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National Institute for Clinical Excellence

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring his Department has undertaken to ensure that NICE guidance is fully implemented for each

23 Nov 2001 : Column: 577W

technology appraisal undertaken by NICE where the technology was recommended as suitable for use within the NHS. [15966]

Ms Blears [holding answer 20 November 2001]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) on 5 November 2001, Official Report, column 119W.

Small Acute Hospitals (Emergency Admissions)

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons regarding the future of smaller acute hospitals which take emergency admissions. [16457]

Ms Blears [holding answer 20 November 2001]: Ministers hold regular meetings with the royal colleges to discuss developments in the NHS.

I will be meeting Professor Alberti, President of the Royal College of Physicians in the near future to discuss issues around acute medicine and emergency services with particular reference to acute hospitals.

Nuffield Trust

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the Nuffield Trust report, "Local Medical Emergency Units: Learning Set Interim". [16456]

Ms Blears [holding answer 20 November 2001]: This is a useful and interesting interim report offering some alternative thinking on the idea of localised medical care provision brought about by technological developments in communications.

This will undoubtedly make an important contribution to the on-going debate around service development.

Beef Imports

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are taken to ensure that beef imported from other countries, from which spinal cord tissue has not been removed, is safe. [16284]

Ms Blears [holding answer 20 November 2001]: Where consignments of imported carcase beef are found with spinal cord still attached, and the age of the animals at slaughter or the countries of origin of the consignment means that such spinal cord is defined as specified risk material, the whole of the carcase or part carcase containing the spinal cord is detained and destroyed and is not permitted to enter the human food or animal food chains.

Ward Housekeepers

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many ward housekeepers were in post using the most recent figures available, broken down by (a) region and (b) health authority. [16762]

Ms Blears [holding answer 21 November 2001]: The NHS plan set the target that:


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To date, 29 per cent. of acute hospitals and 23 per cent. of mental health hospitals have begun to introduce the service (although not necessarily across all wards). Because there are local variations in how services are organised, we do not have data on the number of housekeepers in post. However, the latest figures provided by trusts to National Health Service Estates indicate that of the 9,000 wards within England, 2,266 have a housekeeping service.

Breakdown by region

RegionNumber of wards with housekeeping service
Northern and Yorkshire409
Trent309
West Midlands240
North West177
Eastern220
London276
South East426
South West209
Total2,266

Breakdown by health authorities

Health authorityNumber of wards with housekeeping service
Northern and Yorkshire region
Bradford HA25
County Durham and Darlington HA26
East Riding and Hull HA55
Gateshead and South Tyneside HA0
Leeds HA116
Newcastle and North Tyneside HA3
North Cumbria HA3
Northumberland HA26
Sunderland HA41
Tees HA37
Wakefield HA56
North Yorkshire HA17
Calderdale and Kirklees HA4
Trent region
Barnsley HA5
North Derbyshire HA0
South Derbyshire HA16
Doncaster HA0
Leicestershire HA40
Lincolnshire HA48
North Nottinghamshire HA38
Nottingham HA55
Rotherham HA0
Sheffield HA107
South Humber HA0
West Midlands region
Birmingham HA106
Coventry HA7
Dudley HA3
Herefordshire HA0
Sandwell HA23
Shropshire HA12
Solihull HA0
North Staffordshire HA0
South Staffordshire HA36
Walsall HA26
Warwickshire HA22
Wolverhampton HA4
Worcestershire HA1
North West region
South Lancashire HA0
Liverpool HA14
Manchester HA0
Morecambe Bay HA2
St. Helen's and Knowsley HA31
Salford and Trafford HA26
Sefton HA3
Stockport HA0
West Pennine HA36
Bury and Rochdale HA31
North Cheshire HA0
South Cheshire HA4
East Lancashire HA14
North West Lancashire HA6
Wigan and Bolton HA10
Wirral HA0
Eastern region
Bedfordshire HA9
North Essex HA34
South Essex HA12
Suffolk HA30
Cambridgeshire HA62
Norfolk HA12
Hertfordshire HA61
London region
Hillingdon HA0
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster HA25
Redbridge and Waltham Forest HA0
Croydon HA0
Kingston and Richmond HA0
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham HA74
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth HA16
Barking and Havering HA0
Brent and Harrow HA4
Camden and Islington HA5
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow HA76
East London and the City HA0
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey HA37
Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich HA39
South East region
Berkshire HA13
Buckinghamshire HA28
East Kent HA65
West Kent HA22
East Surrey HA25
West Surrey HA49
East Sussex, Brighton and Hove HA63
West Sussex HA49
Northamptonshire HA27
Oxfordshire HA25
North and Mid Hampshire HA6
Southampton and South West Hampshire HA16
Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and South East Hampshire HA38
South West region
Somerset HA0
South and West Devon HA39
Wiltshire HA2
Avon HA43
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly HA37
Dorset HA13
North and East Devon HA54
Gloucestershire HA21


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Winter Plan 2001

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish the 2001 winter plan. [16842]

Ms Blears: We expect to publish the winter plan in early December.

Tuberculosis Vaccine

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of 10 to 14-year-olds are inoculated against tuberculosis in each health authority in the latest year for which figures are available. [16840]

Jacqui Smith: The information available for children aged 10 to 15 immunised against tuberculosis (BCG) is contained in table 8 of the statistical bulletin "NHS Immunisation Statistics, England: 2000–01". The information is by the national health service trust whose staff immunised the child, and not by the child's health authority of residence.

A copy of the bulletin is in the Library and can also be found on the Department's website www.doh.gov.uk/ public/sb0121.htm.

Consultant Neurologists

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultant neurologist (a) vacancies and (b) posts there were in 2000; and how many of the consultant neurologists in post in 2000 were (i) full-time and (ii) part-time. [16806]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 22 November 2001]: The number of consultant neurologists employed and the type of contract they held in September 2000 are shown in the table.

Hospital medical consultant neurologists by nature of contract England at 30 September 2000

All staff
All staff330
Full time230
Maximum part-time
Part-time40
Honorary60

Source:

Department of Health 2000 medical and dental workforce census


Information is not collected centrally on the number of consultant neurologist posts and vacancies.

Cirencester Hospital

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent discussions he has had with (a) East Gloucestershire health trust, (b) Cotswold and Stroud primary care group and (c) Gloucestershire health authority about proposed changes to the range of services offered at Cirencester hospital with particular reference to the A&E Department; [16876]

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Ms Blears [holding answer 22 November 2001]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions about the future of services at Cirencester hospital. This is a matter for the local national health service bodies.


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