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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.

NHS TrustCapital Cost £mStart on site dateFunding method
Thames Gateway NHS Trust13.5May 2001Public capital
West London Mental Health NHS Trust14.0September 2001Public capital
North Lincolnshire & Goole Hospitals NHS Trust11.8January 2002Public Capital
Barnet Primary Care Trust (Edgware)23.8April 2001Public Capital
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust 29.7
April 2001
Private Finance
Initiative (PFI)
West Middlesex University University Hospitals NHS Trust60.0January 2001PFI
Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust137.0May 2001PFI
Northumbria Health Care NHS Trust28.8April 2001PFI
(Hexham)
Royston Buntingford & Bishop's Stortford PCT14.7May 2001PFI
Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust12.80March 2002PFI
Surrey Hampshire Borders NHS (Farnham)15.0October 2001PFI

12 Apr 2002 : Column 677W

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]

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 DecemberTotal number of adoption ordersNumber of adoption orders to married couplesNumber of adoption orders to single people
199947484537211
200047894546243
200150474745302

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]

12 Apr 2002 : Column 678W

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.

Number of dentists working at 30 September in 1997 and 2001 United Kingdom

30 SeptemberGeneral Dental Service 1 Salaried service of GDSPersonal Dental Service 2 Community Dental ServiceHospital Dental ServiceTotal
1997220
20,2701,8502,77225,114
2001130467
22,2201,832 3 2,783 3 27,432

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.


12 Apr 2002 : Column 679W

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.

12 Apr 2002 : Column 680W

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.

Number of dentists working in the NHS by Health Authority at 30 September 2001 England

Health AuthorityGeneral Dental Service 1 Salaried service of GDSPersonal Dental Service dentists 2 Community Dental Service dentists 3 Hospital Dental Service dentists 3 Total 3 , 4
England18,354864671,3482,18422,439
Avon441084070560
Barking & Havering1311301010160
Barnet, Enfield & Haringey377012020420
Barnsley660101070
Bedfordshire1896193020260
Berkshire313003020360
Bexley, Bromley & Greenwich294653010340
Birmingham32002430150520
Bradford144002020190
Brent & Harrow221002020250
Buckinghamshire2941243010360
Bury & Rochdale120051010150
Calderdale & Kirklees199002020230
Cambridgeshire248742030310
Camden & Islington2251120110360
Cornwall & Isles of Scilly1782294010260
County Durham & Darlington16700100180
Coventry94001020120
Croydon151001020180
Doncaster9900010110
Dorset279001030310
Dudley91001010110
Ealing, Hammersmith & Hounslow35206020380
East Kent210051020250
East Lancashire165032020210
East London & The City204913070320
East Riding & Hull155072030210
East Surrey19900100210
East Sussex, Brighton & Hove324012030370
Gateshead & South Tyneside12500100140
Gloucestershire2250133020290
Herefordshire7409100100
Hertfordshire512002010550
Hillingdon1042000110
Isle of Wight, Portsmouth & SE Hampshire2380113030310
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster217804010280
Kingston & Richmond159001030190
Lambeth, Southwark & Lewisham27202720170490
Leeds284001070360
Leicestershire282012030330
Lincolnshire157241020200
Liverpool1540113060250
Manchester1710220130330
Merton, Sutton & Wandsworth298303020350
Morecambe Bay117111010140
Newcastle & North Tyneside170000110290
Norfolk284042040340
North & East Devon204051020230
North & Mid Hampshire206001020230
North Cheshire95072010130
North Cumbria107011010130
North Derbyshire117051010140
North Essex319001030360
North Nottinghamshire12000010130
North Staffordshire12601500140
North West Lancashire172011020200
North Yorkshire304043040380
Northamptonshire171001020200
Northumberland1010000110
Nottingham225001020250
Oxfordshire2570132030320
Redbridge & Waltham Forest185001010200
Rotherham7610101090
Salford & Trafford158031010180
Sandwell9302200110
Sefton9605030130
Sheffield199001070290
Shropshire143042010180
Solihull680510080
Somerset176171020210
South & West Devon25414102040340
South Cheshire2560222020310
South Derbyshire180052020220
South Essex247001020270
South Humber81001010100
South Lancashire9722200120
South Staffordshire1780111010220
Southampton & South West Hampshire2000194020280
St Helens & Knowsley104081010130
Stockport119001010130
Suffolk22803020260
Sunderland95001020120
Tees208001030250
Wakefield108001010120
Walsall570310070
Warwickshire170062010200
West Kent367203030420
West Pennine151101010170
West Surrey3070323030400
West Sussex349011030390
Wigan & Bolton182001010210
Wiltshire215463020280
Wirral136081010160
Wolverhampton7105101090
Worcestershire1830122010230

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.


12 Apr 2002 : Column 681W


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