| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
20 Jan 2003 : Column 132W—continued
King Edward VII Hospital
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what NHS contracts have been carried out by the King Edward VII Hospital Midhurst since May 1997; [89934]
- (2) what part he plans to play in facilitating a rescue plan to enable the King Edward VII Hospital Midhurst to continue operating; [89935]
(3) what discussions he has held with the King Edward VII Hospital in Midhurst on the appointment of a provisional liquidator. [89933]
Ms Blears: This information is not held centrally.
Ministers and departmental officials have received a number of representations regarding the situation at the hospital. Discussions with the liquidator are currently ongoing. In view of that, it would not be appropriate for Ministers to comment further, although these discussions will of course focus on the continuing provision of appropriate care for national health service patients.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the effect on waiting times at St. Richard's hospital, Chichester of the impending closure of King Edward VII hospital at Midhurst; [90142]
20 Jan 2003 : Column 133W
- (2) what budgeting constraints prevent orthopaedic treatment provided by the NHS in hospitals abroad from being provided in King Edward VII hospital Midhurst; and what the cost differential is. [90141]
Ms Blears: Overseas treatment is one of the options open to national health service commissioners seeking to increase the number of patients treated and reduce waiting times. Any NHS body can commission treatment abroad for its patients and a relatively small-scale pilot was undertaken to establish good practice. It is up to local commissioners to decide, in the light of capacity constraints across their local health economies, and taking into account the different commissioning options available to them, whether or not to refer patients overseas for treatment.
At present a liquidator has been called in to King Edward VII hospital and discussions are now taking place to secure health provision for the local-community. The West Sussex health community is working to ensure that any adverse impact is kept to a minimum.
London Agency Project
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the London Agency Project. [89654]
Mr. Hutton: The London Agency Project has been developed by national health service trusts in London to improve both the quality of temporary agency workers supplied to the NHS from commercial agencies and to achieve value for money for public services.
Phase one of the London Agency Project was implemented on 1 September 2001. 29 agencies were awarded a place on the phase one London framework agreement to supply specialist nurses to London trusts. Phase two of the London Agency Project was launched in April 2002 for the procurement of all other nurses and midwives and health care assistants. As a result, 72 commercial agencies have been awarded a place on the phase two framework agreement that comes into effect on 1 April 2003.
Medical Practitioner Registration
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health under what treaty provisions the European Commission has jurisdiction over the registration of medical practitioners. [88177]
Mr. Hutton: The Treaty establishing the European Community guaranteed the freedom for every European citizen to work, set up business or provide services in any member state. Subsequent Directives set out the provisions for automatic mutual recognition of qualifications in many health professions and other professions, such as veterinary surgeons and architects. Member states must implement these Directives into their domestic legislation.
The registration procedures used by a member state to regulate medical practitioners remains a responsibility of the individual member state, not of the European Commission. In the United Kingdom, the General Medical Council is the body responsible for registration of medical practitioners.
20 Jan 2003 : Column 134W
Medical Staff Recruitment
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses from Ethiopia are employed in the NHS. [89361]
Mr. Hutton: The Department does not collect data on nationality, as requested. The number of national health service hospital doctors and general medical practitioners by country of primary medical qualification is shown in the table.
The data for country of qualification by individual countries are far from complete. There are large numbers of doctors who qualified outside the United Kingdom, for whom we cannot ascribe an individual country.
| Numbers (headcount) | |
|---|---|
| HCHS doctors | 8 |
| General medical practitioners | 0 |
| Nurses | — |
Note:
Data on nationality are not collected, only country of primary medical qualification. This does not extend to nurses however, about which no such data are collected. Data as at 30 September 2001
Sources:
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Census
Information on the number of nurses employed in the NHS from Ethiopia is not collected centrally.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what discussions he has had with medical staff recruitment agencies about recruitment of doctors and nurses from Ethiopia; [89362]
- (2) what his policy is on recruitment of doctors and nurses from Ethiopia. [89363]
Mr. Hutton: The Department published the code of practice for National Health Service employers involved in the international recruitment of healthcare professionals in October 2001. The code provides a detailed explanation of the processes that must be carried out when recruiting internationally to ensure that developing countries and those countries suffering significant staff shortages of their own are not targeted.
The Department has established a list of agencies who are operating in line with the code of practice and information about the list has been conveyed to NHS employers who are strongly advised to refer to the list when establishing new contracts The Department has written to all commercial agencies it is aware of, asking them to provide references from both NHS and other customers confirming compliance with the code of practice. The code states that developing countries should not be targeted for recruitment.
Ethiopia is classed as a developing country. The active recruitment of healthcare professionals from the country is therefore against the Department's code of practice.
20 Jan 2003 : Column 135W
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what agreements he has reached with the Ethiopian Government about recruitment of Ethiopian doctors and nurses by the NHS. [89393]
Mr. Hutton: There has been no contact between the Department and the Ethiopian Government at Ministerial or any other level.
Modernisation Agency
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the role of the Modernisation Agency is in delivering best practice in the NHS; and what its budget is for this in 2002–03. [87536]
Mr. Hutton: The role of the Modernisation Agency is to support the National Health Service in making radical and sustainable changes to services for the benefit of patients and staff. The Agency's focus is delivery. Their work programme is closely aligned with achievement of NHS Plan targets.
The budget for the Modernisation Agency for 2002–03 is £121 million.
Mortuary Facilities
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals have had recourse to the use of refrigerated lorries to provide mortuary facilities in the past year. [88421]
Mr. Lammy: Guidance to national health service trusts on the need for temporary body storage facilities to be of a standard which respects patients' dignity was issued in 2000. This made explicit that refrigerated vehicles were not acceptable. The Department is not aware of any NHS trust failing to comply with this guidance.
Multiple Sclerosis
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what progress has been made on the prescription-plus-monitoring scheme for disease-modifying drugs for MS; [89819]
- (2) if he will list the centres that have been authorised to prescribe beta interferons through his Department's prescription-plus-monitoring scheme; [89820]
(3) how many people he estimates will receive beta interferons under the prescription-plus-monitoring scheme; [89817]
(4) how long he estimates it will be before all people who may benefit from beta interferons have been assessed by a neurologist for the prescription-plus-monitoring scheme. [89818]
Mr. Lammy: The designation of centres is a matter for local agreement. A list of centres is maintained by the scheme co-ordinator, Sheffield University's School of Health and Related Research, who should be approached for up to date information.
Health Service Circular HSC 2002/004, which introduced the scheme, stated the intention to complete recruitment of patients within 18 months of the scheme being initiated by centres.
20 Jan 2003 : Column 136W
It has been estimated that up to 9,000 patients in England and Wales may be eligible for treatment under the scheme.
We understand that the majority of centres are now recruiting patients under the scheme.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |