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Aggregates Levy
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 8 January 2002, Official Report, column 805W, question 25025, on the aggregates levy, if he will specify the environmental benefits the imposition of the aggregates levy in Scotland will deliver. [27475]
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Mr. Boateng: The aggregates levy will bring about environmental benefits by making the price of aggregates better reflect the environmental costs of their extraction (noise, dust, visual intrusion, loss of amenity and damage to biodiversity) and by encouraging the more efficient use of aggregate and the greater use of alternative recycled materials.
Tilt Report
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have moved out of hospitals as a result of the implementation of the Tilt report. [22089]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 13 December 2001]: Additional funding is being made available, as recommended in the Tilt report, to facilitate the movement, by 2004, of patients no longer needing high security care. The funding is being made available to aid the development of new services to help reduce delays in moving patients. A target for the number of patients to be moved, and the associated funding, has recently been agreed with each region.
IT Systems
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the use of the international ICD coding standard for recording clinical details for all patient activity in other countries. [10262]
Ms Blears: There are approximately 41 countries that have planned or actually implemented the latest version of ICD which is ICD-10 for the coding of national mortality and morbidity statistics including the United States of America, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Mental Health
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many episodes of clinical psychology treatment occurred in (a) 1996–97 and (b) 1999–2000. [14109]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 12 November 2001]: During the period from 1996–97 to 1999–2000 the number of new episodes of care fell by nearly 5 per cent. from 197,000 to 188,000. However, the average duration of each episode rose. All information relating to new episodes of care for clinical psychology services for each year since 1988–89, including an explanation of the data, is contained in the statistical report "Clinical psychology summary information for 2000–01, England". A copy of the summary is in the Library and is available on the Department's website www.doh.gov.uk/public/KT240001.
London Ambulance Service
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many calls the London ambulance service received during the most recent 12 months for which figures are available; [24690]
- (2) how many hoax calls were made to the London ambulance service during the last year; [24698]
(3) what proportion of calls made to the London ambulance service over the last year that were acted upon were deemed inappropriate calls; [24688]
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(4) what was the average time it took, for the latest year for which figures are available, for the London ambulance service to respond to calls; and what the equivalent figures were for the previous three years; [24629]
(5) what was the average response time of the London ambulance service over the last year; [24689]
(6) how many call outs were made to the London ambulance service in the latest year for which figures are available; [24630]
(7) how many calls to the London ambulance service during the last year were screened, with a subsequent determination that the sending of an ambulance was not necessary. [24709]
Ms Blears [holding answer 8 January 2002]: Information about the number of emergency calls and the number resulting in an emergency response arriving at the scene of the reported incident for the London ambulance national health service trust are contained in the Department of Health Statistical Bulletin "Ambulance Services, England 2000/01". The bulletin also contains information about the response times to emergency calls. A copy of the bulletin is in the Library and available at www.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0115.htm.
Information on the number of hoax calls made to the London Ambulance Service (LAS) is not collected centrally. However, the LAS classify a hoax call as one where, on arrival of an ambulance crew or first responder, there is no patient to be found at the scene. The LAS recorded 391 such calls between the beginning of January and the end of November 2001. This figure represents less than 0.5 per cent. of the total workload for that period.
The LAS recognise that the majority of patients who dial 999 require some form of medical help or other assistance but also believe that, for many, their illness and injuries do not require an emergency ambulance to attend them. It is, however, extremely difficult to set a strict definition as to what constitutes an inappropriate call.
The LAS launched on 17 December 2001 a public education campaign to reduce the more blatant inappropriate use of the service by patients who could make their own way to an accident and emergency department or, in some cases, do not require hospital treatment at all. The campaign also highlights the fact that people should not phone the LAS for advice and so clog up the 999 call-taking system, but should instead be phoning NHS Direct or seeking advice from their GP.
Community Pharmacists
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what was the value of the fee paid to community pharmacists in December 1997; [24722]
- (2) what is the value of the fee paid to community pharmacists; and what was the value in December (a) 1998, (b) 1999 and (c) 2000. [24707]
Ms Blears [holding answer 8 January 2002]: Community pharmacies in England are paid a variety of fees and allowances, but the basic dispensing fee paid for
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the large majority of prescriptions is currently 87.4p. Comparable fee levels for prescriptions dispensed in December 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 are shown in the table.
| December | Basic dispensing fee |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 94.1 |
| 1998 | 94.1 |
| 1999 | 97.5 |
| 2000 | 97.5 |
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much community pharmacy contractors are receiving in dispensing fees; and what the equivalent figure was in May 1997. [24721]
Ms Blears [holding answer 8 January 2002]: For September 2001 (the latest month for which figures are available) total remuneration paid to pharmacy contractors in England was £58.8 million. The equivalent figure for May 1997 was £52.9 million.
Prescriptions
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England and Wales failed to get all or part of their prescriptions dispensed between 1 December 2000 and 1 December 2001. [24714]
Ms Blears [holding answer 8 January 2002]: The information requested is not available for England. Responsibility for the national health service in Wales lies with the National Assembly for Wales.
Orthodontist Services
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many orthodontists there were in England (a) at the latest available date and (b) in March 1997, broken down by each health authority area. [24712]
Ms Blears [holding answer 8 January 2002]: The information requested is shown in the table.
(35) Where HAs are shown, staff holding appointments in more than one HA are included in each HA. The sum of HA totals therefore differs slightly from the England total and a direct comparison between England totals and HA totals is not advised.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
2. '—' denotes zero.
3. '0' denotes less than five.
Source:
Department of Health 2000 medical and dental work force census.
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The information relates to hospital-based consultants within orthodontics.
Data showing the number of principal dentists within the General Dental Service, who have submitted one hundred or more orthodontic claims in a year are in the following table.
(36) An orthodontist is defined as a principal dentist who submitted 100 or more orthodontic claims in a year.
(37) In April 1999 Cambridge and Huntingdon, East Norfolk and North West Anglia HAs combined to form two HAs; Cambridge HA and Norfolk HA.
(38) Dentists are counted for each health authority in which they practice.
(39) Dentists are counted only once.
Dentists carrying out orthodontic treatment in the General Dental Service may also be carrying out orthodontic treatment for the Hospital Dental Service; therefore some dentists may have been included in both tables.
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