Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to page 54 of the Chief Medical Officer's 2011 annual report, if he will place in the Library the figures underpinning the statement that liver disease mortality is increasing in England at the time when the average of our closest counterparts, EU members that joined pre-2004 is decreasing; if he will update those figures to include the latest available data; and if he will make a statement. [197926]

Jane Ellison: All of the datasets supporting statements and images in the ‘Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer Volume One 2011, On the State of the Public’s Health’, may be downloaded by following the link at:

www.gov.uk/government/news/cmo-annual-report-2011-volume-one-data-available

The datasets are not available in a hard copy format from the Department. It is anticipated that the figures will be updated later in the financial year.

In our mandate to the national health service, we set out the ambition to make England one of the most successful countries in Europe at preventing premature deaths from illnesses such as liver disease.

Medical Records: Databases

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 43W, on medical records: databases, whether his Department plans any procurement in connection with care.data. [198271]

Dr Poulter: NHS England is currently planning to procure an agency to conduct research with the public and stakeholder groups to inform communications and engagement activity with those audiences for the care.data programme.

Should a contract be let which is in relation to, or in support of, care.data the procurement of those goods and/or services will be compliant with the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, as amended. Any procurement would be aligned with applicable government policies and shall ensure best practice is followed, including a robust evaluation of bidders against objective criteria.

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 355W, on medical records: databases, if he will bar Atos from having any involvement with care.data. [198272]

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Dr Poulter: The Public Contracts Regulations 2006, as amended, allow for suppliers to be classed as ineligible to bid for contracts in circumstances where the supplier or its representative has been convicted of criminal offences relating to conspiracy, corruption, bribery or fraud. Where this is not the case, suppliers must be treated equally and track record would be assessed in line with Government policy as part of any tendering process.

Mental Health Services

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 714, on physical and mental health (parity of esteem), if he will collect and publish mental health spending data for (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) future years. [198290]

Norman Lamb: NHS England currently collects and publishes information about mental health spending via its Programme Budgeting Data collection and published expenditure data for 2012-13 on 21 February 2014. This is available on its website at:

www.england.nhs.uk/resources/resources-for-ccgs/prog-budgeting

We are working with NHS England to support its plans to develop the Programme Budgeting Dataset for 2013-14 to provide a more meaningful analysis of expenditure on mental health conditions.

NHS: Insolvency

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2014, Official Report, column 461W, on NHS: insolvency, when he plans to place in the Library the minutes of the meeting on 2 April 2014. [198242]

Jane Ellison: We plan to place a final copy of the minutes of the meeting on 2 April in the Library in due course, once the terms of reference for the Committee have been finalised.

NHS: Obesity

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to tackle obesity in the NHS staff. [198166]

Jane Ellison: National health service organisations are encouraged to lead the way in supporting staff to address their own weight and health issues, in addition to helping patients do the same. NHS England has committed to supporting the NHS Sports and Activity Challenge which aims to support the importance of staff wellbeing, as well as the opportunities which it offers to deliver the very best care we can to patients, carers and the public more generally.

The Public Health Responsibility Deal health at work pledges include one on Healthier Staff Restaurants which makes it easier for people to choose and maintain a healthier diet while at work. Already 21 NHS trusts have signed up to the Healthier Staff Restaurants pledge.

Public Health England (PHE) has commissioned Liverpool city council and the Health and Work Centre to produce national standards to support local delivery

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of the Workplace Wellbeing Charter, which will be launched in the summer. Underpinning the new national standard is a series of workplace health topic guides. Among the first series of guides to be launched in the autumn are guides on improving healthy eating and increasing physical activity in the office.

Many NHS organisations are already taking part in the Workplace Wellbeing Charter schemes and accessing the weight management, physical activity and healthy eating support available locally.

PHE has also commissioned an e-learning module on obesity and weight management through the Royal College of General Practice and this will be launched in the summer.

PHE is working with the Department and NHS Employers to encourage NHS trusts to use the Government Food Buying Standards as a key component of their work to support obese staff by creating a healthier and supportive work environment.

Nurses: Recruitment

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of recent NHS pay policy on the ability of the NHS to recruit and retain nursing staff. [198270]

Dr Poulter: The aim of the Government’s pay policy is to fairly reward nurses and other staff while ensuring that pay is affordable and that front-line patient services are protected. Our assessment of this policy is that it has been effective in recruiting, retaining and motivating the nursing workforce. There are now more nurses than at any time under the previous Government.

Pancreatic Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will create a national audit of pancreatic cancer services. [197941]

Jane Ellison: There are currently no plans for an audit of pancreatic cancer services as part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme.

However, in response to a recommendation from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pancreatic Cancer, NHS England has recently asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop a Clinical Guideline and Quality Standard on pancreatic cancer. When completed, these could provide the standards against which a future national clinical audit could be developed.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that treatments proven to show benefit to pancreatic cancer patients will be made available on the NHS as quickly as possible. [197943]

Jane Ellison: It is important that patients are able to access those treatments proven to show benefit and that their clinicians think are right for them. In September 2013, NHS England launched a new £16.9 million Commissioning through Evaluation programme which will widen access to innovative treatments to patients where there are real prospects for benefit. Commissioning

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through Evaluation, which was originally developed with clinicians treating heart conditions, will enable treatments and service to be funded within defined parameters, in a small number of participating centres, and within an explicit evaluation programme. These treatments have all been identified by clinicians and patient representatives as showing significant ‘promise’ as potential treatment options for the future.

Through the Early Access to Medicines scheme, launched in March 2014, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will provide a scientific opinion on promising new, unlicensed or off-label medicines to treat, diagnose or prevent life threatening or seriously debilitating conditions which do not have adequate treatment options. The hope is that the scheme, which will operate within the current regulatory structure, could give patients with these conditions access much sooner to medicines that represent a significant advance in their area of unmet need.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued technology appraisal guidance which recommends gemcitabine (Gemzar) as an option for treating patients with advanced or metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas who meet certain clinical criteria. NICE is currently appraising a number of new drugs, including nimotuzumab (Theraloc), masitinib (Masiviera) and paclitaxel formulated as albumin-bound nanoparticles (Abraxane) for pancreatic cancer.

National health service commissioners are legally required to fund those treatments recommended by NICE in its technology appraisal guidance. Where a cancer drug is not routinely funded by the NHS, patients in England may be able to access it via the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Potatoes

Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps his Department has taken to promote potatoes as part of a healthy diet. [198227]

Jane Ellison: The Government recommend eating plenty of starchy foods, including potatoes, as part of a healthy balanced diet, as depicted in the ‘eatwell plate’. This provides a visual representation of the types and proportions of the foods needed for a healthy, balanced diet and advises that starchy foods, such as potatoes, breads, cereals, rice and pasta should make up about a third of our diet.

The Government utilise the eatwell plate alongside other mechanisms to promote the consumption of starchy foods, such as potatoes. This includes providing tips on healthy eating through the Live Well pages of the NHS Choices website and recipes through Public Health England’s social marketing campaign, Change4Life.

Prostate Cancer

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) elective and (b) emergency admissions to hospital with a (i) primary and (ii) secondary diagnosis of prostate cancer there have been in each year since 2005, (A) in England and (B) by commissioning area of responsibility. [197888]

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Jane Ellison: Figures showing the number of finished admission episodes with primary and secondary (but not primary) diagnosis of prostate cancer by admission method for 2005-06 to 2012-13 by primary care trust (PCT) of responsibility and for England in total have been placed in the Library.

Respite Care

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which organisations have received how much funding from his Department aimed at supporting access to short breaks and respite provision for children, young people and their families experiencing all types of disadvantage in each of the last five financial years. [197823]

Norman Lamb: From 2008-09, the Department made £340 million available (for three years), for palliative care and end-of-life services, short breaks, community equipment and wheelchair services for disabled children and young people.

