§ Ms KinghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what action his Department is taking to raise awareness and educate(a) the public and (b) general practitioners regarding the skin disease Hidradenitis Suppurativa; [55227]
(2) what action his Department (a) has undertaken and (b) is planning to take with regard to the skin disease Hidradenitis Suppurativa. [55226]
§ Mr. BoatengThe Department has not and is not planning to undertake action specifically relating to Hidradenitis Suppurativa. However, the National Health Service provides a wide range of services for people with skin diseases. It is for the clinician to decide exactly what treatments are appropriate for patients with these conditions and it is the responsibility of health authorities to assess the health care needs of their population and to commission services, including the provision of care for Hidradenitis Suppurativa.
982W
Ambulance trust income per head of the population, by NHS region Region Population (000s in 19961) Aggregated ambulance trust income (£000) 1995–96 Aggregated ambulance trust income per head2 Aggregated ambulance trust income (£000) 1996–97 Aggregated ambulance trust income per head2 Northern and Yorkshire 6,338 85,511 13.49 87,977 13.88 Trent 5,121 54,958 10.73 57,770 11.28 Anglia and Oxford 5,361 51,754 9.65 53,370 9.96 North Thames 6,934 31,528 34.55 33,671 34.86 South Thames 6,819 48,654 37.14 51,825 37.60 South and West 6,594 69,634 10.56 72,472 10.99 West Midlands 5,317 51,116 9.61 53,363 10.04 North West 6,605 65,163 9.87 67,041 10.15 1 1991 Census-based resident population estimates for mid 1996 2 Cross-boundary ambulance working arrangements, where they occur, have not been taken into account apart from the parts of North and South Thames regions served by the London Ambulance Service 3 Large parts of North and South Thames regions are both served by the London Ambulance Service, rendering these calculations extremely difficult to interpret reliably The provision of general practitioners' education is the responsibility of the relevant professional statutory bodies, such as the Medical Royal Colleges.