| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
Following the ceasefire, one of our immediate priorities has been to address the humanitarian and reconstruction situation in Lebanon. We have seen an easing of the humanitarian situation. Most of the Lebanese displaced population have now been able to return home or are on their way home. Food and other essentials are now available. A worsened humanitarian crisis has been averted. After intensive efforts by the UK and other international partners, Israel announced the lifting of its blockade on Lebanon on 7 September. But life in Lebanon remains difficult for many.
The UK continues to play its part in the humanitarian and recovery efforts. The UK will contribute a total of over £40 million to Lebanon, including £22.3 million for humanitarian assistance and early recovery projects. UK funding has so far helped to provide and deliver shelter, healthcare, food, water and sanitation. We have provided over £1.5 million to clear spent and unexploded munitions. Our funds will also contribute towards emergency bridges to help open critical humanitarian supply routes to those isolated in southern Lebanon. The first three prefabricated bridges provided by the UK arrived in Beirut on 1 September.
The other immediate priority has been to stabilise the peace. Urgent work has been undertaken to strengthen the UN Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in order to carry out the range of important new tasks set out in UNSCR 1701. The force will be led by France until February 2007, and then by Italy. On25 August, EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels pledged up to 7,000 troops and a range of sea, air and specialist assets.
Due to our current operational commitments elsewhere, we will not be able to provide ground troops. But the UK has sent HMS “York” to participate in the Interim Maritime Force and we would consider providing, in addition, two E3 AWACS and six Jaguar aircraft if needed. We are willing to respond positively to requests to use our sovereign case areas on Cyprus. We are also paying our share of the costs of the UN operation, on which we pay a premium as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
During his visit to Beirut, the Prime Minister made it clear that the UK intends to play a major role in security sector reform (SSR). The Lebanese armed forces have a crucial role in the country and the UK has set aside £2.5 million to support efforts to ensure that the Lebanese armed forces take in control of all parts of the Lebanon. We will work with the Lebanese Government in terms of training and equipment and any other help that we can give.
We must also work to address the underlying root causes of this conflict. This means strengthening the ability of the democratically elected Lebanese Government to be in sole charge of Lebanon, and ensuring that militias, supported and supplied from outside Lebanon, can never again plunge the region into crisis.
Middle East Peace Process (MEPP)
We must not lose sight of the fact that the conflict in Lebanon arose out of the continuing impasse in Palestine. This issue is of fundamental importance not just to Israelis and Palestinians but to the whole of the region and the wider world. As the Prime Minister made clear in Los Angeles on 1 August, there is an urgent need to re-energise the Middle East peace process. We have been working hard to bring the parties back to the road map.
To achieve this goal it is imperative that the violence on the ground stops. As a result of the current situation in Gaza, more than 220 Palestinians have died, including more than 60 children. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed and one abducted. We continue to call for the immediate and unconditional release of Corporal Shalit. We also condemn the continued rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. We call on Israel to exercise restraint and to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties. As the European Council said on 18 July, those elected members of the Palestinian Government and legislature detained by Israel should be released.
We remain seriously concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) is now operational. The TIM is paying allowances to 10,000 officials in the health sector. It is also paying for fuel to reach hospitals across the Occupied Territories. It has supported the continuation of health services in the current difficult environment. The International Development Secretary has announced £6 million so far for the TIM, for essential health supplies and to support water, sanitation and electricity services. The UK will contribute up to £12 million. The EC has already paid allowance to 43,000 of the poorest Palestinians.
The Prime Minister used his visit to exchange ideas and identify a way for the parties to re-engage. Both Prime Minster Olmert and President Abbas agreed to meet each other without conditions and made clear their commitment to a political process. The Prime Minister also discussed the formation of a national unity Government with President Abbas. President Abbas subsequently announced on 11 September that agreement had been reached to form a national unity Government. We await details on the programme to which this Government are committed. But, as the Prime Minister said when he was with President Abbas, such a Government, if based on the quartet requirements, offers the possibility of re-engagement by the international community.
As I made clear to President Mubarak and the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Aboul Gheit, we fully support Egyptian efforts to mediate between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the militants currently holding Corporal Shalit. I also discussed with them and the Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, the need to re-energise the MEPP. Egypt and the Arab League share this goal.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): My honourable friend the Minister of State, Department of Health (Andy Burnham) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The department has consulted on proposed changes to the process for the selection of topics for the work programme of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
55 responses were received from a wide variety of organisations, including patient and professional groups, healthcare professionals, industry and the NHS. An analysis of the responses has been undertaken and we have reached the following decisions:
the administration of the early stages of the topic selection process will be the responsibility of NICE. Responsibility for the administration of the later stages of the process will remain with the department;the criteria used in the selection of topics will be revised, with a single set of criteria used for the selection of both clinical and public health topics; there will be wider and better representation of the NHS and public health throughout the process, to help ensure that the topics being proposed represent the needs of professionals and their patients. This representation will be secured via the new panels which will replace the Advisory Committee on Topic Selection (ACTS); andfinally the timelines for the selection of topics will be reduced. This will mean that clinical topics which are a priority issue for the NHS will be referred to NICE sooner.Full details of the consultation responses and the analysis of the comments have been placed in the Library and are available on the department’s website at http://www.dh.gov.uk/Consultations/ResponsesToConsultations/ResponsesToConsultationsDocumentSummary/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4139043&chk=5Sr3mH
A new programme of work is being established by NICE to help the NHS identify and stop ineffective interventions. This will potentially allow the NHS to reinvest millions of pounds on drugs and other treatments that improve patient care.
