To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many cancer centres have (a) permanent Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) offices located on the same site and (b) access to outreach PALS offices; (78418)

Because of the local nature of the patient advice and liaison service (PALS), the Department does not keep central data relating to PALS operational activities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what training is available to patient advice and liaison service (PALS) workers to enable them to offer or refer clients to information and advice on welfare benefits; what proportion of PALS workers have (a) requested and (b) received such training. (78426)

The Department is working with the Department for Work and Pensions to make available advice on benefits to all patients including those with a terminal illness.

“Our Health, Our Care, Our Say; a new direction for community services” proposes that an information prescription will be developed for people with long-term health and social care needs. The information prescription will signpost people, including patients with cancer, to further information and advice about services, including where to get advice and information on benefits. We expect to include any support, like training, that professionals might need to give information prescriptions to people, in pilots that will be taking place before the prescription is introduced in 2008.