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28 Feb 2003 : Column 771W—continued
Paediatric Nurses
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many paediatric nurses are employed by each hospital trust in England; and what the vacancy rates are in each case. [92538]
Mr. Hutton: As a result of organisational changes in April 2002, data reflecting the latest organisation structure are not currently available. The 2003 national health service vacancy survey will be conducted in March and the results will be available later this year. It is intended to publish staff in post data from the September 2002 NHS work force census, which reflects the latest structure, in April this year.
Patient Care Advisers
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patient care advisers work at each heart surgery centre in England. [97310]
Ms Blears: The majority of participating trusts have a single patient care adviser (PCA) in post. A number of the larger bodies, including Brighton Healthcare, University
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Hospitals Birmingham and University Hospitals Leicester, employ two PCAs, while St. Bartholomew's and the London National Health Service Trust employs three.
The latest available figures, for January 2003, show a total of 38 PCAs in post.
Patients (Home Care)
Mr. Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to encourage the NHS to adopt new medical technologies that are clinically proven to help patients be treated outside hospital. [95574]
Ms Blears: The Department's Modernisation Agency is in place to support new practices and innovative approaches and will help to make a significant contribution in this area.
Clinical effectiveness and patient safety are of course paramount concerns, and before any new medical technology is used it must, as a minimum, comply with United Kingdom and European regulations for medical devices and with clinical protocols agreed with the relevant professional bodies.
Primary Care Trusts
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the funding arrangements for primary care trusts in North Yorkshire. [98060]
Jacqui Smith: Three year allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs) were announced on 11 December. The allocations made to PCTs covered by North and East Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire Strategic Health Authority are shown in the table.
| PCT | 2003–04 allocation (£) | 2004–05 allocation (£) | 2005–06 allocation (£) | Total three year increase (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craven, Harrogate and Rural District | 166,668 | 181,585 | 197,111 | 28.08 |
| Hambleton and Richmondshire | 91,187 | 99,349 | 107,843 | 28.08 |
| Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale | 138,792 | 152,118 | 166,123 | 30.31 |
| Set by and York | 216,207 | 235,557 | 255,791 | 28.13 |
Public Health Laboratory Service
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to maintain the work on health and safety carried out by the Public Health Laboratory Service after 1 April. [95697]
Ms Blears: The Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) Board will continue to be responsible for the health and safety of its remaining employees after 1 April.
Any wider contribution to health and safety by current employees of the PHLS providing expert advice will continue to be provided as appropriate.
Sexual Health
Dr. Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1)what recent discussions he has had with the representatives of general practitioners regarding (a) screening for sexually transmitted diseases; (b) counselling for sexually transmitted diseases; and (c) the provision of contraceptive services; [99088]
- (2) what guidance his Department has issued to primary care trusts regarding GPs' role in screening for sexually transmitted diseases; [99085]
(3) what guidance his Department has issued to primary care trusts regarding GPs' role in screening for chlamydia. [99087]
Ms Blears: The sexual health and HIV strategy recommends that there are a number of service elements for sexual health care that current good practice acknowledges should be available in every general practice setting. These elements include sexually
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transmitted infection (STI) testing for women and assessment and referral of men with STI symptoms. However we do recognise that these service elements are not available everywhere at present and that development will be gradual. The development of non-invasive STI tests will extend the elements that can be provided in primary care.
Officials have held a number of discussions with representatives of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to discuss implementation of the sexual health and HIV strategy in primary care. The Department is funding a conference being organised by the RCGP and the Royal College of Nurses to take forward a co-ordinated approach to the teaching and accreditation of sexual health skills for primary care. The
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RCGP will be publishing guidelines for general practitioners on primary care provision of recommended service elements for sexual health later this year.
We have recently published a sexual health commissioning toolkit, which is available in the Library, which provides guidance for primary care trusts (PCTs) and a framework for developing sexual health services across a range of primary and specialist providers.
In addition, the NHS Confederation is taking the lead, on behalf of United Kingdom health Ministers, in developing a new contract for GPs across the UK. The negotiations with the General Practitioners Committee (GPC) of the British Medical Association will have included some discussion of the provision of sexual health services.