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24 Feb 2003 : Column 33W—continued
Digital Hearing Aids
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how long it takes to train NHS staff to fit digital hearing aids. [97880]
Jacqui Smith: Current career grade staff working in national health service hearing aid services require approximately six days of additional training to allow them to fit digital hearing aids.
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Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how long he estimates it will take to convert all analogue hearing aid users to digital. [97889]
Jacqui Smith: All National Health Service hearing aid services in England will be fitting digital aids by the end of March 2005. These will be provided as appropriate for all new patients and for existing hearing aid users upon review. For adults that review would not normally be less than three years from fitting of their last aid, unless their hearing has become significantlyworse in the interim. A shorter review period applies to children's services.
Domestic Violence
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what advice is given to paramedics and accident and emergency staff as to their responsibilities if they regard injured persons they attend as victims of domestic violence; [97171]
- (2) what training is given to paramedics and ambulance personnel in dealing with people they perceive to be the victims of domestic violence and their responsibilities of (a) confidentiality and (b) to report the commission of crime. [97239]
Mr. Lammy [holding answers 11 February and 12 February 2003]: It is the responsibility of individual trusts to develop policies on dealing with people they perceive to be the victims of domestic violence.
To assist individual trusts, the Department published Domestic Violence: A Resource Manual for Health Professionals two years ago. This manual sets out to increase the knowledge and understanding of health care professionals including staff in accident and emergency and ambulance trusts about the nature of domestic violence and how it is likely to be evident in the patients they care for.
Donor Transplant Operations
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice he has sought on asystolic donor transplant operations and elective ventilation procedures. [97179]
Mr. Lammy: At the Transplant Summit in February 2001, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, announced draft Government plans to increase the rate of asystolic donor transplants. UK Transplant has been allocated extra funding to increase organ donation rates including developing more asystolic donor transplant programmes.
The Department currently considers the practice of elective ventilation to be unlawful.
EMI Patients
Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds in (a) Sunderland Royal Hospital, (b) Hartlepool General Hospital and (c) Ryhope Hospital are accepted by EMI patients who could be cared for in the community; and if he will make a statement. [97161]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not held centrally.
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Empty Properties
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for how long his properties known as Burntwood Villas and Myrtle Cottages in Burntwood Lane, Tooting, London SW17 have been empty; and if he will make a statement. [96612]
Mr. Lammy: The properties were transferred to the South West London and St Georges Mental Health National Health Service Trust in March 2002. Myrtle Cottages have been empty since the late 1970s and Burntwood Villa since 1998.
Burntwood Villa has been let to the Bendon Care Foundation for keyworker accommodation. The future use of Myrtle Cottages is under consideration by the NHS trust, Wansworth Primary Care Trust and the London Borough of Wandsworth as a potential site for general practitioner provision.
Enuresis
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what treatments for enuresis he proposes to cover in the National Service Framework for children; [97887]
- (2) whether he proposes to include targets for combating enuresis in the NSF for children. [97886]
Jacqui Smith: An external working group to the national service framework covering healthy children and young people is taking forward work on standards for universal services that every child and young person needs to optimise health and well-being. Initial findings from this group have shown that these standards will be relevant to, although not specifically about, treatments or targets for the management of enuresis.
External Consultants
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money the NHS Modernisation Agency has spent on external consultants in the current financial year. [96885]
Mr. Lammy: In the current financial year, the Modernisation Agency has spent £1,752,000 on external consultants.
Fluoridation
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the percentage of the population affected by dental fluorosis in areas where the water supply is (a) fluoridated and (b) not-fluoridated. [94248]
Mr. Lammy: The report, "A Systematic Review of Water Fluoridation", published by the University of York in October 2000, estimated that the prevalence of dental fluorosis at a water fluoride level of 1.00 parts per million was 48 per cent. for all grades of fluorosis, including those which can only be identified by close professional examination and 12.5 per cent. for fluorosis of aesthetic concern.
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It should be noted that these figures include all enamel marks, whether from fluoride or not. Information is not held centrally on the prevalence of dental fluorosis in areas where the water supply is not artificially fluoridated.
Former NHS Sites (Development)
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many affordable homes have been built on former NHS sites sold by his Department over the last six years to the private sector. [97920]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 13 February 2003]: The Department does not keep records of the number of affordable houses that have been built on sites that it has sold.
Free Nursing Care
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people have been waiting (a) less than one month, (b) over one month and less than two months, (c) over two months and less than three months, (d) over three months and less than four months and (e) over four months for an assessment for free nursing care; [97793]
- (2) how many people are awaiting an assessment for free nursing care and what proportion that represents of people who require an assessment for free nursing care. [97794]
Jacqui Smith [holding answers 13 February 2003]: The Department does not collect this information centrally.
General Practitioners
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS general practitioners there were in Shrewsbury and Atcham in each year since 1997. [96286]
Mr. Lammy: Information for individual constituencies is not available. The figures for Shropshire Health Authority are shown in the table.
| Year | Numbers (headcount) |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 260 |
| 1998 | 259 |
| 1999 | 268 |
| 2000 | 262 |
| 2001 | 261 |
| 2002(6) | 260 |
(5) All Practitioners (excluding GP retainers) include GMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, GP Registrars, Salaried Doctors (para. 52 SFA) and PMS Others. GP Retainers were first collected in 1999 and have been omitted for comparability purposes.
(6) March
Source:
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
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Health and Social Care Directorates
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate (a) the cost of establishing and abolishing the directorates of health and social care and (b) the budgets for the directorates in each year since they were established. [97815]
Mr. Lammy: For the financial year 2002–03, the revenue budget of the four Directorates of Health and Social Care (DsHSC) was £58.7 million, which represented the costs of the eight former regional offices of the NHS Executive rolled forward, after the transfer of certain functions to other parts of the Department. Expenditure against this budget is forecast to be £49 million.
Additionally, there were set-up costs of £2.4 million attributable to establishing and equipping the public health function in the nine government offices of the regions. The budget of the DsHSC for 2003–04 is £24.5 million, a saving of £34.2 million over 2002–03.
It is too early to assess the consequences of the proposed Departmental re-organisation.
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