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Miss Widdecombe : Names of firms of consultants used by the Department as part of the market testing programme since November 1991 are as follows :
Coopers and Lybrand
Kodak
KPMG
Hemsley Miller and Co.
PA Consultancy
PMMS Consulting
Price Waterhouse
SEMA Consultants
Symonds Facilities Management
Touche Ross
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The total cost of consultancy support to the end of December 1992 has been some £610,000.Executive Agencies
Mrs. Roe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security at what stage (a) drafts and (b) copies of letters from chief executives of agencies within his responsibility, in response to parliamentary questions, are submitted to Ministers.
Miss Widdecombe : The chief executives of our agencies reply direct on the operational matters which have been delegated to them. Ministers receive a courtesy copy of replies on the day before they are answered.
War Pensioners
Mr. Michael Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he intends to establish an executive agency for war pensioners.
Mr. Lilley : A new War Pensions Agency will be established on 1 April 1994. The agency will be responsible for the assessment and payment of war pensions, the war pensioners welfare service, and the Ilford Park Polish Home in Devon. I am pleased to be able to announce this fulfilment of the Government's election manifesto pledge. The establishment of a separate agency for war pensions will lead to greater efficiency in the administration of these benefits and provide a higher quality service for war pensioners and war widows, in keeping with the citizens charter.
Recruitment of a chief executive is beginning immediately.
Benefits Agency
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many letters addressed to the Benefits Agency by hon. Members, on the subject of attendance allowance and disability living allowance, have taken longer than seven months to secure a reply ; when he first assessed the time taken to reply to hon. Members' correspondence ; and what action he has taken to reduce delays.
Mr. Scott : The arrangements for replying to correspondence from hon. Members to the Benefits Agency is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. David Nicholson, dated 9 February 1993 :
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the time taken to reply to honourable Members' correspondence about Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA).
You ask how many letters addressed to the Benefits Agency on these subjects have taken longer than seven months to secure a reply. I am aware of 13 cases, where letters about DLA have been sent direct to me or have been referred to me by Ministers and a reply has not been sent within seven months. I very much regret that such long delays have occurred. As I explained in my letter to you of 19 January on an individual case you had raised, the delays are due to the
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backlog of correspondence that has built up in the DLA Unit following the greater than expected workload faced by Unit in the early months of the DLA scheme. In 1992 I replied to 4,461 letters on all subjects from Members.The delay in replying to Members' letters about DLA does not, of course, mean that action is not proceeding on a customer's claim. In fact in most cases where there is a long outstanding reply the claim will have been resolved much earlier. You will recall that in the case discussed in my letter of 19 January, benefit was awarded in August 1992. Clearly you should have been notified of this very much sooner than you were and I apologise for this.
The Benefits Agency monitors the amount of correspondence received and the time taken to reply on a regular basis. Since December 1992 this has been monitored on a weekly basis ; prior to that the position was monitored monthly. The substantial increase in correspondence (80 per cent. up on 1991) and the consequent delays in response time began to become clear from mid 1992 onwards. As you will understand, the initial impetus was to clear the backlog of claims thus ensuring that decisions were given and payments made to customers as quickly as possible. I wrote to all Members explaining the steps I had taken to tackle this on 19 October 1992.
Since November 1992 additional staff have been taken on in the correspondence sections both centrally and in the DLA Unit and substantial overtime is also being worked. A recovery plan for clearing the backlog of correspondence is now in operation at the DLA Unit with a view to substantially reducing the number of letters awaiting reply by the end of this month. Once the backlog is cleared it will be our aim to respond to all future correspondence within the Agency's target of twenty working days.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.
HEALTH
Nurses, Merseyside
Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide increased funds for skilled nurses on Merseyside, in respect of the community care, hospital in the home, health of the nation, and the patients charter initiatives.
Mr. Sackville : The allocation of national health service funding in Merseyside is the responsibility of Mersey regional health authority. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman, Professor A. M. Breckenridge, for details.
Nurse Prescribing
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the (a) implementation costs, (b) annual running costs and (c) potential time saved per year for general practitioners, nurses, carers and patients in hours, associated with nurse prescribing.
Mr. Sackville : The cost benefit study on nurse prescribing carried out for the Department by Touche Ross estimated that the costs of implementation would be approximately £11 million in 1991-92 prices. Running costs would depend substantially on the extent to which nurse prescribing resulted in an increase in the total drugs prescribed. The report made a central estimate of £15 million per year. It estimated possible theoretical savings of 170,000 hours of GP time per year, 650,000 hours of district nurse, health visitor and practice nurse time per year and 590,000 hours of patients' and carers' time. A copy of the report is available in the Library.
