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3 Jul 2003 : Column 496W—continued
Public-Private Initiative
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the budget for the PPI system will be announced. [120655]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information about the three year allocation from the spending review for the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in
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Health was put on the Department of Health's website in December at www.doh.gov.uk/allocations. A copy of the information, which is contained in the 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06 primary care trust Revenue Resource Limits Exposition Book, is available in the Library.
Much of the work to support and deliver patient and public involvement is undertaken and funded locally, for example, patient advice and liaison services, the requirement on the national health service to involve and consult the public and scrutiny of health by local authorities.
Smoking
Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on under-age smoking. [120163]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department of Health commissions annual surveys on smoking among secondary school children. The 1998 White Paper, "Smoking Kills", set a target to reduce smoking among 11 to 15-year-olds from 13 per cent. in 1996 to 9 per cent. by 2010, with a fall to 11 per cent. by 2005. Progress towards this target is monitored by a series of surveys of schoolchildren carried out on behalf of the Department of Health, originally by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys and since 2000 by the National Centre for Social Research and National Foundation for Educational Research.
Data on the prevalence of regular smoking from these reports are shown in the table. Smoking prevalence has remained unchanged since 2000 at ten per cent. and we are on course to meet our target for reducing smoking among this age group.
| Boys | Girls | All pupils | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 11 | 15 | 13 |
| 1998 | 9 | 12 | 11 |
| 1999 | 8 | 10 | 9 |
| 2000 | 9 | 12 | 10 |
| 2001 | 8 | 11 | 10 |
| 2002 | 9 | 11 | 10 |
Note:
Regular smokers are those who smoke at least one cigarette a week, on averageSource:
The Department of Health Statistical Press Notice, "Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2002: Provisional Results"—http://www.doh.gov.uk/public/spnmar03-smoking.htm
Social Services (Older People)
Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has set a date for the payment of
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grant to local authorities for improving social services for older people, as set out in his letter of 22 May to local authorities; and if he will make a statement. [122873]
Dr. Ladyman: Subject to parliamentary approval, the delayed discharges grant will be paid in one instalment to local authorities before 31 July 2003.
St George's Hospital, Tooting
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on St. George's Hospital, Tooting of being granted foundation status. [117162]
Mr. Hutton: In line with the principle of earned autonomy, for the first wave of national health service foundation trusts, only acute and specialist NHS trusts, which have attained three stars in the NHS Performance Ratings, were eligible to apply.
St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust has two stars which means that it is therefore not eligible to apply for NHS foundation trust status at present. However, with mechanisms, including the recently announced improvement programme, in place to raise the performance of all NHS trusts, it is expected that all NHS trusts will have the opportunity to apply for NHS Foundation trust status within the next five years.
Working Time Directive
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of (a) the impact on junior hospital doctors in North Yorkshire of the Working Time Directive, (b) the impact on local hospitals of the implementation of the Working Time Directive and (c) the change in the number of junior doctors the NHS will require in North Yorkshire. [121753]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Working Times Directive (WTD) implementation is only part of the much wider issue of delivering better care for patients and improving the working lives of national health service staff. Its impact cannot be assessed in isolation from other factors. It will require both more staff and staff working differently.
Information about plans to implement the WTD across North Yorkshire is not collated. The resources needed to meet WTD targets are included in the local delivery plans agreed between NHS trusts and strategic health authorities.
In addition, £46 million has been allocated to the NHS over the next three financial years to support compliance.
From September 1997 to March 2002, there has been an increase of over 5,000 junior doctors and career grade doctors working in the NHS. This increase in the number of doctors, together with changes to working practices, will help both meet the WTD targets and deliver targets set out in the NHS Plan.