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11 Dec 2002 : Column 397W—continued
NHS Services (Legal Entitlement)
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people who used the NHS but were not entitled to use it in each year since 1997. [85532]
Mr. Hutton: The national health service is first and foremost for the benefit of people who live in the United Kingdom. A person who is not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, but who requires NHS hospital treatment, is subject to the provisions of the National
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Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended—in 1991 (SI No: 438), 1994 (SI No: 1535), 2000 (SI No: 602), 2000 (SI No: 909).
These regulations place a duty on NHS trusts to establish the residential status of all patients. Where an NHS trust identifies a person who is not ordinarily resident in United Kingdom and is not otherwise exempt from charge then the regulations provide for the making and recovery of a charge by the trust for most types of hospital treatment.
Detailed information on the numbers of NHS charged patients are not collected centrally.
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision creates the legal entitlement for use of the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [85533]
Mr. Hutton: Sections 1–5 of the National Health Service Act 1977 give powers and place duties on my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, in respect of the continued promotion of a comprehensive health service and the provision of services to be provided free of charge unless an enactment provides for the recovery of charges.
Section 121 of the National Health Service Act gives power to make regulations to enable charges to be made to those not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom. The relevant regulations are National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989 (as amended).
Mr. Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of (a) the number of people using the NHS who are not entitled to do so and (b) the cost of the treatment of those people to the NHS in the last 12 months. [86533]
Mr. Hutton: The national health service is first and foremost for the benefit of people who live in the United Kingdom. A person who is not ordinarily resident in the UK, but who requires NHS hospital treatment is subject to the provisions of the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended—in 1991 (SI No: 438), 1994 (SI No: 1535), 2000 (SI No: 602), 2000 (SI No: 909).
These regulations place a duty on NHS trusts to establish the residential status of all patients. Where an NHS trust identifies a person who is not ordinarily resident in the UK and is not otherwise exempt from charge then the regulations provide for the making and recovery of a charge by the trust for most types of hospital treatment.
The amounts collected from NHS charged patients are not separately identifiable in trust accounts and are not collected centrally.
Nosocomial Infections
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the proportion of premature deaths in England in 2001 attributed to nosocomial infections. [85297]
Ms Blears: There are no centrally held statistics on the contribution of nosocomial infections to mortality. The Department has recently published rates of methicillin
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resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia for every acute national health service hospital trust in England as the first phase of a mandatory surveillance scheme for health care associated infection. Results for the first year of this scheme (April 2001 to March 2002) were published in the Communicable Disease Report Weekly on 20 June 2002 and are available on the Public Health Laboratory Service website www.phls.co.uk/publications/cdr/PDFfiles/2002/cdr2502.pdf.
Paramedics
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what length of time is recommended for the training of paramedics. [85783]
Mr. Hutton: Paramedics are a regulated profession. They are autonomous practitioners providing specialist care and treatment to patients who are either acutely ill or injured. They are able to administer an approved range of drugs as well as carrying out certain invasive techniques.
The Health Professions Council (HPC) recommendation for paramedics training, leading to registration, is two years.
Personal Medical Services Contracts
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs in the Adur, Arun and Worthing Primary Care Trust work to personal medical services contracts. [86804]
Ms Blears [holding answer 10 December 2002]: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Adur, Arun and Worthing PCT | England | |
|---|---|---|
| All Practitioners(17) | ||
| Total | 137 | 32,011 |
| GMS | 129 | 26,278 |
| PMS | 8 | 5,733 |
| Of which: | ||
| NHS Plan GPs(18) | ||
| Total | 127 | 28,950 |
| GMS | 120 | 23,759 |
| PMS | 7 | 5,191 |
| Unrestricted Principals and Equivalents (UPEs)(19) | ||
| Total | 123 | 27,956 |
| GMS | 116 | 23,091 |
| PMS | 7 | 4,865 |
(17) All Practitioners include UPEs, Restricted Principals, GP Registrars, Assistants, Salaried Doctors (Para 52 SFA), PMS Others and GP Retainers.
(18) NHS Plan GPs include UPEs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, Salaried Doctors (Para 52 SFA) and PMS Others.
(19) UPEs include GMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs and PMS Salaried GPs.
Note:
March 2002 data has been converted to match April 2002 PCT boundaries.
Source:
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
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Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) new cases and (b) new cases per head of population there were of (i) HIV/AIDS, (ii) syphilis, (iii) gonorrhea, (iv) chlamydia and (v) other forms of sexually transmitted disease in each (A) health authority and (B) PCT area in each year since 1996. [85731]
Ms Blears: Information has been placed in the Library which gives the number of new cases (diagnoses) and new cases per 100,000 population for each of the infections, by region, for the years 1996–2001. Data are not available at the health authority/primary care trust level.
Diagnoses of HIV were derived from voluntary clinician and laboratory reporting and the sexually transmitted infection (STI) data were derived from statutory reporting of diagnoses made at genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics on form KC60. Data on STIs are only collected from GUM clinics, so STIs diagnosed and treated by general practitioners or in other settings do not form part of the data set.
Silicofluoride Chemicals
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason silicofluoride chemicals classified as medicinal substances under the Codified Pharmaceutical Directive are, exempt from such classification by the Medicines Control Agency when used as an additive to public water supplies. [85840]
Mr. Lammy: The inclusion of silicofluoride chemicals in a product does not necessarily make that product a medicinal product. Silicofluoride has many different uses and can therefore be subject to a number of different regulatory regimes. For example, various forms of fluoride can be included in oral hygiene products under the Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations and some forms of fluoride will be permitted in food supplements through the forthcoming Food Supplements (England) Regulations. The decision as to whether a particular product is a medicinal product is made by the Medicines Control Agency using the definition of that term in Article 1 of Directive 2001/83, relevant legal precedent and its own published guidance. The MCA considers that neither fluoride added to drinking water nor the resulting fluoridated water are medicinal products which require marketing authorisations as medicines.
Suspended Consultants (Leeds)
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultants employed by the Leeds health authority and its trusts are suspended; and for how long they each have been suspended. [83482]
Jacqui Smith: Neither the former Leeds health authority nor the West Yorkshire strategic health authority employ consultants. However there is only one consultant from all the national health service trusts within the West Yorkshire strategic health authority area who is currently suspended. That individual has been suspended since May 2001.
- Source:
- West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority
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Transport
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is his policy that NHS acute trusts should take over responsibilities for local transportation from ambulance services. [85786]
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