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Written question asked by Andrew Mackinlay (Labour) on Tuesday, 24 November 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 December 2009. It was answered by Ann Keen (Labour) on Thursday, 3 December 2009 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Aortic Aneurysm: Screening

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 3 November 2009, Official Report, column 909W, on aortic aneurysm, (1) what the precise locations are of the early implementation sites of ultrasound screening facilities for aortic aneurysm at (a) West Sussex, (b) Leicester, (c) Gloucester, (d) South Manchester, (e) South Devon and Exeter and (f) South West London; and how many patients have been screened at each such location to date;
Answer

Following the ministerial announcement in January 2008, six early implementation sites commenced screening from April 2009 onwards. There are four more programmes scheduled to start screening early in the new year.All ultrasound screening is carried out in the community at general practitioner (GP) practices and community hospitals within the early implementation sites geographical location.Currently the precise location of each ultrasound screening site is not held centrally. An information technology (IT) screening management system is in development and will roll out in the next week. It is expected that during early 2010 when the IT system is fully operational this information will be available.To date the numbers of men screened are:

Screening programme Numbers screened
West Sussex 1,500
Leicester 6,126
Gloucester 2,500
South Manchester 940
South Devon and Exeter 1,093
South West London 1,179

The NHS Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening programme (NAAASP) is being introduced gradually to make sure it works as effectively as possible. It is important that in the early stages of roll out processes and procedures are assessed and evaluated to ensure that the programme is providing the best possible service.In order to be considered as a screening site local hospitals with their primary care trusts are required to submit an application to the NAAASP to show that they can deliver a quality service that meets the standards set out by the national programme.Business cases for the next phase of roll out are due for submission at the end of November and following a review, more programmes will be announced in the new year.Criteria that has been endorsed by the UK National Screening Committee, the Department's Vascular Board and the NAAASP and developed to ensure that men referred for treatment as a result of screening have the best possible outcomes can be found at:"http://aaa.screening.nhs.uk/Implementation_Guidance"

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
501 c929-30W; 302396
Session
2009-10
Subjects
Screening Aortic aneurysm
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk