§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services upon what information and from what source he based his statement in reply to the hon. Member for Gloucestershire, West (Mr. Watkinson) of 14th April that for cystic fibrosis sufferers life expectancy beyond early adulthood is minimal.
§ Mr. MoyleUpon professional advice. The most recently published work in this country indicates that, in spite of improved treatment, most of those who have cystic fibrosis die before the age of 40 and many, unfortunately, in their teens and twenties.
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he last consulted the Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust for information about the incidence of cystic fibrosis and related matters.
§ Mr. MoyleI shall always be glad to hear from the Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust whenever it has new information of interest to my Department.
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§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what figures are available to him of the number of current sufferers from cystic fibrosis over the ages of 18, 21, 25, 30, 40, and 60 years.
§ Mr. MoyleInformation on the number of people suffering from cystic fibrosis is not collected centrally. In 1975, the latest year for which information is available, it is estimated that there were 1,530 spells in National Health Service hospitals in England and Wales in the following age-bands:
0–14 1,080 15–24 350 25–34 30 35–44 20 45 and over 50
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what guidance he gives to general practitioners, hospitals or health authorities about the diagnosis, treatment, or compilation of statistics or information relating to cystic fibrosis.
§ Mr. MoyleThe diagnosis and treatment of cystic fibrosis is a clinical, not an administrative, matter. As I said in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucestershire, West (Mr. Watkinson) on 19th April, the general medical training of all doctors includes knowledge of cystic fibrosis and it is then the responsibility of the individual doctor to keep his knowledge up to date from the various sources available to him: this applies to hospital doctors as well as to general practitioners. Numbers of hospital in-patient spells of cystic fibrosis sufferers are estimated from the report on the hospital in-patient inquiry. The inquiry is based upon a one in 10 sample of in-patient records from National Health Service hospitals in England and Wales other than those confined to psychiatric diseases. Health authorities are issued with detailed instructions designed to achieve a complete and unbiased sample.
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the sources that he used for the statistics contained in his answers to the hon. Member for Gloucestershire, West (Mr. Watkinson) of Friday 14th April.
§ Mr. MoyleThe statistics of death contained in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucestershire, West 279W (Mr. Watkinson) on 14th April refer to those registered with an underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (ICD 273.0). They were published in Table 17 of Part IA of the Registrar General's Statistical Review for 1973 and in Table 2 of OPCS Series DH2 for 1974 and 1975. The figures for subsequent years will be published in Series DH2 in due course.
The figures of cases of cystic fibrosis treated in National Health Service hospitals in England and Wales given in my other reply on 14th April were derived from the report on hospital in-patient inquiry which is based on a one in 10 sample of in-patient records from non-psychiatric National Health Service hospitals in England and Wales.
§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if his Department is spending money on or contributing funds directly to research for cystic fibrosis into all aspects of the treatment.
§ Mr. Moyle, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 14th April 1978], gave the following information:
I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science that the Medical Research Council supports a number of projects relevant to cystic fibrosis though none is aimed specifically at treatment for the condition. In the financial year 1976–77 the cost of this support amounted to 117,000.