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Dept of Health

Answer

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action (a) has been taken and (b) is planned to address NHS provision for the management of overweight and obese patients that were identified as patchy in the National Audit Office report on Tackling Obesity in England. [127688] Miss Melanie Johnson: The NHS Plan and the national service framework for coronary heart disease (CHD) (launched after the National Audit Office survey), sets standards for health authorities in partnership with local authorities, primary care trusts (PCTs) and NHS trusts, for the development and delivery of effective policies for reducing overweight and obesity, promoting healthy eating and increase physical activity. The NHS Priorities and Planning Framework for 2003-06 includes targets on reducing CHD. One of these targets requires practice-based registers and systematic treatment regimes, including appropriate advice on diet, physical activity and smoking, to cover the majority of patients at high risk of coronary heart disease, particularly those with hypertension, diabetes and a body mass index greater than 30 (that is, people who are obese). PCTs, as local providers and commissioners of services, determine the most appropriate methods to deliver health care to their populations, based on clinical need and effectiveness, as well as local circumstances, drawing on the available evidence. The Health Development Agency will publish their review of effective interventions for the prevention and treatment of obesity later this year. Work on how to put the evidence into practice is also being taken forward. In line with recommendations of the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee reports, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the Health Development Agency have been tasked by the Department of Health to work collaboratively to develop guidance on the identification, prevention and management of obesity and maintenance of weight reduction.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

127688; 410 c247-8W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Health services Health education Heart diseases Medical treatments Obesity Standards

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk