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E-Medicine
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to develop an infrastructure for secure electronic health data communications. [62356]
Ms Blears: The NHS Plan set the context for the major modernisation of the national health service in England. It clearly sets out a vision of a health service designed around the patient, and which enables integrated care to be delivered by a range of organisations. The commitments of the NHS Plan to new ways of working can only be achieved through the well-planned implementation of an information technology (IT) and systems infrastructure.
In line with the NHS Plan, and in response to feedback from the NHS and the supplier community, we are introducing a far more robust approach to standardisation. An infrastructure based on universal internet technology, government-wide standards and those developed specifically to meet the needs of the NHS will give all staff the means to access the right information in the right places at the right time.
Subject to approval of funding and spending plans from April 2002 to April 2003 we will work on developing the NHS' IT management structure, capacity and capability. We will also define the data, and data interchange standards we will require in the future. We will build the essential
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system specifications to deliver the national health record service. We will also develop the infrastructure, including broadband capacity, needed to lay the basis for key applications.
Subject to approval of funding and spending plans, between April 2003 and April 2005 we plan to put in place
- Broadband access (more than 128kbs) to every clinician and support staff in the NHS
- increased bandwidth to minimum—2Mbps between trusts and across NHS Net Gateways
- Access and authentication available for all NHS staff
- National NHS directory service
- Domain to domain encryption.
Subject to approval of business cases, formal open procurement exercises are planned for NHS networking services (to replace the existing framework contracts that expire in 2003–04), and for NHS public key infrastructure services.
North Cumbria Health Action Zone
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been paid by the North Cumbria Health Action Zone to the Countryside Alliance in the last two years. [62360]
Jacqui Smith: Over the past two years, £100,000 has been allocated to the Countryside Alliance by the North Cumbria Health Action Zone in respect of the food development project.
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the Chair is of the board of the North Cumbria Health Action Zone; and if he will list its membership. [62358]
Jacqui Smith: The chair of the North Cumbria Partnership for Health Board is Mr. Patrick Everingham.
The complete membership of the board is listed.
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Mrs. Ruth Popple | Chair, Carlisle and District Primary Care Trust |
| Mr. Graham Ogden | Chief Executive, Carlisle and District Primary Care Trust |
| Mr. Allan Buckley | Vice Chair, Eden Valley Primary Care Trust |
| Mr. Peter Kohn | Chief Executive, Eden Valley Primary Care Trust |
| Mr. Doug Scott | Director of Planning, Eden Valley Primary Care Trust |
| Mr. Patrick Everingham (chair) | Chair, West Cumbria Primary Care Trust |
| Ms Veronica Marsden | Chief Executive, West Cumbria Primary Care Trust |
| Cllr Barbara Cannon | Chair, North Cumbria Acute Hospitals Trust |
| Mr. Nick Wood | Chief Executive, North Cumbria Acute Hospitals Trust |
| Mr. Eric Urquhart | Chair, North Cumbria Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Trust |
| Mr. Brian Clayton | Chair, Cumbria Ambulance Service NHS Trust |
| Mr. Alan Donkersley | Chief Executive, Cumbria Ambulance Service NHS Trust |
| Mr. John Cain | Environmental Health Officer, Allerdale Borough Council |
| Cllr C. McCarron-Holmes | Executive Member, Allerdale Borough Council |
| Cllr Ray Bloxham (Vice Chair) | Portfolio Holder Health, Carlisle City Council |
| Mr. Laurie Brewis | Head of Housing Provision, Carlisle City Council |
| Mr. John Stanforth | General Manager, Copeland Borough Council |
| Cllr Brian Dixon | Executive Member, Copeland Borough Council |
| Mr. Louis Victory | Chief Executive, Cumbria County Council |
| Cllr John Mallinson | Executive Member, Cumbria County Council |
| Mr. Mike Siegal | Director of Social Services, Cumbria County Council |
| Mr. Ruth Atkinson | Policy and Strategy Manager, Eden District Council |
| Cllr Bryan Metz | Executive Member, Eden District Council |
| Mrs. Jessica Riddle | Chair, Carlisle Council for Voluntary Service |
| Mrs. Pat Black | Chair, Eden Council for Voluntary Service |
| Mrs. Kay Pitchford | Chair, West Cumbria Council for Voluntary Service |
| Mrs. Elaine Steven | Chair, East Cumbria Community Health Council |
| Mrs. Jennifer Drouet | Chair, West Cumbria Community Health Council |
| Mr. Tony Potter | North Cumbria Health Action Zone |
Note:
A nomination for a director of public health for the North Cumbria Primary Care Trusts has not yet been confirmed.
