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Contraception
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of the price of emergency contraception upon the extent of its use; and if he will make a statement. [41885]
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Yvette Cooper: Direct sale of emergency contraception in pharmacies has provided a welcome additional point of access to emergency contraception. Data are not collected on over the counter pharmacy sales of emergency contraception. Supply of a pharmacy medicine outside national health service arrangements is a private transaction and payment is therefore required. The cost is entirely a matter for the product licence holder and community pharmacies.
We do however recognise that the cost of this product may be a barrier for some women and that emergency contraception must continue to be widely available under NHS arrangements. Emergency contraception continues to be available free of charge, on prescription, from general practitioners, contraceptive clinics, youth clinics, and walk-in centres. In addition pharmacists in some areas are supplying emergency contraception free of charge under a patient group direction. We welcome the introduction of these schemes and have recently provided funding to 14 areas to enable further pharmacy schemes to be developed.
Chinese Language Services
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what services the NHS provides to meet the language needs of the Chinese community in Barnet. [45313]
Mr. Hutton: The NHS Plan signals that a key part of modernising the NHS and Personal Social Services is the need to be more responsive to black and minority ethnic groups, and to provide services for each individual which take account of their religious, cultural and linguistic requirements.
Barnet primary care trust (PCT) is already beginning to address the health needs of its diverse local communities. The PCT have established an Inequalities Group which meet frequently and feed into the health improvement programme.
Interpreting services for people attending general practitioners surgeries in Barnet, including the Chinese community, are managed and provided through the Linkworker service at Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals. All GP surgeries are aware of the arrangements for accessing these services and posters and circulars are provided for communications purposes. Interpreting services for clinics and health centres in Barnet are managed and provided through the PCT. The manager for these services is based at Edgware community hospital.
Dental Services (Wiltshire)
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the cost is of the mobile dental clinic at Highworth; and how many patients used it per day on average in the last 12 months; [45466]
- (2) what the annual cost is of the Dental Access Centre in Swindon; and how many patients have been treated in the Centre since its opening; and how many on average per day; [45463]
Ms Blears: In 2001–02 revenue costs of £1,233,000 were allocated to the Swindon Dental Access Centre by the Department of Health.
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8,424 patients were seen in the Swindon Dental Access Centre between April 2000 and February 2002. Local management information is that in January 2002 the Centre saw an average of 41.2 patients a day across the three sites. The Centre provides a seven-day service.
It is not possible from the information collected centrally to identify cost and activity information for the individual sites within the Dental Access Centre. For more detailed information on cost and activity the hon. Member should contact the Chair of Wiltshire health authority.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration he has given to opening a dental access centre in North Wiltshire. [45465]
Ms Blears: Approval has been granted for the expansion of the Swindon Dental Access Centre to cover Chippenham. Planning permission has been granted for the development of a clinic and building work is expected to commence in April. The clinic is due to open in December 2002.
NHS Targets
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he expects to meet each of the targets originally set out in (a) National Service Frameworks and (b) the NHS Plan. [45933]
Mr. Hutton: We remain confident that the national health service is on course to deliver NHS Plan and NSF commitments. Progress against these commitments is reported annually by the Department in the departmental report.
NHS Finance
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether (a) assets and (b) liabilities will be transferred to strategic health authorities; and if he will make a statement. [45940]
Mr. Hutton: Subject to legislation enabling strategic health authorities to be established, assets and liabilities appropriate to their role will be transferred to them.
Most assets and liabilities which currently rest with health authorities are expected to transfer to primary care trusts along with the health commissioning functions.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what accumulated NHS deficits there are within each health authority area; [45939]
- (2) what (a) current and (b) accumulated deficits there are in health authorities. [45938]
Mr. Hutton: The introduction of resource accounting and budgeting across all Government Departments from 2001–02 means that health authorities are no longer required to account on an income and expenditure basis. The concept of accumulated income and expenditure deficits is, therefore, no longer applicable, having been replaced by a measure which seeks to ensure that health authorities live within the approved resource limits set by the Department.
By the year end, we expect all health authorities to live within their agreed resource limits and not to overspend.
