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Doctors

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has for increasing the number of doctors employed by the national health service; and if he will make a statement. [84658]

Mr. Hutton: The NHS Plan makes a commitment to substantially increase the national health service work force by March 2004. The numbers of consultants are expected to increase by 7,500, specialist registrar numbers by 1,000, general practitioner (GP) numbers by 2,000 and GP registrar numbers by 550 over a 1999 baseline.

The latest forecasts for growth, set out in XDelivering the NHS Plan", expect the NHS to have net increases by 2008, over a 2001 baseline, of at least 15,000 doctors, both consultants and GPs.

Between September 1997 and September 2001, the number of total NHS doctors increased by 11 per cent. and specialist registrar (SpR) numbers specifically also increased by 11 per cent. Between September 1997 and March 2002, the number of consultants and GPs increased by 23 per cent. and 3 per cent. respectively and GP registrar numbers by 42 per cent.

In respect of consultants, we are not solely relying on the output from training to deliver a sufficient supply of applicants for consultant posts. We are implementing a range of measures to:

Improve retention—through a flexible careers scheme and flexible retirement;


Identify and encourage suitable doctors on the specialist register to compete for posts;


Target action to reduce delay to certificate of completion of specialists training completion and encourage recent qualifiers to take up consultant posts;


Establish more part-time and job-share posts;


Increase international recruitment, including government to government agreements, a global recruitment campaign and the international fellowship programme.

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With regard to SpR numbers, we have adopted a new approach to maximising the numbers of SpRs trained within existing resources. The current training system has been freed up by taking a service-led approach, which will meet educational needs. We expect this to result in substantial increases in SpR numbers beyond the 1,000 assumed in the NHS Plan.

We have also introduced a GP vocational training scheme for senior house officers in 2002, which has resulted in 84 appointments.

To meet the GP targets, the Department has implemented a number of recruitment and retention initiatives, which include:

golden hellos to new and returning GPs


delayed retirement payments


flexible career scheme


extension of the improving working lives initiative to primary care


international recruitment.

Drug Addiction (Fareham)

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many drug rehabilitation places are available to registered drug addicts in Fareham; and how many registered drug addicts in Fareham are receiving (a) rehabilitation and (b) other forms of drug treatment. [85712]

Ms Blears [holding answer 9 December 2002]: Drug misuers have access to a community drug team in Fareham. Most community drug services can refer patients to rehabilitation services throughout the country: not just those in the local area. There are 138

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residential treatment services in England. There are around 3,100 bedspaces within the drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation sector.

The information available for drug users presenting to drug treatment agencies and general practitioners in health authorities in Hampshire in the six-month periods from October 2000 to March 2001 is shown in the table.

Number of users who presented for treatment for drug misuse in health authorities in Hampshire and England April 1997 to March 2001

	October 2000– March 2001
England	33,234
North and mid Hants	89
Portsmouth and south-east Hants	281
Southampton and south-west Hants	220
Total for all three HAs	590

Source:

Department of Health series of Statistical Bulletins, XStatistics from the Regional Drug Misuse Databases".

Drug Addicts

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registered drug addicts there were in (a) Fareham, (b) Hampshire and (c) England in each year from 1997. [85710]

Ms Blears [holding answer 9 December 2002]: Information is not available in the form requested. The information available for drug users presenting to drug treatment agencies and general practitioners in health authorities in Hampshire and England in the six months periods from April 1997 to March 2001 is shown in Table 1. Information on the numbers in treatment is only available for 2000–01 and is shown in Table 2.

Table 1: Number of users who presented for treatment for drug misuse in health authorities (HAs)in Hampshire and England April 1997 to March 2001

	England	North and mid Hampshire	Portsmouth and south-east Hants	Southampton and south-west Hampshire	Totals for these three HAs
April–September 1997	21,996	61	138	255	454
October 1997–March 1998	23,916	50	161	257	468
April–September 1998	28,599	48	163	296	507
October 1998–March 1999	28,499	60	196	118	374
April–September 1999	30,545	55	307	145	507
October 1999–March 2000	31,815	21	231	153	405
April–September 2000	33,093	154	259	266	679
October 2000–March 2001	33,234	89	281	220	590

Source:

The Department of Health series of statistical bulletins XStatistics from the Regional Drug Misuse Databases"

Table 2: Number of drug misusers in treatment in 2000–01

Area of treatment	Number
England	118,500
North and mid Hampshire	329	1,863
Portsmouth and south-east Hants	836	1,863
Southampton and south-west Hampshire	698	1,863

Source:

Statistics from the Regional Drug Misuse Databases on drug misusers in treatment in England, 2000–01

Drug/Alcohol Treatment Centres

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential drug and alcohol treatment centres are operated by the NHS; and how many are proposed to be closed. [86031]

Ms Blears: There are over 700 drug and alcohol treatment services in England. Of these, 138 are residential treatment services. The majority of

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residential services are provided through the voluntary sector. Their primary role is to provide non-medical social care services. For this reason they are funded through social services community care.

Since 1997 the number of overall treatment services has increased by a third. We have no information to suggest that any treatment services are being prepared for closure.

Ebixa

Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on the availability to NHS patients of the drug Ebixa for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease; when the National Institute of Clinical Excellence will issue guidance on the use of Ebixa for the NHS in England and Wales; and what interim measures have been put in place to ensure that the drug Ebixa will be available to NHS patients pending the outcome of the NICE appraisal; [85467]

(2) what estimate his Department has made of the cost per annum of providing the drug Ebixa to NHS patients suffering from late stage Alzheimer's disease in (a) Dorset and (b) England; [85470]

(3) what provisions his Department has put in place to ensure that NHS patients in Dorset who suffer from Alzheimer's disease and who would benefit from the drug Ebixa are able to receive that drug. [85468]

Jacqui Smith: The drug memantine (Ebixa) was launched in this country for the treatment of people with severe dementia in October 2002. In line with Circular HSC1999/176, national health service bodies should use existing arrangements to access the publicly available evidence about memantine (Ebixa) and to determine local policies for the use of this drug. No estimates have been made about the likely future cost of this drug for people with severe dementia. No decision has been made as to whether to ask the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to carry out an appraisal of memantine for the treatment of people with dementia.

General Practitioners (Age)

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the level of applications for partners in GP

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practices was in (a) England, (b) York and (c) North Yorkshire on (i) 1 May 1997 and (ii) 1 September 2002. [85804]

Mr. Hutton: We do not have specific detail of the level of applications for partners in general practitioner (GP) practices in the areas and at the times requested. However the Medical Practices Committee survey of GP recruitment in England and Wales 1997 estimated that there was an average of 8.4 applicants per general medical service partner vacancy in 1997.

The latest Department report—Xthe General Practitioner Recruitment, Retention and Vacancy Survey 2002 for England and Wales", estimated that there was an average of 4.4 applicants per unrestricted principal or equivalent GP vacancy in the 12 months period ending 28 February 2002.

We do not have estimates for the number of applicants on any regional basis.

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