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HEALTH
Expenditure Services
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each county the expenditure on ambulance services in (a) 1997-98 and (b) 1998-99 (i) as a percentage of total health spending and (ii) in cash terms. [52207]
Mr. Boateng: Details of health authorities' expenditure in 1997-98 on ambulance services will be placed in the Library when ready later in the year, along with details of planned expenditure in 1998-99.
Group B Streptococcus
Mrs. Organ:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been carried out to determine the percentage of women who could be possible carriers of Group B streptococcus. [52041]
30 Jul 1998 : Column: 506
Ms Jowell:
This is a subject that has received attention in a number of countries. A list of relevant research of which we are aware will be placed in the Library. The Department is not currently supporting any research into Group B streptococcus.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues to those constructing buildings for which it is responsible on the use of materials containing asbestos. [52304]
Mr. Milburn:
The Department, in respect of buildings in its ownership, does not issue any specific guidance to contractors on the use of materials containing asbestos. However, the Department's conditions of contract require that contractors comply with all relevant statutory legislation. This will include the Asbestos Prohibition Regulations 1992 and the Asbestos Licences Regulations 1993.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish a public inquiry into the use of Myodil in myelography and into the associated risks of adhesive arachnoiditis; and if he will make a statement. [52299]
Mr. Milburn:
We have no plans to hold an inquiry. My noble Friend the then Minister of State for Health, Baroness Jay, recently held a meeting with the Myodil Action Group. Officials are currently considering the points raised at that meeting.
Mr. Paul Marsden:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) of 21 July 1998, Official Report, column 528, regarding numbers of consultants, if he will list (a) the number of consultants for each specialty working within the Shropshire Health Authority, (b) the ratio of consultants in each specialty to patients within the Shropshire Health Authority and (c) the average national ratio of consultants in each specialty to patients. [52427]
Mr. Milburn:
The number of consultants (whole time equivalents (WTEs)) in the Shropshire Health Authority area is listed in the table. Information on numbers of patients is not collected centrally.
Source:
DH Statistical Bulletin--figures current as at September 1996
30 Jul 1998 : Column: 507
Medicines (Children)
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to implement the recommendations of the Licensing Medicines for Children report of May 1996, produced by the joint working party of the British Paediatric Association and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, on the development of medicines for children; and if he will make a statement. [43822]
Ms Jowell [holding answer 1 June 1998]: The report of the British Paediatric Association and the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries joint working party on the development of medicines for children made five recommendations. Of these five, three were felt by the working party to require action by the Department, and more particularly the Medicines Control Agency (MCA).
The three recommendations and action taken on them are:
Medicines are licensed for specific age ranges.
It is the MCA practice to license products for use in the recommended specific age ranges when appropriate data are presented. Use of the age ranges has been confirmed in the revised European guideline on the investigation of medicinal products in children.
The Committee on Proprietary Medicinal Products reviews its guidelines in the light of these concerns.
This has been done. The revised guideline came into operation in September 1997.
That surveillance at various levels is introduced on the use of unlicensed medicines and the prescribing of medicines "off label".
The MCA has well-established systems for monitoring the safety of marketed medicines in normal clinical practice. This covers all patient groups using medicines, including children, and "off label" usage. Nevertheless, a more targeted approach to surveillance of medicines used by children may be warranted, and the MCA reviewed the matter in conjunction with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. As a first step the MCA has agreed to fund, jointly with the Trent Health Region, the first year of a study which will assess the advantages of a regional monitoring centre for drug safety in children. It is hoped that this will be up and running in September 1998.
30 Jul 1998 : Column: 508
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase the number of pharmaceutical graduates in the period to 2001. [52871]
Mr. Milburn:
The pharmacy workforce is forecast to grow at a steady rate, with the exception of 2000 when there will be few newly qualified pharmacists because of the recent extension of the course from 3 to 4 years. National Health Service employers are adopting a range of strategies to recruit and retain pharmacists and make better use of pharmacy support staff.
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to secure the provision of additional breast cancer radiologists. [52870]
Mr. Milburn:
The Specialty Workforce Advisory Group (SWAG) advises the National Health Service Executive and the Welsh Office on the number of higher specialist trainees needed to ensure an adequate supply of properly trained doctors in each specialty. It carries out annual reviews of each specialty's estimated need for consultants.
For 1998-99, SWAG recommended further increases in the number of higher specialist trainees, in diagnostic radiology. It has recommended that these increases be treated as a priority.
Mr. Cotter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what extra provision of funds will be made available to the National Health Service following the comprehensive spending review to deal with the date change problem. [53157]
Mr. Milburn:
My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced additional resources for the National Health Service in England, totalling £17.7 billion over the years 1990-2000 to 2001-02, on 14 July 1998, Official Report, column 194. This additional funding will allow the NHS not only to meet all pressures including the date change problem, but also to deliver a better, more modern NHS.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to ensure that restrictive patents on beneficial medicinal techniques do not prevent the use of those techniques on patients in the United Kingdom. [52897]
Mr. Milburn:
Not all inventions concerning medicinal techniques are patentable in the United Kingdom. Both the United Kingdom Patents Act (1977) and the European Patent Convention (1978), which govern the grant of patent rights having effect in the United Kingdom, expressly exclude from patentability methods of treatment by therapy, surgery and diagnosis which are practised on the human body.
Existing UK Patent Law already includes safeguards specifically to prevent the abuse of patent rights for any invention, including those associated with medicine, such as providing for compulsory licensing of rights in the event that the supply of a patented product is not being met on reasonable terms.
30 Jul 1998 : Column: 509
Mr. Martyn Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reported cases there have been of the new antibiotic resistant tuberculosis; and if he will make a statement. [52922]
Ms Jowell:
Data on tuberculosis (TB) that is resistant to antibiotics are split into two categories: TB resistant to one or more of the antibiotics normally used to treat TB (drug resistant TB); and TB resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most effective drugs for treating TB (multi-drug resistant TB). United Kingdom information for the years 1994 to 1997 is given in the table.
| UK laboratory isolates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | TB resistant to one or more anti-TB drugs(16) | Multi-drug resistant TB |
| 1994 | 206 | 43 |
| 1995 | 212 | 49 |
| 1996 | 241 | 60 |
| 1997(17) | (17)220 | (17)49 |
(16) Includes multi-drug resistant cases
(17) Provisional
Source:
Public Health Laboratory Service on behalf of the UK Mycobacterial Resistance Network--MYCOBNET
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