of individual contracts awarded between 1 April 2011 and 27 March 2012 to Serco and the following Capita companies which is set out in the following table.
| Company | Number of individual contracts |
| (1) The Department has signed up to the pan-government DWP CIPHER framework agreement for the provision of non-permanent workers by Capita Resourcing Ltd. | |
Connecting for Health have one contract with Capita for the provision of NHS Choices.
Prostate Cancer: Health Education
Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he next plans to run a national public information campaign on prostate cancer; and if he will make a statement. [102377]
Paul Burstow: Prostate cancer awareness activity is currently managed through the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme (PCRMP). Since 2002, the PCRMP has been in place to ensure that men over 50 without symptoms of prostate cancer can have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test free on the national health service after careful consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of PSA testing and after a discussion with a general practitioner (GP).
Although the PSA test is currently the best method of identifying an increased risk of localised prostate cancer, it is not perfect. Some men with prostate cancer do not have raised levels of PSA. Two-thirds of men with raised levels of PSA, depending on the cut off level used, do not have prostate cancer. Also, the PSA test cannot distinguish between men with slow-growing prostate cancer and those who have a more aggressive disease.
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In addition, we know that some GPs are still unaware of the programme and its objectives. That is why the Prostate Cancer Advisory Group has recently developed “Five Key Points Every GP Should Know About Prostate Cancer” which were published on the website of the Prostate Action charity at:
www.prostateaction.org.uk
in December 2011, with a link from NHS Choices at:
www.nhs.uk
The key points were also published in Prostate Action’s newsletter, which goes out to 4,000 GPs.
We know that more can be done to raise awareness of prostate cancer and the PCRMP. As set out in our Cancer Outcomes Strategy, published on 12 January 2011, the Prostate Cancer Advisory Group (PCAG) is currently exploring options for making the PCRMP information more accessible to men. The Department is supportive of the principles of the Prostate Cancer Charity’s “Testing Choices” campaign, and continues to work with the charity through PCAG, of which the charity has full membership.
Radiotherapy
Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2012, Official Report, columns 245-6W, on cancer: drugs, if he will reallocate the underspend on the Cancer Drug Fund to help increase access to radiotherapy treatment for cancer patients in those parts of England that the National Radiotherapy Dataset Report identified as lacking adequate radiotherapy treatment levels. [103119]
Paul Burstow: The Department is already investing in the expansion of radiotherapy treatments, underlining our broad-based commitment to the provision of comprehensive cancer treatments. “Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer” (January 2011) sets out our commitment to expand radiotherapy capacity by investing over £150 million in additional funding over four years up until 2014-15.
This will support increased utilisation of existing equipment, establish new services to increase capacity in some areas and ensure that all high priority patients with a need for proton beam therapy treatment get access to it abroad. It is for commissioners to use the “Radiotherapy Dataset (RTDS) Annual Report” (2011) to assess how their radiotherapy services compare with other centres and address variations in services to meet the health care needs of their local populations.
Retinoblastoma
Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve early diagnosis of retinoblastoma in children. [102995]
Paul Burstow:
Since 2005, “Improving outcomes for children and young people with cancer”, published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), has supported trusts in planning, commissioning and organising services for children and young people with cancer, including retinoblastoma. One of its recommendations is the establishment of support for
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professionals in primary and secondary care in the recognition and referral of suspected cancer in children and young people.
This guidance is complemented by “Referral for suspected cancer”, also published by the NICE in 2005, which sets out best practice advice on referral for suspected cancer in adults and children. The guidance covers a wide range of cancers, including retinoblastoma, and identifies key symptoms and evidence to consider when referring a patient for suspected cancer.
These sets of guidance are continuing to support the commissioning of quality services for children and young people with cancer in the reformed national health service.
During 2011, departmental officials met two charities for children and young people with cancer, with the aim of identifying some of the barriers to early diagnosis and to discuss potential solutions. This work has been fed into the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative and will inform future activity in this area.
Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent studies his Department has commissioned into retinoblastoma; and if he will make a statement. [102996]
Paul Burstow: The Department has not recently commissioned any research studies into retinoblastoma. The report of a systematic review funded by the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme of effectiveness of different treatments for childhood retinoblastoma was published in 2005. This can be found on the HTA website at:
www.hta.ac.uk/1410
The Department's National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including retinoblastoma. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the scientific quality of the proposals made.
Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the number of people diagnosed with retinoblastoma in (a) Medway Primary Care Trust, (b) West Kent Primary Care Trust, (c) Kent and (d) England in each of the last five years. [103036]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested fails within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the number of people diagnosed with retinoblastoma in(a) Medway Primary Care Trust, (b) West Kent Primary Care Trust, (c) Kent and (d) England in each of the last five years. [103036]
Table 1 as follows shows the number of newly diagnosed cases of retinoblastoma in Medway primary care trust, the county of Kent and England, for 2005 to 2009 (the latest year available). To protect confidentiality, it is not possible to provide figures for West Kent PCT due to the small number of cases registered.
