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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of smoking in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people aged (a) under 18 and (b) 18 to 24 have been diagnosed with depression in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt

This information is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on measures to reduce the prevalence of trans fats in food.

Jane Ellison

There have been no discussions with the royal colleges on measures to reduce the prevalence of trans fats in food.

Population average trans fats intakes account for 0.6-0.7% of food energy, which is well within the public health recommendation of 2% of food energy, and within the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 1%.

Voluntary action by industry has been successful in removing artificial trans fats from a range of processed products. Over 70% of the retail and manufacturing market has committed to remove or not use artificial trans fats.

The European Commission’s report on trans fats intakes across the European Union, which is due to be published in December 2015, will inform our future thinking on trans fats.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the prevalence of trans fats in food.

Jane Ellison

There have been no discussions with the royal colleges on measures to reduce the prevalence of trans fats in food.

Population average trans fats intakes account for 0.6-0.7% of food energy, which is well within the public health recommendation of 2% of food energy, and within the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 1%.

Voluntary action by industry has been successful in removing artificial trans fats from a range of processed products. Over 70% of the retail and manufacturing market has committed to remove or not use artificial trans fats.

The European Commission’s report on trans fats intakes across the European Union, which is due to be published in December 2015, will inform our future thinking on trans fats.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in each age group have been diagnosed with epilepsy in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

Information concerning the number of people diagnosed with epilepsy on an annual basis is not collected. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence advises that epilepsy has been estimated to affect between 362,000 and 415,000 people in England and the incidence of epilepsy is estimated to be 50 per 100,000 per year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to make activated charcoal available on the NHS to treat (a) alcoholism and (b) obesity.

Jane Ellison

It is for individual clinicians to make decisions on appropriate evidence based treatment together with the patient, taking into account any relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make the meningitis W vaccine available to all people on the NHS.

Jane Ellison

Immunisation against meningococcal groups A, C, W and Y (MenACWY) was added to the national immunisation programme in August 2015 following advice from the expert body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), in response to the rising number of meningococcal group W (MenW) cases.

The JCVI advised routinely offering MenACWY conjugate vaccine to teenagers aged around 14 years, and a catch-up programme to vaccinate all teenagers aged 14 to 18 years of age. This is because teenagers are the main carriers of the meningococcal bacteria, and so vaccinating this group should not only provide direct protection against MenACWY for teenagers who are at increased risk of meningococcal disease but, since teenagers are the main carriers, will also reduce meningococcal carriage rates and offer indirect protection for the rest of the population in the longer term.

The JCVI is keeping the situation under review, but has not advised vaccination of additional groups at this time. On the basis of this advice, we do not have any plans to offer MenACWY vaccination to other age groups at this time.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in what age groups NHS England has treated for squints in the last five years.

Alistair Burt

Individuals with squints may be treated in either primary care or secondary care.

It is not possible to identify those provided with glasses in primary care, funded by NHS England, to correct a squint.

It is possible to identify those who had a Finished Admission Episode in secondary care, funded by clinical commissioning groups, with a diagnosis of squint and received corrective surgery. The table below, provided by the Health and Social Care Information centre, shows the number of these procedures, broken down by age, carried out in England between 2009-10 and 2013-14. This will not capture other patients seen in secondary care on an outpatient basis where surgery was not necessary.

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Note: Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been treated for asbestos poisoning in the last five years.

Jane Ellison

The Department does not hold any data on the number of people treated for asbestos poisoning. The number of finished admission episodes (FAE) with a primary diagnosis of mesothelioma is shown in Table 1. Mesothelioma is a cancer that is closely associated with exposure to asbestos.

Table 1

Notes:

1. Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector
2. A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to recover the cost of treating patients who have received injuries from negligent cosmetic surgery from private providers from those providers.

Ben Gummer

Clinical commissioning groups have local arrangements in place to recover the costs from private healthcare providers.

The NHS Standard Contract requires all contractors of National Health Service care to hold and maintain adequate and appropriate indemnity arrangements. The commissioner issuing the contract should always ensure that sufficient indemnity/ insurance is in place.

Private healthcare providers are now able to use the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts. Changes were made to secondary legislation to allow this to happen from April 2013.