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Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those firms which have bid for NHS private finance initiative deals for each of the last five years; and which of those bids were successful. [76487]
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Mr. Denham:
Details of individual Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes with a capital value of less than £10 million are not available centrally. Information is given in the table on the consortia selected to bid for the scheme and the successful consortium for those schemes with a capital of over £10 million which have reached financial close.
15 Mar 1999 : Column: 565
15 Mar 1999 : Column: 565
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evaluation his Department has undertaken of the policies of (a) local authority social services departments and (b) NHS psychiatric services in respect of children excluded from school. [76479]
Mr. Hutton:
The Department has made no such evaluation. The Department is, however, working closely with the Department for Education and Employment to
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encourage joint local initiatives to help tackle school truancy and exclusion.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children have been admitted to NHS psychiatric care in each year since 1992. [76482]
Mr. Hutton:
The table shows the estimated number of admissions, under the child and adolescent psychiatry specialty to National Health Service trusts in England from 1991-92 to 1997-98.
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Notes:
1. Data have been rounded
2. Data for 1996-97, 1997-98 are provisional, no adjustments have yet been made for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed)
Source:
Department of Health
15 Mar 1999 : Column: 567
NHS Training and Expenditure
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data his Department collects on expenditure on NHS training and education, and its availability; and if he will make a statement. [76483]
Mr. Denham: The Department collects comprehensive expenditure information on non-medical education and training and medical education and training funded from the national levies. Expenditure information has been published annually in each of the levy accountability reports commencing with the 1997-98 financial year.
Doctors (Complaints)
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that a patient making an allegation to the General Medical Council about the conduct of a doctor will have automatic access to all relevant notes and correspondence. [76759]
Mr. Denham: This is a matter for the General Medical Council.
NHS Charges
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what percentage NHS charges for (a) sight tests, (b) glasses, (c) travel to hospital, (d) dental treatment and (e) prescription have risen since December 1998. [76757]
Mr. Denham: Prescription charges and charges for dental treatment have not risen since December 1998. There are no charges for National Health Service sight tests (which will be available to everyone aged 60 or over from 1 April) or for travel to hospital. Children and people on low incomes are eligible for NHS spectacle vouchers which they may use to buy glasses of their choice.
For changes from 1 April, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Mr. Gerrard) on 25 February 1999, Official Report, columns 429-30.
Brit Awards
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those Ministers in his Department who were present at the recent Brit awards in an official capacity, indicating the organisation acting as their sponsor or host. [76646]
Mr. Hutton:
None.
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Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to revise or reissue guidance on the use of pasteurised eggs. [76652]
Mr. Hutton:
We advised caterers to use pasteurised egg in uncooked egg dishes over ten years ago. That advice continues to be disseminated by the Department in advice published by the Chief Medical Officer in 1997, for example. There are no plans, at present, to revise this guidance.
Mr. Woodward:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacant nursing places there are at (a) The Oxford Radcliffe Hospital NHS Trust, (b) Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust, (c) Radcliffe Infirmary NHS Trust, (d) Oxfordshire Community Health NHS Trust and (e) Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare NHS Trust; and what the corresponding figures were 12 months ago. [76762]
Mr. Denham:
The information requested is not available centrally.
The hon. Member may wish to contact chairs at the trusts for further details.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by NHS region the number and value of clinical negligence claims settled by individual trusts, for each of the last five years. [76488]
Mr. Denham:
The information requested is not available.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what systems he has in place to ensure that policies being developed by his Department are subject to a crime impact (a) assessment and (b) audit and are not likely to lead to enhanced criminal opportunities. [72681]
Mr. Hutton
[holding answer 24 February 1999]: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien), on 24 February 1999, Official Report, columns 311-12.