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Hospitals
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals in each region are on (a) yellow alert and (b) red alert.
Mr. Sackville : Health authorities and trusts all have arrangements for managing their resources to cope with particularly high and unexpected levels of admissions. The action which is needed will vary according to local circumstances and there is not therefore a nationally agreed definition of "red" and "yellow" alerts.
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Nurses
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the number of qualified nursing staff by specialty for each region in each year since 1989.
Mr. Sackville [holding answer 18 January 1993] : The information requested is shown in the tables. The source of the data is the Department's non-medical manpower census. Figures are rounded to the nearest ten. The England totals include figures for family health service authorities and other statutory authorities. The special health authorities figures in 1991 include staff from the special hospitals services authority.
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NHS qualified nursing and midwifery staff (excluding agency) by area of work, by RHA at September 1989
Within hospital services
Midwifery/maternity:
RHA area |General nursing|Care of elderly|Paediatric |Mental illness |Mental handicap|Midwifery staff|Nursing staff |Education |Other |Hospital total
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |6,830 |2,110 |490 |2,430 |910 |1,060 |240 |290 |220 |14,580
Yorkshire |7,360 |2,240 |550 |2,610 |850 |1,320 |240 |380 |140 |15,690
Trent |8,290 |2,610 |920 |3,280 |1,330 |1,390 |450 |450 |130 |18,840
East Anglia |3,670 |1,270 |190 |1,360 |600 |620 |180 |160 |160 |8,220
North West Thames |5,380 |1,610 |390 |2,770 |960 |980 |260 |340 |130 |12,820
North East Thames |7,920 |1,920 |370 |2,820 |820 |1,310 |300 |550 |410 |16,440
South East Thames |5,290 |1,040 |480 |1,910 |270 |670 |440 |190 |6,970 |17,270
South West Thames |4,750 |1,450 |350 |2,460 |1,390 |860 |150 |330 |50 |11,780
Wessex |5,330 |1,600 |370 |1,890 |750 |930 |190 |300 |90 |11,440
Oxford |4,130 |1,090 |350 |1,230 |620 |820 |220 |240 |80 |8,770
South Western |6,150 |1,660 |400 |2,250 |1,220 |990 |210 |300 |50 |13,230
West Midlands |9,540 |2,850 |760 |3,420 |1,460 |1,820 |410 |520 |170 |20,940
Mersey |4,830 |1,540 |680 |2,160 |620 |870 |180 |260 |40 |11,170
North Western |8,450 |2,550 |900 |2,940 |1,270 |1,670 |300 |490 |270 |18,860
Special Health
Authorities |1,670 |60 |600 |350 |- |140 |60 |90 |370 |3,350
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
England |89,600 |25,610 |7,800 |33,870 |13,070 |15,470 |3,830 |4,880 |9,300 |203,420
Column 601
National health service qualified nursing and midwifery staff (excluding agency) by area of work
by regional health authority
September 1989
Within primary
health care
Regional health |Health visitors |Other health |District nurses |Other district |Midwifery |Education |Other |Primary health care|Admin. nurses |Centrally based |Total qualified
authorities |visiting |nursing |total |services |nurses
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |670 |60 |770 |400 |260 |- |320 |2,480 |90 |110 |17,260
Yorkshire |790 |120 |730 |480 |350 |10 |330 |2,800 |70 |110 |18,670
Trent |950 |100 |970 |700 |490 |20 |370 |3,600 |160 |120 |22,720
East Anglia |360 |60 |340 |250 |210 |- |180 |1,400 |40 |60 |9,720
North West Thames 650 250 520 630 250 10 410 2,710 100 220 15,850
North East Thames |650 |150 |580 |620 |300 |10 |530 |2,830 |130 |160 |19,570
South East Thames |230 |140 |240 |330 |170 |10 |520 |1,640 |60 |120 |19,070
