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Doncaster Royal Infirmary Trust
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the names, occupations and qualifications of all persons nominated for appointment as chairman to the Doncaster Royal Infirmary trust; what were the names of those shortlisted; who shortlisted them; and who made the final selection.
Mr. Malone: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 30 November 1994, Official Report , column
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789 . Mr. Raymond Tonkinson, chairman of the Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Montagu Hospital national health service trust, is a company chief executive.Operation Statistics
Ms Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to collect statistics on the number of operations purchased by the private sector, together with their cost.
Dermatology
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on her policy in relation to dermatology; and what response she has made to the submissions by Professor Rona Mackie of Glasgow university, on behalf of the all-party group on the skin.
Mr. Sackville: The provision of dermatology services and the manner in which they are delivered is a matter for health authorities and hospital and community trusts in the light of available resources and local needs and priorities.
I attended a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group on skin on 20 October 1994 when the hon. Member for Linlithgow mentioned Professor Mackie's work. I am not aware of any submissions from Professor Mackie on behalf of the all-party group on skin. We will, of course, consider carefully any such representation.
Domiciliary Care
Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what safeguards exist to ensure proper standards of domiciliary care; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis: The social services inspectorate published guidelines "Developing Quality Standards for Home Support Services" in October 1993, copies of which are available in the Library. A code of practice is produced by the United Kingdom Home Care Association, by which all its members are expected to abide, and the Joint Advisory Group of Domiciliary Care Associations produced a document "A Framework for the Development of Standards for the Delivery of Domiciliary Care" last July. Local authorities who purchase domiciliary care from independent providers are able to include specific standards in their contract specifications, and should monitor compliance with them.
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received domiciliary care in 1993 94; and how many are estimated to need domiciliary care in (a) 1995 96, (b) 1996 97 and (c) 1997 98.
Mr. Bowis: In a sample week in September 1993, there were an estimated total of 512,600 households in England receiving home help or home care.
Estimates are not made for future years.
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to monitor the number of independent sector agencies providing domiciliary care.
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are undertaken to monitor the suitability of domiciliary care provided to individuals who purchase such care directly from private agencies or individuals.
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Mr. Bowis: Domiciliary care agencies are subject to the provisions of the Employment Agencies Act 1973.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Mr. Khabra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the use of synthetic alternatives to premarin and prempak-C in hormone replacement therapy.
Mr. Sackville: There are many other forms of hormone replacement therapy available, all of which are synthetic and all of which can be prescribed under the national health service. It is for the woman and her doctor to decide which preparation is most suitable for her needs.
London Chest Hospital
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans she has to close the London chest hospital;
(2) what plans she has for the future of the London chest hospital under "Making London Better".
Mr. Malone: "Making London Better" reported that North East Thames regional health authority would initiate public consultation on proposals to merge the management of the London chest hospital with that of the Royal London hospital. Following public consultation, the Royal Hospitals trust was established incorporating the London chest hospital, the Royal London hospital and St. Bartholomew's hospital. East London and the City health authority is currently consulting on proposals to consolidate the trust's services at the Royal London hospital, Whitechapel. No decisions will be taken until all the responses to public consultation have been fully considered.
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the research rating of the London chest hospital in relation to other hospitals.
Mr. Malone: The London chest hospital was included in the 1993 review of the research and development taking place in the London postgraduate special health authorities, as part of the Royal Brompton National Heart and Lung hospitals SHA. The Review Advisory Committee's report did not give a separate rating for the London chest hospital.
Closures
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance she has given in relation to district health authorities taking account of local opinion when deciding to close services.
Mr. Sackville: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave her on 8 February, Official Report, column 277.
Glaucoma and Diabetic Eye Disease
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost to the NHS of treating glaucoma and diabetic eye disease in each of the last five years.
Mr. Sackville: This information is not available centrally.
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Waiting Times
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average waiting time (a) to see a consultant privately and (b) to see a consultant in the NHS in each of the last five years (i) generally and (ii) by specialty where such figures are available.
Mr. Malone: We do not collect information on waiting times for patients who see consultants in the private sector. Provisional information on outpatient waiting times for patients seen in the national health service is only available for the quarter ending 30 September 1994 and is contained in statistical bulletin 95/3, copies of which are available in the Library. This shows how long patients seen over the quarter had to wait following written referral by a general practitioner within specified time bands but does not give average waiting times.
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give the current average waiting times for operations (a) in the NHS and (b) privately.
Mr. Malone: In 1992 93, the latest year for which information on national health service operations is available, the average waiting times for patients admitted from waiting lists or who had booked admissions was just over three months. We do not collect information on waiting times in the private sector.
Opthamology
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was (a) the cost to the NHS in treating eye diseases and (b) the total budget for ophthalmology in each of the last five years.
Mr. Sackville: District health authorities are funded through their general allocations for purchasing ophthalmology services. Expenditure by health authorities and national health service trusts on opthamology is shown in the table.
|Expenditure
Year |£000 (cash)
------------------------------------
1989-90 |159,804
1990-91 |177,976
1991-92 |293,825
1992-93 |308,715
1993-94 |328,953
Note:
Figures after 1991-92 are not
directly comparable with earlier
years due to a change in accounting
policy and practice with the
introduction of the internal
market.
Source:
Annual financial returns of
district, regional and special
health authorities-1989-90 to
1993-94-and NHS trusts-1991-92 to
1993-94.
Consultants
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional payments are made to NHS consultants to perform operations on NHS patients privately (a) in NHS hospitals and (b) in private hospitals.
Mr. Malone: Such payments are a matter for the individuals concerned.