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The latest published figures on the incidence of cancer in England are available on the National Statistics website at:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-27451
| Table 1. Number of newly diagnosed cases of retinoblastoma, England, Kent and Medway primary care trust, 2005-09 (1, 2, 3, 4) | ||||||
| Registrations (persons) | ||||||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | Total | |
| (1 )Retinoblastoma is coded as C69.2 in the International Classification of Diseases, tenth revision (ICD-10). (2) Figures are based on boundaries as of February 2012 and exclude non-residents. (3) Newly diagnosed cancers registered in each calendar year. (4) Numbers under three have been suppressed, so potentially identifiable data are not revealed. A cell which has been suppressed for disclosure control is denoted by ‘*’. Source: Office for National Statistics | ||||||
Ritalin
Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 6 June 2005, Official Report, column 439W, on Ritalin, how many prescriptions of methylphenidate hydrochloride have been dispensed in England in each year since 2004; and whether the estimated proportion of such prescriptions dispensed to children remains around 90 per cent. [101943]
Mr Simon Burns: Information on prescriptions of methylphenidate hydrochloride (including Ritalin) dispensed in the community in England from 2004 to 2010, the latest available year, is shown in the table.
| Number of prescription items dispensed | |
| Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system | |
The information in the answer of 6 June 2005, Official Report, column 439W, on the estimated proportion of such prescriptions dispensed to children, was derived from a sample of prescription forms used by the National Health Service Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) to inform the Department of the frequency of claims for exemption from prescription charges in each exemption category.
From December 2007, the NHSBSA changed its processes for pricing prescriptions and for capturing prescription charge exemption status and therefore cannot reliably estimate the proportion of prescriptions dispensed according to exemption categories relating to the age of the patient from this date.
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Royal Brompton Hospital
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department plans to hold a public consultation on the changes to the Royal Brompton Hospital's respiratory services; what recent representations he has received on this issue; and if he will make a statement. [102310]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not hold consultations on proposals for changes to local health services. These are locally led, as set out in the National Health Service Act 2006.
The Department received representations from my hon. Friend on this specific issue dated 12 March 2012, enclosing a letter from one of his constituents.
Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs Advisory Committee
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he expects the minutes of the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs meeting of 9 March 2012 to be published; [R] [102972]
(2) what the outcome was of the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs meeting at which the committee reviewed its recommendations on fresh frozen plasma made in 2009; and if he will make a statement; [R] [102973]
(3) if he will publish the Government’s response to any further recommendations by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs on fresh frozen plasma; and what timetable he has set for responding. [R] [102974]
Anne Milton: The Department expects to publish the minutes of the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) meeting of 9 March after they have been approved by the chair and members of the committee, this is expected by the end of April 2012.
At that meeting, SaBTO reviewed current assessment of the risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease transmission from blood components and recommended that there should be no extension of the importation of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) beyond those for whom it is currently used (those born since 1 January 1996 and high-usage adult patients).
There are no further recommendations from SaBTO on FFP expected at this time.
Sleep Apnoea
Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on the average referral to treatment time for a patient with obstructive sleep apnoea. [102708]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not collect referral to treatment time data at this level.
Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that GPs are aware of the warning signs of obstructive sleep apnoea and are screened for that condition using (a) the Epworth sleepiness test or (b) other recognised tests. [102709]
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Mr Simon Burns: The British Thoracic Society and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network published a clinical guideline on the management of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) in 2003 that sets out the common features of sleep apnoea and the use of the validated Epworth Sleepiness Scale as a validated method of assessing the likelihood of falling asleep in various situations. The guideline can be used by general practitioners in helping to recognise the signs and symptoms of OSA.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal for “Continuous positive airway pressure for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome”, recommended that:
“The diagnosis and treatment of Obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS), and the monitoring of the response, should be carried out by a specialist service with appropriately trained medical and support staff.”
The NICE technology appraisal document is available at:
www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/TA139Guidance.pdf
The National Clinical Directors for Respiratory Disease, Professor Sue Hill and Dr Robert Winter, are currently considering whether more can be done to ensure that the symptoms of OSA are identified and acted upon in primary care.
Smoking: Young People
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made in reducing the incidence of smoking among 11 to 15-year-olds in the last two years. [102437]
Anne Milton: Figures are not yet available to show what progress has been made in the last two years.
2010 figures for smoking prevalence among 11 to 15-year-olds can be found in the ‘Smoking, Drinking and Drugs Use Among Young People in England in 2010’. A copy has already been placed in the Library.
Figures for 2011 will be published later in the year.
Smoking: Motor Vehicles
Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) recent and (b) past estimates his Department has made of the number of parents who smoke in cars with children present. [102534]
Anne Milton: The Department has not made an estimate of the number of parents who smoke in cars with children present. However, of the children aged 11 to 15 surveyed in “Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2010”, 19% reported that they were often near people smoking in the car.