South West Thames |590 |90 |580 |410 |210 |10 |310 |2,190 |80 |100 |14,150
Wessex |590 |90 |580 |340 |250 |- |240 |2,080 |60 |80 |13,660
Oxford |540 |50 |520 |200 |180 |- |290 |1,790 |60 |70 |10,680
South Western |640 |40 |710 |400 |240 |- |380 |2,410 |120 |100 |15,870
West Midlands |1,060 |160 |990 |670 |480 |10 |540 |3,900 |150 |140 |25,140
Mersey |540 |30 |530 |320 |230 |- |280 |1,940 |40 |110 |13,260
North Western |1,100 |120 |980 |750 |460 |- |540 |3,950 |170 |190 |23,160
Special health authorities |0 |0 |10 |0 |- |0 |0 |20 |20 |10 |3,390
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
England |9,340 |1,470 |9,050 |6,480 |4,080 |80 |5,230 |35,730 |1,340 |1,700 |242,190
Column 603
NHS qualified nursing and midwifery staff (excluding agency) by area of work, by RHA at September 1990
Within hospital services
Midwifery/maternity:
RHA area |General nursing|Care of elderly|Paediatric |Mental illness |Mental handicap|Midwifery staff|Nursing staff |Education |Other |Hospital total
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |6,680 |1,910 |480 |2,340 |860 |1,030 |260 |270 |520 |14,340
Yorkshire |7,390 |2,160 |570 |2,610 |790 |1,310 |250 |370 |180 |15,630
Trent |8,480 |2,790 |970 |3,230 |1,290 |1,410 |450 |490 |140 |19,250
East Anglia |3,560 |1,260 |160 |1,360 |590 |610 |170 |160 |430 |8,310
North West Thames |5,290 |1,620 |380 |2,660 |970 |970 |260 |320 |120 |12,600
North East Thames |7,930 |1,930 |400 |2,960 |840 |1,350 |290 |560 |450 |16,710
South East Thames |6,290 |1,650 |590 |2,450 |570 |1,080 |250 |60 |2,780 |15,710
South West Thames |4,520 |1,410 |330 |2,440 |1,380 |790 |150 |310 |100 |11,420
Wessex |5,470 |1,650 |360 |1,900 |800 |910 |220 |310 |120 |11,740
Oxford |4,310 |1,130 |360 |1,270 |650 |830 |210 |230 |130 |9,130
South Western |6,420 |1,640 |450 |2,320 |1,240 |950 |220 |380 |40 |13,670
West Midlands |9,730 |2,760 |820 |3,430 |1,470 |1,880 |440 |540 |250 |21,320
Mersey |4,810 |1,380 |690 |2,060 |590 |880 |180 |250 |50 |10,890
North Western |8,400 |2,410 |950 |3,020 |1,200 |1,690 |300 |480 |150 |18,610
Special Health
Authorities |1,740 |90 |560 |350 |10 |60 |130 |50 |340 |3,340
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
England |91,030 |25,800 |8,090 |34,400 |13,250 |15,730 |3,790 |4,790 |5,850 |202,730
Column 603
National health service qualified nursing and midwifery staff (excluding agency) by area of work
by regional health authority
September 1990
Within primary
health care
Regional health |Health visitors |Other health |District nurses |Other district |Midwifery |Education |Other |Primary health care|Admin. nurses |Centrally based |Total qualified
authorities |visiting |nursing |total |services |nurses
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |660 |60 |760 |410 |240 |10 |300 |2,440 |70 |110 |16,950
Yorkshire |770 |110 |700 |480 |350 |10 |300 |2,720 |70 |120 |18,540
Trent |950 |100 |920 |740 |480 |10 |380 |3,570 |150 |120 |23,090
East Anglia |330 |50 |310 |250 |210 |- |190 |1,350 |40 |60 |9,760
North West Thames 640 250 510 620 250 10 410 2,680 100 210 15,590
North East Thames |660 |160 |560 |640 |270 |10 |530 |2,830 |120 |150 |19,800
South East Thames |710 |80 |760 |450 |330 |10 |510 |2,840 |80 |110 |18,740
South West Thames |590 |80 |550 |430 |190 |10 |320 |2,150 |80 |110 |13,760
Wessex |600 |110 |550 |350 |240 |- |250 |2,090 |60 |80 |13,970
Oxford |540 |50 |520 |190 |180 |- |300 |1,780 |60 |70 |11,030
South Western |690 |50 |660 |380 |280 |- |360 |2,430 |120 |100 |16,320
West Midlands |1,020 |150 |970 |660 |460 |10 |570 |3,850 |150 |150 |25,460
Mersey |500 |40 |500 |330 |230 |- |280 |1,890 |50 |100 |12,930
