§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received about the proposal to transfer renal transplant services from St. Helier to St. George's hospitals. [54279]
1038Wthe drug and may relate to other factors such as the patient's underlying illness or other medicines taken concurrently.
According to the Department's hospital episode statistics (HES) it is estimated that 151,571 bed days were lost in patients over 75 years of age during 2001 due to the adverse effects of drugs, medicaments and biological substances in therapeutic use. This estimate is based on 16,747 finished consultant episodes (FCEs) where the primary reason for admission was due to adverse effects of drugs, medicaments and biological substances in therapeutic use. FCES are not the same as the number of patients treated because a hospitalised spell can consist of more than one FCE. These figures would only include adverse drug reactions occurring in hospital if a different FCE resulted where the primary cause was the adverse drug reaction. Cost of treatment is not recorded in HES.
Over the last 20 years, 'suspected' ADRs with a fatal outcome account for 2-3 per cent. of the reports submitted via the yellow card scheme. A total of 643 reports with a fatal outcome were received during 2001, of these 130 occurred in patients aged over 75 years. The Office of National Statistics also collates data on deaths certified by doctors and coroners as due to adverse effects of drugs in therapeutic use. The quality of these data may be inconsistent as many thousands of doctors write certificates with a wide variation in knowledge, training and practice. The latest available figures are for 2000, during which 84 of the 159 deaths that were certified as due to adverse effects of drugs occurred in persons aged 75 years and over.
Figures are not available on adverse reactions resulting from patients being prescribed inappropriate medication.