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Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who is the landlord of the North Cumbria Health Action Zone headquarters; and what the annual rental cost is. [62359]
Jacqui Smith: The landlord for the North Cumbria Health Action Zone headquarters is the North West Development Agency. The annual rent for 2001–02 was £16,217.52.
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Primary Care Trusts (Berkshire)
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the salary of the chair and the chief executive and the total spending and capitation fee of each of the Berkshire primary care trusts; and if he will list the distance from target of the annual spend in each primary care trust area in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03. [63112]
Ms Blears: The information requested is shown in the table for the years 2001–02 and 2002–03. The primary care trusts were not in existence in 2000–01.
| Chair's salary | Chief executive's salary | Total spend | Final approved expenditure limit | Capitation position | Distance from target(22) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | ||||||
| Bracknell Forest PCT(23) | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Newbury and Community PCT | 12,970 | 69,305 | 63,414 | 63,433 | 64,710 | (2.0) |
| Reading PCT | 12,589 | 75,000 | 149,398 | 149,565 | 153,334 | (2.5) |
| Slough PCT | 12,967 | 71,792 | 90,337 | 91,094 | 93,066 | (2.2) |
| Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead PCT(23) | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wokingham PCT | 12,967 | 65,300 | 84,862 | 85,585 | 83,891 | 2.0 |
| Total | 51,493 | 281,397 | 388,011 | 389,677 | 395,001 | — |
| 2002–03(24) | ||||||
| Bracknell Forest PCT | 16,017 | 65,000 | — | — | 66,752 | 5.6 |
| Newbury and Community PCT | 16,017 | 77,700 | — | — | 69,508 | (1.5) |
| Reading PCT | 18,154 | 75,000 | — | — | 152,261 | (2.4) |
| Slough PCT | 16,017 | 74,377 | — | — | 93,394 | (2.9) |
| Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead PCT | 18,154 | 80,000 | — | — | 118,277 | 1.6 |
| Wokingham PCT | 18,184 | 67,500 | — | — | 90,012 | 2.0 |
| Total | 102,543 | 439,577 | — | — | 590,204 | — |
(22) Figures in brackets equal under target.
(23) Bracknell Forest and Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead PCTs came into existence on 1 April 2002 (all other PCTs on 1 April 2001).
(24) Final approved expenditure limit for 2002–03 is not currently available.
Digital Hearing Aids
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to extend the availability of digital hearing aids in the NHS. [63063]
Jacqui Smith: We are committed to extending the benefits of digital hearing aids, provided as part of a modernised service. We have invested over £30 million in the modernising hearing aids services project over the past three years. This will bring the number of sites providing a modernised service to 50 by the end of this financial year, with at least 15 more sites having the equipment and training to enable them to start fitting digital aids from April 2003.
Audiology departments were informed, on 11 June 2002, that James Strachan, chief executive at Royal National Institute for the Deaf and the national health service purchasing and supply agency (PASA), working with the Department, have now negotiated an excellent deal on the price of digital hearing aids. All NHS audiology departments are free to purchase from these contracts, whether they are currently part of the project or not, provided they have the necessary infrastructure in place and relevant experience of fitting digital hearing aids.
Medication (HIV Patients)
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has issued on the availability of tuberculosis medication for HIV patients; and if there are any circumstances in which an HIV patient would be expected to pay for tuberculosis medication. [63465]
Ms Blears: Guidance on the treatment of patients with HIV-related tuberculosis was published in the report "The Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis in the United Kingdom: UK Guidance on the Prevention and Control of Transmission of 1. HIV-related Tuberculosis 2. Drug-resistant, Including Multiple Drug-resistant, Tuberculosis", by the interdepartmental working group on tuberculosis.
If the medication is supplied to a patient and administered at a hospital it is free of charge. If the medication is supplied otherwise than for administration at a hospital normal prescription charging arrangements apply. No charge will be payable if the patient qualifies for free prescriptions on any grounds, such as low income.
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