Written question asked by Lord Vaizey of Didcot (Conservative) on Friday, 6 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 October 2006. It was answered by Caroline Flint (Labour) on Wednesday, 11 October 2006 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Tuberculosis Action Plan

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of progress towards the Chief Medical Officer's targets of (a) a two per cent. reduction per year in rates of tuberculosis in population groups born in England and (b) a reduction in the incidence of tuberculosis among people who entered the country and became resident here within the last five years.

Answer: The Chief Medical Officer's action plan for tuberculosis (TB) was launched in October 2004 and the Department has been developing a toolkit to help the national health service to implement the key points of the action plan through effective commissioning and delivery of services. The toolkit provides models of good practice for laboratory services and surveillance as well as service delivery and is expected to be finished by December 2006. TB services should always follow the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence clinical guidelines, published in March 2006, when treating patients. We will be working with the Healthcare Commission to ensure that TB services are monitored. Changes in TB services in the NHS will take time to come into operation and it is too early to assess the impact of the action plan or whether the targets are being achieved.

Secondary information