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NHS Complaints Procedure
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) complaints proceeded to a hearing before the Professional Conduct Committee of the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting and (b) such cases led to a removal from the register in the last five years. [117156]
Mr. Denham:
The number of complaints which proceeded to a hearing before the Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) of the United Kingdom Central Council
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for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting and which led to a removal from the register, in the last five years, is as follows:
| Year | Cases considered by the PCC | Number of removals ordered by the PCC |
|---|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 127 | 73 |
| 1996-97 | 118 | 96 |
| 1997-98 | 109 | 84 |
| 1998-99 | 144 | 93 |
| 1999-2000 | 128 | 91 |
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, for each of the last five years, the total number of complaints referred to the Preliminary Proceedings Committee of the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting. [117157]
Mr. Denham: The total number of complaints considered by the Preliminary Proceedings Committee of the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting for the last five years are as follows:
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 871 |
| 1996-97 | 941 |
| 1997-98 | 997 |
| 1998-99 | 973 |
| 1999-2000 | 1,219 |
NHS Appointments
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to implement recommendations from the report by the Commissioner for Public Appointments on Appointments to NHS Trusts and Health Authorities. [116406]
Mr. Denham: We have already announced consideration of fundamental changes to the National Health Service appointments process which would delegate to the chairs of health authorities the responsibility for around 2,000 appointments to NHS trusts and primary care trusts. Further consideration to the 28 recommendations from the Report by the Commissioner for Public Appointments will be given in due course.
Adverse Clinical Incidents Report
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Government response to the Sixth report of the Health Committee of Session 1998-99 on "Procedures Related to Adverse Clinical Incidents and Outcomes in Medical Care (HC 549)" will be published; and what factors underlie the delay in its issue. [117627]
Ms Stuart:
We expect to publish our response to the Select Committee's report tomorrow. The report contains 35 recommendations, which address a broad range of issues, and we felt that it was important to address each of these with due seriousness in order to ensure that the
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response is properly considered and as positive as possible. The impact of the Shipman trial also needed to be taken into account and for these reasons the response has taken longer to prepare than would normally be the case.
Mr. Prior:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the estimated liabilities of health authorities and NHS trusts in England on 31 March; and of those, how much is due for payment prior to 30 June. [116383]
Mr. Denham:
The 1998-99 annual accounts combined balance sheets of health authority and National Health Service trusts show net current liabilities of £767 million, which represents 2.13 per cent. of overall NHS funding (£36 billion).
Information on the timing of payment of individual NHS bodies liabilities is not collected centrally.
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Mr. William Ross:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many RUC officers in each rank have had complaints made against them in each of the last five years and in the current year; for each rank, and year, how many complaints have been (a) dismissed and (b) upheld; and what action has been taken against complainants for (i) frivolous complaints and (ii) wasting police time. [115571]
Mr. Ingram:
The following table shows the number of RUC officers by rank against which complaints have been made in the last five years and the number of substantiated and completed complaints. Figures for the current year are not yet available. No action has been taken against anyone making frivolous complaints or wasting police time doing so.
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(18) Where more than one officer is involved in a complaint, the complaint has been recorded against each individual officer.
(19) Substantiated figures refer to the year the complaint was registered.
(20) Only covers cases where an investigation has been carried out and officers identified. Excludes complaints that have been informally resolved or initially withdrawn.
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Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in reducing the backlog of cases waiting to be heard by the Fair Employment Tribunal. [117353]
Mr. Ingram
[holding answer 3 April 2000]: The number of Fair Employment cases waiting to be heard has remained broadly the same for a number of years. In order to improve the situation, the number of FET panel members was increased from 30 to 90 in 1999, three more tribunal rooms were made available at the end of 1999 and the number of cases listed for hearing was increased by 25 per cent. Work is in hand to appoint three additional part-time FE Tribunal Chairmen. It is hoped that the number of cases outstanding will soon begin to be reduced as a result of these changes.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken to ensure adequacy of funding and resources for the Fair Employment Tribunal. [117352]
Mr. Ingram
[holding answer 3 April 2000]: The resource needs of the Fair Employment Tribunal are considered as part of the public expenditure survey process each year and the allocations made are in line with the Tribunals' needs.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps have been taken to increase the representation of Roman Catholics in the Senior Civil Service. [117355]
Mr. Ingram
[holding answer 3 April 2000]: The Northern Ireland Civil Service has had a robust and proactive policy on equality of opportunity since 1984 and has consistently sought to tackle under-representation at all levels of the organisation through programmes of affirmative action. This has delivered significant improvement in the levels of representation of Roman Catholics throughout the workforce and both the extent of change and the measures taken have been reported in the public domain through the regular reports of the Service's Equal Opportunities Unit, copies of which are in the Library of the House.
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