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Cataract Operations
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cataract operations were performed in each of the last five years; and what was the average cost of a cataract operation in England.
Mr. Sackville: The number of cataract operations performed in the last five years up to and including 1992 93 are shown in the table.
Year ------------------------------ 1988-89 |82.3 1989-90 |92.2 1990-91 |97.9 1991-92 |111.7 1992-93 |118.6 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics. Note: Information on the average cost of cataract operations is not available centrally.
Closures, Hertfordshire
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what weight will be given to the views of Hertfordshire general practitioners on the closure of two Hertfordshire accident and emergency departments; and if she will make a statement;
(2) what is her policy in respect of closures of accident and emergency units in Hertfordshire for the next five years; and if she will make a statement;
(3) if she will make a statement on the proposed closure of two accident and emergency units in Hertfordshire, and the plans she has for hospital services in Hertfordshire.
Mr. Sackville: Hertfordshire health agency recently initiated a period of public debate on possible future patterns of health services, including accident and emergency services, in the county. The right hon. Member may wish to contact Ms Jenny Griffiths, chief executive of Hertfordshire health agency, for information on the conclusions that have been reached following this period of public discussion.
Supplementary Medicine Review
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who will be the chairman of the review body for the review of the professions supplementary to the Medicine Act 1960; and when she expects to introduce measures for the protection of fully qualified physiotherapists.
Mr. Sackville: We intend to commission an independent review to examine the current operations of the statutory bodies concerned. The study team has yet to be decided. The report, to be produced within a year, should provide an authoritative and objective base from which to carry out a more comprehensive consultation on future arrangements.
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St. Christopher Nursing Home
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will request a report from the chair of the Hertfordshire health authority on its investigation into the number of deaths at Takare plc St Christopher nursing home; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis: Investigations into deaths in any nursing home are a matter for the relevant health authority.
Hertfordshire Health Agency
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the members of the Hertfordshire health agency, the chief executive, their qualifications and a list of their outside interests.
Mr. Malone: The Hertfordshire health agency is an agency of the three Hertfordshire district health authorities--East and North Herts, South West Herts and North West Herts--and Hertfordshire family health services authority. Control of the agency rests with the four boards of the authorities. The chief executive is Ms Jenny Griffiths. The right hon. Member may wish to contact Ms Griffiths for any additional information.
Out-of-hours Service
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average cost of the general practitioner out-of-hours service per general practitioner in each of the last five years.
Mr. Malone: The cost of general practitioners' out-of-hours services is not separately identifiable within total GP remuneration.
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the model of general practitioner out-of-hours services to be promoted by her Department.
Mr. Malone: The Department promotes general practitioner out of hours services which provide high-quality care for patients and manage effectively GP work load. It is for individual GPs to decide the exact model which best suits local needs.
Authority Funding
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list (a) real funding and (b) the preferred funding per head of population for each (i) district health authority and (ii) family health services authority in (1) 1992 93, (2) 1993 94, (3) 1994 95, (4) 1995 96 and (5) 1996 97.
Mr. Sackville: The information is not available centrally.
Population Statistics
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give the average population by family health services authority from (a) census data and (b) general practitioner list size data.
Mr. Malone: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for York (Mr. Bayley) on 10 January, columns 129-31.
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Takare plc Nursing Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will investigate the arrangements made by district health authorities in respect of the registration of Takare plc Nursing Homes; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis: The registration and inspection of nursing homes is wholly delegated to health authorities.
Junior Doctors
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of operations was performed by junior doctors and what percentage by consultants in each of the last five years.
Mr. Sackville: The information is not available centrally.
Consultation
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her policy on the extent to which health authorities and health commissioning agencies should take account of the views of the local population and general practitioners.
Mr. Malone: Health authorities are expected to consult widely with their local populations, general practitioners and other interested agencies in establishing local priorities, developing annual purchasing plans and longer term strategies. Recent
guidance--EL(94)79--sets out an enhanced role for GPs working in partnership with health authorities in developing local health strategies. Copies of the guidance are available in the Library.
General Practitioners (Night Visits)
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many night visits were carried out by general practitioners in each of the last five years; and how many night visit claims were submitted by general practitioners in each of the last five years.
Mr. Malone: The table shows the number of night visits in each of the last five years, calculated from information held by the Department of Health on the number of night visit fee claims by general practitioners.
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Financial year |Number of visits --------------------------------------------------- 1993-94 |1,832,456 1992-93 |1,585,999 1991-92 |1,712,245 1990-91 |1,586,960 1989-90 |936,148 Note: In 1989-90, night visit fees were payable for the period from 11 pm to 7 am. From 1990-91, this period was extended to cover 10 pm to 8 am.
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance she proposes to issue on the maximum target time before a patient needing emergency care from a general practitioner, should be initially assessed by that general practitioner.
Mr. Malone: None. All general practitioners are bound by their terms of service. It is for GPs to exercise their professional judgment, within these terms of service, as to when a patient needs to be seen.
Deprivation
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the average deprivation score for each district health authority.
Mr. Malone: Information will be placed in the Library showing figures for district health authorities calculated using the same method as the Department of the Environment's ward index of local conditions.
Bed Closures, London
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the number of (a) acute bed closures and (b) long-stay bed closures in London since the publication of the Tomlinson report.
Mr. Malone [holding answer 30 January 1995]: This information is not available centrally. However, analysis of published data on available beds suggests that the bed reductions in inner London as defined by Tomlinson, including special health authorities, between 1990 91 and 1993 94 were:
1,399 for acute beds and
900 for long-stay beds.
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