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Home Office Legal Costs
Lord Harris of Greenwich asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the total cost to public funds of the cases Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte V and Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte T.
Lord Williams of Mostyn: Costs already paid in respect of services provided by the Treasury Solicitor and Counsel for the Secretary of State amount to £42,383. Substantial additional costs, consisting of further fees to Counsel amounting to about £80,000 and the whole of the respondents' legal costs, remain to be settled. I will write to confirm final costs when the details are known and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library. An estimate of the costs of the courts' and Home Office staff time could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Train Passenger Congestion Data: Publication
Lord Berkeley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Who is responsible for publishing the results of the standing passenger congestion checks, and the date(s) of publication.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Baroness Hayman): The Franchising Director has published the results of compliance with the standards laid down for passenger counts. I understand he is also making available to the Central Rail Users' Consultative Committee (CRUCC) a more detailed analysis by train service groups. The information was published on 10 June in the OPRAF Bulletin, a copy of which I have placed in the Library of the House.
NHS Quality and Effectiveness Measures
Lord Lucas asked Her Majesty's Government:
- With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that "With Labour, the measure [of NHS performance] will be quality of outcome", when information of the compilation of that measure will be made available.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Baroness Jay of Paddington): We are committed to making outcomes more central to the assessment of the performance of the National Health Service. We will be working with the NHS, the professions and patients' groups to develop a range of quality and effectiveness measures and will make announcements as these become available.
Tobacco Advertising
Lord Lucas asked Her Majesty's Government:
- On what research findings they base their belief that banning tobacco advertising will reduce smoking.
Baronesss Jay: There is a significant body of research connecting tobacco advertising with children's smoking, both in predisposing children to start smoking and reinforcing the habit in those who have already started. Studies have repeatedly shown that children who smoke choose the brands that are most heavily advertised. There is also evidence that adult consumption is affected by advertising. The 1992 Smee report on the effect of tobacco advertising on consumption found that in individual countries the balance of evidence shows that advertising does have a positive effect on consumption. A copy of this report is in the Library.
Lord Lucas asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What research they intend to carry out to monitor the effects of banning tobacco advertising.
Baroness Jay: Trends in smoking prevalence will continue to be monitored by surveys such as the General Household Survey, the Health Survey for England and the Survey of Smoking Among Secondary Schoolchildren. Tobacco consumption information will be obtained from Customs and Excise figures.
Cancer Surgery
Lord Lucas asked Her Majesty's Government:
- With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that "we will end waiting for cancer surgery", how many people were waiting for cancer surgery at the latest time for which figures are available, and exactly how was that figure determined.
Baroness Jay: Information collected centrally on patients currently on a waiting list at hospitals in England is specialty based and does not identify separately patients by their prospective diagnosis. Information on patients actually admitted is available by diagnosis and in 1994-95, the latest year for which data are available for England, 364,000 people with a diagnosis of cancer were admitted for surgical or non-surgical treatment from a waiting list. It is estimated that half of these admissions were within 14 days of a decision to admit to hospital. Information on patients currently on a waiting list at hospitals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is collected on the same basis as in England. The latest information on admissions available for Wales is for 1995-96 and shows that during that year 33,000 patients with a diagnosis of cancer were admitted to Welsh hospitals from waiting lists. It is estimated that of these about 60 per cent. were admitted within
14 days of a decision to admit. The latest information for Northern Ireland is also for 1995-96. There, 15,000 patients with a diagnosis of cancer were admitted from a waiting list during that year. It is estimated that over half of these admissions were within 14 days of a decision to admit. Comparable information for Scotland is not available.Osteoporosis
Lord Colwyn asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether, following the report of the Advisory Group on Osteoporosis in January 1995, they can update the figures provided for the latest years for which information is available; namely,
(a) the number of osteoporotic fractures each year;
(b) the number of beds being used for patients with osteoporotic fractures;
(c) the percentage use of beds of osteoporosis in relation to total orthopaedic use;
(d) the average length of stay in hospital for patients with osteoporotic fracture; and
(e) the annual cost of osteoporosis.
Baroness Jay: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| United Kingdom 1994-95 | Total |
| Osteoporotic fractures(2) | 3,456 |
| Number of bed days used for osteoporotic fracture | 79,638 |
| Percentage use of beds(3) for osteoporosis from all trauma and orthopaedic total(4) | 0.1% |
| Average length of stay in hospital (days) | 23.4 |
| Annual cost(5) | £742,000,000 |
(2) Number of Finished Consultant Episodes of patients admitted to hospital, where the primary diagnosis is fracture and the secondary diagnosis is osteoporosis. Data on the number of fractures is not held. (3) Bed usage is recorded by bed days. (4) Figure is calculated on consultant specialty, not treatment specialty. Neither is it possible to separate trauma from orthopaedic treatment specialty. Therefore we cannot reflect bed days for osteoporotic fracture as a percentage of bed days for trauma and orthopaedic treatment specialty. (5) Cost as indicated in the Advisory Group on Osteoporosis report. No further calculations have been made.
Lord Colwyn asked Her Majesty's Government:
and whether they can estimate the cost of treatment.
How many days patients spent in hospital in the last year for which figures are available for
(a) gastric cancer;
(b) ulceration of the gastrointestinal tract; and
(c) acute ulcerative bleeding;
1 Jul 1997 : Column WA20
Baroness Jay: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| UK data 1994-95 | Total number of bed days |
| Gastric cancer(6) | 204,721 |
| Acute peptic ulcer(7) | 294,337 |
| Bleeding from acute peptic ulcer(8) | 23,141 |
(6) International Classification of Disease Code 151
(7) International Classification of Disease Code 531.0, 534.0, 569.8
(8) International Classification of Disease Code 531.0, 531.2, 532.0, 532.2, 533.0, 533.2, 534.0, 534.2
The Government are not able to estimate the cost of treatment for these conditions.
Lord Colwyn asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Jay: The information requested is shown in the following table.
(9) Diagnostic endoscopic examinations of the gastrointestinal tract include investigation of gastric symptoms. Finished Consultant Episodes Data taken from 1994-95 excluding NI, whose data 1995-96.
(10) The data covers all prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors and prescriptions submitted by prescribing doctors for items personally administered.
(11) Net Ingredient cost before discount, excluding dispensing cost and fees.
(12) International Classification of Disease Codes 150 and 151.
(13) Deaths in NHS hospitals.
Whether they can update the information given by Baroness Cumberlege on 7 and 13 December 1993 (cols. WA 63 and WA 97), namely:
(a) the number of endoscopies carried out for diagnosis of gastric symptoms;
(b) the average cost of this procedure;
(c) the number of prescriptions written for anti-ulcer and antacid drugs;
(d) the cost of these prescriptions;
(e) the number of patients who had gastric cancer; and
(f) the number of patients who died from gastric cancer; in the National Health Service in the last full year for which figures are available.
United Kingdom Year
Diagnostic endoscopic for gastric symptoms(9) 86,692 1994-95
Cost of procedure Not available
Number of prescriptions(10) for: 1996
antacids 18,101,954
anti-ulcer drugs 17,677,909
The cost(11) of: 1996
antacids 29,503,559
anti-ulcer drugs 562,359,437
Number of patients admitted to hospital with gastric cancer(12) 49,884 1994-95
Number of patients who died from gastric cancer(13) 6,333 1994-95
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