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Non-NHS Staff

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many non-NHS staff have been employed by each health authority in each of the last five years.[10416]

Mr. Milburn: I will write to the hon. Member.

Young People (Care)

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many young people in local authority care or subject to care orders absconded for more than a week for each local authority in the last three years. [10435]

Mr. Boateng: The figures which are available relate to the number of children looked after by local authorities in England who were recorded as absent from their agreed placement for more than one week. Although this will include children who absconded, it will also include children who were absent for other reasons. Figures for the latest three years available have been placed in the Library. Figures for the year ending 31 March 1996 are not yet available.

Non-urgent Elective Surgery

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average waiting time period specified by each health authority for providers of health services to carry out non-urgent elective surgery in (a) 1996-97 and (b) 1997-98. [10812]

Mr. Milburn: Health authorities contract for maximum, not average, waiting times for elective treatment. In most cases, they do not specify maximum waiting times for non-urgent, as opposed to urgent, elective treatment. Nor do they specify maximum waiting times for surgery as distinct from other in-patient treatment. Contracted maximum waiting times for admission to hospital for 1996-97 and 1997-98 are shown in the table. Where a range of times is shown, this indicates different maximum waiting times for different providers or specialties.

Contracted maximum waiting times

	1996-97	1997-98
Anglia and Oxford
Bedfordshire	12 months	15 months
Berkshire	12 months	12-15 months
Buckinghamshire	12 months	15 months
Cambridge and Huntingdon	12 months	12-15 months
East Norfolk	12 months	12-15 months
Northamptonshire	12 months	12-15 months
North West Anglia	12 months	12-15 months
Oxfordshire	12 months	12-15 months
Suffolk
North Thames
Barking and Havering	12 months	15-18 months
Barnet	12 months	18 months
Brent and Harrow	12 months	18 months
Camden and Islington	12 months	12 months
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow	18 months	18 months
East London and The City	12-15 months	6-18 months
East and North Hertfordshire	12 months	12-18 months
Enfield and Haringey	12 months	18 months
Hillingdon	12 months	12 months
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster	12 months	6-9 months
North Essex	12 months	18 months
Redbridge and Waltham Forest	18 months	18 months
South Essex	12 months	18 months
West Hertfordshire	12 months	18 months
North West
Bury and Rochdale	12 months	12 months
East Lancashire	12 months	12 months
Liverpool	12 months	12 months
Manchester	12 months	12 months
Morecambe Bay	12 months	12 months
North Cheshire	12 months	12 months
North West Lancashire	12 months	12 months
Salford and Trafford	12 months	12 months
Sefton	12 months	12 months
St. Helen's and Knowsley	12 months	12 months
South Cheshire	12 months	12 months
South Lancashire	12 months	12 months
Stockport	12 months	12 months
West Pennine	12 months	12 months
Wigan and Bolton	12 months	12 months
Wirral	12 months	12-18 months
Northern and Yorkshire
Bradford	12 months	12 months
Calderdale and Kirklees	12 months	12 months
County Durham	12 months	12 months
East Riding	12 months	12 months
Gateshead and South Tyneside	12 months	12 months
Leeds	12 months	12 months
Newcastle and North Tyneside	12 months	12 months
North Cumbria	12 months	12 months
Northumberland	12 months	12 months
North Yorkshire	12 months	12 months
Sunderland	12 months	12 months
Tees	12 months	12 months
Wakefield	12 months	12 months
South Thames
Bexley and Greenwich	12 months	18 months
Bromley	12 months	12 months at most providers
Croydon	12 months	15 months at most providers
East Kent	12 months	12 months at most providers
East Surrey	12 months	9-18 months
East Sussex	12 months	12-18 months
Kingston and Richmond	18 months	18 months
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham	18 months	18 months
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth	12 months	18 months
West Kent	12 months	15 months at most providers
West Surrey	12 months	18 months at most providers
West Sussex	12 months	18 months
South and West
Avon	10-15 months	12 months
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly	9 months	9 months
Dorset	6 months	6 months
Gloucestershire	9-12 months	9 months
Isle of Wight	10 months	15 months
North and East Devon	12 months	15 months
North and Mid Hampshire	12-18 months	12-18 months
Portsmouth and South East Hampshire	6 months	12 months
Somerset	12 months	12 months
Southampton and South West Hampshire	9-14 months	12-15 months
South and West Devon	12 months	9 months
Wiltshire	12 months	12-15 months
Trent
Barnsley	12-18 months	12-18 months
Doncaster	12-18 months	12-18 months
Leicestershire	12 months	12-18 months
Lincolnshire	12 months	12-18 months
North Derbyshire	12 months	12-18 months
North Nottinghamshire	12 months	12-18 months
Nottingham	12 months	12-18 months
Rotherham	12 months	12-18 months
Sheffield	12-18 months	12-18 months
South Derbyshire	12 months	12-18 months
South Humber	12 months	12-18 months
West Midlands
Birmingham	9 months	9 months
Coventry	9 months	9 months
Dudley	6 months	6 months (with some specialty variations)
Herefordshire	6 months	9 months
North Staffordshire	9 months	9-15 months
Sandwell	9 months	6-9 months
Shropshire	9 months	9 months
Solihull	9 months	9 months
South Staffordshire	9 months	9-12 months
Walsall	6 months	9 months
Warwickshire	9 months	9 months
Wolverhampton	9 months	9 months
Worcestershire	9 months	9 months

