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Capital Prioritisation

Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the review of the Capital Prioritisation Process began; who is undertaking the review; and when the Minister will consider its conclusions. [107416]

Mr. Denham: Officials have been asked to consider the process for prioritising future major capital investment schemes and review whether the current capital prioritisation process properly meets the requirements of Ministers. No external bodies are involved in this process. Ministers will make an announcement in due course.

Royal Marsden and Christie Hospitals

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the amount of non-capital funding in 1998-99 for (a) the Christie Hospital and (b) the Royal Marsden which was derived from (a) his Department, (b) charitable donations, (c) endowments and (d) other sources. [107376]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 28 January 2000]: The information requested is in the table:

£ million

	Christie Hospital	Royal Marsden
Departmental	38.4	53.1
Charitable including endowments	12.4	0.919
Other sources	6.6	20.1

It should be noted that as cancer service providers both of these hospitals are not directly comparable due to a number of factors which are unique to the Royal Marsden Hospital. These include the population served, level of complex surgery performed, a different case mix, higher building and capital costs as well as higher staffing costs as a result of London weighting.

NHS Expenditure

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out total expenditure on the NHS (a) at 1999-2000 prices and (b) as a proportion of natural income for each financial year since 1978-79 and for the remainder of the period covered by the Comprehensive Spending Review; and if he will provide a breakdown between (i) current and (ii) capital expenditure. [107661]

Mr. Denham: The table shows for England, (a) gross National Health Service expenditure, (b) gross current NHS expenditure, (c) gross capital NHS expenditure. It is not possible to provide England NHS expenditure as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as GDP relates to the United Kingdom as a whole rather than England. Column (d) therefore provides Gross UK NHS expenditure as percentage of GDP.

	(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)
	England total gross (12) NHS expenditure in 1999-2000 prices (13) (£ million)	England total gross NHS current expenditure in 1999-2000 prices (£ million)	England total gross NHS capital expenditure in 1999-2000 prices (£ million)	UK total gross NHS expenditure as a percentage of GDP
1978-79	21,589	20,229	1,360	4.7
1979-80	21,971	20,662	1,309	4.7
1980-81	24,206	22,704	1,502	5.3
1981-82	24,789	23,130	1,659	5.4
1982-83	25,278	23,661	1,617	5.4
1983-84	25,647	24,030	1,617	5.3
1984-85	26,202	24,481	1,721	5.3
1985-86	26,317	24,529	1,788	5.1
1986-87	27,444	25,580	1,864	5.1
1987-88	28,667	26,833	1,835	5.1
1988-89	29,852	27,994	1,858	5.1
1989-90	30,012	27,947	2,065	5.0
1990-91	31,153	29,041	2,113	5.2
1991-92	33,217	31,118	2,100	5.6
1992-93	35,258	33,015	2,242	5.9
1993-94	36,335	34,222	2,113	5.9
1994-95	37,919	35,529	2,390	5.9
1995-96	38,580	36,318	2,261	5.9
1996-97	38,786	36,904	1,882	5.7
1997-98	39,904	38,256	1,647	5.7
1998-99	40,780	39,439	1,342	5.7
1999-2000	43,049	41,187	1,762	5.9
2000-01	44,619	42,370	2,054	6.0
2001-02	46,189	43,639	2,264	6.0

(12) Gross NHS expenditure is Net or Government expenditure (ie that financed by the exchequer) plus income from receipts and charges.

(13) Adjusted by 22 December 1999 GDP deflator.

Note:

Figures may not be wholly consistent over the period due to classification changes.

2 Feb 2000 : Column: 629W

2 Feb 2000 : Column: 629W

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what extra resources he is making available to meet the demands on the NHS made by asylum seekers and refugees. [107603]

Mr. Hutton: Primary care groups are responsible for planning and commissioning health care for all their population including any asylum seekers that are allocated to their areas. Funding for primary care takes account of visitors from overseas, including asylum seekers and refugees.

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many asylum seekers and refugees have presented themselves to (a) general practitioners, (b) district general hospitals and (c) other NHS services in Eastbourne in the last 12 months. [107615]

Mr. Hutton: Between November 1998 and December 1999, 213 asylum seekers and refugees registered with general practitioners in Eastbourne Downs Primary Care Group, the primary care group covering the Eastbourne area.

Information regarding the number of asylum seekers and refugees presenting to district general hospitals and other National Health Service services in Eastbourne is not collected.

Biomedical Scientists

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by region his Department's establishment for biomedical scientists. [107608]

2 Feb 2000 : Column: 630W

Mr. Denham: The Department does not employ Biomedical Scientists working in the National Health Service. Their contracts are held by individual NHS trusts, special health authorities and other statutory authorities.

The available information is shown in the table. Biomedical scientists are included in the table but cannot be separately identified.

NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): all pathology scientists by region, in England as at 30 September 1998

	Whole-time equivalent	Numbers (headcount)
Northern and Yorkshire	190	200
Trent	110	120
Anglia and Oxford	90	100
North Thames	260	280
South Thames	170	180
South West	130	140
West Midlands	110	110
North and West	200	220
Other	240	250
England Total	1,510	1,600

Notes:

1. "Other" includes staff employed by SHAs, OSAs and other centrally based services.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

3. Due to rounding totals may not equal the sum of component parts.

4. "Pathology scientists" includes Immunologists, Clinical Cytogenetics, Chemical Pathologists, Haematologist etc.

5. Biomedical scientists are included in the totals but cannot be identified separately.

Source:

Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census.

2 Feb 2000 : Column: 631W

Hearing Aids

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) where the pilot schemes for digital hearing aids will be located; and how individuals who wish to take part in the pilots may do so; [107985]

(2) what are the criteria used for the selection of sites for his Department's new digital hearing aid pilot; [107987]

(3) how many pilot schemes with end dates for hearing aids his Department has created in each of the last three years; what the end dates were; and if the pilot schemes have been rolled out by their end dates. [107988]

Mr. Hutton: The pilot scheme to trail digital hearing aids which we announced recently is a new scheme; there have not been any earlier pilots of a similar nature funded by the Department.

The criteria for the scheme are currently being finalised. We will be writing to National Health Service trusts and health authorities shortly to seek applications from hearing aid departments to participate in the scheme. Details of the participating sites, when agreed, will be publicised.

Leishmaniasis

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the provision within the NHS for treating leishmaniasis. [106208]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 1 February 2000]: Services for the diagnosis and treatment of leishmaniasis, as for other imported infections, are provided by and through the patient's general practitioner. If the patient has a mild form of the disease, this would be managed by the GP. If, however, the patient has a more severe form of the disease, the GP would refer the patient to a hospital specialist. Consultants in dermatology, infectious diseases or tropical diseases would be appropriate, depending on the clinical presentation and local circumstances.

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