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Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust
Sir Archie Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) for what reason the consultation being carried out by the Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust recommends a significant transfer of facilities away from Epsom to St. Helier; [148329]
- (2) for what reasons the Chief Executive of the Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust has not held discussions with the management of hospitals in Surrey about the impact on them of the location of services away from St. Helier. [148328]
Mr. Denham: The discussion document published by Epsom and St. Helier national health service trust considers ways in which patient services could best be provided for local people. It takes into account Royal College guidelines on the required critical mass of services for these to be provided and also the need to use the accommodation at Epsom hospital to the best advantage of patients.
This is an informal discussion document. Should concrete proposals be developed, there would be a full and formal consultation with all affected parties, including local people and other NHS organisations.
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Paediatric Facilities
Sir Archie Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that only accident and emergency departments that are on the same hospital site as in-patient paediatric facilities should accept children. [148331]
Ms Stuart: No. It remains appropriate for accident and emergency departments to offer initial assessment of health status and the options available to achieve best outcome including, if appropriate, transfer to a specialist unit on another site.
Negligence Claims
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the total amounts paid out by (a) NHS trusts and (b) health authorities in response to negligence claims in each of the last 10 years; if he will break down the amounts by region; and if he will make a statement. [148081]
Ms Stuart [holding answer 1 February 2001]: We do not collect centrally information on clinical negligence payments by national health service trusts or health authorities. The National Audit Office report on the NHS summarised accounts shows that health authorities and NHS trusts charged the following amounts to their income and expenditure accounts for each year:
| Year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 1992-93 | 80.4 |
| 1993-94 | 117.9 |
| 1994-95 | 160 |
| 1995-96 | 173 |
| 1996-97 | 235 |
| 1997-98 | 144 |
| 1998-99 | 221 |
Note:
Figures for 1999-2000 are not yet available.
Complaints Evaluation
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to publish the findings of the independent United Kingdom-wide evaluation of complaints; and what action he will take on the results of the evaluation. [148615]
Ms Stuart: The evaluation team's report is expected to be submitted by the end of this month. It will be published as soon as possible once we have given proper consideration to the findings. The NHS plan made it clear that we will act on the results of the evaluation and without prejudicing the evaluation we would expect the reform of the complaints procedure to result in a more independent and responsive system.
NHS Staff (Expenses)
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the conclusions of his Department's working group reviewing the reimbursement arrangements for the expenses incurred by NHS staff on NHS business. [148285]
Mr. Denham: We are continuing to work with representatives of staff and employers on options for revised arrangements for reimbursing staff travelling on
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national health service business. The issues are complex, and we will bring the review to a conclusion as soon as possible.
Patient Care Budget
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the value of 1/20th of the patient care budget will be for each health authority in each of the next three years. [148567]
Mr. Denham: Health authority allocations for 2001-02 are shown in the table. Final decisions have not yet been made for 2002-03 and 2003-04 but all health authorities will receive a minimum increase of 6 per cent.
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Charging Policy
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change in charging policy will be brought about by the transfer of local authority health related functions to the care trusts proposed in the Health and Social Care Bill. [148880]
Mr. Hutton: There will be no change in the arrangements for any charging policy which affects services which are delegated to a care trust as proposed in the Health and Social Care Bill. The policy decisions on charging that a local authority can make will continue to be taken by the local authority, and will relate to their delegated functions only.
Waiting Lists (Worcestershire)
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were on the (a) waiting list
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for operations and (b) waiting list for an out-patient's appointment at the Worcestershire NHS Acute Trust in each month from January 2000 to January 2001. [148752]
Mr. Denham: Worcester acute hospital is a newly merged trust. As a result, data are not available before April 2000. Latest data available are shown.
The trust had planned for and achieved a decrease in both its in-patient and out-patient waiting lists for end of October. It is inevitable that waiting lists would rise due to the evacuation of patients from the Castle street site of Worcester Royal infirmary due to the heavy flooding.
| Month | Total inpatient waiting list |
|---|---|
| April 2000 | 8,294 |
| May 2000 | 8,470 |
| June 2000 | 8,665 |
| July 2000 | 8,878 |
| August 2000 | 8,370 |
| September 2000 | 8,958 |
| October 2000 | 8,911 |
| November 2000 | 9,192 |
| Quarter | Number |
|---|---|
| June 2000 | 1,920 |
| September 2000 | 2,650 |
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