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Surplus Land Sales
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the capital projects in the NHS funded by the sale of surplus land or buildings since 1992; and how much was realised by each sale. [14462]
Mr. Horam: The proceeds from the sale of surplus land and buildings are not assigned to fund specific developments. Receipts contribute to the overall national health service capital programme.
Management Staff
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) chief executives and (b) senior managers of (i) NHS trusts and (ii) health authorities have been dismissed in each of the last three years; and how many have retired for reasons other than the normal retirement age. [14474]
Mr. Malone: This information is not available centrally.
Mr. Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he issues to NHS trusts regarding the remuneration packages of senior managers and the annual improvements in their pay and conditions. [14476]
Mr. Malone: National health service trust boards are accountable for the proper appointment, appraisal and remuneration of their senior executives and, as in all their functions, boards must have regard to the public service values of accountability, probity and openness enshrined in the codes of conduct and accountability issued to NHS boards in April 1994. The code of accountability requires all NHS boards to establish a remuneration and terms of service committee to exercise proper control of executive board members' remuneration.
For those staff employed on the national terms and conditions for general and senior managers, guidance has been issued periodically on the changes in salary rates in a series of health service guidelines, health circulars and personnel memoranda, copies of which are in the Library.
Mr. Nicholson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what powers he has to remove NHS trust and health authority senior managers proceeded against (i) in the courts and (ii) by the health service commissioner for maladministration; and how often he has used these powers since 1990; [14475]
Mr. Malone:
Powers to dismiss senior national health service staff lie solely with individual NHS employers.
It is for NHS employers to ensure the suitability of staff appointed. They are expected to have in place formal systems of recruitment and selection, which would include the taking up of references from former employers and the giving of proper consideration to the previous career history of candidates for employment.
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Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the NHS executive annual planning guidance on nurses in training for each year since 1990. [14450]
Mr. Horam:
In August 1995 the Department issued formal planning guidance for the first time: the non-medical education and training planning guidance for 1996-97 education commissioning, EL(95)96, copies of which are available in the Library.
Mr. Battle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration his Department has given to directing all NHS trust hospitals to conform to Treasury rules concerning commercial activities and returns on capital employed. [14503]
Mr. Malone:
Trusts are bound by a requirement to fix charges for planned commercial activity, including private patient work, so that cross subsidy with NHS activity is avoided and an appropriate rate of return on capital employed is achieved.
Mr. Barry Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has issued to parents of children who have been advised not to have the MMR vaccination because of contra-indications in other members of the same family; and what implications this guidance has for general practitioners in rural areas achieving their immunisation targets. [14445]
Mr. Horam:
There are very few true contra-indications to immunisation; these are listed in the Heath Education Authority's leaflet, "A Guide to Childhood Immunisations", which is available to all parents.
General practitioner immunisation target levels allow for the fact that immunisation is contra-indicated for some children.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the probity pledge proposed to NHS trust and health authorities by the NHS executive. [14522]
Mr. Malone:
No new pledge on probity has been proposed by the national health service executive. On 26 April 1994 my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Health, announced in the House the publication of codes of conduct and accountability. These codes, which keep public values at the heart of the operation and management of the NHS, were to be adopted by the boards of all NHS authorities and trusts. They require that all matters in the NHS be conducted with due regard to the very highest standards of probity, accountability and openness.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he proposes to take regarding executive managers from the Royal Berkshire Ambulance Trust
13 Feb 1996 : Column: 561
using an emergency ambulance to attend a coroners' court. [14639]
Mr. Horam:
This is a matter for the Royal Berkshire Ambulance Service National Health Service trust. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mrs. Rosalie Monbiot OBE, chairman of the trust, for this information.
Ms Harman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) practising doctors and (b) practising doctors per capita there are in each European Union country. [14907]
Mr. Malone:
This information is not available centrally. However, the second--1995--report of the Medical Workforce Standing Advisory Committee, copies of which are in the Library, gives data on physicians per 1,000 population in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and United Kingdom.
Ms Harman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the average annual amount of study leave given to junior doctors in each of the last three years. [14851]
Mr. Malone:
This information is not available centrally.
Ms Harman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of junior doctors leaving the NHS each year. [14853]
Mr. Malone:
Information is not available in the form requested. The Department supports studies by the medical careers research group the Oxford unit of healthcare epidemiology to examine wastage from the profession and other career patterns. Wastage rates appear to have declined recently. Of those who qualified in the mid-1970s, nearly 20 per cent. were not working in medicine in the United Kingdom 10 years later. Provisional data indicate that the comparable figure for those who qualified in the 1980s was around 15 per cent. Many of these doctors will be temporarily abroad, on a career break or in alternative medical employment and may well return to the NHS in the future.
Ms Harman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints have been made by patients in each of the last six years. [14767]
Mr. Horam:
For the number of complaints received in each of the last five years I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave her on 30 January 1996, Official Report, column 723. For hospital and community health services, the number of complaints in 1989-90 was 36,181. For family health services, the figure for 1989 was 1,927.
Mr. Bill Michie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he is likely to announce recommendations arising from the consultation document "Moving Forward" to strengthen the legislation on the running and inspection of residential and nursing homes to protect vulnerable people. [13396]
13 Feb 1996 : Column: 562
Mr. Bowis:
We shall consider whether to bring forward legislative or other changes in the light of the report of the independent assessor for the review which we expect to receive later this year.
Ms Coffey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the consultation on "Moving Forward" to be completed; and if he will place a copy of the responses to date in the Library. [14778]
Mr. Bowis:
Written responses to "Moving Forward" have been asked for by the end of this month. It will be for the independent assessor to decide whether further consultation is required before he reports to Ministers.
(2) what measures he takes to ensure that NHS trust and health authority chief executives and senior managers who have been dismissed or have resigned after successful allegations of maladministration are not re-employed elsewhere in the NHS in a similar capacity. [14473]
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