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16 Mar 2006 : Column 2481W—continued
NHS Direct
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the role is of the NHS Direct helpline; what assessment she has made of its effectiveness; and if she will make a statement. [52767]
Mr. Byrne: NHS Direct is a nationwide, nurse led, health advice and information service, which includes 24-hour telephone service, website and digital television access to health advice, information and support to people across the country. The service aims to help people make choices about their own healthcare and where necessary guide them to the most appropriate level of care to meet their needs, for example, out-of-hours, general practitioner practice or accident and emergency.
The National Audit Office and the Commission for Health Improvement have both published reports on NHS Direct, which are available from the relevant organisation's websites.
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Ministers and departmental officials meet with NHS Direct to review their performance against a set of key performance indicators.
Nutrient Profiling
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards clear labelling of prepared foods which includes full ingredient and nutritional information and traffic light indications for fat, sugar and salt content. [57558]
Caroline Flint: Responsibility for food labelling lies with the European Union and the rules are harmonised across Europe.
The European Commission is undertaking a comprehensive review of food labelling legislation and is currently consulting on a discussion document that sets out to establish the scope and structure of future food labelling legislation, including ingredient and nutrition labelling.
At their meeting on 9 March, the Food Standards Agency board recommended businesses adopt four core principles for front of pack simplified nutrition labelling which uses traffic light colours to indicate whether levels of fats, saturated fat, sugar and salt in processed foods are low, medium or high.
Organ Donor Cards
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent in each year between 1995 and 2005 on publicising the carrying of organ donor cards. [55524]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Specific expenditure for each year between 1997 to 2003 on publicising the carrying of organ donor cards is shown in the table.
| Cost (£ million) | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 0.44 |
| 1998–99 | 1.53 |
| 1999–2000 | 0.93 |
| 2000–01 | 0.88 |
| 2001–02 | 0.90 |
| 2002–03 | 0.90 |
| Total | 5.58 |
We do not hold records on expenditure for 1995–96 and 1996–97.
Responsibility for promoting organ donation and encouraging people to join the NHS Organ Donor Register was given to UK Transplant from April 2003 by the Department. The budget allocated to UK Transplant for publicising organ donation was as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 827,000 |
| 2004–05 | 827,000 |
| 2005–06 | 827,000 |
Pandemic Influenza
Sir John Stanley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she will be taking to ensure that
16 Mar 2006 : Column 2483W
Tamiflu is available to individuals within 48-hours of the onset of symptoms in the event of an outbreak of pandemic influenza; and if she will make a statement. [58261]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In September 2005, the Department published a framework for the national health service regarding storage and distribution of antivirals. This is available on the Department's website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/pandemicflu, and provides guidance to support the development of local plans by the NHS to make those medicines available for the treatment of patients. The overall aim is to ensure that antiviral medicines are available to treat patients suffering from influenza within 48-hours of the onset of symptoms.
The Department continues to work with the NHS in order to help them develop local plans.
Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the Government's policy is on the procurement of a generic vaccine to provide some degree of immunity in the event of an outbreak of pandemic influenza; and if she will make a statement. [58263]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There is no 'generic' vaccine currently available that could protect against any pandemic virus. At present, a pandemic vaccine cannot be manufactured until the exact flu strain is known and it will take around four to six months after a pandemic has emerged until the first stocks of a vaccine will be available. The time taken in producing a vaccine reflects the complex nature of vaccine manufacture.
We have invited manufacturers to tender for a contract to supply 120 million doses of pandemic flu vaccine once the pandemic strain is known. The proposal to purchase in advance the capacity needed to make pandemic flu vaccine is designed to ensure that an effective vaccine is available for use in the United Kingdom as quickly as possible after a flu pandemic starts.
We have ordered 3.7 million doses of human H5N1 vaccine and we expect to receive stocks by October 2006. Supplies may be used to conduct further research on the immune responses generated by these vaccines. These stocks could also be used to vaccinate frontline healthcare workers before a specific pandemic vaccine can be developed.
Parliamentary Questions
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will reply to question 33912, tabled on 29 November 2005 by the hon. Member for Bolton South East about his constituent, Dr. R. Henman. [56686]
Jane Kennedy: A reply was given on 7 March 2006, Official Report, column 1242W.
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will answer Question 51575, tabled on 9 February by the hon. Member for Lancaster and Wyre for named day answer on 13 February. [58189]
Jane Kennedy
[holding answer 13 March 2006]: A reply was given on 9 March 2006, Official Report, column 1777W.
16 Mar 2006 : Column 2484W
Sexual Health
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she is planning to launch the Government's next campaign on sexual health and chlamydia awareness. [57581]
Caroline Flint: Our current plans are to aim to launch the next sexual health campaign later this year.
We have rolled out the national chlamydia screening programme (NCSP) successfully to 25 per cent. of primary care trusts and we expect to see screening in many other areas to begin in April 2006. This is well ahead of the 2007 target.
The NCSP provides opportunistic screening for genital chlamydia infection and is aimed at all sexually active women and men aged between 16 and 24-years-old attending a variety of health care settings in England.
Young Carers
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department takes to (a) identify and (b) support carers aged 18 to 25 years; and if she will make a statement. [51446]
Mr. Byrne: The Department seeks to support all carers though legislation which has strengthened the rights of carers to an assessment of their own needs as carers and involves the right to a carer's assessment. The Department's policies for carers' services apply equally to carers of all ages, including those aged 18 to 25 years.
In our White Paper, Our health, our care, our say", we commit ourselves to a new deal for carers.
Update and extend the Prime Minister's strategy for carers and encourage councils and primary care trusts to nominate leads for carer's services;
Ensure that, in each council area, a short-term, home based respite support to carers in crisis or emergency situations is established;
Allocate specific funding for the creation of an expert carers programme which will provide training for carers to develop the skills they need to take greater control over their own health and the health of those in their care.
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