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Coronary Surgery (West Midlands)
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on waiting times for coronary surgery in the west midlands. [28898]
Yvette Cooper: We are committed to improving waiting times for cardiac surgery, and in the west midlands initiatives include a new £13 million purpose built cardiac surgery critical care unit which recently opened at the University Hospitals Birmingham national health service trust.
A new purpose built cardiac surgery centre is being developed at the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS trust, which is due to open in 2004, and is the first new specialist cardiac centre to be built in the west midlands for 30 years. The cardiac surgery unit at Stoke-on-Trent is also being expanded in 2002.
In the interim, private capacity is also being purchased at Leicester BUPA Hospital and the Priory Hospital, Birmingham to ensure no patient waits longer than 15 months.
In order to facilitate the treatment of urgent patients within the region, a cardiac services capacity manager has been appointed to ensure that urgent patients in the west midlands are treated quickly.
Renal Transplants
Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reasons are for his proposed transfer of renal transplant operations from St. Helier to St. George's; and if he will make a statement. [28746]
Mr. Hutton: Any decision to transfer renal transplant operations from St. Helier to St. George's hospitals will be decided locally. St. George's, Epsom and St. Helier national health service trusts, Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth health authority, Merton and Sutton community health council and patient groups are all working to ensure that any proposals put forward are in the best interests of the patients and staff of the renal service. A final decision will not be made until the health authority has conducted a formal public consultation which will commence in March 2002.
Haywood Hospital
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what remedial action is planned following the clean hospitals programme report into Haywood hospital, Stoke-on-Trent. [28917]
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Yvette Cooper: I am advised that the action plan agreed by the North Staffordshire Hospital National Health Service Trust following the clean hospitals programme report into Haywood hospital following the inspection in March is progressing well and includes:
- a large redecoration programme including the entrance, main reception areas, wards and common areas;
improvements to internal and external signage;
improvements to visitors' toilet facilities;
investment in new furniture—improving the overall quality of the furniture stock;
improvements to catering services;
implementation of in-house support services staff performance monitoring scheme;
improvements to hospital grounds and gardens.
The clean hospitals programme is intended to introduce and restore standards in cleanliness and the patient environment. Delivery progress under the clean hospitals programme is showing tangible improvements in every hospital.
Spending Review
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to appraise the environmental implications of its Spending Review submission to the Treasury. [29026]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 21 January 2002]: Environmental implications are considered as part of the normal policy making process, which includes spending review proposals.
Contact Lenses
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on, and what assessments he has made of, the health implications of the sale of cosmetic patterned contact lenses. [27143]
Ms Blears [holding answer 21 January 2002]: The General Optical Council (GOC) has proposed to the Department that the sale of cosmetic contact lenses, which do not have a corrective refractory power, be subject to tighter regulation because of the risk to eye health from the misuse of contact lenses. Views differed when we consulted on this proposal and, to inform our policy considerations, we are collaborating with the GOC on an assessment of the extent of the risks.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to bring forward changes to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 to allow a child of a deceased father to include his or her father's name on their birth certificate. [29296]
Yvette Cooper: We supported a private Members Bill on this last year, which unfortunately had not completed all its stages when the general election was called. We are committed to bring forward this legislation as soon as parliamentary time is found.
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NHS
Sir Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in the discussions taking place on the new pay structure for the NHS involving a nation-wide job evaluation exercise. [29331]
Mr. Hutton: Considerable progress is being made in the "Agenda for Change" pay modernisation talks. In particular the job evaluation scheme has been developed further so that it is now generating credible and consistent results over the range of jobs covered by the United Kingdom-wide national health service. It has now been used to carry out evaluations on around 400 examples of the most common NHS jobs, which provides the basic data needed for negotiating the new pay structure. The central negotiating group has prepared negotiating documents covering all areas of the new pay system, with remaining differences between the Health Department's proposals and the views of staff representative organisations highlighted.
We have decided to leave final decisions on the new system until after the 2002 Spending Review is announced. Until then all parties have agreed that the job evaluation scheme and models of a new pay structure should continue to be developed. The aim will be to
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complete this work as early as possible this year to enable swift agreement with a view to starting implementation at the earliest possible opportunity.
PFI Contracts
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the order of costs incurred by private sector PFI partners in securing contracts for community hospital building projects; and if he will make a statement. [27343]
Mr. Hutton: Information is not held centrally of costs incurred by private sector firms in bidding for community hospital projects. Such costs are incorporated into a bidder's best and final offer which national health service bodies compare to their public sector comparator to determine which option offers better value for money.
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many private sector PFI partners are available for community hospital building projects of the order of £25 to £35 million; which are acceptable to his Department; and if he will make a statement. [27344]
Mr. Hutton: Listed are private finance initiative projects with a capital value of between £10 million and £35 million which have been signed with private sector partners. This captures the private sector constructors which are involved in delivering medium size hospital schemes, including community hospitals.
| Trust | Project description | Capital value(30) | Constructor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cornwall Health Care NHS Trust | Bodmin Community Hospital | 10.20 | Grosvenor House Group plc |
| Redbridge Health Care NHS Trust | Mental Health Reprovision and Geriatric Day Centre | 10.80 | Ryhurst (Redbridge) Ltd. |
| East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust | Mental Health Reprovision | 12.08 | Allenbuild (South East) |
| Royston Buntingford and Bishop's Stortford Primary Care NHS Trust | Herts and Essex Hospital | 14.70 | Rydon Construction |
| Luton and Dunstable Hospitals NHS Trust | St. Mary's Wing | 14.70 | MJ Gleeson Group |
| Oxleas NHS Trust | Reprovision of Mental Health | 15.00 | Ryhurst (Bexley) Ltd. |
| Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust | ENT/Ophthalmology | 16.60 | Glugston PF Ltd. |
| Northumbria Health Care NHS Trust | Phase 11 Development of Wansbeck General | 17.82 | MJ Gleeson Group |
| Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust | Maternity and Acute Development, Hull Royal Infirmary | 18.19 | Bilfinger and Berger/Haden Young |
| Sussex Weald and Downs NHS Trust | Graylingwell Hospital Reprovision | 22.00 | James Longley/Kier Regional |
| Northumbria Health Care NHS Trust | Redevelopment of Hexham General Hospital | 29.10 | Bovis Group |
| West Berkshire Priority Care Services NHS Trust | Prospect Park mental health redevelopment | 29.70 | Kier Group |
| West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust | Acute Rationalisation | 33.00 | Bougyes UK |
(30) £ million
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