Dr Doug Naysmith

I have a particular interest in health, so sometimes a health charity or organisation will ask me to put a question to a Minister. Sometimes the questions I ask arise from problems experienced by my constituents. On other occasions, I just want to get a matter clarified and have the Minister's position put on the record.

Below are some of the questions I have asked recently, together with the answers. There is a certain format which has to be followed and we cannot just turn up say “What are you going to do about THIS, then?” We have to submit our oral questions a few days in advance, which has the advantage of allowing the Minister time to find out any relevant information we may need but the disadvantage that we cannot ask something very topical. There is no guarantee that there will be time for a particular question but, if there is and once the Minister has replied, the MP who asked the question can follow up with other questions and other MPs can come in too. For that reason, I have put the link to Hansard, so, if you are interested, you can see how the debate developed.

Prime Minister's Questions (PMQ) are a bit different. There is a ballot which determines who can ask a question and in which order. Only those who draw a high number will have much chance that their question will be reached and, once they have had an answer, they cannot come back to press for more information. We do not have to tell the Prime Minister what we will ask and so questions can be (and are) about anything even if it has only just happened. If you have watched PMQ you will have seen MPs bobbing up and down. These are MPs who have not been listed to ask a question and are trying to catch the Speaker’s eye so that they can ask a supplementary. When an announcement was made about Airbus, I "caught the Speaker's eye" and got to ask a question. I had a word with the Speaker before PMQ and told him how important Airbus was in , so he was looking out for me: it is not just a matter of chance.

WRITTEN QUESTIONS

Stoma and Urology

July 23rd 2008

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department's consultation of June 2008 on the proposed new arrangements for the provision of stoma and urology services and related services in primary care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the provision of associated services supplied with single line items is maintained.

Reply awaited.

Stroke Care

July 22nd 2008

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department's consultation of June 2008 on the proposed new arrangements for the provision of stoma and urology services and related services in primary care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the provision of associated services supplied with single line items is maintained.

Anne Keen: The latest audit round to take place, in 2006, showed that 196 hospitals in England have a stroke unit. This is 97 per cent. of all hospitals in England. All these hospitals have a consultant physician responsible for stroke.

In 2006, nearly all hospitals had facilities to scan the brain. Over 90 per cent. of stroke units providing acute care had access to brain imaging within 24 hours of admission.The National Stroke Strategy and the supporting Imaging Guide outline the characteristics of gold standard stroke services and provide useful information on how to implement the changes needed to achieve them.

Tuberculosis

July 16th 2008

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what provision has been made in his Department's five-year research strategy for more effective drugs, diagnostics and vaccines for tuberculosis.

Gillian Merron: In 2005 there were 14.1 million cases of tuberculosis and 1.6 million deaths. The UK Government's 2007 International Development White Paper commits us to increasing funding for new drugs and vaccines.

This commitment is reinforced in the Department's new five year research strategy which calls for continued and increased support for product development partnerships to develop vaccines, diagnostics and drugs for HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The strategy is available on-line: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/research/newresearch.asp

Anti-depressant prescriptions

25th June 2008

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions of (a) individual benzodiazepine drugs and (b) individual antidepressants were dispensed in the community in 2007?

Dawn Primarolo: Benzodiazepine drugs are used to treat a variety of conditions and therefore appear in several different parts of the British National Formulary and are shown in table 1 as follows:

