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Breast Screening
Mrs. Ballard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to extend routine breast screening to those over 65 years. [11609]
Mr. Boateng: Three pilot schemes are currently under way in Northern and Yorkshire, Trent and South Thames regions to evaluate the effectiveness of extending the routine call-recall breast screening programme to women up to the age of 69. These schemes will run for three years to enable an assessment of the likely uptake, effect on work load, and effectiveness in terms of cancer detected. We will base any change to current policy on the evidence from the results of these studies, which should be available from the end of 2000.
In the interim, women aged 65 and over can continue to be screened every three years free of charge on request. This has been publicised in leaflets available in general practitioners' surgeries and clinics, as well as in breast screening centres, and emphasised more recently by a leaflet and poster campaign jointly organised by the charity Age Concern and the breast screening programme.
Specialist Training Certificate
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 24 July, Official Report, column 729, how many of the doctors awaiting decisions on their applications for the certificate of completion of specialist training (a) are at present working in the NHS, (b) have previously worked in the NHS, (c) were trained at UK medical schools, (d) are at present employed as consultants in the NHS and (e) have waited more than three months for accreditation. [11711]
Mr. Milburn: The Specialist Training Authority currently has no outstanding applications from doctors who have been recommended for the award of a certificate of completion of specialist training by the medical royal colleges. Information on the status of applicants is a matter for the STA and is not held centrally.
Alternative Practitioners
Mr. Tredinnick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met representatives of alternative and complementary medical practitioners; what was discussed; and if he will make a statement. [11933]
31 Jul 1997 : Column: 619
Ms Jowell:
I met representatives of the Faculty of Homoeopathy on 21 July. Their thoughts on the future of homoeopathy were discussed.
On 23 July, the Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and I also met representatives of various organisations, including nutritional therapy interests, to listen to their views on the intended changes to the legislation controlling vitamin B6 contained in dietary supplements.
I plan to meet the Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and other organisations representing alternative and complementary medical practitioners, later in the year.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding is presently committed from his departmental budget for (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99 and (c) 1999-2000 to resolve the year 2000 computer problem; and if he will make a statement. [11893]
Ms Jowell:
The Department is committed to having all business critical systems fully year 2000 compliant by the central information technology unit recommended deadline and the costs of preventive and remedial action will be met from existing public expenditure survey provision. A detailed and costed action plan will be available in the autumn.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP fundholders there are within the Anglia and Oxford health authority region by county. [11728]
Mr. Milburn:
General practitioner fundholder numbers are not collected by county. The number of GP fundholders by health authority in the Anglia and Oxford region as at 1 April 1997 is set out in the table.
| Health authority | Total number of funds | Total number of practices | Total number of general practitioner fundholders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire | 26 | 26 | 100 |
| Berkshire | 55 | 73 | 291 |
| Buckinghamshire | 56 | 63 | 270 |
| Cambridge and Huntingdon | 16 | 16 | 72 |
| East Norfolk | 36 | 39 | 187 |
| Northamptonshire | 36 | 38 | 167 |
| North West Anglia | 25 | 31 | 124 |
| Oxfordshire | 40 | 44 | 209 |
| Suffolk | 27 | 27 | |
| Total | 317 | 357 | 1,567 |
Efficiency Task Force
Mr. Jack:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 10 July, Official Report, column
31 Jul 1997 : Column: 620
580, when he expects the NHS efficiency task force first to put forward its ideas to Ministers and officials. [11939]
Mr. Milburn:
The ideas of task force members have been received and are under consideration.
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been treated in NHS hospitals for each year since 1979. [10910]
Mr. Milburn
[holding answer 28 July 1997]: The information in the table shows numbers of finished consultant episodes. FCEs are not the same as the number of patients treated because a hospital spell can consist of more than one FCE, and patients discharged too early who are subsequently readmitted as emergencies count as another FCE. Furthermore, an FCE count cannot by itself serve as a valid measure of productivity since it is not standardised over time for any changes in the quality of treatment.
| Thousands | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Ordinary admissions | Day cases | Total FCEs |
| 1979 | 4,529 | 570 | 5,099 |
| 1980 | 4,755 | 649 | 5,404 |
| 1981 | 4,875 | 690 | 5,565 |
| 1982 | 4,830 | 685 | 5,515 |
| 1983 | 5,113 | 787 | 5,900 |
| 1984 | 5,246 | 872 | 6,118 |
| 1985 | 5,385 | 938 | 6,323 |
| 1986 | 5,429 | 1,020 | 6,449 |
| 1987-88 | 5,608 | 861 | 6,469 |
| 1988-89 | 5,572 | 1,005 | 6,577 |
| 1989-90 | 5,677 | 1,152 | 6,829 |
| 1990-91 | 5,685 | 1,251 | 6,936 |
| 1991-92 | 5,913 | 1,535 | 7,448 |
| 1992-93 | 5,987 | 1,785 | 7,772 |
| 1993-94 | 6,127 | 2,080 | 8,207 |
| 1994-95 | 6,210 | 2,439 | 8,649 |
| 1995-96 | 6,396 | 2,813 | 9,209 |
Note: Prior to 1988-89 in-patient data were collected in terms of discharges and deaths rather than Finished Consultant Episodes. The figures above have been converted to FCEs using data from 1988-89, when data were collected on both bases.
Source:
SH3 1979 to 1987.
KP70 1987-88 onwards.
NHS Staff
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) fully qualified nurses and (b) doctors were employed in the NHS in each year since 1979. [10909]
Mr. Milburn [holding answer 28 July 1997]: The information requested is in the following table.
Notes:
(43) Figures for hospital medical staff include hospital practitioners and clinical assistants who may also be General Medical Practitioners.
(44) General Medical Practitioners include: restricted principals, unrestricted principals, trainees and assistants.
(45) 1995 and 1996 figures for HCHS nursing and midwifery staff are not directly comparable with figures for earlier years because of a change in the way non-medical staff were classified from 1995.
(46) Figures for 1979 and 1980 are not comparable with those for later years because of a reduction in nurses standard working hours in 1980-81 from 40 to 37.5 hours per week.
(47) Not available.
All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
WTE indicates whole-time equivalents. WTE figures for GMPs are not available.
Sources:
Department of Health's: annual medical and dental workforce census; annual non-medical workforce census; and bi-annual census of General Medical Practitioners.
31 Jul 1997 : Column: 621
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