House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 11 Mar 2002 (pt 40)

Health Inequalities

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the extent of variation in access to health services in England. [2841]

Yvette Cooper: I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

The Department has commissioned a number of reviews to assess health inequalities, as well as National Service Frameworks which analyse the evidence and set out blueprints to raise standards and reduce variations. There are also a range of measures to assess performance (including national health service performance indicators which measure access). Improving access to health care is a core underpinning principle of the new NHS reforms and the NHS Plan sets out a substantial programme for addressing variations across the country.

Bed Blocking

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of days hospital beds are blocked because of local authority delays in providing (a) care packages and (b) aids or

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adaptations to patients' homes for each local authority area in the north-west; and if he will make a statement. [2107]

Jacqui Smith: I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

Information is not available in the form requested. However, on 3 March 2002 some 82 people were in hospital beds in the north-west region awaiting public funding of post-hospital care, compared with 168 in August 2001. There were another 29 people awaiting domiciliary care packages of some form, compared with 45 in August 2001. It is not possible to break these down by local authority area.

Correspondence

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letters to him dated 6 August 2001 and 25 September 2001 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. S. Holden. [12671]

Jacqui Smith: I apologise to my right hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

The reply to my right hon. Friend's letters of 6 August and 25 September regarding his constituent Mr. Stephen Holden was sent on 5 November 2001.

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letter of 8 October from Sandi O'Donnell of Resvil to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State regarding a survey of carers' and patients' preferences in housing for people with learning disabilities. [20413]

Jacqui Smith: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

A reply was sent on 26 November 2001.

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to reply to the letter of 24 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. A. Battersby. [22189]

Mr. Hutton: I apologise to my right hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

A reply to the letter of 24 October from my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman) about Mr. A. Battersby was sent to him on 11 December.

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Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to reply to the letter of 31 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. E. Johnson. [22186]

Jacqui Smith: A reply was sent on 5 November.

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to reply to the letters of 25 September and 26 November 2001, from the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald about the provision of general practitioner services in Staplehurst. [36389]

Mr. Hutton: I apologise to the right hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the right hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

A reply was sent on 8 March.

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will answer the letter of 3 September from the hon. Member for Woodspring on the treatment of British patients in European hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the cause of the delay. [10805]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 29 October 2001]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

A reply was sent on 31 October 2001.

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will answer the letter of 22 August from the hon. Member for Woodspring on free nursing care; and if he will make a statement on the cause of the delay. [10806]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 29 October 2001]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

A reply was sent on 31 October 2001.

Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the hon. Member for Broxbourne will receive a reply to her letters of 6 December, 2 January, 29 January and 26 February relating to correspondence from her constituent Mr. Phillip Goldsmith of Broxbourne. [39558]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 4 March 2002]: A reply was sent on 8 March 2002.

Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the hon. Member for West Worcestershire will receive an answer to the letter written to the Secretary of State for Social Security on 24 April on behalf of Mrs. Copson, which was transferred to his Department on 8 May (ref: POH (3)5505/6). [12384]

Mr. Hutton: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the

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Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

A reply to the hon. Member's letter was sent from the chief executive, National Health Service Pensions Agency, on 5 November 2001. I apologise for the unacceptable delay in replying to the hon. Member's correspondence, due to the Department not receiving the original correspondence transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will answer the letter of 19 March sent to him by the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East about his constituent, Ms Lesley Talbot. [24284]

The Department has no record of receiving this correspondence. The Department's ministerial correspondence unit requested a duplicate copy of the correspondence. The issues raised in the correspondence were the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). DWP will arrange for a reply to be sent shortly.

Public Service Agreements

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the Public Service Agreement target for procurement savings by NHS trusts in 2001–02. [14900]

Mr. Hutton: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

All national health service trusts have targets for procurement savings in their procurement strategies. They will all be measured against these targets by the Audit Commission and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency and the results will be made available in April.

Also, trusts have been set targets to increase efficiency across the range of services they provide. This is embodied in the new public service agreement target for value for money that was agreed as part of spending review 2000:

"The cost of care commissioned from trusts which perform well against indicators of fair access, quality and responsiveness, will become the benchmark for the NHS. Everyone will be expected to reach the level of the best over the next five years, with agreed milestones for 2003–04."

The aim of this new target is to ensure that cost-savings are not at the expense of service quality. The year 2001–02 is the first year covered by this new public service agreement target. We will be monitoring progress against this new target as data become available.

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Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress towards meeting the Public Service Agreement target of a reduction in the death rate from suicide and undetermined injury by at least 20 per cent. by 2010. [14886]

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 23 October 2001 Official Report, column 147W.

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