In each of the last five years, we have made an annual grant of £10 million to 40 children’s hospice services. An additional £721,000 was made available from 2012-13 for seven new children’s hospices not in receipt of the original grant. In addition to the annual grant, we also made available a one-off grant of £19 million in 2010-11 to support local children’s palliative services and over £7.5 million in 2013-14 in capital grants for children’s hospices and hospices at home.

We have also provided £400 million to the national health service over four years from 2011 for family carers to have breaks from their caring responsibilities. In the 2013 spending review, we announced the £3.8 billion Better Care Fund, which includes £130 million funding for carers’ breaks for 2015-16.

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will discuss with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists the decision of its faculty of sexual and reproductive health not to allow doctors and nurses who have a conscientious objection to supplying contraceptive drugs or devices which act after fertilisation to receive its diploma in sexual and reproductive health. [198176]

Jane Ellison: The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare is responsible for decisions on the syllabus of its diploma, the requirements for entry to the diploma course, and the award of a diploma qualification.

Royal Preston Hospital

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will investigate reports that the neurology department at Royal Preston Hospital is allocating appointments to patients and then instructing them not to attend on the date and time given as the appointment is only made for consultants to view the patient's referral letter; whether (a) his Department for (b) NHS England issues guidance on the allocation of appointments which patients are instructed not to attend; and if he will make a statement. [198218]

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Jane Ellison: The allocation of appointments is a local matter for the national health service and the hon. Member should contact the chief executive of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for further information. We understand the trust has already investigated this issue and posted an explanation on its website:

www.lancsteachinghospitals.nhs.uk/neurology-non-appointment-letters

Strokes

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has commissioned on the effect of patients receiving urgent investigations and treatment following a transient ischaemic attack on reducing (a) the risk of future strokes and (b) the cost to the NHS of treating strokes; and if he will make a statement. [198240]

Dr Poulter: Funding from the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has supported the EXPRESS (Early use of eXisting PREventive Strategies for Stroke) study led by the stroke prevention research unit at John Radcliffe hospital, Oxford. The aim of the study was to measure the effect of more rapid treatment after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and minor stroke in patients who were not admitted directly to hospital. Findings have been published in the journals “Lancet” and “Lancet Neurology”. These include findings on the effect of urgent treatment for TIA and minor stroke on early recurrent stroke, and on disability and hospital costs.

An NIHR-funded project commissioned by the former Service Delivery and Organisation programme studied the optimum model of service delivery for TIA. A report of the study is available in the NIHR journals library at:

www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/64505/FR-08-1504-112.pdf

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The study included consideration of the cost-effectiveness of different patterns of service provision for patients who have had a TIA.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had on ways of improving awareness of transient ischaemic attacks on the part of (a) GPs, (b) staff in A and E departments and (c) other health staff. [198241]

Jane Ellison: NHS England is responsible for improving awareness of transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) among front-line health staff. In addition, both the recent Act FAST campaign conducted by Public Health England and the Stroke Association campaign launched last week will improve awareness of TIAs among professionals and the public alike.

The provision of timely access to TIA clinics has greatly improved over recent years and more patients are having carotid surgery in a timely fashion than ever before. However, we recognise that there are still improvements to be made and part of the work of reorganising and modernising stroke services involves ensuring that TIA care is of the highest quality.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many specialist transient ischaemic attack clinics are currently operating in each NHS trust in each region of England. [198253]

Jane Ellison: Information from the latest Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) organisational audit published in 2012, found that 99% of acute trusts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had a neurovascular (transient ischaemic attack) clinic with a median of 20 clinics held in each four week period. More information can be found on page 64 of the 2012 SSNAP audit report at the following link:

www.rcplondon.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/ssnap-acute-organisational-audit_2012-public-report.pdf