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5 Feb 2003 : Column 260W—continued
Parliamentary Questions
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the reasons were for the delay in replying to written questions tabled by the hon. Member for Thurrock on 9 January; and if he will make a statement. [94477]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Questions referred to by my hon. Friend have now been answered.
I am sorry for the delay in responding. This was because information from an outside, commercial, agency was needed to provide an answer.
I would like to assure my hon. Friend that the Northern Ireland Office, as with all Government Departments, takes it obligation to answer all Parliamentary Questions promptly and accurately very seriously.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the reason was for the delay in answering the questions tabled on 6 and 9 December by the hon. Member for Thurrock about the draft Harbours (Northern Ireland) Order 2002; and if he will make a statement. [94930]
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Mr. Paul Murphy: The Questions referred to by my hon. Friend were answered on the 9 December 2002 (Official Report, columns 46W and 55W).
I regret to inform my hon. Friend that due to an administrative error, the answers were re-issued on 28 January 2003.
Personality Disorders
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many places there are at specialist residential units for individuals with personality disorders in (a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland. [94959]
Mr. Browne: In Great Britain there are five specialist residential units providing 85 beds for people with personality disorders in the statutory sector. In Northern Ireland there are no specialist units in the statutory sector. There is one specialist residential unit in the voluntary sector which provides 11 beds.
Physiotherapy
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many physiotherapists are employed in Northern Ireland in each health trust. [95158]
Mr. Browne: The information requested is detailed in the table.
| Headcount | WTE(2) | |
|---|---|---|
| Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust | 54 | 46.9 |
| Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust | 66 | 57.6 |
| South and East Belfast HSS Trust | 37 | 24.8 |
| Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust | 74 | 56.3 |
| Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust | 79 | 67.9 |
| Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust | 19 | 17.0 |
| North and West Belfast HSS Trust | 34 | 21.0 |
| Down Lisburn HSS Trust | 58 | 48.0 |
| Causeway HSS Trust | 33 | 25.3 |
| United Hospitals Group HSS Trust | 84 | 69.8 |
| Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust | 31 | 25.0 |
| Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust | 60 | 48.4 |
| Newry and Mourne HSS Trust | 28 | 23.2 |
| Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust | 38 | 35.7 |
| Foyle Community HSS Trust | 2 | 2.0 |
| Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust | 25 | 21.9 |
| Total | 722 | 590.9 |
(2) Whole Time Equivalent
The Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) inpatients and (b) outpatients are on the waiting list for physiotherapy at South Tyrone Hospital, Loane House. [95151]
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Mr. Browne: (a) Inpatients requiring treatment by a physiotherapist, perhaps following an operation, are not allocated a place on a waiting list. The physiotherapy treatment they receive forms part of their inpatient episode and is counted as hospital activity.
(b) There are currently 174 outpatients awaiting physiotherapy treatment at South Tyrone and Loane House hospitals. The vast majority of these cases, 172 (99 per cent.), are waiting less than three months, while the remaining two are waiting less than six months. Urgent cases are prioritised and seen within 2–3 weeks.
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take steps to ensure that South Tyrone Hospital, Loane House, has its full complement of physiotherapists. [95148]
Mr. Browne: The South Tyrone Hospital has recently secured funding for a temporary full-time physiotherapist. Advertisements have been placed in newspapers and with recruitment agencies. There are no physiotherapy waiting lists for hospital in-patients or day attenders at Loane House. However, the out-patients' department of the Hospital currently has a waiting list of 174 for physiotherapy treatment.
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many physiotherapists are (a) employed within the Southern Health and Social Services Board area and (b) working at South Tyrone Hospital, Loane House, County Tyrone. [95153]
Mr. Browne: The information requested is detailed in the table.
| Headcount | WTE(3) | |
|---|---|---|
| South Tyrone Hospital (Loane House)(4) | n/a | 1.1 |
| Southern Health and Social Services Board(5) | 119 | 96.7 |
(3) Whole-time equivalent.
(4) Staffing figures are current.
(5) Staffing figures are at 30 September 2002.
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) inpatients and (b) outpatients are on the waiting list for physiotherapy within the Southern Health Board area. [95154]
Mr. Browne: (a) Inpatients requiring treatment by a physiotherapist, perhaps following an operation, are not allocated a place on a waiting list. The physiotherapy treatment they receive forms part of their inpatient episode and is counted as hospital activity.
(b) Data is collected on the number of outpatients who had a first appointment during the quarter with a community physiotherapist by the time waited. The following Figures are for the quarter ending December 2002.
Source:
CP3
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Organ Donor Cards
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate how many individuals in Northern Ireland carry organ donor cards. [95843]
Mr. Browne: At the end of December 2002 there were 156,148 people from Northern Ireland on the organ donor register.
Public Transport
David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the main uses of the sums recently announced for (a) railways and (b) buses. [94948]
Angela Smith: Additional funding in excess of £80 million was allocated to the Department for Regional Development in the December 2002 Budget announcement for the development of public transport. Of this, £40 million will be used to improve safety and reliability on the core railway network in accordance with the A. D. Little Safety Review and the "consolidation option" as outlined in the Railways Task Force Report. £40 million will be used to purchase new coaches and buses to replace vehicles, whose "economic life" has expired, and help improve the reliability and accessibility of the Ulsterbus and Citybus fleets, including assistance with the promotion of Quality Bus Corridors. A significant proportion of this funding has been made available under the Strategic Investment Programme, hence it will be subject to final approval processes in advance of expenditure being incurred.
Queen's University, Belfast
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many places are (a) retained and (b) proposed in the new academic intake, by Queen's University, Belfast for foreign nationals studying medicine. [94433]
Jane Kennedy : The recruitment of students is entirely a matter for Queen's University. The number of foreign nationals admitted to study medicine at Queen's University, Belfast in the current academic year is not yet available. The 2002–03 Higher Education Student Early Statistics return indicate that the University recruited 173 Home and EU students and 13 Island and Overseas students as new entrants to full-time undergraduate courses in medicine. Information is not available on the number of foreign nationals which the University proposes to admit to study medicine in the 2003–04 academic year.
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