| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Hospital Hygiene
21. Mr. Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets he has set for improving the cleanliness of hospital wards. [147349]
Mr. Denham: Our clean hospitals programme means every hospital is making improvements to the patient environment. Unannounced hospital cleanliness inspections are under way.
£31.9 million was allocated this year and a further £30 million will be allocated from 1 April to assist the programme. The first ever clean hospitals standards come into effect from this April.
NHS Manpower
22. Mr. Casale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on staff levels in the NHS. [147351]
6 Feb 2001 : Column: 507W
Mr. Denham: The most recent staff survey (Medical and Dental Workforce Census 30 September 1999 England) for which results are available showed 1,097,350 staff working in the NHS (873,220 whole time equivalent).
This represents a percentage increase in headcount over 1997 figures of 3.66 per cent. (3.18 per cent. whole time equivalent).
- Notes:
- 1. All NHS doctors includes general medical practitioners, hospital medical and dental staff (excluding hospital practitioners and clinical assistants most of whom are Gps and will already have been counted), and medical and dental staff working in Public Health Medicine and Community Health Services.
- 2. GP retainers were collected for the first time in October 1999. As at 1 October 1999 there were 972 GP retainers (headcount).
- 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
- 4. Figures may not equal the sum of component parts due to rounding.
- 5. Figures exclude agency staff.
- Sources:
- 1. Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Census as at 30 September for each year.
- 2. Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census as at 30 September for each year.
- 3. Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics as at 1 October for each year.
Modernisation Fund
23. Mr. St. Aubyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the cost of administering the Modernisation Fund. [147352]
Mr. Denham: The NHS Modernisation Fund has been earmarked for modernisation and developing the NHS. The purpose of the Fund is to ensure that additional resources are properly targeted to the places that need it most and can use it most effectively.
The Government have promised, in the NHS Plan, that by 2004 the proportion the NHS spends on management costs will be reduced and a higher share of every pound will go into front line patient care.
Nurse Recruitment (London)
24. Mr. Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase nurse recruitment in London. [147353]
Mr. Denham: The NHS Executive in London, in collaboration with NHS trusts, are implementing a plan to expand the nursing work force in London. Priority areas are:
- returning nurses to practice
- international recruitment
- recruiting from black and ethnic minority communities
- improving working lives through improved flexible working arrangements and child care provision
- market supplements effective from April 2001
- affordable housing.
National Cancer Research Institute
25. Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will set up the National Cancer Research Institute. [147354]
6 Feb 2001 : Column: 508W
Yvette Cooper: An announcement will be made shortly.
Dental Services (Corby)
26. Mr. Hope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the provision of dental services in Corby. [147355]
Ms Stuart: We are committed to making NHS dentistry available to everyone who needs it, by September this year. Last year's dental strategy showed how that could be achieved, with up to £100 million of new resources across this financial year and the next. Residents of Corby have benefited from this funding.
Hospital Waiting Lists
27. Mr. Forth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the procedure for the compilation of waiting lists for (a) referral to a consultant and (b) admission to a hospital. [147356]
Mr. Denham: Information on numbers of patients waiting for admission to hospital and on numbers of patients waiting more than 13 weeks for an outpatient appointment is collected from NHS Trusts and health authorities by the Department of Health and is published by the Government Statistical Office. The methodology has remained unchanged since we took office.
Cancer Services
28. Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the development of cancer services in the NHS. [147357]
Yvette Cooper: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given today, Official Report, column 180, by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to my hon. Friends the Members for Bury, North (Mr. Chaytor), for Carlisle (Mr. Martlew) and for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Helen Jackson).
Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Strategy
29. Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress with his sexual health and HIV/AIDS strategy. [147358]
Yvette Cooper: The merger of the sexual health and HIV strategies inevitably led to slippage in the timetable. However, considerable progress has been made with producing an integrated strategy that will set a programme of action on sexual health and HIV for England. We plan to issue the strategy for consultation shortly.
Social Services Funding
30. Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the growth of social services funding for community care. [147359]
34. Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the recent trend in the level of funding for personal social services. [147363]
Mr. Hutton: The resources provided for personal social services, including those provided for community care, have increased substantially in recent years and will
6 Feb 2001 : Column: 509W
continue to grow in real terms over the next three years. Last year (1999-2000) the level of resources provided for social services increased in real terms by 3.8 per cent., they increased by a further 3.5 per cent. this year (2000-01), and will continue to rise by, on average, a further 3.4 per cent. per annum over the next three years (2001-02 to 2003-04). It is for councils to decide how much of these additional resources should be used for community care taking account of local circumstances and priorities.
Community Health Councils
31. Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received about community health councils. [147360]
Ms Stuart: A number of representations have been received about community health councils and the new structures.
Debate on the Health and Social Care Bill currently in Committee will provide an opportunity to discuss these issues in detail.
Hospital Beds
32. Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many additional high dependency and intensive care beds the NHS has acquired since 1 December 2000. [147361]
Mr. Denham: Bed figures for additional high dependency and intensive care beds the national health service has acquired since 1 December 2000 are not available. The nearest available comparison is between 15 January 2000 and 1 December 2000.
This shows an increase in the total number of available fully staffed critical care beds (which includes both intensive care and high dependency beds) of 451 adult critical care beds over and above capacity for last winter.
The results are given in the table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Eastern total | 211 |
| London total | 647 |
| North West total | 411 |
| Northern and Yorkshire total | 443 |
| South East total | 341 |
| South West total | 227 |
| Trent total | 253 |
| West Midlands total | 280 |
| England total | 2,813 |
| Beds above 15 January 2000 | +451 |
Source:
1 December Bed Census
CJD
33. Mr. Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with his European Union counterparts on the incidence of new variant CJD; and if he will make a statement. [147362]
Yvette Cooper: The Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Ms Stuart) attended the Health Council in December 2000 and stressed the importance of continued
6 Feb 2001 : Column: 510W
collaboration across Europe to improve our knowledge about variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). The National CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh maintains close links with its counterparts in the European Union through a Commission-funded surveillance project. We are aware of three cases of vCJD in France, and one in the Republic of Ireland.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |