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2 Dec 2002 : Column 611W—continued
Community Pharmacies
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community pharmacies there were in each health authority in each of the past five years. [84018]
Mr. Lammy: Information about the number of community pharmacies in each health authority in England in the past five years has been placed in the Library.
Decontamination Units
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS acute trusts had ordered mobile decontamination facilities and associated protective clothing between receipt of a letter dated 22 October from Dr. David Harper and 7 November. [84010]
Mr. Hutton: The Department of Health's chief scientist wrote to the national health service on 22 October to remind all NHS trust chief executives of current policy on this issue and to remind the small percentage of trusts who had yet to place an order.
A total of seven NHS acute trusts ordered mobile decontamination facilities and associated protective clothing between 22 October and 7 November.
Diabetes
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish the national service framework for diabetes. [84282]
Mr. Lammy: We shall be publishing the delivery strategy for the diabetes national service framework in the next few weeks.
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Doctors' Work Rotas
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact of doctors working in shifts on the level of perioperative deaths in NHS hospitals. [83451]
Mr. Hutton: Each year the National Confidential Enquiry into Perioperative Deaths reports on deaths that occurred in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available. There has been no separate assessment of the impact of shift working on the level of perioperative deaths in the national health service. We are however, moving to a position where out of hours cover is provided by more experienced doctors, and this will be supported by our commitment in the NHS Plan to increase the number of consultants and doctors.
Drugs
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for health which drugs referred to NICE have been rejected and subsequently subjected to the appeal mechanism; and which of them were successfully approved. [83309]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 25 November 2002]: In total 56 appraisals have reached the stage where an appeal could be received; of these 19 received appeals and seven of these were upheld, six relating to drugs. The thrust of the recommendations changed in one of the appraisals as a result of an appeal, namely Rituximab for follicular non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Dangerous Severe Personality Disorder
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of individuals with dangerous severe personality disorder in (a) prison and (b) the general population; and what assessment he has made of trends in the number of people with DSPD. [82426]
Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
We estimate that there are between 2,100 and 2,400 individuals who are dangerous as a result of a severe personality disorder (DSPD). The majority of these individuals will be in prison or a secure hospital. We estimate that at any one time 1,400 will be in prison and a further 400 will be detained on court orders under the legal category of psychopathic disorder in secure psychiatric hospitals. We also estimate that a further 300 to 600 men may be living in the community at any one time, of whom most will have been recently detained in prison or hospital.
There is no information currently available to make an assessment of likely trends in the number of people who are dangerous as a result of severe personality disorder in prison or the general population. However, the number of restricted patients detained in secure hospitals for a psychopathic disorder has remained around 400 for over 10 years.
East Midlands Ambulance Trust
Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions the response time to category A calls to the East Midlands Ambulance Trust took (a) over 30 minutes and (b) over one hour, in
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(i) the county of Rutland and (ii) the Melton borough council area, in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [83012]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 28 November 2002]: Information about ambulance emergency response times to Category A calls is not available specifically for the county of Rutland or the Melton borough council. The latest information available about 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 the East Midlands Ambulance National Health Service Trust, and all other ambulance trusts, is contained in the Department of Health Statistical Bulletin XAmbulance Services, England 2001–02". A copy of the bulletin is available in the Library and available at www.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0213.htm.
General Practitioners
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many general practitioners, in each London borough, are operating a closed-list policy; and if he will make a statement; [83657]
- (2) what steps he is taking to encourage more general practitioners to set up practice in Inner and Greater London; and if he will make a statement. [83658]
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Mr. Hutton: The information on closed lists is not held centrally.
We are committed to expanding the primary care work force both through national and local initiatives. The London work force development confederation has introduced a number of specific programmes to expand the GP work force in London by 225 general practitioners. These include:
- The London Deanery's successful expansion of the number of training places in GP practices for GP Registrars. This year there are an additional 51 training places for GPs in London. Primary care trusts will be able to build on this success by setting up new and more flexible contracts for newly qualified GPs.
More flexible career opportunities, particularly those designed to retain GPs close to retirement age, are also being put into place by London PCTs including a flexible career scheme which will commence shortly, designed to attract GPs back into practice for part-time working.
A London wide international recruitment scheme which will commence in 2003 to build on the successful recruitment of 17 French GPs in South East London.
GPs (Age Distribution)
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the age distribution is of general practitioners in (a) Kent and (b) England. [82739]
Mr. Hutton: The age distribution of general practitioners in England and Kent Medway Strategic Health Authority as at March 2002 is shown in the table.
| Total | Under 30 | 30 to 34 | 35 to 39 | 40 to 44 | 45 to 49 | 50 to 54 | 55 to 59 | 60 to 64 | 65 to 69 | 70 and over | Unknown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | ||||||||||||
| All practitioners | 32,011 | 1,305 | 3,557 | 5,497 | 6,272 | 5,376 | 4,633 | 3,379 | 1,419 | 506 | 66 | 1 |
| Percentage | 4.1 | 11.1 | 17.2 | 19.6 | 16.8 | 14.5 | 10.6 | 4.4 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | |
| of which: | ||||||||||||
| Kent and Medway StHA | ||||||||||||
| All practitioners | 946 | 26 | 77 | 149 | 180 | 176 | 154 | 117 | 56 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Percentage | 2.7 | 8.1 | 15.8 | 19.0 | 18.6 | 16.3 | 12.4 | 5.9 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
(34) All practitioners include GMS unrestricted principals, PMS contracted GPs, PMS salaried GPs, restricted principals, assistants, GP registrars, salaried doctors (para 52 SFA), PMS other and GP retainers.
(35) NHS plan GPs include GMS unrestricted principals, PMS contracted GPs, PMS salaried GPs, restricted principals, assistants, salaried doctors (para 52 SFA) and PMS others.
(36) UPEs include GMS unrestricted principles, PMS contracted GPs and PMS salaried GPs.
(37) Converted to match April 2002 boundaries (formerly East Kent HA and West Kent HA)
Source:
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.
Hospital Transport Scheme
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of the Hospital Transport Scheme was in each of the past five years. [84089]
Mr. Lammy: This information is not collected centrally.
Latex Allergy
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department will take to implement the conclusions of the second summit on latex allergy. [83943]
Mr. Hutton: The Department of Health has agreed to work closely with the Health and Safety Executive and other key stakeholders to produce new guidance on the use of latex products in the national health service. We expect that this guidance will be published in Health and Safety Week 2003 and will be circulated throughout the NHS.
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