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28 Mar 2003 : Column 443W—continued
HEALTH
Recruitment
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by the NHS on agency nurses in (a) England and (b) each region, broken down by NHS trust, in 2001–02; and what proportion of the nursing wage bill this represented in each case. [95866]
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each hospital trust spent on agency recruited (a) nurses and (b) doctors, in the last 12 months; and how many posts this represents expressed as a percentage of total salary budgets. [100548]
Mr. Hutton: The latest information that is available is for 2001–02, and has been placed in the Library.
National health service trusts, which host NHS Professionals, the organisation that provides temporary staff for the NHS, include the expenditure for agency staff in their accounts and financial returns. The trusts are St. Mary's NHS Trust Paddington, Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust, West Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, John Radcliffe NHS Trust, East and North Herts NHS Trust and North Bristol NHS Trust. NHS trusts that use the services of NHS Professionals are recharged for these services and will also include these payments in their own accounts and financial returns. This results in the expenditure being double counted in the annual financial returns of NHS trusts and accounts for higher than average returns for trusts hosting NHS Professionals.
Bed Blocking (North Staffordshire)
Mr. Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce bed blocking in North Staffordshire. [104148]
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Jacqui Smith: Representatives from the four North Staffordshire primary care trusts met together with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council over the last month to discuss arrangements for increasing the number of available beds in North Staffordshire. A series of measures has been agreed including extra funding from uncommitted joint health and social care funds. Five beds have also been made available at Weston Coyney Assessment Centre (a residential home covered by South Stoke PCT) and qualified professional support will be provided by the local PCTs through the intermediate care team.
Bed Numbers (Hull and East Yorkshire)
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds there are in the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. [104525]
Jacqui Smith: The average daily number of available beds for 2001–02 for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust was 1,437.
- Source:
- Hospital Activity Statistics, Department of Health
Care Beds
Mr. Mates: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the 5,000 extra intermediate care beds in the NHS Plan (a) have been provided and are in use, (b) are part of schemes that are in procurement and (c) are still to be designated. [105002]
Jacqui Smith: By the end of December 2002 (latest figures available), there were approximately 3,300 extra intermediate care beds, compared with 1999–2000. Over the two years 2002–03 and 2003–04, £66 million has been made available to fund intermediate care capital development schemes. This funding will deliver a total of approximately 1,800 additional intermediate care beds. Around 150 of these beds became operational by December 2002 and are therefore included in the December 2002 figures. Recent trends in the underlying growth in the number of intermediate care beds indicate that the NHS Plan target will be met.
Care Homes (De-registration)
Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from organisations representing residents in care homes about the planned de-registration of homes; and if he will make a statement. [100681]
Jacqui Smith: We have not received any representations from organisations which only represent residents in care homes.
However, we have received a small number of representations from organisations which both represent service users and provide residential care. The organisations we have had representations from are, Sunrise and Focus Housing Association—both of which are seeking to set up supported housing schemes.
In both cases, local inspectors are meeting with the providers to discuss the key concerns and explore ways forward. We are keeping a watching brief on these areas and are awaiting the National Care Standards Commission's determination.
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CBRN Attack
Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to distribute to all UK citizens public information packs on personal protection in the event of chemical, biological, radioactive or nuclear attack; and if he will make an assessment of information packs recently produced by private sector firms. [105295]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 27 March 2003]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary gave on 10 March 2003, Official Report, column 69W.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the extent to which the independent healthcare sector has been involved in his preparations for a chemical, biological or radiological terrorist incident. [104162]
Mr. Hutton: The independent healthcare sector has not been involved in these preparations.
Children in Prison
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries of children in prison are recorded on the deaths and serious injuries database. [104215]
Jacqui Smith: The Department's database of serious cases records information relating to deaths and serious injuries of children where abuse and/or neglect may have been a factor. It does not identify which serious incidents occurred in a prison establishment.
The prison service maintains a database of deaths and incidents of self-harm which take place in prisons.
Correspondence
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he will reply to the letters of the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam, references (a) Lammy/NSF/280103/MP, (b) StHelierfinance/090103/MP, (c) Specialised/061102/MP and (d) Blears/NSF/280103/MP; [99455]
- (2) when he will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam, ref. (a) Lammy/NSF/280103/MP, (b) St Helierfinance/090103/MP, (c) Specialised/061102/MP and (d) Blears/NSF/280103/MP. [105213]
Jacqui Smith
[holding answers 27 February 2003 and 27 March 2003]: Replies were sent to the hon. Member as follows:
Lammy/NSF/280103/MP—17 March.
StHelierfinance/090103/MP—4 March.
Blears/NSF/280103/MP—17 March.
Specialised/061102/MP—The Department has no record of receiving this correspondence and the Correspondence Team has requested a copy of this correspondence.
Delayed Discharges
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many times the way the information on delayed discharges is collated has been changed in the last year for (a) Suffolk West PCT and (b) Central Suffolk PCT; and for what reasons; [104835]
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- (2) what criteria are used by his Department when putting together centrally collected delayed discharge figures. [104826]
Jacqui Smith: In the last year the basis of the information collected nationally has changed to patients of all ages, rather than only patients over 75 years and from April 2002 the data have been collected by primary care trust area instead of the former health authorities.
The information collected via the Department's Service and Financial Framework Report returns is based on the following definition of a delayed discharge.
- "A delayed discharge occurs when a patient is ready for transfer from an 'acute' bed, but still occupying an 'acute' bed in a hospital. The patient being ready for transfer when a clinician in conjunction with the multi-disciplinary team have decided both that the patient no longer requires to occupy an 'acute' hospital bed and is safe to be transferred".
Dentists
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices are taking on new NHS patients in (a) the constituency of Bury St. Edmunds, (b) Suffolk, (c) Norfolk, (d) Essex, (e) Cambridgeshire and (f) England. [104808]
Mr. Lammy: The number of general dental service practices recorded on the www.nhs.uk website as taking on new national health service patients in the constituency of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and England at 24 March 2003 is shown in the table.
| Practices accepting: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Charge exempt adults | Charge paying adults | Children | |
| England | 3,991 | 3,639 | 5,027 |
| Bury St. Edmunds Constituency | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Suffolk | 35 | 35 | 37 |
| Norfolk | 54 | 48 | 69 |
| Essex | 219 | 217 | 260 |
| Cambridgeshire | 32 | 31 | 62 |
Source:
www.nhs.uk website
Patients seeking to register with a dentist can access information on the dental practices taking on new patients by contacting NHS Direct, their local primary care trust or by accessing the www.nhs.uk website.
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