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Surrey Health Trusts
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what was (a) the original budgeted expenditure and (b) the actual expenditure of West Surrey health authority in each of the last five years; [45502]
- (2) what the debt is of West Surrey health authority; and to which bodies it will be allocated when the authority is abolished; [45467]
(3) if he will list the land and buildings identified to his Department as the source of funds to pay off the debt of West Surrey health authority. [45504]
Ms Blears: West Surrey health authority's original budget and expenditure is as follows:
| Original planned expenditure | Final budget | Expenditure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 330.2 | 369.8 | 374.3 |
| 1998–99 | 341.6 | 390.1 | 389.1 |
| 1999–2000 | 381.4 | 465.0 | 460.2 |
| 2000–01 | 411.4 | 478.6 | 477.8 |
| 2001–02 | 486.5 | 520.2 | 519.9 |
Notes:
Final budget and expenditure figures as per accounts.
The successor body to West Surrey health authority is the new Surrey and Sussex strategic health authority. It is responsible for the transfer of the balance sheet position, as at 31 March 2002, to the NHS organisations, which assume West Surrey health authority's functions from 1 April 2002. The exact transfer of specific assets and liabilities will be determined by the accounting process that is planned to be completed by 16 May 2002. The new health authority and local primary care trusts will be allocated the main proportion of West Surrey's balance sheet. The funding requirement for these successor organisations into 2002–03 will be concluded upon the closure of its accounts.
Land and properties that could be sold within the West Surrey health economy as follows:
- (1) Currently owned by Surrey Hampshire Borders NHS trust:
- Ridgewood site.
- (2) Properties to be developed to Guildford and Waverley primary care trust:
- Farnham hospital—surplus land;
- Farnham health centre;
- Cranleigh hospital and health centre.
- (3) Currently owned by Bournewood community and mental health trust:
- Property at rear of Ashford hospital (West Byfleet health centre);
- Central site at St. Peter's campus.
Total sale proceeds from all these properties would be in the region of £16 million to £17.5 million of which £5 million–£7 million would be expected in 2002–03.
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was (a) the original budgeted expenditure and (b) the actual expenditure of the Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust in each of the last five years. [45501]
Ms Blears: The information requested is shown in the table. Figures for 2001–02 are not yet available.
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| Ashford & St. Peters | Original budget | Turnover | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 87.7 | 89.1 | 91.2 |
| 1998–99 | 91.3 | 96.9 | 96.8 |
| 1999–2000 | 98.7 | 108.9 | 110.5 |
| 2000–01 | 106.1 | 111.2 | 116.0 |
| 2001–02 | 121.0 | 123.7 | 125.7 |
Notes
1. The Ashford and St. Peters NHS Trust was created 1 April 1998 from the merger of the St. Peters Hospital Trust and the Ashford Hospital Trust. The figures for 1997–1998 are the sum of the figures for the two Trusts.
2. The original budget differs from the actual turnover of the Trust due to in year contract adjustments.
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the new Chairman of the Ashford and St. Peters Hospitals NHS Trust was appointed; and who was informed. [45468]
Ms Blears: Mr. Clive Thompson was appointed to chair the Ashford and St. Peter's National Health Service Trust on 11 March. The appointment was announced by press release on 14 March. A further letter was sent by the trust to all local hon. Members on 20 March informing them of the appointment.
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) directly employed nurses and (b) agency nurses were employed by the Ashford and St. Peters Hospital NHS Trust on 1 January (i) 1999, (ii) 2000, (iii) 2001 and (iv) 2002; and how much the use of agency nurses added to the expenditure of the Trust in each of the last three years. [45503]
Ms Blears: Information on the number of agency nurses employed by the Trust and the cost incurred are not collected centrally. The number of nurses employed by Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust in the years 1999 to 2001 are given below. Figures for 2002 are not yet available.
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff | 980 | 1,030 | 1,020 |
| of which: | |||
| Qualified | 810 | 830 | 780 |
| Unqualified | 200 | 250 | |
| All nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff | 1,290 | 1,350 | 1,340 |
| Of which: | |||
| Qualified | 1,080 | 1,090 | 1,030 |
| Unqualified | 210 | 260 | 310 |
Notes:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 due to rounding totals may not equal the sum of component parts Figures exclude learners and agency staff
Source:
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census
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