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HEALTH
London NHS Trust Budgets
Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the projected budget forecasts for each of the London NHS trusts for the end of the current financial year; and if he will make a statement. [110538]
Mr. Denham: The latest available information, based on income and expenditure forecasts by National Health Service trusts and health authorities at Quarter 3 (December 1999) has been placed in the Library.
The total deficit position includes the impact of technical accounting changes. The forecast deficit excluding this technical element is £36 million, which represents a very small deterioration from original plans for the year.
Intensive Care Beds
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the new 100 intensive care beds announced earlier in the year are now in place; if he will give the
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location and the number of beds that have been provided in each health authority area; and if he will make a statement. [113867]
Mr. Denham:
Fast-track information on the number of critical care beds on 17 January 2000 compared with the position in a census on 31 March 1999 was placed in the Library on 1 February 2000.
Dr. Julian Lewis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 27 January 2000, Official Report, column 346W, on intensive care beds, when the hon. Member for New Forest, East will receive the information promised. [117151]
Mr. Denham:
The information was placed in the Library on 1 February.
Mr. Austin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the percentage increase in the total pay bill for the NHS will be as a result of the Pay Review Body award to (a) nurses, (b) midwives and (c) health visitors for the year commencing April 2000. [114748]
Mr. Denham:
Implementing the recent Review Body recommendations on pay for midwives, health visitors and other nursing and midwifery staff will increase the total National Health Service paybill by an estimated 0.1 per cent., 0.1 per cent. and 1.3 per cent. for each respective group, giving an overall increase of 1.4 per cent.
Correspondingly, the awards will increase the paybill for midwifery staff by 3.4 per cent., the paybill for health visitors by 3.4 per cent. and the nursing paybill by 4.1 per cent.
Mr. Cummings:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what mandate he has given to the European Commission to negotiate on behalf of Her Majesty's Government in meetings on the World Health Organisation's Convention for Tobacco Control; [114944]
(3) what recent discussions (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials have had with (i) EU partners, (ii) other nations, (iii) the World Health Organisation and (iv) the European Commission regarding the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention for Tobacco Control; [114943]
(4) if he will make a statement on the position of Her Majesty's Government in relation to the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention for Tobacco Control. [114941]
Yvette Cooper:
The White Paper "Smoking Kills" makes clear our strong support for the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The first and current phase in the
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development of the convention is to consult the 191 World Health Member States for their views on the Convention and its protocols. The second phase will cover negotiations on the content of the Convention.
The United Kingdom has been, and will continue to be, an active participant in the European Union and WHO working groups, which are the main bodies for taking forward work on the Convention, and in bilateral discussions with the Commission, WHO and other member states. The Commission's mandate for participation on issues where it has a legal competence, was developed by the EU's Health Working Group and reported to the EU Health Ministers at the Health Council in November 1999. The Commission's mandate will be kept under review as the work develops.
It is too early to say what the likely impact of the Convention on employment and exports will be, as this depends on the content of the Convention, which is yet to be negotiated. However, the World Bank's recent study on tobacco control "Curbing the Epidemic" concludes that adopting effective tobacco control policies would result in no net job losses in most countries, and even a net gain in some.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to consult on allowing the NHS Pensions Agency to pay benefits from the NHS pension scheme to a contributor's unmarried partner. [115116]
Mr. Denham:
Providing survivor benefits for unmarried partners is one of a number of possible changes to the National Health Service Pension Scheme currently under consideration. There are no firm proposals for change at this time.
We have made our position clear at paragraph 60, Chapter 8 of the Green Paper "A new contract for welfare: partnership in pensions" published on 15 December 1998 Cm 4179. If the general membership of a public service scheme wanted, in future, to extend eligibility for survivors' pensions to unmarried partners and were prepared to meet the additional costs, the Government would be prepared to consider how practicable arrangements could be devised for achieving this in the context of a statutory scheme.
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the level of deficit allocated to (a) NHS trusts and (b) health authorities, and their predecessors where applicable, for 1979 to 1999. [115106]
Mr. Denham:
The information requested is given in the table.
Note:
Figures may not add due to rounding
(2) what estimates he has made of the impact on (a) employment and (b) exports of the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, indicating the constituencies affected in each case; [114940]
Note:
Changes (in line with best accounting practice) since 1979 in the accounting and financial reporting arrangements for Health Authorities and subsequently NHS trusts mean that comparable information is not available prior to 1984-85. The changes also mean that the figures provided over the period 1984-85 through to 1998-99 are not directly comparable.
Sources:
(24) 1984-85 to 1995-96--Summarised account of Regional and District Health Authorities and Special Health Authorities for the London Postgraduate Teaching Hospitals
(25) 1985-86 to 1989-90--Summarised account of Family Practitioner Committees
(26) 1990-91 to 1995-96--Summarised account of the Family Health Services Authorities
(27) 1996-97 to 1998-99--Summarised account of the Health Authorities
(28) 1991-92 to 1998-99--Summarised account of NHS trusts except for 1996-97 which has been adjusted to take account of a change in the financial regime of NHS trusts.
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Cancer Patients
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of (a) the quality of treatment and (b) survival rates among cancer patients on low incomes; and if he will make a statement. [115716]
Yvette Cooper: As part of the national performance assessment framework, the Government are developing the national cancer standard and performance indicators to improve consistency in the quality of cancer services across the country. In addition, both the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the Commission for Health Improvement have been set up specifically to help to reduce variations and ensure fair access to high quality treatment.
Data published in Cancer Survival Trends in England and Wales 1971-95 produced by the Office for National Statistics show that survival rates for adults in deprived groups are lower than those in more affluent groups for several cancers.
We have appointed Professor Mike Richards as the National Cancer Director to spearhead the drive to modernise all aspects of cancer care. He has indicated our intention to develop a national cancer programme building on the Calman/Hine Report to set out action to improve prevention of cancer and ensure patients from all social groups have access to faster better cancer care. The National Cancer Director will be developing the plan over the coming months and will engage with clinicians, managers and patients in the process.
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