Following our discussion last month, I promised to look into one of the questions raised by your colleague, Jenny Willott MP. The committee was interested in the number of people involved in marketing in the NHS, and those registered for the GCN.

  As non-civil service staff, these employees are not able to be part of the GCN, and we do not, therefore, have any NHS staff as members of the GCN. I have approached the Department of Health regarding marketing in the NHS. They do not centrally collect information on the number of people involved in this. I must apologise for not being able to pass on the figures as I originally hoped to do.

  Let me also take this opportunity to assure you that I will be following up on the points you specifically raised in closing the session, concerning presentation of data, over the course of the coming year.

18 December 2006