§ Mr. Burstow:To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished consultant episodes related to alcoholic liver disease there were in (a) England and (b) each region in each year since 1997. [140475]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson:The number of finished consultant episodes related to alcoholic liver disease within national health service hospitals by region and nationally are shown in the table.
implementing the NHS Cancer Plan and patients are benefiting from improvements across all aspects of cancer care.
For example, there are an extra 941 cancer consultants compared with 1997; nearly 99 per cent. of people with suspected cancer are now seen by a specialist within two weeks of being referred by their general practitioner; we have improved the quality of breast screening by the introduction of two view mammography and are extending the breast screening service to include women aged 65 to 70. This has resulted in nearly 200,000 extra women being invited for breast screening since April 2001. Since April 2000, we have delivered over 950 of the most modern pieces of equipment to diagnose and treat cancer to hospitals. We have increased the NHS funding 75W of specialist palliative care by £50 million a year, an increase of nearly 40 per cent., and latest figures show a reduction of 10 per cent. in the death rate from cancer.
§ Mr. Ben Chapman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on radiotherapy capacity in the UK relative to that in other European countries. [140551]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson:The Department is aware of the recent Royal College of Radiologists publication on radiotherapy capacity, which included a selective comparison with three European countries. It provided data on `megavoltage machines' (including cobalt units) rather than linear accelerators (linacs). Linacs in England are provided with modern treatment facilities as standard, rather than older cobalt units.
The number of linacs installed is projected to increase from 140 in 1997 to over 200 by the end of 2004 through central funding, in line with the commitment in the NHS Cancer Plan to achieve four linacs per million population.
§ Mr. Ben Chapman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department is taking to increase radiotherapy capacity in line with increased demand. [140552]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson:Access to radiotherapy equipment has improved steadily since 1997. The number of linear accelerators (linacs) installed is projected to increase from 140 in 1997 to over 200 by the end of 2004 through central funding, in line with the commitment in the NHS Cancer Plan to achieve four linacs per million population.
Capacity and demand projections are being determined locally by cancer networks alongside local stakeholders.