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Hospitals (Shropshire)
Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice NHS bodies in Shropshire have received about (a) the urgency and (b) the scope of a merger between hospital trusts in the county. [45730]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 25 March 2002]: I am not aware that NHS bodies in Shropshire received advice concerning any urgent need to prepare an Expression of Interest document to put before the Secretary of State.
The full scope of the proposal cannot be determined at this early stage, although all concerned parties are to be engaged whilst preparing the Expression of Interest document.
Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice was sought by or given to NHS bodies in Shropshire about the timing of the launch of its consultation on a prospective expression of interest in the merger of hospital trusts in the county in relation to the abolition of the local health authority and the establishment of primary care trusts. [45731]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 25 March 2002]: The Princess Royal Hospital NHS Trust and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital NHS Trust made a decision that preparing the Expression of Interest document should wait until the uncertainty around the future roles of the NHS bodies in Shropshire were resolved to ensure their full involvement in the process.
I understand that the roles have been made clear, and the new Strategic Health Authority and Primary Care Trusts although physically not in place when the Trusts made their intentions public, had been included in discussions affecting the future of healthcare services within the locality.
Audiologists
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many audiologists are employed in the NHS; and how many vacancies there are. [45979]
Mr. Hutton: Workforce and vacancy information collected annually by the Department does not identify audiologists. The Department is working with the professional bodies and National Health Service employers to develop an accurate picture of the entire healthcare scientist workforce.
Hospital Construction
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new hospitals construction started in 2001–02. [46118]
Mr. Hutton: The following hospital schemes with a capital value of £10 million or greater began construction in 2001–02.
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Adoption
Mr. Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many children were placed for adoption by each local authority with (a) a married couple and (b) a single person in each of the last three years; [46409]
- (2) how many applications for adoption were made to each local authority by (a) a married couple and (b) a single person in each of the last three years. [46408]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Information on the total number of adoption orders granted to married couples and single people in England in each of the last three years is shown in the table. The figures include domestic, inter-country and stepparent adoptions and adopters assessed through local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies.
| Year ending 31 December | Total number of adoption orders | Number of adoption orders to married couples | Number of adoption orders to single people |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 4748 | 4537 | 211 |
| 2000 | 4789 | 4546 | 243 |
| 2001 | 5047 | 4745 | 302 |
Source:
The Registrar General for England and Wales at the General Register Office (Office for National Statistics)
Nurses
Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact of the Key Worker Scheme on recruitment and retention of nursing staff in the South East. [46434]
Ms Blears: The Starter Home Initiative scheme, announced on 6 September 2001, is still in its early stages and will eventually enable around 5,000 nurses and other essential health workers to be assisted in buying homes.
Information on the number of key workers who have purchased homes in the South East under the Starter Home Initiative during the financial year 2001–2002 will be available towards the end of April 2002.
It is proposed that the DTLR will conduct an evaluation of the scheme later this year, or early in 2003.
Cancer Plan
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average wait was for urgent GP referral to treatment for (a) children's cancers, (b) testicular cancers, (c) acute leukaemia, (d) breast cancers and (e) all cancers at the latest date for which figures are available. [45783]
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Yvette Cooper: We do not currently hold data on waiting times from urgent general practitioner (GP) referral to treatment for all cancer patients. Standards of a maximum wait of one month from diagnosis to first treatment for breast cancer and one month from urgent GP referral to treatment for children's and testicular cancers and acute leukaemia came into effect at the end of December 2001. Central monitoring of these standards began on 1 January 2002 and data will be published on a quarterly basis. Data collection on waiting times to treatment for other tumour types will be introduced as we rollout the Cancer Plan waiting times targets.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made in developing services to improve genetic risk assessment for cancer under the Cancer Plan. [45775]
Yvette Cooper: In April 2001, the Secretary of State announced a £30 million package of investment in genetic services pver the next three years. Part of this money has been allocated to boost capacity in counselling and testing genetic services around the regions.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellent (NICE) are developing a clinical guideline on the classification of risk in, and management of, patients presenting with a familial risk of breast cancer.
The National Screening Committee (NSC) organised three workshops in autumn 2000 to investigate population genetic screening for colorectal cancer, breast and ovarian cancer and heritable thrombophilia. The outcomes of the workshops and the subsequent advice of the NSC was that at present there was no case for population screening for any of these late onset genetic diseases, however this will be kept under review.
Work on common datasets is being developed as part of the development of the National Cancer Dataset.
Dentists
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists worked in the UK in 2001; and what was the comparable figure for 1997. [46180]
Ms Blears: The number of NHS dentists working in the UK is shown in the table for 30 September in the years 1997 and 2001 for each NHS dental service.
These figures are on a headcount basis rather than whole time equivalent (wte) and take no account of part-time working. Dentists working in more than one dental service are included in each service apart from dentists working in both PDS and GDS who are counted in the GDS only.
Dentists working solely in private dentistry are not covered in these figures.
Notes:
1. The General Dental Service (GDS) cover principals on a HA list, assistants and vocational dental practitioners.
2. The Personal Dental Service (PDS) began in October 1998. The data covers dentists working in the PDS who are not working in the GDS.
3. For Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, September 2000 figures are used.
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Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in each health authority are practising in the NHS. [46179]
Ms Blears: The number of NHS dentists working in England at 30 September 2001 is shown in the table for each Health Authority for each NHS dental service.
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These figures are on a headcount basis rather than whole time equivalent (wte) and take no account of part-time working. Dentists working in more than one dental service are included in each service apart from dentists working in both PDS and GDS who are counted in the GDS only.
Dentists working solely in private dentistry are not covered in these figures.
Notes:
1. The General Dental Service (GDS) figures cover principals on a HA list, assistants and vocational dental practitioners.
2. The Personal Dental Service (PDS) covers dentists working in the PDS who are not working in the GDS.
3. Figures by Health Authority are rounded to the nearest 10.
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