§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to raise awareness amongst health professionals of sickle cell and thalassaemia; and what training health professionals receive on this subject. [106196]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Department is considering a proposal from the Haemoglobinopathy Societies to launch a campaign to raise awareness of sickle cell and thalassaemia, principally among black and minority ethnic groups.
Responsibility for the content and standards of medical education is shared between the regulatory bodies (e.g. The General Medical Council and Specialist Training Authority), professional bodies (notably the medical Royal Colleges) and universities. It is neither practicable nor desirable for the Government to prescribe the exact training that any individual doctor will receive.
All general practitioners currently receive appropriate training to help them meet the needs of their patients. A modernised system will be introduced early next year which will ensure that all new trainee general practitioners receive an educational needs assessment. This will enable a range of appropriate training to be better tailored and targeted.
451WThe National Boards for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting approve courses enabling registration with the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC). As part of the training programme the UKCC ensures that participants recognise common factors that adversely affect the physical, mental and social well-being of patients and take appropriate action. The English National Board approves a post-registration study programme, "The Care and Management of Adults and Children with Sickle Cell, Thalassaemia and Related Disorders (Haemoglobinopathies)" for nurses.
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were treated in the NHS for sickle cell and thalassaemia in each of the last 10 years. [106199]
§ Mr. DenhamThe table shows the number of finished consultant episodes in National Health Service hospitals in England for the years 1989–90 to 1997–98, where the main diagnosis was Thalassaemia or Sickle Cell Disorders.
Sickle cell disorders Thalassaemia Total 1989–90 3,695 3,831 7,527 1990–91 4,010 4,018 8,028 1991–92 5,408 5,244 10,652 1992–93 6,344 6,508 12,853 452W
Project name Start date Planned competition date Expected completion date Planned cost (£000) Estimated cost (£000) Computer Aided Facilities Management System March 1999 October 1999 March 2000 98 107 Forms on the Departmental Intranet December 1998 November 1999 August 2000 98 193 General Medical Services 99 April 1999 March 2000 February 2000 149 128 Management of Electronic Documents Strategy (Basic Module 1) February 1999 March 2000 March 2000 218 213 Memphis on the Web November 1998 July 1999 June 2000 60 98 Non-Executive Appointments System July 1998 March 2000 April 2000 248 291 Computerisation of Medical Benefits System April 1998 July 1999 May 2000 344 348 Personnel and Related Systems July 1997 July 1998 January 2000 580 725 Regional Office Data Sharing Project May 1997 April 1999 February 2000 160 183 Regional Office Historic Data Project December 1998 March 2000 June 2000 235 249 Year 2000 Programme including Compliance and Business Continuity October 1996 March 2000 March 2000 6,100 6,200 Foods Standards Agency (FSA) (IT Infrastructure) May 1998 August 2000 November 2000 1,440 1,514 FSA (Payroll system set-up) September 1999 April 2000 April 2000 108 96 FSA (Personnel System) September 1999 April 2000 April 2000 108 95 FSA (Press Office System) September 1999 March 2000 March 2000 102 71 FSA Financial and Research Management Systems November 1998 April 2000 April 2000 1,134 1,134 Commissioning for Health Improvement October 1999 April 2001 April 2001 1,496 1,496 Medical Devices Agency Integrated System for Information sharing January 1999 January 2000 March 2000 159 189 National Health Service Pensions Agency five Yearly Scheme Validation Data Extract December 1998 September 2000 September 2000 650 200 Medicines Control Agency (MCA) General Practice Research Database September 1999 October 2000 October 2000 2,353 2,353 MCA Structured Cabling for IT/Telecoms January 1999 December 1999 March 2000 378 378 Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) LabBase 2 Implementation October 1999 August 2000 August 2000 1,200 1,200 PHLS CoSurv/lab-link deployment June 1999 March 2000 March 2000 112 112 National Institute of Biological Standards and Control Replacement of Finance System January 1999 August 1999 January 2000 116 115
Sickle cell disorders Thalassaemia Total 1993–94 7,256 6,732 13,988 1994–95 7,349 6,944 14,293 1995–96 8,671 7,475 16,146 1996–97 9,221 7,680 16,902 1997–98 9,270 7,761 17,031 Total 61,224 56,193 117,420 Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics
These figures are for in-patient activity only. They include the regular transfusion treatment of thalassaemic patients, which takes place on a day case basis. They do not reflect the number of patients receiving treatment from general practitioners or as hospital outpatients as statistics on such activity are not collected.