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NHS Staff
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates he has made of the cost to the NHS of investigations of NHS staff who have been suspended from work in the last two years. [46825]
Mr. Hutton: The cost of investigating suspended national health service staff is a matter for national health service employers. The Department collects quarterly information in regard to the suspension of hospital medical and dental staff and overall costs incurred. At 31 December 2001, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 29 doctors and community dentists currently suspended for more than six months.
Procurement Savings
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what level of procurement savings he expects NHS trusts to achieve in 2001–02. [47291]
Mr. Hutton: The Audit Commission and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency have been collating information on the level of procurement savings achieved by acute NHS trusts in England in 2001–02. This information will be available from May 2002.
NHS Complaints Procedure
Mr. Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to allow patients to be given the right to have a complaint heard within the NHS complaints procedure when a hospital has treated the matter as disciplinary; and if he will make a statement. [44937]
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Ms Blears: A complaint can already be either investigated or recommenced under the NHS complaints procedure if it has firstly, or at some point during the complaints procedure, been referred to a NHS trust's disciplinary process. This would only happen where there were outstanding matters in the complaint that had been considered, but not resolved, by the disciplinary process. Any issues in the complaint not referred to the disciplinary process should continue to be investigated under the complaints procedure.
Appointments
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of appointees by the NHS Appointments Commission to NHS trusts, health authorities and PCTs in Somerset and Dorset since 1 April 2001 have declared political activity with the (a) Labour party, (b) Conservative party and (c) Liberal Democrats. [43852]
Ms Blears: The political activity declared by candidates appointed to national health service boards in Somerset and Dorset by the NHS Appointments Commission since the commission's establishment on 1 April 2001 has been as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| None declared | 15 |
| Conservative | 1 |
| Labour | 3 |
| Liberal Democrat | 5 |
| Total | 24 |
Departmental Contracts
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the 30 largest contracts awarded by his Department from (a) May 1997 to April 1998, (b) May 1998 to April 1999, (c) May 1999 to April 2000, (d) May 2000 to April 2001 and (e) May 2001 to the latest date for which figures are available, stating in each case the values of the contracts and the companies with which the contracts were placed. [43682]
Ms Blears: The Department does not centrally hold information on individual contract values. It is not possible to provide a full answer to this question without disproportionate cost.
Hospital Waiting Lists
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Greater London had been waiting up to (a) six, (b) 12, (c) 15 and (d) 18 months for hospital treatment in each month since October 2001. [46726]
Mr. Hutton: The number of patients in Greater London waiting up to (a) six, (b) 12, (c) 15 and (d) 18 months for hospital treatment in each month from October 2001 until the end of February 2002 are shown in the table.
Source:
Published waiting list returns
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Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Greater London had been waiting more than 13 weeks to see a consultant at the latest available date. [46725]
Mr. Hutton: The number of patients in Greater London waiting for more than 13 weeks to see a consultant at the end of February 2002 is shown in the table.
| March 1998 | February 2001 | February 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 weeks and over | 65,899 | 59,991 | 59,231 |
| Change since March 1998 | |||
| Number | — | -5,908 | -6,668 |
| Percentage | — | -9 | -10 |
| Change since February 2001 | |||
| Number | — | — | -760 |
| Percentage | — | — | -1 |
| 26 weeks and over | 25,954 | (145)— | 10,372 |
| Change since March 1998 | |||
| Number | — | — | -15,582 |
| Percentage | — | — | -60 |
(145) Not collected
Source:
Published waiting list returns
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people were waiting in England for in-patient treatment at the latest date for which figures are available; [46695]
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- (2) how many people in England were waiting (a) up to 12, (b) up to 15, (c) up to 18 and (d) over 18 months for in-patient treatment in each of the last six months. [46697]
Mr. Hutton: There were 1,050,400 patients waiting for an elective admission to a NHS trust in England at 28 February 2002.
The table shows the number of patients waiting for elective admission by length of time waited in each of the last six months.
| Patients waiting in months | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month ending | Up to 12 | 13 to 15 | 16 to 18 | Over 18 |
| September 2001 | 978,306 | 33,860 | 10,063 | 209 |
| October 2001 | 980,692 | 31,613 | 7,946 | 129 |
| November 2001 | 985,751 | 28,739 | 4,219 | 23 |
| December 2001 | 1,006,165 | 27,181 | 4,166 | 9 |
| January 2002 | 1,014,841 | 26,400 | 3,156 | 28 |
| February 2002 | 1,010,704 | 23,873 | 1,942 | 3 |
Note:
Figures are for the English responsible population. Some patients may be waiting for treatment at non-English NHS trusts
Source:
Department of Health form QF01
Operations
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the variation in the cost of operations in NHS hospitals and health authorities. [46732]
Mr. Hutton: The latest information on the variation in the cost of operations in NHS hospitals is provided in 'Reference Costs 2001'. (Copies of this are held in the
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Library. It also available at www.doh.gov.uk/nhsexec/ refcosts.htm.) There is no information on the cost of operations by health authorities.
An analysis of the published information on reference costs shows there is still a significant variation in the cost of some operations. Publishing comparative information of this sort is part of a wider strategy to improve performance in the NHS, which also includes:
- Investment—including 7,500 more consultants and 20,000 more nurses by 2004;
National standards—such as those set out in the National Service Frameworks;
Stronger regulation and inspection—where the Commission for Health Improvement will play a key role; and
Spreading best practice—for example, by the Modernisation Agency.
Mr. Hutton: The reference costs provide the best source of information on the variation in the cost of hip replacement operations. (Copies of this are held in the Library and it also available at www.doh.gov.uk/ nhsexec/refcosts.htm.) The information for 2000–01 includes the following for elective primary hip replacements:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Average cost for England | 4,179 |
| Inter-quartile range | 3,650 to 4,702 |
| Lowest recorded cost | 566 |
| Highest recorded cost | 12,907 |
The extent of care delivered within this definition can vary, because of local factors such as service delivery and data recording. The best indicator of cost variation is the inter-quartile range as this contains a significantly high percentage of total activity.
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