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Spinal Injuries
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many serious spinal cord injuries occurred in each of the last five years. [6750]
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Jacqui Smith [holding answer 15 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 to my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
The information requested is not collected centrally. We do, however, have some data on the incidence of spinal injury consultations, as detailed in the table:
| Spinal cord injuries(70) | |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 11,490 |
| 1997–98 | 11,433 |
| 1998–99 | 10,900 |
| 1999–2000 | 11,071 |
| 2000–01 | 10,813 |
(70) An FCE is defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider.
Note:
1. Data in this table is grossed for both coverage and unknown/invalid clinical data, except for 1998–99 to 2001–01 which are ungrossed.
2. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as one person may have several episodes within a year.
3. The main diagnosis is the first of seven diagnosis fields in the HES data set, and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
Hip Replacements
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the average cost of financing a hip replacement operation for a 65-year-old British citizen in each EU country. [7600]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 15 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.
The Department has not undertaken a review of the cost of treatments and procedures across all member states of the European Union. Within the national health service in England, we collect and publish the costs of a range of treatments and procedures on an annual basis. This information is made available to the NHS and general public and can be found on the Department's website. The cost of a primary hip replacement for a British citizen (carried out as a planned in-patient procedure), is detailed in the table for four preceding years.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 3,678 |
| 1998–99 | 3,755 |
| 1999–2000 | 3,899 |
| 2000–01 | 4,179 |
The costs are not differentiated by age, therefore the costs apply equally to patients of any age, not just those who are 65 years old.
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Residential Care Homes
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on changes in the number of places in residential care homes. [6173]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 16 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.
I regularly receive representations from a number of different sources such as hon. and right hon. Members, care home owners, interested individuals, organisations and local councils about the provision of residential and nursing home care.
Primary Care Trusts
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if public health medicine will be under the authority of primary care trusts. [9055]
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.
As a result of the changes outlined in 'Shifting the Balance of Power', primary care trusts (PCTs) will be responsible for the delivery of the majority of the public health services. From 1 April 2002, for the first time, all PCTs will have a Director of Public Health on its board.
PCTs will be performance managed in this role by the new strategic health authorities and supported through the Regional Directors of Public Health and their teams co-located with Government offices of the regions.
Hospital Closures
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals closed in (a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999, (d) 2000 and (e) 2001 to date. [10511]
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.
Information on hospital closures ceased to be collected in 1991 following the introduction of the national health service internal market and trusts.
The Government intend to make the best use of existing and new hospitals to improve access and standards of care for the whole population. The largest hospital building programme in the history of the NHS is under way. Since May 1997, 68 major hospital developments worth over £7.6 billion have been approved to proceed.
Last year, for the first time since 1971, the number of general and acute beds increased by 714.
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Combined Heat and Power
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 17 October 2001, Official Report, column 1242W, if he will list those CHP projects that have been installed in NHS properties since 1997. [11063]
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.
We do not currently collect this information. However, we intend to take action and capture data on the number and age of combined heat and power (CHP) installations in the national health service as part of the estates returns information collection performance monitoring system from 2001–02. We recognise the importance of obtaining the necessary information on CHP installations within the NHS.
Energy Efficiency Week
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department took in recognition of Energy Efficiency Week. [11512]
Mr. Hutton: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer my 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.
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment (Mr. Meacher) on 30 October 2001, Official Report, column 592W.
Eye Tests
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many free eye tests were undertaken in Pendle in each year since 1995. [12401]
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 specific to the Pendle area is not available centrally. However the total number of sight tests carried out within the East Lancashire health authority from 1996–97 onwards is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 81,242 |
| 1997–98 | 82,270 |
| 1998–99 | 80,493 |
| 1999–2000 | 103,719 |
| 2000–01 | 105,480 |
Notes:
1. Information for the year 1995–96 has been excluded due to health authority boundary changes and as such the data are not comparable.
2. Nearly all the increase for the years 1999–2000 and 2000–01 is due to the extension of eligibility for national health service sight test to all those aged 60 and over from 1 April 1999.
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Zyban
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on how the underspend on anti-smoking initiatives has been spent. [12771]
Ms Abbott [holding answer 6 November 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.
The 1998 White Paper "Smoking Kills" set out an overall strategy on tobacco control including health education and cessation services.
The commitments we made in that document have been kept under review in the light of experience across the whole programme and changing priorities. In fulfilling our commitment in the NHS Plan, we have made Buproprion (Zyban) and all nicotine replacement therapies available on NHS prescription. This required the addition of substantial sums to the unified budgets to meet the expected cost of this development.
Taking this into account together with the resources made available for smoking cessation services and health education the overall provision for tobacco control measures exceeds the White Paper commitment.
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