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Ambulance Service
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has treat ambulance operational staff as an emergency service. [155993]
3 Apr 2001 : Column: 139W
Ms Stuart: The ambulance service must continue to work closely and effectively with the police and fire services. However, the ambulance service's primary role is the provision of effective and responsive pre-hospital emergency care in a modern and integrated health service.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many industrial injury claims have been made by Ambulance Service employees in each of the last five years. [156656]
Ms Stuart [holding answer 2 April 2001]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his question on 23 February 2001, Official Report, column 456W.
Drug Tariff
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set a maximum period of time for the process of types of product new to part IX of the drug tariff. [R] [156657]
Ms Stuart [holding answer 2 April 2001]: No. Products of a type which is new to part IX of the Drug tariff can at times raise complex issues which vary significantly from one type of product to another. It would not be possible to set a maximum period of time which took account of these variations.
Meningitis C
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many yellow cards have been submitted in the past five years to record adverse reactions to the meningitis C injection. [156476]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 2 April 2001]: Between 1 November 1999 and 28 February 2001, the Medicines Control Agency received a total of 12,880 Yellow Card reports of 26,682 suspected adverse drug reactions to the Meningitis C vaccines. The most commonly reported suspected reactions were soreness and/or redness at the injection site, headache, dizziness, nausea and rash. These reactions are documented in the product information for the three Meningitis C vaccines. By the end of the immunisation campaign, the majority of suspected adverse drug reactions received were non-serious. During this time, 18.5 million doses of vaccine were supplied as part of a national immunisation campaign to vaccinate all children under the age of 18 years. This corresponds to a reporting rate of 1 in 1,436 doses distributed. Yellow Card reports of suspected adverse drug reactions do not necessarily mean that the drug caused the reaction.
Mental Health Act Commission
Mrs. Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish his Department's response to the Mental Health Act Commission's Eighth Biennial report. [156903]
Mr. Hutton: We have published our response today and copies have been placed in the Library.
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the extra costs to be incurred by the Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust following his decision
3 Apr 2001 : Column: 140W
to suspend the transfer of services between the East Surrey and Crawley hospitals if that suspension is (a) until January 2002 and (b) indefinite. [156786]
Ms Stuart: The Surrey and Sussex Healthcare National Health Service Trust has estimated the direct cost arising from the decision to suspend the transfer of services between East Surrey and Crawley Hospitals to be:
- (a) The total cost of maintaining services at both sites is approximately £239,000, if the services are maintained until January 2002, and;
- (b) approximately £53,000 per month thereafter if services are maintained on both sites.
It is in the best interest of the local population that any further service reconfigurations are suspended until the conclusions of the South East Surrey and North West Sussex Service review are known by the end of 2001. The review aims to produce recommendations on the long term provision of acute, primary and intermediate care services for the area for 2010 onwards. The trust will continue to ensure that patient care is not compromised.
NHS Publications
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of publishing, printing and distributing, 'The NHS Plan-an action guide for nurses, midwives and health visitors'. [156743]
Mr. Denham: The total cost of publishing, printing and distributing the National Health Service plan action guide for nurses, midwives and health visitors was £147,000.
NHS Nurses
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full time, graduate nurses have (a) completed training and taken up a post within the NHS, (b) retired from the NHS and (c) resigned from the NHS in each of the last six years for which records are available; and if he will make a statement. [156810]
Mr. Denham: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the vacancy level is for the full-time graduate nurses within the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [156808]
Mr. Denham: This information is not collected centrally. The vacancy rates for all qualified nurses is shown in the table.
| Total qualified nurses--2000 | Percentage |
|---|---|
| England | 3.8 |
Notes:
1. Posts that had been vacant for three months or more at 31 March 2000
2. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place
Source:
Department of Health Vacancies Survey 2000
3 Apr 2001 : Column: 141W
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he plans to provide incentives to full-time graduate nurses to work within the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [156809]
Mr. Denham: The Department is improving recruitment and retention for all National Health Service staff by introducing fair pay, by encouraging the NHS to become a better employer, and by increasing the workforce.
In addition, NHS funded students studying at degree level receive a favourable level of means-tested bursary. Additional allowances are available for older students, single parents and for those who have adult/child dependants. The NHS also pays the tuition fees and offers non-means-tested student loans, access funds, hardship loans and NHS hardship grants.
Bursary rates will increase by 10.4 per cent. with effect from 1 September this year. This is the biggest increase since the introduction of the bursary.
NHS Real Estate
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give those occasions on which NHS real estate has been sold for less than the assessed value made by the NHS district valuer in the last year. [156682]
Mr. Denham: There has been only one occasion during the last year when surplus National Health Service property has been sold for less than the district valuer's valuation. This was the Devonshire Royal Hospital in Buxton that was sold to the University of Derby.
This information is not available in respect of any sale by NHS trusts.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Drug-related Deaths (Peterborough)
Mrs. Brinton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evaluation he has made of the research cited in the Home Office publication, 'Reducing Drug-Related Deaths', concerning the number of drug- related deaths in Peterborough; and if he will make a statement. [156789]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Government are determined to reduce the number of drug-related deaths in this country, and have studied the report from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs carefully. The Government's response to this report, which was published on 30 March 2001, sets out the significant steps we have taken to tackle the problem. As part of the anti-drugs strategy, the Government will produce an action plan to reduce drug misuse-related deaths by 20 per cent. by 2004. The action plan should be published in the summer.
Thames Valley Police Force
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of officers in the Thames Valley police force in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003. [156680]
3 Apr 2001 : Column: 142W
Mr. Charles Clarke: Thames Valley police advise me that they hope that force strength will reach the following numbers (excluding officers on secondment):
| Year | Number of officers |
|---|---|
| 31 March 2002 | 3,771 |
| 31 March 2003 | 3,951 |
In each case these are full-time equivalent numbers.
Strength may vary from these estimates, depending upon: the success of Thames Valley Police in attracting recruits; any changes to expected wastage from the force; and any changes in the number of officers working part-time.
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