The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-04-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of time spent by clinicians on producing and administering individual funding requests for the prescription of Duodopa to patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Norman Lamb
We have made no such assessments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-06-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of opiate-related overdoses among people recently released from prison.
Jane Ellison
People who have recently been released from prison are at a greater risk of overdose. A 2005 report on drug-related mortality among newly released offenders (1998-2000) showed that male prisoners in the study were about 29 times more likely to die than males in the general population.
The Department of Health and Ministry of Justice have funded a joint initiative to improve the “through the gate” provision for prisoners who are dependent on drugs and alcohol. Ten prisons in the North West are currently piloting a range of innovative interventions to provide more intensive support and supervision for people leaving custody which include the use of peer mentors, recovery housing services and take-home naloxone as they return to the community.
Public Health England has also published a checklist to support local authorities with commissioning services and interventions that help to prevent overdose, as part of a wider treatment and harm reduction system.
The Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) programme, implemented in prisons between 2006 and 2010, sought to improve the standard and quality of drug treatment in prisons. One of the key drivers for this programme was the need to reduce drug-related deaths among people who had been recently released from prison.
Through IDTS, prisoners could get access to evidence-based opioid substitution treatment in prison, which they could continue in the community after release. The extent in which this was successful in reducing drug-related overdose deaths will be one of the themes in the IDTS evaluation, which will be published next year.
The principles of IDTS continue to be adopted by local partners responsible for commissioning health services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of deaths from (a) liver disease and (b) viral hepatitis which were preventable in the last year for which figures are available.
Jane Ellison
Liver disease registered as the underlying cause of death, accounts for 2% of all deaths in England and 3% if all mentions are counted. Viral liver disease is registered for less than 0.1% of all deaths.
The main liver viral hepatitides are; A, B, C, D, E. Occasionally, other viruses cause hepatitis. Most people with hepatitis clear the virus after an acute infection. Death from acute viral hepatitis is very rare, a very small number of patients will be referred for liver transplantation. A proportion of deaths from chronic hepatitis B maybe preventable by vaccination and treatment. A proportion of deaths from chronic hepatitis C may be preventable by antiviral therapies. A significant proportion of hepatitis B and C is acquired outside the United Kingdom and therefore it is important to identify people carrying the viruses and offer treatment and vaccination to the close contacts of people with chronic hepatitis as appropriate.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he discussed liver disease with his Department’s Chief Medical Officer in the last 12 months; what the content of those discussions was; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
A wide variety of issues, including liver disease, are discussed at regular meetings between the Chief Medical Officer and my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State. As these meetings are not routinely minuted it is not possible to specify at which meetings liver disease was discussed, or the specific contents of individual meetings. There have been no meetings specifically focused on liver disease between the Chief Medical Officer and the Secretary of State within the last 12 months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department will take into account NHS England’s responsibility for commitments in the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in its delivery of the strategy as a whole.
Jane Ellison
NHS England recently published its statement of intent showing how it will play its part in delivering the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in England. A more detailed plan will be built into NHS England’s five year strategy for specialised services.
The UK Rare Disease Forum, supported by the Department, will monitor activity against the 51 commitments outlined in the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases. It will report progress to the health ministers of the four UK countries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England plans to publish its report on specialised service derogations; and what additional steps it is taking to ensure compliance.
Jane Ellison
NHS England advises that the publication date has yet to be determined. However, the report will not be published until after the pre-election period for the forthcoming local authority and European Parliamentary elections is completed on 22 May 2014.
NHS England continues to work with their Area Teams on ensuring that all providers have robust plans for delivering services that meet the service specification.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department has held meetings with external organisations to discuss a strategy for combating liver disease since 11 May 2010; if he will place minutes of those meetings in the Library; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
NHS England is responsible for the overall national approach to improving clinical outcomes for people with liver disease. It is adopting a broad strategy to reduce premature mortality, including mortality from liver disease.
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has not met any external organisations to discuss a strategy for combating liver disease since 11 May 2010. The Secretary of State and current Ministers at the Department have not met with representatives of people living with liver disease since September 2012.
NHS England and Public Health England are supporting clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to reduce premature mortality by providing commissioners with a suite of tools to help them maximise the best possible outcomes for their local communities such as Local Authority Profiles. These can help local authorities and clinical commissioning groups identify the significance of liver disease in their local area compared with the rest of the country and the actions they could prioritise to tackle it.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many finished consultant episodes relating to liver disease there have been for patients aged (a) under and (b) over 18 years old in (i) England and (ii) each parliamentary constituency in England in each year since 1997-98.
Jane Ellison
The information is not collected centrally in the format requested. A count of finished consultant episodes with a primary diagnosis of liver disease for patients aged 0-17 and over 18 years old, by primary care trust of residence and England in total for the years 1997-98 to 2012-13 has been placed in the Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people (a) infected and (b) diagnosed with viral hepatitis in each of the last 10 years.
Jane Ellison
Hepatitis A, B, C and E are viruses that affect the liver. Where tests can differentiate acute from chronic infections data is presented as newly acquired infections and where not data is presented as newly diagnosed cases.
