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Digital Hearing Aids

Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what interim measures he plans to take to ensure continuity of service for those who have benefited from digital hearing aids in the 20 trial hospitals while awaiting the evaluation report from the Institute of Hearing Research. [19536]

Jacqui Smith: Patients who have been fitted with digital hearing aids as part of the pilot project will be followed up. This is an important part of the modernised service specification. Decisions about funding for a continued digital hearing aid service in these sites will be made in enough time to enable providers to plan services effectively for the next financial year.

Ambulance Trusts

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice his Department issues to ambulance trusts on the need to ensure interoperability of radio systems with other emergency services. [19703]

Ms Blears: It is our intention to nationally procure a digital radio network for all national health service ambulance trusts in England. A fundamental requirement of the new radio network will be the fullest possible operational interoperability between the emergency services.

Overseas NHS Workers

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will rank in terms of (a) numbers and (b) as a percentage of the total those countries whose citizens are employed by the NHS as (i) nurses, (ii) doctors and (iii) other professional clinical staff in the most recent years for which figures are available. [19601]

Mr. Hutton: The information requested for nurses and other professional clinical staff is not collected centrally. Validated information for doctors is available only for United Kingdom/European Economic Area/other. This is shown in the table.

All doctors—England

	1996		1997		1998		1999		2000
	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
All doctors
All countries of qualification	86,580	100	89,620	100	91,840	100	93,980	100	96,320	100
United Kingdom	61,240	70.7	62,00	70.2	64,470	70.2	65,810	70.0	67,150	69.7
Rest of EEA	4,590	5.3	4,700	5.2	4,690	5.1	4,890	5.2	4,790	4.97
Elsewhere	20,760	24.0	22,010	24.6	22,670	24.7	23,290	24.8	24,380	25.3
of which:
	General practitioners (excluding GP Retainers)(57),(58)
All countries of qualification	29,120	100	29,390	100	29,700	100	29,990	100	30,250	100
United Kingdom	23,410	80.4	23,560	80.2	23,860	80.3	24,110	80.4	24,330	80.4
Rest of EEA	930	3.2	1,000	3.4	1,020	3.4	1,100	3.7	1,170	3.9
Elsewhere	4,770	16.4	4,830	16.4	4,820	16.2	4,770	15.9	4,760	15.7
	HCHS medical and dental staff
All countries of qualification	57,470	100	60,230	100	62,140	100	63,990	100	66,070	100
United Kingdom	37,830	65.8	39,350	65.3	40,610	65.4	41,690	65.2	42,820	64.8
Rest of EEA	3,660	6.4	3,700	6.1	3,670	5.9	3,780	5.9	3,620	5.5
Elsewhere	15,980	27.8	17,180	28.5	17,860	28.7	18,520	28.9	19,620	29.7

⁽⁵⁷⁾ All practitioners (excluding GP Retainers) includes GMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contract GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, GP Registrars, Salaried Doctors (Para. 52 SFA), and PMS Others. GP Retainers were collected for the first time in the 1999 census; for comparability purposes they have been excluded.

⁽⁵⁸⁾ The 1996 figures include estimates for 179 Assistants whose first country of qualification is unknown.

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10

2. Percentages are calculated using unrounded figures

Sources:

Department of Health medical and dental work force census as at 30 September

Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics as at 30 September 2000 and 1 October in previous years

10 Dec 2001 : Column: 723W

National Specialist Commissioning

Advisory Group

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the (a) membership and (b) remit of the National Specialist Commissioning Advisory Group. [19923]

Mr. Hutton: The National Specialist Commissioning Advisory Group (NSCAG) is chaired by Dr. Mike Gill, the Regional Director of Public Health for South East Region.

The current membership of the National Specialist Commissioning Advisory Group is as follows:

Dr. Mike Gill, NSCAG Chairman and Regional Director of Public Health, South East RO


Dr. Chris Bayliss, Consultant Radiologist, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital


Professor Carol Black, Clinical Vice President, Royal College of Physicians


Ms Jenny Brown, Director Nursing, Hull and East Yorkshire Health Authority


Professor John Cox, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists


Dr. Bernard Crump, Director of Public Health, Leicester Health Authority


Dr. Keith Dodd, Consultant Paediatrician, Derbyshire Children's Hospital


Professor George Elder, Pathologist, College of Medicine, Cardiff


Mr. David Flory, Chief Executive, Newcastle and North Tyneside Health Authority


Ms Linda Hamlyn, Chief Executive, West Hertfordshire Health Authority


Mr. James Johnson, Chairman of the Joint Consultants Committee


Mr. Eamonn Kelly, Director of Health Policy and Strategy, Coventry Health Authority


Sir Peter Morris, President, Royal College of Surgeons


Mr. Nick Relph, Chief Executive, Berkshire Health Authority


Professor Stephen Tomlinson, Faculty of Medicine, Manchester Royal Infirmary


Professor Kent Woods, Director of HTA, Leicester.

NSCAG was established in 1996 to advise Ministers on the identification and funding of services where central intervention into local commissioning of patient services is necessary for reasons of clinical effectiveness, equity of access and/or economic viability. It superseded the Supra Regional Services Advisory Group (SRSAG).

The terms of reference of NSCAG are as follows:

To advise Secretary of State on:


(a) the identification and funding of services under the Supra Regional Services arrangements;

(b) the identification and funding of specialised services not qualifying for Supra Regional Service designation, but where there is an economic and/or clinical justification for contracting centrally for their delivery.

10 Dec 2001 : Column: 724W

(c) the commissioning of purchaser guidelines for specialised services where purchasing is best arranged through local purchasers by means of lead purchaser or purchaser consortium arrangements; and

(d) funding the service costs of new developments, in those services for which it is likely to become the purchaser, to enable full evaluation to take place.

Psycho-Geriatricians

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how may psycho-geriatricians there were in England and Wales at the last date for which figures are available. [19924]

Mr. Hutton: The data collected for England are shown in the table. The information relating to Wales is a matter for the devolved Administration.

Hospital medical staff within the old age psychiatry specialty

England at 30 September 2000	Number
All staff	860
of which:
Consultant	330

Note:

Figures rounded to the nearest 10.

Source:

Department of Health 2000 medical and dental workforce census.

Hospitals

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the 10 largest hospitals in the United Kingdom, by number of beds. [20245]

Mr. Hutton: The 10 largest hospitals in the United Kingdom, by bed numbers are:

Hospital	Actual beds
Queen's Medical Centre UHN NHS Trust, Nottingham	1,366
Leicester Royal Infirmary	1,172
St. James's University Hospital, Leeds	1,157
Leeds General Infirmary	1,135
Northern General Hospital, Sheffield	1,100
Southampton General Hospital	1,088
Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust	1,050
The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, London	1,008
Derriford Hospital, Plymouth	975
University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff	960

NHS Morale

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on morale in the national health service. [20268]

10 Dec 2001 : Column: 725W

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on morale in the health service. [19968]

Mr. Hutton: We recognise that staff work hard for the national health service, often in challenging environments, and we are committed to ensuring that staff feel properly valued. We have initiated a wide range of initiatives to improve the working lives of all staff in the NHS which are outlined in the NHS Plan.

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