Table 1: Benzodiazepine prescription items dispensed, in the community, in England, in 2007 BNF generic name Item (thousand) Alprazolam — Chlordiazepoxide Hydrochloride 272.6 Clobazam 147.9 Clonazepam 474.1 Diazepam 4,722.5 Loprazolam Mesilate 108.1 Lorazepam 881.8 Lormetazepam 119.1 Midazolam 1.9 Midazolam Hydrochloride 49.2 Midazolam Maleate 4.3 Nitrazepam 1,249.9 Oxazepam 188.8 Temazepam 3,254.8 Total 11,475.0 ‘—’ Indicates the number of prescriptions dispensed was between 0 and 100. Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system Antidepressant drugs are grouped into BNF section 4.3 and are shown in table 2 as follows: Table 2: Antidepressant prescription items dispensed, in the community, in England, in 2007 BNF generic name Item (thousand) Amitriptyline Embonate — Amitriptyline Hydrochloride 6,591.1 Amoxapine — Citalopram Hydrobromide 7,830.7 Clomipramine Hydrochloride 367.1 Desipramine Hydrochloride — Dosulepin Hydrochloride 2077.6 Doxepin 42.0 Duloxetine Hydrochloride 267.3 Escitalopram 1,373.9 Fluoxetine Hydrochloride 5,045.7 Flupentixol Hydrochloride 197.0 Fluvoxamine Maleate 29.9 Imipramine Hydrochloride 209.1 Isocarboxazid 3.3 Lofepramine Hydrochloride 421.6 Maprotiline Hydrochloride 0.3 Mianserin Hydrochloride 9.7 Mirtazapine 2,101.5 Moclobemide 24.9 Nefazodone Hydrochloride 0.5 Nortriptyline 180.0 Oxitriptan — Paroxetine Hydrochloride 1,765.9 Phenelzine Sulphate 24.4 Reboxetine 53.4 Sertraline Hydrochloride 2,032.8 Tranylcypromine Sulphate 12.7 Trazodone Hydrochloride 749.7 Trimipramine Maleate 142.6 Tryptophan 10.3 Venlafaxine 2,274.7 Total 33,839.7

Cardiac Rehabilitation

17th June 2008

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards achieving the Government's target of providing cardiac rehabilitation to 85 per cent. of heart attack and re-vascularisation patients.

Anne Keen: Chapter Seven of the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease, published in 2000, issued appropriate guidance to the national health services regarding the provision of cardiac rehabilitation services. Implementation of this guidance is a matter for the local NHS, working in partnership with stakeholders and the local community. It is for NHS organisations to plan and develop services based on their specific local knowledge and expertise.

Pharmacology Clinical Trials

21st April 2008

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will bring forward legislative proposals to require pharmaceutical companies to disclose the evidence from all their clinical trials.

Dawn Primarolo: The conduct of clinical trials in the European Union (EU) is governed by EU law, implemented in the United Kingdom by means of regulations. These represent a comprehensive framework for the conduct of clinical trials, including requirements on reporting.

However, following an investigation by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency into allegations that GlaxoSmithKline withheld relevant information gathered in clinical trials on the use of Seroxat in children and adolescents, some weaknesses in the law as it stood at the time of the alleged offences were identified.

The Government have made a commitment to clarify and strengthen both EU and UK law in this area. We will seek to strengthen EU legislation on the obligations on pharmaceutical companies to report any information impacting on the risk and benefits of licensed medicines, including the results of clinical trials. In the meantime we will clarify the current law as it applies in the UK. Consultation on changes to UK law will take place in the summer.

The provision of co-trimoxazole for HIV-exposed children

14th January 2008

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to support national governments to encourage the provision of co-trimoxazole to all HIV-exposed children (a) as a prophylaxis and (b) for the treatment of opportunistic infections; and if he will make a statement.

Shahid Malik: Preventing and treating opportunistic infections are vital components of caring for and treating people, including children, living with HIV. A UK-supported trial in Zambia has shown that providing cotrimoxazole to children with HIV reduced mortality by as much as 43 per cent.

DFID is in the forefront of strengthening health systems and improving access to essential drugs. Cotrimoxazole is on the World Health Organisation's essential drugs list and interventions that improve availability of essential drugs will improve access to it.

Essential drugs are intended to be available within the context of functioning health systems at all times in adequate amounts, in the appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality and at a price the individual and the community can afford.

DFID is also working with governments to strengthen their distribution systems for essential drugs. In Zambia we are working with the World Bank to develop a pilot for innovative ways to improve delivery in the public distribution system.