Cases of confirmed newly acquired hepatitis A virus infection are reported by laboratories to Public Health England.
Table 1: Hepatitis A laboratory reports (newly acquired infections) , England (2002-2012).
|
Year |
Number of hepatitis A reports |
|
2002 |
1,278 |
|
2003 |
999 |
|
2004 |
610 |
|
2005 |
469 |
|
2006 |
374 |
|
2007 |
344 |
|
2008 |
344 |
|
2009 |
341 |
|
2010 |
359 |
|
2011 |
252 |
|
2012 |
279 |
Data on acute hepatitis B infections are reported both from laboratories and from Health Protection Teams to Public Health England. Reporting in this way commenced in 2008.
Table 2: Reports of acute hepatitis B infections (newly acquired infections), England (2008-2012)
|
Year |
Number of hepatitis B reports |
|
2008 |
620 |
|
2009 |
597 |
|
2010 |
512 |
|
2011 |
589 |
|
2012 |
554 |
Laboratory reports of newly diagnosed cases of hepatitis C are reported to Public Health England.
Table 3: Laboratory reports of hepatitis C (newly diagnosed cases) , England (2002-2012)
|
Year |
Number of hepatitis C reports |
|
2002 |
4,809 |
|
2003 |
5,570 |
|
2004 |
6,240 |
|
2005 |
6,295 |
|
2006 |
6,961 |
|
2007 |
7,808 |
|
2008 |
8,407 |
|
2009 |
8,662 |
|
2010 |
7,882 |
|
2011 |
9,917 |
|
2012 |
10,873 |
Notes:
1. At present serological tests are not able to differentiate between acute and chronic cases of hepatitis C infection. Therefore, laboratory reports of hepatitis C contain both recently acquired infections and past infections. For this reason the data represent newly diagnosed cases of hepatitis C as opposed to newly acquired infections.
2. Hepatitis surveillance data for 2013 will be available in August 2014.
Laboratory reports of confirmed cases of hepatitis E are reported to Public Health England. Surveillance began in 2003.
Table 4: Laboratory reports of hepatitis E (newly acquired infections) , England (2003-2012)
|
Year |
Number of hepatitis E reports |
|
2003 |
122 |
|
2004 |
145 |
|
2005 |
294 |
|
2006 |
239 |
|
2007 |
161 |
|
2008 |
168 |
|
2009 |
166 |
|
2010 |
258 |
|
2011 |
435 |
|
2012 |
530 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been diagnosed with (a) liver disease and (b) viral hepatitis in each of the last 10 years.
Jane Ellison
Data is not collected on new cases of liver disease. Liver disease covers many individual diseases caused by different factors, such as alcoholic liver disease, fatty liver disease as well as hepatitis related diseases. The identification of new cases will take place in different settings, from general practice to hospital outpatients.
The nearest proxy measure that we have is hospital admissions. However, hospital admissions only reflect the most serious cases when people are admitted to hospital. The number of hospital admissions for liver disease rose from 35,581 in 2001-02 to 57,682 in 2011-12, an increase of 62%.
Hepatitis A, B, C and E are viruses that affect the liver. Where tests can differentiate acute from chronic infections, data is presented as newly acquired infections and where not, data is presented as newly diagnosed cases. Hepatitis surveillance data for 2013 will be available in August 2014.
Cases of confirmed newly acquired hepatitis A virus infection are reported by laboratories to Public Health England.
Table 1: Hepatitis A laboratory reports (newly acquired infections), England (2002-2012).
|
Year |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
|
Number of hepatitis A reports |
1,278 |
999 |
610 |
469 |
374 |
344 |
344 |
341 |
359 |
252 |
279 |
Data on acute hepatitis B infections are reported both from laboratories and from Health Protection Teams to Public Health England. Reporting in this way commenced in 2008.
Table 2: Reports of acute hepatitis B infections (newly acquired infections), England (2008-2012)
|
Year |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
|
Number of hepatitis B reports |
620 |
597 |
512 |
589 |
554 |
Laboratory reports of newly diagnosed cases of hepatitis C are reported to Public Health England.
Table 3: Laboratory reports of hepatitis C (newly diagnosed cases), England (2002-2012)
|
Year |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
|
Number of hepatitis C reports |
4,809 |
5,570 |
6,240 |
6,295 |
6,961 |
7,808 |
8,407 |
8,862 |
7,882 |
9,917 |
10,873 |
Note:
At present serological tests are not able to differentiate between acute and chronic cases of hepatitis C infection. Therefore, laboratory reports of hepatitis C contain both recently acquired infections and past infections. For this reason the data represent newly diagnosed cases of hepatitis C as opposed to newly acquired infections.
Laboratory reports of confirmed cases of hepatitis E are reported to Public Health England. Surveillance began in 2003.
Table 4: Laboratory reports of hepatitis E (newly acquired infections), England (2003-2012)
|
Year |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
|
Number of hepatitis E reports |
122 |
145 |
294 |
239 |
161 |
168 |
166 |
258 |
435 |
530 |