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7 Jul 2003 : Column 652W—continued
Hospitals (Children)
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which NHS hospital trusts rated two star and above have major hospital sites with an accident and emergency department that does not admit children for minor injuries; [122345]
- (2) which casualty departments in NHS hospitals rated two star and above are assessed as being unsafe for the admittance of children. [122346]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested on services provided by accident and emergency departments is not collected centrally. The range of services a particular trust provides, including whether or not they offer children's services, is not a factor in the centralised star rating system. Star ratings measure the services that are delivered by a trust and not all trusts can or should deliver the same range of services.
Many decisions on service provision are based on considerations of clinical safety. This is why the pattern of local health services, within national priorities, is a matter for local health planners to decide, based on the needs of the local population.
Chronic Pain Services
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to ensure a quality service in all areas in respect of access to pain management services; if he will list those acute hospitals which do not provide a chronic pain service; if he will make it his policy to require the health authorities in each area to provide for constant coverage for pain relief; and if he will make a statement. [122738]
Mr. Hutton: Pain management is an important component of care. The Clinical Standards Advisory Group (CSAG) report on pain services, published in April 2000, highlighted variations in access to pain services throughout the country. It made recommendations to national health service acute trusts and commissioners on how pain services should be delivered in order to reduce variations to access. It recommended that primary care trust commissioners should review local provision of pain services, looking particularly at the provision of more specialised treatments on a networked basis. In this review, account should be taken of the needs of both adults and children, and include patients with acute pain resulting from sudden illness or accident, as well as post-operative pain and chronic pain. Trusts should also agree with commissioners the services and resources which are appropriate to meet local needs.
The Department of Health does not collect information on those trusts which do not provide a chronic pain service. The CSAG report showed that, in April 2000, chronic pain services existed in 215 acute NHS trusts, which amounts to 86 per cent. of acute trusts in the United Kingdom.
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Civil Servants
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new entrants to the civil service were employed in his Department in each of the last five years; and how many in each year were aged 50 or over. [119826]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table.
| 1 April-31 March | 50 plus | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 17 | 108 | 125 |
| 1998–99 | 20 | 190 | 210 |
| 1999–2000 | 15 | 231 | 246 |
| 2000–01 | 34 | 348 | 382 |
| 2001–02 | 53 | 391 | 444 |
Note:
The figures shown in the table represent data for the years from 1997–98 to 2001–02, for the number of permanent staff recruited into the Department of Health. The figures shown are the overall figures including any departmental agencies and were obtained from the Department of Health's personnel database.
Clinical Diagnostics
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to increase the level of laboratory diagnostic testing for clinical diagnosis. [122342]
Mr. Hutton: The NHS Plan set out the vision for the national health service to offer patients fast and convenient care offered to a consistently high standard. Extra resources for the NHS were announced in the 2002 Budget, with an annual average increase of 7.4 per cent. above inflation—the largest ever sustained increase in NHS funding—over the five years from 2003–04 to 2007–08. As part of this, we are investing £54 million capital and £9.1 million revenue specifically in pathology services over the three year period from 2003–04 to 2005–06.
The Department of Health recognises the vital role of pathology services in the effective treatment and care of patients, and in providing fast and effective diagnoses to support improved access to services. We have set up the pathology modernisation programme to ensure that pathology services provide the appropriate diagnostic support for clinical services.
We are currently revising our draft document for the NHS on modernising pathology services and plan to publish it shortly.
Commission for Social Care Inspection
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will define 'any' person under Clause 84(1) of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill; who will be able to request copies of a report; whether individuals who appear in CSCI reports will have their right to privacy protected; and whether a person requesting a copy of a CSCI report will be required to give notice of their request. [122934]
Dr. Ladyman: 'Any person' in this context would include an individual or a legal person (such as a company). The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) must make reports available to any person on
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request. There is no requirement to give notice of a request. We would expect CSCI to deal with all requests for copies of reports within a reasonable time.
CSCI will be subject to the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the common law of confidentiality in handling personal information relating to individuals. Under normal circumstances, we would not expect that the CSCI will include personal data relating to identifiable individuals in its reports.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what a reasonable time will be under Clause 85(1) of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill; if the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) will be required to give notice of their intention to inspect; if he will define the term 'reasonably believes to be used' under Clause 85(2)(b); what evidence CSCI will be required to produce that a premises should be inspected; and who will provide the authority to enter and inspect under Clause 85(3). [122952]
Dr. Ladyman: It will be for the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) to determine what constitutes a reasonable time under clause 82 (formerly 85) of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill. The purpose of this clause is to allow the CSCI to conduct an inspection of a premise at any time of the full 24-hour day so long as it is justifiable given the needs of the inspection. Whether it would be reasonable to give advance notice of an individual inspection would be a decision that the CSCI would have to make in the light of the particular circumstances.
CSCI would be able to enter premises that it reasonably believed were being used in connection with the provision of English local authority social services. It is not proposed that the Bill will define the term "reasonably believed". Essentially, CSCI will have to establish that, at the time of entry to the premises, they genuinely believed on reasonable grounds that the premises were being used to provide local authority social services. CSCI's power and authority to inspect is derived from clause 82 of the Bill. Clause 82(3) of the Bill, requires a person proposing to exercise rights of inspection to produce a duly authenticated document showing their right to inspect. This will be proof of their identity and position within CSCI.
Condoms
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on distributing free condoms among prisoners. [123302]
Dr. Ladyman: Policy on prison health issues is determined in partnership between the Home Office and the Department of Health. Prison doctors have been advised that they can make condoms available to individual prisoners, on application, where, in their clinical judgment, there is a risk of infection from HIV.
Consultants (Private Medicine)
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are made for consultants carrying out private work in NHS hospitals to reimburse the NHS for NHS-paid-for parts and materials from NHS stores. [122889]
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Mr. Hutton: Before allowing patients to be treated privately in their facilities, national health service hospitals are required to obtain undertakings from (or on behalf of) those patients to pay for the accommodation and services they are to receive. That includes the materials and other goods to be used in their treatment.
Continuing Care
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will commission an independent assessment of how the NHS uses (a) criteria and (b) procedures for determining eligibility for continuing care. [123300]
Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 3 July 2003]: The Department is currently commissioning an independent review of arrangements for fully funded continuing care in the national health service.
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