A copy of the survey report has already been placed in the Library.
Social Services
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the £648 million allocated for primary care trust (PCT) spending on social care was spent on (a) prevention services, (b) communicating equipment, (c) telecare, (d) crisis response services, (e) maintaining eligibility criteria, (f) re-ablement and (g) mental health by each PCT. [102713]
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Paul Burstow: The Department collected information on the use of the funding allocated to support social care services in September 2011. Data at primary care trust (PCT) level have been placed in the Library.
The returns from PCTs showed that they planned to transfer £642 million of the £648 million made available in 2011-12.
Following the survey, we followed up with the two PCTs which, at the time of the survey, had not yet agreed the majority of their transfer and sought assurances that plans were in place to reach an agreed position. We can now confirm that agreements have been made for the remaining £6 million to be transferred to local authorities.
Soft Drinks: Taurine
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the health effects on young people of levels of taurine in energy drinks. [102378]
Anne Milton: We are advised by the Food Standards Agency that taurine is a naturally occurring compound which is used as an ingredient in energy drinks. The safety-in-use of taurine was reviewed in 2009, when it was concluded that exposure to taurine at the levels used in energy drinks was not of safety concern.
At present there are no plans to assess the health effects of taurine. However, the safety-in-use of food additives and ingredients remains under review and should any new information become available this will be considered and action taken as appropriate.
Surgery: Negligence
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times foreign objects requiring surgical removal have been left inside patients following an operation in each of the last 10 years. [102438]
Mr Simon Burns: The information is not available in the format requested.
Some information is available regarding patient safety incidents involving the retention of a foreign object, which have been designated as “never events” since 2009-10. The definition of this “never event” does not necessarily mean the foreign object required surgical removal.
The number of incidents recorded in the National Patient Safety Agency's (NPSA) National Reporting and Learning Service (NRLS) classified as “never events” and falling under the category of retained instruments post-operation in England were as follows:
| Financial year | Number of “never events” recorded |
The definition of the “never event” changed in 2010-11 to include retained swabs, so the data for the two years are not directly comparable.
Prior to 2009-10, “never events” data were not collected but the NPSA are able to provide data by calendar year on retained instruments post-operation in England and Wales. This is given in the following table.
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| Patient safety incidents reported to the NRLS involving possible retained instruments by calendar year | |
| Calendar year | Number of incidents (1) |
| (1 )Includes retained swabs. Source: National Patient Safety Agency | |
There was no central reporting system in place prior to 2003 and no such patient safety incidents were reported in 2003 and 2004.
Telemedicine
Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will respond to the findings of the Whole Systems Demonstrator Project report on the costs per quality-adjusted life year of the Government's telemedicine programme. [102321]
Paul Burstow: The Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) is a very complex study comprising of over 6,000 people across three sites and independently evaluated by six leading academic institutions. Telehealth headline findings were published by the Department on 5 December and show reductions in hospital admissions and mortality can be achieved. There will be more detailed findings published following the. completion of the ongoing peer review process in the coming weeks and months.
At the recent Kings Fund International Congress on Telehealth and Telecare, the research team shared some of their findings on cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY). The high cost of telehealth at the start of the WSD study does have an affect on the cost of QALY results, but what is clear is that if the price point for the equipment is reduced then the cost per QALY will be significantly lower. That is the learning we have taken from WSD and is precisely the reason for the announcement of the 3 Million Lives initiative, which aims to improve understanding, reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.
Terminal Illnesses
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients with terminal illnesses elected to die at home in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [102578]
Paul Burstow: Health care is a devolved responsibility.
In England, the Government have confirmed their commitment to improving quality and choice in palliative and end of life care in the White Paper “Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS”. This includes ensuring that people have the choice to be cared for and die in their usual place of residence.
About 440,000 people die each year in England. Deaths in usual place of residence now stand at 41.3%, with around 23% at home and 18% in care homes(1). Progress since publication of the “End of Life Care Strategy” (2008) shows a slow decrease in the number of deaths in hospital and a slow increase in deaths at home and in care homes.
(1 )Office for National Statistics: based on figures from Quarter 3 in 2010-11 to Quarter 2 in 2011-12.
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Training
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many overseas training courses were attended by officials of his Department in the latest period for which figures are available; how many such officials attended each such course; and what the total cost to the public purse was of each such course. [102187]
Mr Simon Burns: Training provided to departmental staff is delivered primarily through short (half-day or one-day) training courses, taking place on departmental premises whenever possible. Only in exceptional cases do staff participate in training outside the United Kingdom. Since October 2010 two officials from the Department attended corporately funded training events overseas. In both cases these events formed part of our departmental Executive Talent Development Programme. The total cost incurred, including travel and accommodation, was £6,481.
Any training organised locally by teams is not recorded centrally. Extracting the necessary data from local sources would entail contacting approximately 200 teams and asking them to search for and retrieve the necessary information. To do so would incur disproportionate costs.