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Ambulance Services
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average time is for an ambulance to reach an emergency after the initial 999 call is made in the East Riding of Yorkshire over the last available period; [50621]
- (2) on how many occasions ambulances have been called to an emergency in the East Riding of Yorkshire since 1 January 2001. [50620]
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Jacqui Smith: Information about emergency calls to the ambulance service is not available specifically for the East Riding of Yorkshire. Information about the number of emergency calls and the proportion of emergency calls resulting in an ambulance arriving at the scene of the reported incident within the Government's target response times for Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, is contained in the Department of Health Statistical Bulletin, Ambulance Services, England 2000–01.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for further reviews of ambulance services in the South East. [51989]
Ms Blears [holding answer 23 April 2002]: None. As announced on 15 January 2002, strategic health authorities, together with their primary care trusts, will review the position of their local ambulance services and will make recommendations to the director of health and social care in the south, by September 2002.
Cancer
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of lung cancer were initially misdiagnosed in Hull and the East Riding since 1 January 2000. [50615]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally or locally.
NHS Direct
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what call statistics have been collated for the east riding NHS Direct call centre in Willerby for the last 12 months. [50603]
Jacqui Smith: In the last 12 months (April 2001 to March 2002), NHS Direct Tees, east and north Yorkshire has handled 217,500 calls. For the corresponding time period in the previous 12 months (April 2000 to March 2001), NHS Direct Tees, east and north Yorkshire handled 54,000 calls. This represents a 301 per cent. increase in call volumes.
Accident and Emergency Services
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of patients were seen by a doctor or consultant within one hour of their arrival at accident and emergency in Hull and the east riding in (a) 2002 to the latest available date and (b) each of the last three years. [50611]
Jacqui Smith: Between 2 May 2001 and 31 March 2002, there were 86,924 new attendances recorded in the accident and emergency department of Hull Royal infirmary. Included in this figure are 4,044 records where waiting time information is not available. Of the remainder, 356,259 (42 per cent.) were seen by a doctor within an hour of arrival.
Prior to May 2001, the accident and emergency department of Hull Royal infirmary relied upon a basic information system that did not calculate the waiting times in the form requested.
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Doctors
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average number of doctors is per 100 beds in NHS hospitals in England and Wales. [50586]
Mr. Hutton: The figures in the table are for the year 2000. This is the latest year for which the beds data are available.
| Numbers | |
|---|---|
| Staff | 65,370 |
| Average daily available beds 2000–01 | 186,090 |
| Doctors per 100 beds(19) | 35.1 |
(19) Calculation based on unrounded figures
Sources:
Department of Health medical and dental work force census; Department of Health form KH03
The number of hospital medical staff increased by 9 per cent. between 1997 and 2000 and by a further 3.8 per cent. between 2000 and 2001.
Heroin
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the cost effectiveness of the drug naltrexone as a means of rehabilitating heroin addicts. [50628]
Ms Blears: No assessment has been made of the cost effectiveness of naltrexone in the rehabilitation of heroin addicts. Any potential future analysis would be carried out by the National Treatment Agency (NTA). This would most likely be made in consultation with the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). Naltrexone (as described in the British National Formulary) is given as an 'adjunct' to prevent relapse so that cost-effectiveness would need to address the context of use. In general terms there is little evidence on how long naltrexone should be used to remain effective in rehabilitation so adequate data on cost-effectiveness for this indication is unlikely to be available at present.
National Security
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will implement a transparent process for the tender of supplies required for national security. [50895]
Mr. Hutton: The Government have decided that details of its medical countermeasures for response to any possible biological or chemical attack, and any tendering process for these, should not be put in the public domain, as this is information that could be useful to terrorists.
The tender for the supply of medical countermeasures, including vaccination, for response to any possible biological attack, fall outside the usual open competitive tendering process. There are specific exemptions from the usual process allowed for on the grounds of protection of the interests of national security.
There are no plans to change this approach.
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South-eastern Ambulance Services
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many executives and managers have left each of the south eastern ambulance services in (a) 1998, (b) 1999, (c) 2000 and (d) 2001. [50707]
Ms Blears: The information requested is not held centrally.
Surrey Ambulance Service
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he plans to make an announcement on the future of Surrey Ambulance Service. [50704]
Children (Leaving Care)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 (Commencement No. 2 and Consequential Provisions) Order 2001; and if he will make a statement. [50734]
Jacqui Smith: Costs associated with regulatory proposals are considered at the policy development stage. A regulatory impact assessment (RIA) is completed for regulatory proposals unless there are no or negligible costs, and sets out the impact, in terms of costs, benefits and risks of the proposed regulation which could affect businesses, charities or the voluntary sector. RIAs are available from the Library.
We have yet to have a full year's operation of the Children (Leaving Care) Act, as it was introduced in October 2001. In addition, we have commissioned an evaluation on costs and outcomes for care leavers from the University of York, which will report early in 2004.
Miss P. Brown
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letter dated 5 March from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Miss P. Brown. [51424]
Mr. Hutton: A reply was sent on 23 April.
Pneumococcal Disease
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the trials on the vaccine's suitability for the immunisation of all children under 2 against pneumococcal disease will be available. [51926]
Yvette Cooper: Trials to investigate how pneumococcal conjugate vaccines could be incorporated into the UK infant immunisation schedule are in progress and will be completed late this year. These studies are assessing the compatibility of giving pneumococcal conjugate vaccines at the same time as other paediatric vaccines, including meningococcal C conjugate vaccine, and whether three doses in infancy plus a booster is necessary.
Studies to document the full burden of morbidity attributable to pneumococcal disease in UK children are also in progress together with cost effectiveness analyses.
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The studies will then be reviewed by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) which will make recommendations to the Government based on its conclusions.
Folic Acid
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on folic acid dietary supplementation. [42165]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 11 March 2002]: The Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy issued advice on folic acid in relation to the prevention of neural tube defects in 1992.
Women who are trying to conceive or who are likely to become pregnant, are advised to take a daily 400 micrograms supplement of folic acid until the twelfth week of pregnancy. In addition, all women who may become pregnant are advised to increase their daily intake of folic acid by eating more folate-rich foods and foods fortified with folic acid—especially breads and breakfast cereals.
To prevent the recurrence of a neural tube defect, folic acid supplements at a daily dose of five milligrams (5000 micrograms) are advised and this can be reduced to four milligrams, if this dose becomes available.
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