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Walton v. Independent Living Organisation
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the possible implications of the Employment Appeals Tribunal case Walton v. Independent Living Organisation (EAT/0731/01); and if he will make a statement. [51509]
Jacqui Smith: The Employment Appeals Tribunal in this case is still considering the judgment. It is therefore not appropriate for me to comment.
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East Riding and Hull Health Authority
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects a decision to be made on how many posts will be made redundant following the termination of the East Riding and Hull health authority. [51814]
Jacqui Smith: It is too early to assess how many redundancies may be made following the replacement of the East Riding and Hull health authority. Following "Shifting the Balance of Power" every effort is being made to minimise redundancies and ensure that valuable skills and experience are retained to support the national health service.
Pneumococcal Disease
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money is available in the NHS budget in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04 for the immunisation of all children under two years against pneumococcal disease; and if he will make a statement. [51927]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 24 April 2002]: No decision on immunisation of all children under two years can be taken until the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has reviewed all available evidence and given advice to Ministers. Studies on the use of the vaccine within the UK schedule will not be complete until later in the financial year 2002–03.
The national health service budget for 2003–04 will increase by 7.6 per cent. in real growth terms. Decisions have not yet been taken regarding the allocation of funding.
Elderly People (Health Care)
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned into the general practitioner service needs of elderly people. [53329]
Jacqui Smith: The Department funds research to support policy and the delivery of effective practice in health and social care.
The Department's policy research programme is funding three relevant projects. These are:
- an evaluation of inequalities in influenza vaccination coverage in the elderly;
a prospective study of health inequalities and informal care; and
a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the health effects of welfare advice in primary health care.
The Department's health technology assessment programme is funding four relevant projects. These are:
- the community provision of hearing aids—a systematic review of the evidence;
the use of laxatives in the elderly;
the effectiveness of health visitor domiciliary visiting—a systematic review of the literature; and,
an economic evaluation of a primary care based patient education programme for osteoarthritis of the knee.
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NHS Patients (Treatment Abroad)
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether (a) the local health authorities or (b) the private health care companies involved in sending NHS patients for treatment abroad have the final decision in selecting individual patients for the project. [53323]
Mr. Hutton: The local health authorities involved in sending patients overseas have been responsible for identifying groups of patients to whom the opportunity of treatment overseas should be offered. The final decision on whether a patient should be treated in an overseas hospital rests with the receiving clinician. The essential clinical criteria are that patients are fit to undergo the journey and that in the clinician's opinion they require treatment.
St. Thomas's Hospital
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what budget is available for cancer treatment at St. Thomas's Hospital; and what the budget was in each of the last five years. [53296]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not held centrally.
Residential/Nursing Home Beds
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average occupancy rates are for (a) residential home beds and (b) nursing home beds in the last 12 months; and whether the figures he collates for capacity in those homes are based on (i) actual occupancy and (ii) availability for use; [53272]
- (2) what assessment he has made of the number of (a) residential home beds and (b) nursing home beds which are unoccupied and likely to de-register for use in the next 12 months. [53268]
Jacqui Smith: In March 2001 (the most recent date for which figures are available) the occupancy rate for private residential homes was 90.4 per cent. In March 2000 the respective figures were 88.3 per cent. and 88.4 per cent. These figures were collated by care consultants, Laing and Buisson, and are based on occupied beds as a percentage of registered beds. Comparative figures for local authority owned homes are not available.
As announced on 17 April by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, we are increasing the resources for personal social services by an annual average of 6 per cent. in real terms from 2003–04 to 2005–06. Local authorities will be able to use these substantial extra resources to stabilise the care home market.
Kidney Disease
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding his Department is making
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available for research into kidney disease in 2002; and of this how much is to go to (a) companies and (b) charities. [53319]
Jacqui Smith: The main Government agency for research into the causes and treatments for disease in the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC receives its funding via the Department of Trade and Industry. The MRC's expenditure on kidney disease in 2001–02 was £1.9 million.
The Department funds research to support policy and the delivery of effective practice in health and social care. The Department's policy research programme is spending £87,380 on kidney disease projects in 2002–03. The Department's health technology assessment programme is spending £71,210 on kidney disease projects in 2002–03.
In addition, the Department allocates funds to the national health service to support research commissioned by the research councils and charities. Management of the research supported by NHS research and development (R and D) funding is devolved, and details of the NHS expenditure related to this research are not held centrally. NHS R and D funding does not support companies' research.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) African-Caribbean and (b) Asian people in the United Kingdom have suffered from kidney disease in each year since 1997; and what the survival rate is. [53318]
Jacqui Smith: The source of information on the ethnicity of kidney patients is the UK renal registry. Submission of data is voluntary and coverage by all units in England is not yet universal. In those units that submitted data in 2000 an average 3.3 per cent. of all new adult patients were from the African-Caribbean minority ethnic group and 9.7 per cent. were Asian people. A breakdown of adult patients continuing to receive renal replacement therapy shows that 3.7 per cent. were from the African-Caribbean minority ethnic group and 10.1 per cent. were from the Asian community. Information on survival broken down into ethnic groups is not yet available.
NHS Finance
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer given to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 26 March 2001, Official Report, column 945W, on NHS finance, when he will publish the annual audited accounts for NHS trusts, health authorities and PCTs. [53299]
Mr. Hutton: Individual national health service bodies are required to publish their own accounts so that they are available in advance of the public meeting which should be held on 30 September.
Provisional 2001–02 data will normally be available once validation checks have been completed by the Department in November. 2002.
Liver Transplants
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the NHS was of liver transplants in the last 12 months. [53290]
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Jacqui Smith: The liver transplant service is a national service commissioned by the national specialist commissioning group (NSCAG) on behalf of the national health service. In the last financial year (2001–02) NSCAG allocated £33,549,549 to the service.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many liver transplants he estimates will be required in (a) the current year and (b) in five years' time. [53288]
Jacqui Smith: It is difficult to estimate the total potential demand for liver transplants. However, the median waiting time for a transplant for adults is only 60 days. At the end of March this year there were only 131 English residents on the waiting list and each year some 550 to 600 transplants are performed on English residents depending on the availability of suitable organs. The number of transplants performed in the current year should fall within the same range.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many liver transplants have taken place in each of the last five years. [53291]
Jacqui Smith: The total number of liver transplants (adults and children) performed by the designated units in England in each of the last five years is:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 547 |
| 1998–99 | 568 |
| 1999–2000 | 590 |
| 2000–01 | 549 |
| 2001–02 | 555 |
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