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Lung Cancer
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of people in England diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer received (a) surgery, (b) chemotherapy and (c) palliative care only in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [57942]
Yvette Cooper: The Department does not collect information in the form requested. Information on hospital episodes for lung cancer is available at: http://www.doh.gov.uk/hes/standard–data/available–tables/primarydiagnosis/tb01200a.pdf
Myalgic Encephalitis
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many myalgic encephalitis specialist neurologists work in the NHS in each region of England. [58057]
Jacqui Smith: Information about myalgic encaphalitis specialist neurologists is not collected. Information about the number of consultant neurologists is shown in the table.
| As at 30 September 2001 | numbers |
|---|---|
| England | 359 |
| Northern and Yorkshire | 42 |
| Trent | 22 |
| West Midlands | 22 |
| North West | 40 |
| Eastern | 29 |
| London | 136 |
| South East | 60 |
| South Western | 25 |
Source:
Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.
Where regions are shown, staff holding appointments in more than one region are included separately in each region. The sum of regional totals therefore differs slightly from the England total and a direct comparison is not advised.
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Nurses
Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses are employed in the NHS; and how many there were in 1997. [57617]
Mr. Hutton: Workforce information is collected annually as at 30 September. In 1997 there were 318,860 nurses employed in the National Health Service. In 2001 there were 350,380, an increase of 31,520 (9.9 per cent).
Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses are training; and how many were training in 1997. [57620]
Mr. Hutton: Latest figures show over 60,800 nursing and midwifery students being trained compared to nearly 36,377 in 1996–97, a 67 per cent increase.
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action is being taken to expedite the registration of recently trained nurses. [57947]
Mr. Hutton: The registration of nurses, midwives and health visitors is a matter for the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The new council, which was established on 1 April 2002, is concerned to ensure that registration is completed quickly and is looking at ways in which the current registration processes can be made more efficient.
Obesity
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what research he has commissioned into the use of sport and exercise in tackling obesity; [58309] (2) what he is doing to promote sport and exercise for health purposes; and if he will make a statement on the role of sport and exercise in tackling obesity. [58310]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 21 May 2002]: Both physical activity and eating habits play a role in overweight and obesity. We have put in place major cross Government programmes of work to improve access to opportunities to participate in a wide range of physical and sporting activities. This includes £581 million from the New Opportunities Fund for a physical education and sports programme. We recently announced the launch of a new £2.5 million programme on access to physical activity, which is being developed with Sport England and the Countryside Agency. The work forms part of a partnership between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Health.
This programme will support local strategies on promoting physical activity and reducing overweight and obesity which are already being developed as part of the national service framework for coronary heart disease.
The National Audit Office report "Tackling Obesity in England", published last year, looked into the prevalence and costs of obesity, and the causes of the problem. The report highlighted that changes in eating patterns and increasingly sedentary lifestyles are the main reasons for the rising trend in obesity.
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There is on-going research of £1.1 million via the health technology assessment programme. This includes evaluation of randomised trials on exercise, exercise referral schemes and the cost-effectiveness of supervised exercise programmes in patient management.
Care Homes (Lancashire)
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ask the Social Services Department to undertake a review of Lancashire County Council's proposals to reduce the number of residential care homes, taking into account the responses of the county council's consultation on the issue. [58000]
Jacqui Smith: The social services inspectorate is closely monitoring Lancashire County Council's proposals to assess its future care provision, to close some of its care homes and to consult on future strategies. I understand that the Council is reviewing its approach to the proposed closures and intends to hold a further series of meetings with residents and their relatives and other interested parties.
Arts Prosthotists
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many arts prosthotists there are per head of population in each of the National Health Service trust areas in England. [57965]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Directors of Public Health
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many PCTs have (a) appointed and (b) not appointed a Director of Public Health. [57670]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 22 May 2002]: Of the 302 primary care trusts and one care trust in England, 186 have a director of public health (DPH). Of those DPHs, 24 posts are in an acting capacity and five PCTs are sharing a director. The remaining 117 PCTs are in the process of appointing a director of public health.
Donor Cards
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals his Department has to promote the carrying of donor cards. [57527]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 22 May]: The Department has a public information campaign with a current annual budget of £900,000 which funds a number of wide-ranging initiatives in England to raise the public's awareness of the shortage of organs for transplantation and to promote organ donor registration. A public information leaflet, incorporating the organ donor card is widely distributed, and is also available through the organ donor literature line. The campaign secures free TV airtime for short public information films, maintains a campaign website and has partnership arrangements with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Passport Agency, Rotarian Clubs, Boots the Chemist and with some banks who have chosen to support organ donation.
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The Department runs a special campaign to raise awareness among members of the Asian community and a similar campaign targeting the African and African-Caribbean communities has recently been launched. These campaigns include public information leaflets and targeted advertising.
The Department also helps raise awareness by funding the work of some voluntary organisations through the Section 64 grant scheme. This includes funding for the British transplant games to be held in August 2002.
Free Continuing Care
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he intends to issue guidance to strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and local authorities on the resolution of disputes regarding assessment for free continuing care and registered nursing care, following Cowl v Plymouth City Council, CA 14 December 2001 and the new Pre-Action Protocol of the Adminstrative Court. [57929]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 23 May]: HSC 2001–015:LAC (2001)18 gives guidance on the existing procedure for continuing care review panels and extends the remit of those panels to other decisions regarding the National Health Service funded element of any care package. There is no intention to alter that guidance because of Cowl v Plymouth County Council or pre-action protocols.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place the eligibility criteria for free continuing care adopted by each strategic health authority as from 1 April in the Library. [57926]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 23 May 2002]: Eligibility criteria for continuing national health service care are not held centrally by the Department.
Chiropody
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what action his Department has taken following the review of NHS provision of chiropody and podiatry services; [58516] (2) when he intends to publish the review of chiropody services (Feet First II); and if he will make a statement. [58517]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 23 May 2002]: "Meeting the Challenge: A Strategy for the Allied Health Professions'', published on 15 November 2000, raises the profile of chiropody and podiatry services alongside other allied health professions, and we have no current plans to publish the outcomes of the review of the Feet First.
The NHS Plan commits us to increasing the number of allied health professionals working in the National Health Service, which include chiropodists/podiatrists, by more than 6,500 by 2004. In the 2002 Budget we will build on the 6,500 target and by 2008 we expect the NHS to have net increases over the September 2001 staff census of at least 30,000 therapists and scientists.
We are also committed to reducing waiting times for treatment for vulnerable groups like children and older people. The NHS Plan gives us a target to reduce the maximum waiting time for any stage of treatment to three
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months. Providing we can recruit the extra staff, and the NHS makes the necessary reforms, we aim to achieve that target by the end of 2008.
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