§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines on the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in primary and secondary care; and if he will make a statement; [155109]
(2) whether, following the recommendations by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, he will make it a priority for all hospitals and general practitioner surgeries to have access to (a) a spirometer and (b) adequate training in the use of spirometry; [155112]
(3) what steps he will take following the recommendations by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to ensure that all patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have access to a multidisciplinary healthcare team;[155110]
(4) whether, following the recommendations by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, he will make it a priority for all hospitals and general practitioner surgeries to have access to non-invasive ventilation for the treatment of people with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; [155111]
(5) if, following the recommendations by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, he will provide funding for pulmonary rehabilitation courses to run in every hospital for all patients who consider themselves functionally disabled by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. [155113]
1613W
§ Dr. Ladyman[pursuant to his reply, 5 March 2004, c. 1167–68W]: I regret that my previous response was incorrect, and should have read as follows.
As part of our commitment to improve services for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) we commissioned the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to prepare clinical guidelines for the National Health Service in England and Wales for the prevention, diagnosis, management and treatment of COPD. These guidelines were published on 25 February.
Now that the guidelines have been published primary care trusts, in partnership with local stakeholders, will decide what local service improvements need to be made. They have the responsibility for deciding what services to provide for their populations, including those with COPD and other respiratory diseases. They are best placed to understand local health needs and commission services to meet them.
The NHS is currently receiving the largest sustained increase in funding in its history. The total of PCT allocations for the next three years are £45 billion for 2003–04, £49.3 billion for 2004–05 and £53.9 billion for 2005–06. This represents an increase of £12.7 billion or an average of 30.8 per cent. over the three years 2003–04 to 2005–06. PCTs will use these allocations to implement local service improvements, which may include NICE's recommendations on COPD.