The three products that NICE will be developing are:
commissioning guides: these will help NHS commissioners to make the case for moving to concordance with NICE guidance and shift resources away from ineffective care;recommendation reminders: these will highlight recommendations from published NICE guidance which reduce ineffective practice; andspecific guidance aimed at reducing ineffective practice: this guidance will use existing methodologies to give advice on the use of technologies or approaches to care currently employed by the NHS where evidence of effectiveness that exists suggests that it is a poor use of resources.NICE expects to issue the first commissioning guides and recommendation reminders in autumn 2006 and the first guidance on ineffective treatments in 2007.
NHS: Drug Tariff Part IX Review
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): My honourable friend the Minister of State, Department of Health (Andy Burnham) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The arrangements under part IX of the drug tariff have not been reviewed for over 20 years and there were clear indications that neither the NHS nor the taxpayer were receiving value for money.
We have therefore been consulting with the market over potential price cuts since October 2005.
In reviewing part IX, the Government’s objectives have been to:
maintain, and where applicable improve, the current quality of care to patients;secure value for money for the NHS;ensure equitable payment for equivalent services and transparent reimbursement pricing;work in partnership to deliver fair prices for the NHS and reasonable returns for suppliers and contractors;facilitate the introduction of innovative solutions;maintain local choice in the provision of services; andkeep administration arrangements to the necessary minimum.We have consulted extensively with industry on these issues. Following consultation on dressings and chemical reagents, we have decided to implement a staged price reduction of up to 15 per cent to the April 2006 drug tariff reimbursement prices for some blood glucose detection strips. Initially, reimbursement prices will be reduced by 12 per cent on all affected products from 1 October 2006. This may be followed by a further reimbursement price reduction of 3 per cent from 1 November 2006. We hope that the 3 per cent variant will allow the market to maintain the free provision of related services, including the supply of educational material, helplines and meters. Responses to the consultation indicated that a price reduction of 15 per cent may mean that it would be difficult to maintain these services. We have written to companies to inform them of the price changes.
A consultation on stoma and incontinence appliances has closed today and further consultation with industry will be held.
NHS: Financial Performance
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health (Patricia Hewitt) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
My department published on 11 August 2006 the NHS financial performance for the first quarter of 2006-07. The report indicates that the NHS is on track to achieve our aim of a net financial balance by the end of the year. The report shows that the NHS as a whole is forecasting a small surplus for the year of £18 million, after application of a £350 million contingency created by the Strategic Health Authorities.
The report is available in the Library and is published on the department’s website at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/13/79/95/04137995.pdf
NHS: Palliative Care
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Ivan Lewis) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I am announcing a review of the longer-term funding arrangements for palliative care services for children and young people who have a life-limiting or life-threatening condition.
On 5 June I was pleased to announce new funding of £27 million spread over three years for children's hospice services. We have drawn up eligibility criteria for the grants in consultation with key stakeholders and I am delighted to say that applications for the children's hospice and children's hospice at home grant are now being made. The application form can be found on the Department of Health website at http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4138727&chk=91DtzU. The closing date for applications is 20 September 2006.
At the same time I also announced a review of children's hospice services and their funding arrangements. Children's hospices provide a valuable service for children and young people but they represent only one part of the range of palliative care services. I have therefore decided that the review should be extended to cover palliative care services for children and young people more generally. I expect the review to commence in the autumn.
We are drawing up the terms of reference for the review, in consultation with key stakeholders, and will publish these and announce the name of the person who will undertake the review when we can.
NHS: Spearhead Primary Care Trust Areas
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): My honourable friend the Minister of State for Public Health (Caroline Flint) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The Government have set public service agreement targets to address geographical inequalities in life expectancy, cancer, heart disease, stroke and related diseases. The targets aim to see faster progress compared to the average in the “fifth of areas with the worst health and deprivation indicators”. Achievement of the targets will be assessed on the outcomes for this group in 2010. The local authorities and primary care trusts which make these areas are the Health Inequalities Spearhead Group.
The Spearhead group is defined on local authority data and consists of 70 local authorities that are then mapped on to primary care trust boundaries.
Revised primary care trusts boundaries were announced on 19 May. Following the reconfiguration, the Spearhead group list has been refreshed to take account of the new primary care trust boundaries. The list of 70 Spearhead group local authorities (that has not changed) and the revised list of 62 primary care trusts that map to them is as follows:
| Local Authorities in the Spearhead Group | Primary Care Trusts in the Spearhead Group |
| Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |