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Toothbrushes
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many free toothbrushes have been handed out under the Brushing for Life campaign; and what has been the cost per toothbrush. [47837]
Mr. Hutton: To date 186,050 packs have been distributed as part of the Brushing for Life scheme. Each pack contains a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste and a leaflet.
The toothbrushes in the packs cost 44 pence each.
Cystic Fibrosis
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason adult cystic fibrosis sufferers are not entitled to free prescriptions. [47863]
Ms Blears: No adult is entitled to free prescriptions unless they fall within one of the following groups:
- people aged 18 who are in full-time education;
people aged 60 and over;
people who hold an exemption certificate on maternity or medical grounds;
people who get, or whose partner gets, income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, full tax credit or credit reduced by £72.20 or less;
people who are named on an HC2 charges certificate issued under the NHS low income scheme.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 15 March 2002, Official Report, column 1291W, on cystic fibrosis, what plans to has to reduce the number of conditions which entitle the sufferer to free prescriptions. [47129]
17 Apr 2002 : Column 1018W
Ms Blears: We have no plans to reduce the number of conditions which entitle the sufferer to free prescriptions.
Cleanliness
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how the board member nominated to take personal responsibility for monitoring hospital cleanliness will be held responsible for any failure; [47008]
- (2) what percentage of NHS trusts have not nominated a board member to take responsibility for monitoring hospital cleanliness. [47007]
Ms Blears: It was a requirement of the NHS Plan that every national health service trust should nominate a board member to take responsibility for monitoring hospital cleanliness and report to the board following regular check-ups. Each NHS trust board takes collective responsibility, and overall accountability rests with the chief executive. The new national standards of cleanliness for the NHS, issued by NHS Estates in April 2001, set out clearly what is required.
There have been no reported instances where a trust has failed to nominate a board member to monitor hospital cleanliness.
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the National Standards of Cleanliness for the national health service applies to the cleanliness of individual patients; and if he will make a statement. [48890]
Mr. Hutton: The National Standards of Cleanliness for the national health service apply to buildings in which health care is delivered, not patients.
Hospital Waiting Lists
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been waiting over 15 months on the in-patient waiting list for (a) each quarter since March 1997 and (b) each month since January 2001. [47856]
Mr. Hutton: The data requested are shown in the tables. Table 1 provides quarterly statistics from March 1997 onwards and table 2 provides monthly statistics from January 2001 onwards.
Source:
DH QF01 return
17 Apr 2002 : Column 1019W
| Year/month | 15 months plus |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | |
| January | 13,000 |
| February | 13,000 |
| March | 11,000 |
| 2001–02 | |
| April | 11,000 |
| May | 11,000 |
| June | 12,000 |
| July | 11,000 |
| August | 11,000 |
| September | 10,000 |
| October | 8,000 |
| November | 4,000 |
| December | 4,000 |
| 2002–03 | |
| January | 3,000 |
| February | 2,000 |
Source:
DH monthly waiting list returns
NHS Funding
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in relation to the £120 million in his Department's spring supplementary estimate 2001–02 designated for take-up of end year flexibility, how much relates to (a) NHS trusts, (b) health authorities and (c) other NHS bodies; and which trusts, health authorities and other bodies received end year flexibility and the amount involved in each case. [46412]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 26 March 2002]: The £120 million end year flexibility related to the Department's unallocated provision and was not allocated to individual NHS bodies in 2000–01. It did not form part of the end year flexibility arrangements for NHS bodies.
Adjustments to health authorities resource limits in 2001–02 as a result of health authorities and NHS trusts underspending in 2000–01 are set out in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Library. There were no adjustments for other NHS bodies.
17 Apr 2002 : Column 1020W
Appointments
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of appointments were booked electronically in the last year. [47002]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not currently available centrally.
The NHS Plan states that there will be electronic booking of appointments for patient treatment by the end of 2005. Implementing electronic booking systems is being taken forward as a long-term, four-year, implementation project as part of the NHS Modernisation Agency's National Booked Admissions Programme. Monitoring arrangements for electronic booking are being developed as part of the implementation project work programme.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP appointments were missed in each year since 1997; and how his Department plans to reduce this. [47542]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 10 April 2002]: These data are not collected or held centrally. However, we are concerned by the impact of missed appointments on primary care services and have funded "Doctor/Patient Partnership" campaigns on this since 1997. In addition, the national primary care development team is now working with general practitioners to help them to offer more responsive and timely access for patients. For participating practices this approach has led to substantial reductions in missed appointments.
Ophthalmology Waiting Times
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average outpatient ophthalmology waiting times have been for each quarter of the last five years. [47866]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table.
Source:
DH QM08 form
17 Apr 2002 : Column 1021W
Marfan Syndrome
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many post mortems revealed Marfan syndrome in each of the last 10 years for which records are available. [48843]
Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nigel Jones, dated 17 April 2002:
- As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question concerning how many post mortems revealed Marfan's syndrome in each of the last 10 years for which records are available. (44843)
- The figures requested are given in the table below. The data are only available in this form from 1993 onwards.
| Number of deaths where Marfan's syndrome was: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Calendar year | The underlying cause of death(25) | Mentioned on the death certificate only(26) |
| 1993 | 12 | 3 |
| 1994 | 12 | 4 |
| 1995 | 20 | 4 |
| 1996 | 14 | 3 |
| 1997 | 15 | 5 |
| 1998 | 14 | 1 |
| 1999 | 13 | 2 |
| 2000 | 8 | 2 |
(23) Data relate to deaths occurring per calendar year.
(24) No inference can be made from these data as to whether Marfan's syndrome was diagnosed before or after death.
(25) The underlying cause of death is the disease or condition that initiates the train of morbid events leading directly to death.
(26) When a disease or condition was not the underlying cause of death but was noted on the death certificate but not coded to the underlying cause.
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