§ Mr. BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on chemotherapy in the UK per head of the population in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [38076]
§ Yvette CooperThe Department does not collect figures on the cost of national health service services in a way that enables an accurate figure to be calculated for expenditure on chemotherapy.
§ Mr. BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list each NHS health authority in England and Wales that(a) does and (b) does not (i) conduct non-emergency operations relating to cancer on Saturdays and Sundays and (ii) administer non-emergency radiotherapy treatment on Saturdays and Sundays. [38075]
§ Yvette CooperThe information requested is not available centrally.
§ Mr. BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of cancer patients have developed neutropenia while receiving chemotherapy in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [38084]
§ Yvette CooperThere are 220,000 new cases of cancer registered each year.
Analysis on the hospital episode statistics database shows that in 2000–01 there were 6,600 in-patient admissions for neutropenia. Of these, 2,470 admissions had a cause related to chemotherapy.
§ Mr. BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women in each NHS health authority in England and Wales were screened for breast cancer in(a) the year prior the implementation of the NHS Breast Cancer Screening Programme and (b) during the first year 286W of the programme; and what the average waiting times for radiotherapy were in each NHS health authority for those years. [38078]
§ Yvette CooperThe national health service breast screening programme began in 1988 following a successful trial, the United Kingdom trial of the early detection of breast cancer and the publication of the Forrest report in 1986'. Before 1988, the only unit undertaking breast screening by mammography in England was the Guildford centre, which was the English site for the trial. In 1987–88, the year before the programme began, it is estimated that 5,000 women were screened at the Guildford centre.
In 1988–89, the first year of roll-out of the national programme, 110,000 women were screened in the UK. These data are not available by health authority.
Data on the average waiting times for radiotherapy in each health authority for 1987–88 and 1988–89 are not held centrally.
1 Screening: Report to the Health Ministers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland 1986
§ Mr. BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the NHS health authorities in England and Wales that(a) are and (b) are not meeting the target in the NHS cancer plan of a maximum one month wait from diagnosis to treatment for patients referred for breast cancer treatment. [38077]
§ Yvette CooperThe NHS Cancer Plan targets are only applicable to England. The maximum target wait of one month from diagnosis to first definitive treatment for breast cancer came into effect on 31 December 2001. Central monitoring began on 1 January 2002 and data will be published later in the year.
§ Mr. BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce a system of therapy and counselling for(a) patients and (b) families of patients who have been diagnosed as having cancer; and if he will make a statement. [38083]
§ Yvette CooperAs part of the NHS Cancer Plan we are developing a supportive care strategy. The strategy includes ensuring that people affected by cancer are able to access the right professional support, treatment and help, from when cancer is first suspected through to death and bereavement. As part of the strategy, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been asked to develop and publish evidence-based guidance on supportive and palliative care. The initial NICE findings will be available from summer 2002 and will include guidance on psychological and social support for patients and carers.
§ Mr. BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of(a) lung, (b) breast, (c) prostate, (d) ovarian and (e) leukaemia cancer patients who have been initially diagnosed as suffering from curable cancer have been considered incurable by the time treatment began in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [38074]
§ Yvette CooperThe information requested is not available centrally.
287W
§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average population served by each UK hospital offering specialised cancer care was in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement on the variations by(a) nation and (b) region. [38239]
§ Yvette CooperInformation is not available in the form requested. Although efforts have been made to quantify catchment populations at a trust level, all calculations are based on ward-resident populations. Therefore cancer network populations are more appropriate. Cancer services are provided by cancer networks which bring together primary and community care and secondary care services. Data on cancer network populations for England are shown in the table. Further information is available at http://www.canceruk.net/catchment/catchment.htm
Cancer services catchment populations by network—England March 2000 Number Greater Manchester and Cheshire 3,031,185 Mount Vernon (Herts, Beds, NW London) 2,844,717 Four Counties (Berks, Bucks, Northants, Oxford, Wiltshire) 2,760,312 Pan Birmingham 2,578,723 Yorkshire 2,492,752 Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire 2,053,076 Merseyside and Cheshire 2,031,650 Mid Trent 1,837,472 Central South Coast 1,811,372 West London 1,807,752 Northern 1,792,520 Kent 1,706,833 North Trent 1,662,291 Black Country 1,637,248 West Anglia 1,610,806 North West Midlands 1,512,214 Devon and Cornwall 1,473,707 North East London 1,468,266 South West London 1,445,978 Lancashire and South Cumbria 1,428,763 South East London 1,388,034 Arden 1,286,123 North London 1,238,966 Surrey, West Sussex and Hampshire 1,224,704 3 Counties (Gloucs, Hereford, Worcs) 1,198,068 Humber and Yorkshire Coast 994,309 Sussex 983,718 Mid Anglia 909,756 Leicestershire 804,200 Norfolk and Waveney 682,461 Teeside, South Durham and North Yorkshire 660,891 Derby, Burton 640,798 South Essex 617,359 Dorset 613,958 No Network 510,105 Grand Total 52,741,084