North Western |1,090 |120 |960 |780 |470 |0 |520 |3,940 |170 |210 |22,920
Special health authorities |0 |0 |0 |0 |20 |0 |0 |20 |20 |10 |3,390
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
England |9,740 |1,400 |9,230 |6,700 |4,200 |80 |5,220 |36,570 |1,320 |1,720 |242,340
Column 603
NHS qualified nursing and midwifery staff (excluding agency) by area of work, by RHA at September 1991
Within hospital services
Midwifery/maternity:
RHA area |General nursing|Care of elderly|Paediatric |Mental illness |Mental handicap|Midwifery staff|Nursing staff |Education |Other |Hospital total
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |6,550 |1,960 |450 |2,290 |820 |1,050 |240 |280 |730 |14,360
Yorkshire |7,050 |2,000 |640 |2,660 |790 |1,290 |330 |410 |270 |15,420
Trent |8,770 |2,650 |1,020 |3,200 |1,250 |1,400 |450 |520 |220 |19,480
East Anglia |3,660 |1,180 |170 |1,360 |600 |580 |240 |200 |330 |8,330
North West Thames |5,810 |1,760 |460 |2,660 |990 |920 |340 |330 |190 |13,470
North East Thames |7,950 |2,030 |420 |3,040 |830 |1,370 |320 |540 |570 |17,070
South East Thames |5,790 |1,500 |460 |2,220 |570 |1,030 |250 |170 |1,930 |13,920
South West Thames |5,350 |1,490 |310 |2,140 |1,160 |860 |190 |330 |100 |11,930
Wessex |5,620 |1,640 |400 |1,910 |770 |910 |220 |320 |120 |11,900
Oxford |4,330 |1,200 |360 |1,320 |660 |850 |250 |190 |210 |9,360
South Western |6,180 |1,780 |470 |2,300 |1,210 |860 |290 |210 |160 |13,460
West Midlands |9,560 |2,570 |920 |3,420 |1,430 |1,820 |400 |560 |420 |21,090
Mersey |4,830 |1,300 |720 |1,920 |530 |880 |180 |190 |80 |10,630
North Western |8,700 |2,420 |990 |3,070 |1,170 |1,720 |290 |470 |140 |18,970
Special Health
Authorities |1,830 |90 |600 |1,700 |10 |70 |140 |90 |470 |4,990
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
England |92,000 |25,560 |8,400 |35,210 |12,790 |15,590 |4,120 |4,800 |5,920 |204,390
Column 605
National health service qualified nursing and midwifery staff (excluding agency) by area of work
by regional health authority
September 1991
Within primary
health care
Regional health |Health visitors |Other health |District nurses |Other district |Midwifery |Education |Other |Primary health care|Admin. nurses |Centrally based |Total qualified
authorities |visiting |nursing |total |services |nurses
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |650 |50 |720 |410 |240 |10 |290 |2,360 |60 |100 |16,880
Yorkshire |770 |130 |560 |470 |340 |- |380 |2,660 |270 |130 |18,480
Trent |940 |100 |880 |740 |490 |10 |400 |3,560 |130 |120 |23,290
East Anglia |350 |40 |280 |290 |210 |10 |230 |1,390 |30 |60 |9,810
North West Thames 630 260 460 630 220 10 370 2,570 70 180 16,280
North East Thames |650 |150 |550 |580 |240 |10 |520 |2,710 |120 |160 |20,050
South East Thames |650 |70 |650 |390 |280 |10 |490 |2,540 |60 |100 |16,620
South West Thames |520 |70 |560 |280 |180 |- |290 |1,910 |150 |130 |14,120
Wessex |580 |120 |540 |340 |240 |- |270 |2,100 |50 |80 |14,130
Oxford |550 |50 |530 |190 |180 |- |340 |1,830 |60 |70 |11,320
South Western |610 |80 |560 |450 |320 |10 |400 |2,430 |120 |120 |16,130
West Midlands |1,010 |140 |950 |690 |420 |10 |620 |3,840 |140 |140 |25,210
Mersey |490 |40 |480 |350 |220 |0 |280 |1,650 |40 |100 |12,620
North Western |1,100 |80 |950 |790 |490 |20 |510 |3,930 |160 |170 |23,230
Special health authorities |0 |0 |0 |0 |20 |0 |0 |20 |30 |10 |5,050
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
England |9,490 |1,390 |8,680 |6,590 |4,090 |90 |5,380 |35,710 |1,470 |1,680 |243,250
Welsh Language
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to include a question on the number of Welsh speakers residing in the United Kingdom as a whole within the next census.