31 Jul 1997 : Column: 610

Contraceptive Advice

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to introduce measures to raise the profile of family planning clinics and GP surgeries among older women as a source of contraceptive advice; [11329]

(2) if he will provide figures, by age, of the total numbers and the percentages of the age group of women attending family planning clinics and GP surgeries for contraceptive advice for each year from 1990 to the present. [11327]

Ms Jowell: The Department of Health has published a booklet "Your Health: A Guide to Services for Women". The booklet offers advice and information on a wide range of health issues, including family planning services and contraception. Copies have been placed in the Library.

31 Jul 1997 : Column: 611

The contraceptive education service is provided by the Family Planning Association under contract to the Department of Health. The CES aims to raise awareness and understanding among the general public including women of all ages about contraceptive methods and family planning services.

Local health authorities are responsible for providing family planning services that meet the needs of the population they serve. Services should be targeted to meet the needs of particular client groups, especially those among whom the take-up of family planning services is lowest. In meeting local need, commissioners and providers need to ensure that information on the full range of family planning services is readily available.

31 Jul 1997 : Column: 612

Information about women attending family planning clinics is contained in the Department's publication "Family Planning Clinic Services, Summary Information for 1995-96, England". Copies have been placed in the Library. Comparable information on women attending GP surgeries is not available.

Prescribed Drugs

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the value of drugs prescribed per general practitioner over the past five years, distinguishing between (a) those who have their own dispensing facilities and (b) those who use an independent pharmacist. [11232]

Mr. Milburn: The information requested is shown in the table.

31 Jul 1997 : Column: 611

Net ingredient cost of prescriptions dispensed by (a) dispensing doctors; (b) community pharmacists and appliance contractors; and (c) prescriptions submitted by prescribing doctors for items personally administered, 1992 to 1996.England

	Net Ingredient cost (£ million)
	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Dispensing doctors	185.0	207.9	226.3	243.7	267.6
Community pharmacist and appliance contractors	2,637.3	2,902.0	3,114.3	3,361.6	3,653.3
Items personally administered by prescribing doctors	34.4	47.7	62.4	73.8	84.9
Overall total	2,856.7	3,157.6	3,403.0	3,679.2	4,005.8

1. The information is from the Prescription Pricing Authority PD1 series of forms.

2. The net ingredient cost is the basic cost before discount and excludes dispensing costs and fees.

3. The figures for dispensing doctors include those items personally administered by dispensing doctors.

31 Jul 1997 : Column: 611

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