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Smear Tests
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are waiting and for how long for smear test results in Hull and East Riding. [35977]
Jacqui Smith: Information is not available in the form requested. Data on waiting times for smear test results for East Riding health authority in 2000–01 are shown in the table. In about 1 per cent. of cases the information was not available.
| Time from receipt of smear to authorisation of report | Percentage of reports |
|---|---|
| Up to 4 weeks | 82 |
| More than 4 weeks up to 6 weeks | 13 |
| More than 6 weeks up to 8 weeks | 4 |
| Over 8 weeks | 1 |
Sources:
KC53 part E
Statistics Division 2B
27 Feb 2002 : Column 1407W
Departmental Website
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost of his Department's website was in real terms in each of the last four years; and how many hits it received in each of those years. [36139]
Ms Blears: The cost of the Department of Health's website is as follows:
| Financial year | Hosting and maintenance | Website development | Estimated staff costs | Total costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 29.4 | 20 | 178.9 | 228.3 |
| 1999–00 | 62.8 | 30 | 229.4 | 322.2 |
| 2000–01 | 57.8 | 130.7 | 277.1 | 465.6 |
| 2001–02(35) | 69.6 | (36)245.9 | 339.7 | 655.2 |
(35) To 1 February 2002.
(36) This figure includes £532,000 spent on user research.
The Department uses page impressions rather than hits as a measure of usage. The figures for the last four years are as follows:
| Calendar year | Page impressions |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 4,533,775 |
| 1999 | 16,485,398 |
| 2000 | 37,504,218 |
| 2001 | 48,337,144 |
Union Duties
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies receive paid leave to undertake union duties; how many days they are allocated; and what has been the cost to public funds in each of the last four years. [36200]
Ms Blears: The Department, including its agencies, has 10 accredited full-time union representatives (100 per cent. of their duties) who may receive paid leave to undertake union activities.
In addition to facility time, a reasonable amount of paid time off for accredited representatives, to enable them to carry out trade union activities, may be given within a limit of 15 days per annum. An additional 10 days may be given to those elected or appointed to national union bodies such as group and national executive committees.
As all annual leave taken by staff is recorded and checked locally by business areas within the Department, there is no centrally held information available on the cost of paid leave taken by accredited representatives for trade union activities.
The Department does not hold any details of union duties undertaken by non-departmental public bodies staff.
Industrial Action
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many days have been lost owing to industrial action by staff in his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years. [36179]
27 Feb 2002 : Column 1408W
Ms Blears: There have been no days lost owing to industrial action by staff in the Department or its agencies in the last four years.
The Department does not hold any details of union activities undertaken by non-departmental public bodies staff.
Medicines
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what levels of access there are to medicines (a) over- the-counter and (b) through the NHS itself. [36293]
Ms Blears: There are two levels of access to over the counter medicines. General sale list medicines are available from a range of retail outlets. Pharmacy medicines are available from pharmacies. As part of national health service arrangements medicines may be administered or supplied by a range of professional staff or prescribed by doctors, dentists and some nurses. Depending on the circumstances, prescribed medicines can be dispensed by hospital or community pharmacies or by dispensing doctors. There are restrictions on the types of medicines which most professional staff may administer, supply or prescribe, some of which arise from legislation under the Medicines Act, and some of which are specific to the NHS.
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that a change to the procedures for the reclassification of medicines from prescription-only to pharmacy sale will not remove availability by way of the NHS medicines reclassified for over-the-counter availability. [36294]
Ms Blears: The NHS Plan committed the Government to making more medicines available over the counter and therefore giving people a greater choice in their treatment and empowering patients to manage their care with the help of skilled health care staff. However, before a medicine is made more widely available, it is assessed against strict criteria relating to its safety in the circumstances in which it will be used. The policy is to improve access to a range of medicines without affecting their availability on the national health service, unless there are existing restrictions on NHS availability.
Cruse Bereavement Care
Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met representatives of Cruse Bereavement Care; what financial assistance he is providing for Cruse Bereavement Care; what assessment he has made of the contribution Cruse makes to reducing long-term mental health problems; and if he will make a statement. [36935R]
Jacqui Smith: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State last met with representatives from Cruse Bereavement Care on 2 June 2000. On 12 February 2002 civil servants from the Department met with the new chief executive of Cruse to discuss the work of Cruse and its role in the delivery of modern mental health services.
The Department has provided Cruse Bereavement Care with funding over a number of years under the Section 64 General Scheme under the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968. Details of current projects and funding are:
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| £ | |
|---|---|
| Quality Care in Bereavement | (37)180,000 |
| Bereavement Care—Improving Access | (38)176,000 |
| Promoting Bereavement Awareness | (39)90,000 |
(37) Over 3 years from 1999
(38) Over 3 years from 2000
(39) Over 3 years from 2001
We recognise that to deliver a modern, dependable health and social care service, the voluntary sector has a crucial role to play in helping service users cope with their mental health problems and we appreciate and value the very good work being done by voluntary organisations such as Cruse.
Dentistry
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists, broken down by health authority, have taken NHS patients in (a) 1979, (b) 1992, (c) 1997 and (d) 2001 or the most recent available date. [36390]
Ms Blears: Table 1 shows the number of General Dental Service (GDS) dentists on the dental list in each family health service authority (FHSA) at the end of (a) September 1979 and (b) September 1992.
In April 1996, FHSA's were replaced by health authorities.
Table 2 shows the number of GDS dentists on the dental list of each HA at the end of (c) September 1997 and (d) September 2001.
Dentists working in more than one FHSA or HA are counted only once in their main health authority.
GDS dentists cover principals and their assistants and vocational dental practitioners.
Note:
Some dentists have contracts in more than one family health service authority. These dentists have been counted only once, in the HA in which they hold their main contract.
27 Feb 2002 : Column 1411W
(40) Three HAs: Cambridge and Huntingdon, East Norfolk and North-west Anglia were replaced by two HAs: Cambridge and Norfolk in April 2000
(41)Note: Some dentists have contracts in more than one health authority. These dentists have been counted only once, in the HA in which they hold their main contract
27 Feb 2002 : Column 1412W
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding streams are available to help set up new NHS dental practices; and if he will make a statement. [36397]
Ms Blears: All health authorities have in place dentistry action plans aimed at meeting the Government's dental access pledge. These action plans identify local issues and develop solutions. Over the last two financial years the Government have allocated £10 million from the Dental Care Development Fund and the Dentistry Action Plan Fund to support local plans to improve access. This money enables health authorities to assist dentists seeking to set up new practices and to expand and modernise existing ones. For the future dentistry will be included in the local improvement finance trust scheme. This will provide locally focused support for the establishment of new national health service practice facilities.
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