Mr. Sackville : Full consideration will be given to the case for including a language question in the next census which would count people living outside Wales who speak Welsh.
The topic content of the censuses of population in the United Kingdom, planned for 2001, will need to be approved by Parliament, around the end of 1999.
Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to introduce ring-fenced funding for residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation services.
Mr. Yeo : On 2 October 1992 my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced her decision that a ring-fenced community care special transitional grant would be made available to local authorities in England in 1993-94 for the implementation for community care, including for the purchase of residential care for people who misuse alcohol and/or drugs.
Column 606
West Midlands Regional Health Authority
Mr. Spellar : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the financial terms of the appointment of the temporary chairman of the West Midlands regional health authority ; what provisions there are for extending his contract ; and what financial provisions cover the termination of his contract.
Dr. Mawhinney : All regional health authority chairmen receive annual remuneration of £20,925. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made no decision to extend the appointment of Sir Donald Wilson beyond 30 April 1993 nor are there contractual provisions which cover the termination of such an appointment.
National Health Service Trusts
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the auditors and legal advisers of each trust in the Gateshead and Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside health authority areas.
Dr. Mawhinney : The appointment of legal advisers is a matter for each National Health Service trust, and this information is not held centrally. The external auditors of health bodies are appointed by the Audit Commission. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of the Audit Commission for details of auditors of the relevant trusts.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the membership, remuneration and place of residence of hospital trust board non-executive members in the northern region ; and whether she proposes to increase the remuneration scales in the next financial year.
Column 607
Dr. Mawhinney : A list of all trust non-executive appointees in the Northern region, together with their place of residence, is as follows.
National health service trust non-executive directors are entitled to remuneration of £5,000 per annum. No decision has been made to increase the remuneration of chairmen or non-executive directors. First wave trusts Northern region The Freeman Group of Hospitals NHS Trust
Mrs. M. Border--Newcastle
Mr. R. Middleton--Wylam
Mr. J. Ward--Newcastle
Miss H. Goodworth--Newcastle
Dr. R. Freeman--Newcastle
Newcastle Mental Health Services NHS Trust
Mrs. I. Cheyne--Newcastle
Mr. D. Wilsoner--Newcastle
Professor I. Ferrier--Newcastle
Mr. B. Roycroft--Newcastle
Mr. N. Price--Newcastle
Northumbria Ambulance NHS Trust
Mr. P. Moth--Newcastle
Dr. J. Higson--Newcastle
Mr. A. Ferguson--Ashington
Mr. A. Knight--Hexham
Mr. D. Smith--Newcastle
Second wave trusts Northern region Northern Tees Health NHS Trust
Ms. Jean Slater--Stockton-on-Tees
Mr. Paul Jackson--Stockton-on-Tees
Mr. Nevile Tate--Stockton-on-Tees
Mr. Robert Stewart--Guisborough
Mr. Charles Porter--Stockton-on-Tees
South Tees Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Mr. David Collier--Richmond
Mr. John Webster--Redcar
Mr. Roger Kingdon--Stockton-on-Tees
Mr. Simon Still--Darlington
Mrs. H. Thompson--Middlesborough
Cleveland Ambulance NHS Trust
Mr. Terry Weastell--Northallerton
Ms. Susan Bush--Northallerton
Mr. Kevin Fletcher--Middlesbrough
Mr. Keith Hellawell--Saltburn
Mrs. Patricia Campbell--Guisborough
Gateshead Community Health NHS Trust
Mrs. Penny Remfry--Whitley Bay
Mr. Malcolm Scott--Gateshead
Mr. David Mitford--Newcastle
Mr. Ronald Dixon--Blaydon
Dr. R. Jackson--Blaydon
Northgate NHS Trust
Ms. Susan Adams--Wall
Mrs. Jocelyn Stephenson--Morpeth
Mr. Jeremy Handley--Morpeth
Professor John Rear--Newcastle
Mr. G. Rutherford--Morpeth
The RVI Infirmary and Associated Hospitals Trust
Professor John Davison--Newcastle
Mrs. Susan Wilson--Whalton
Miss Audrey Willis--Hexham
Mr. P. Stoddart--Sunderland
Mrs. K. Brunton--Corbridge
Third wave trusts Northern region Cumbria Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Mr. David Dickinson--Whitehaven
Rear Admiral Ian Pirnie--Ulverston
Mr. J. Clayton--Carlisle
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