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Health Funding
Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of growth in real terms of NHS funding by 2004. [149129]
Mr. Denham: National Health Service expenditure is planned to increase by around 5.8 per cent. in real terms in each of the next three years. This is on top of the planned real-terms increase of 8.4 per cent. for this year. Over all four years, the NHS will benefit from an average annual increase in real terms of 6.4 per cent.--the largest ever sustained increase in NHS funding over such a period.
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the planned funding will be for (a) the NHS and (b) personal social services in (i) Wales, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Northern Ireland per head of population in 2000-01. [150693]
Mr. Hutton: Issues relating to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the devolved Assemblies.
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the special advisers working for him will relinquish their posts when the next General Election is called. [149316]
Ms Stuart: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 13 February 2001, Official Report, column 130W.
Medical Training
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 29 January 2001, Official Report, column 51W, on training places, how many of the nurses in the NHS Plan will be (a) returning to nursing, (b) from overseas, (c) newly qualified and (d) others in each year from 2000 until 2004; and if he will make a statement. [149378]
Mr. Denham: The NHS Plan commitment is that between now and 2004 there will be 20,000 more nurses. Annual targets have not been set. The increase in staff will be made up of students coming out of training and a range of recruitment and retention initiatives including
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staff returning to practice, international recruitment and measures to reduce the number of staff leaving the National Health Service.
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 1 February 2001, Official Report, column 264W, on medical school training places, how many of the (a) general practitioners and (b) consultants pledged in the NHS Plan will be (i) those returning to medical practice, (ii) doctors from overseas, (iii) doctors from elsewhere in the NHS and (iv) others, for each year from 2000 until 2004; and if he will make a statement. [149435]
Mr. Denham: The NHS Plan commitments are for 7,500 more consultants and 2,000 more general practitioners by 2004. Annual targets have not been set. The increase in staff will be made up of doctors coming out of training and a range of recruitment and retention initiatives including staff returning to practice, international recruitment and measures to reduce the number of staff leaving the National Health Service.
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 29 January 2001, Official Report, column 51W, on training places, how many of the therapists in the NHS Plan will be (a) returning to the profession, (b) professionals from overseas, (c) newly qualified professionals and (d) others, in each year from 2000 to 2004; and if he will make a statement. [149432]
Mr. Denham: The NHS Plan commitment is for an increase of 6,500 therapists and other health professionals by 2004. Annual targets have not been set. The increase in staff will be made up of students coming out of training and a range of recruitment and retention initiatives including staff returning to practice, international recruitment and measures to reduce the number of staff leaving the National Health Service.
Overseas Doctors
Mr. McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms he is putting in place to facilitate the recruitment of the overseas doctors identified in the NHS plan. [149805]
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Mr. Denham: Over the last six months we have put into place an effective infrastructure capable of supporting the increased levels of international recruitment envisaged in the National Health Service.
A director of international recruitment has been appointed to implement a national strategy for international recruitment and co-ordinate the work of regional office leads in this area.
To practise in this country, all overseas doctors need to satisfy the registration requirements of the General Medical Council (GMC); doctors employed at consultant level also need to satisfy the Specialist Training Authority (STA) that they hold satisfactory specialist medical qualifications. The Department is working with the GMC, STA and the royal colleges to ensure overseas doctors are able to progress quickly and efficiently through the necessary registration procedures.
A Government to Government agreement was signed with Spain in November 2000 to promote closer working between the two countries. As part of this agreement, the first 63 nurses arrived in the North West on 19 January 2000 to work in four NHS trusts. Following this successful recruitment, the initiative is being extended to medical staff through a pilot project also being led by North West Region.
We are also investigating the recruitment of doctors from other countries who have a surplus of doctors, both within the European Economic Area and outside.
Autism/Crohn's Disease
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the incidence of (a) autism and (b) Crohn's disease among children aged (i) 18 months and (ii) three years in (1) 1987, (2) April 1992 and (3) April 2000; and if he will make a statement. [149626]
Mr. Denham: Autism is rarely diagnosed in children as young as 18 months. An estimated prevalence rate of classic autism of between four and five per 10,000 population is widely accepted. Prevalence of all autistic spectrum disorders is more difficult to estimate but could be as high as 91 per 10,000. These figures would imply that, in England in 1999, between 250 and 300 children of three years of age were affected by classic autism and that up to 5,500 children may have been affected by autistic spectrum disorders.
The incidence of Crohn's disease in childhood in the United Kingdom is not currently known. The disease is likely to be underdiagnosed in very young children, who cannot express specific symptoms as adults do.
Hospices
Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proportion of extra NHS funding for the period 2001-02 relative to the previous year is dedicated to special palliative services and hospice care; [149607]
- (2) if he will calculate the level of NHS statutory funding for hospices in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion of total hospice operational costs the statutory funding covered in each of the last 10 years; [149608]
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(3) what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the current level of NHS statutory funding for hospices; and if he will make a statement. [149609]
Yvette Cooper: 70 per cent. of specialist palliative care is provided by voluntary sector providers. Information on total hospice expenditure and the National Health Service contribution over the last 10 years is not available.
A current estimate of expenditure on hospice and specialist palliative care for adults is £300 million. Of this, £170 million is provided by the voluntary sector and £130 million by the NHS.
The NHS Cancer Plan acknowledged that
- "hospices have rightly argued that the NHS should invest more in palliative care services".
The NHS Plan Implementation Programme sets out key targets and milestones for the NHS for 2001-02 including the requirement for all cancer networks to develop and begin implementing costed strategic plans for palliative care in partnership with the voluntary sector. This process is now under way.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been paid to (a) Darien House Children's Hospice and (b) St. Catherine's Hospice in 2000-01. [150338]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 13 February 2001]: During 2000-01, Derien House Children's Hospice received statutory funding totalling £21,000 from the south and east Lancashire health authorities. St. Catherine's Hospice received £488,384 during the same period from the south Lancashire and north-west Lancashire health authorities.
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