§ Mr. Rhodri MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will list the terms of reference of, and funding provisions for, the drug utilisation research unit at Queen's University, Belfast. [4012]
§ Mr. Worthington[holding answer 16 June 1997]: Acontractual agreement between the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland and the Queen's University of Belfast sets out detailed terms of reference for DURU, listed below.
The Unit (DURU) shall:
continue the work of the Department's (DHSS) Prescribing Information Unit of visiting general medical practitioners to encourage safer and more cost-effective prescribing and to collect further data on prescribing habits, consultation profiles, locum and home visit arrangements and other information necessary to understand present behaviour and to develop better prescribing practice;develop the work of the Prescribing Information Unit by advising, supporting and assisting the officers of the Health and Social Services Boards in making general medical practitioners aware of their prescribing patterns;collect and collate all available data on drug utilisation and construct a comprehensive prescribing data-base;support the work of the Royal College of General Practitioners in updating and disseminating the use of the practice formulary and other guides to rational prescribing, and to analyse the reluctant benefits;seek the optimal format for conveying new essential drug information to general medical practitioners;compile statistics on self-poisoning;identify inappropriate prescribing;277Wrelate utilisation to indices of morbidity and analyse the reasons for intra and inter-regional variations;encourage and assist all hospital medical staff in improving the rationality and cost-effectiveness of their prescribing by the development and application of agreed hospital formularies and to assess the success of self-regulation.Running costs of DURU are met by an annual grant provided by the Department of Health and Social Services, as stated in the agreement with the Queen's University of Belfast. Funding for the year ending March 1997 amounted to £312,667.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will list the terms of reference and membership of the review committee on the work of the drug utilisation research unit, Queen's University, Belfast; what representations she has received concerning the outcome of the review committee's recommendations; and if she will make a statement. [4013]
§ Mr. Worthington[holding answer 16 June 1997]: The terms of reference for the review of DURU were to assess four dimensions of the unit's work, comprising: scientific quality; policy, service relevance and value; management and accountability; and options for future management and funding.
The Review Team comprised the following three members: Professor Mike Rawlins, Department of Pharmacological Science, University of Newcastle; Professor Peter Noyce, Department of Pharmacy, University of Manchester; and Dr. Colin Bradley, Department of General Practice, University of Birmingham.
The Department has received written correspondence regarding the outcome of the review of DURU from Martin Caton (MP), David Morris (MEP) and Dr. McGavock, Director of DURU. The decision not to renew the contract for DURU was based on the Review Team's recommendations and peer review of those recommendations. Nothing subsequently raised in correspondence to the Department gives cause to change the original decision.