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Midwives

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the ratio of midwives in post to the total number of births was in 2002 in each NHS maternity unit. [123474]

Dr. Ladyman: Information on the ratio of deliveries to midwives by hospital in 2001–02 has been placed in the Library.

MRI Scanners

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to replace the MRI scanners used in Shropshire NHS trusts. [125147]

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 11 July 2003]: The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners at the Princess Royal Hospital National Health Service Trust and the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust fit within the criteria for replacement indicated in my right hon. Friend, the then Secretary of State's announcement on the 22 May 2003, Official Report, column 47WS. It is proposed that the scanner at the Princess Royal Hospital NHS Trust will be replaced when the current service agreement expires in April 2004. It is proposed to replace the other scanner during 2005–06

The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital NHS Trust has recently been awarded an additional MRI scanner from a "New Opportunities Fund initiative". This is likely to be installed before the end of 2004.

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Myositis

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make drugs used to treat patients with myositis available on free prescriptions. [125201]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Prescription charges are not payable by myositis patients who are aged under 16 or 60 or over, who are (or their partner is) receiving income support or income based jobseekers allowance, or who are named on a national health service tax credit exemption certificate. Other patients on a low income may receive help under the NHS low income scheme. We have no plans to change the current charging arrangements.

By using a prescription prepayment certificate, no one who has to pay need pay more than £32.90 for four months, or £90.40 for 12 months, for all NHS medication they are prescribed.

National Care Standards Commission

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints have been made to the National Care Standards Commission from parents of children at (a) boarding schools belonging to the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference and the Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools and (b) other boarding schools. [125178]

Dr. Ladyman: The National Care Standards Commission has received six complaints about Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools or Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference schools and six complaints about other boarding schools.

NHS Dentistry

Mr. Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of dental services which are free at the point of use. [124628]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Gross spend on general dental services (GDS), that is, payments to dentists covering both their income and expenses, was £1.7 billion in 2002–03 in England. Adults who pay charges for their dental treatment contributed about £0.5 billion, leaving a net £1.2 billion contributed by Government.

National health service resources are also spent on dental services delivered in the community dental service (CDS) and the hospital dental service. Estimate of the cost of the CDS is £150 million. There is no similar estimate for the cost of hospital dental services.

NICE

Mr. Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish the considerations of the Joint Planning Group meeting, involving his Department and NICE, held on 13 March 2003. [123378]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Joint Planning Group is an advisory group which formulates internal advice to Ministers. As such, its minutes are not published.

Older People

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general hospitals have failed to introduce

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plans for a specialist stroke unit as referred to on page 172 of the National Service Framework for Older People. [124586]

Dr. Ladyman: A monitoring exercise, conducted at the end of 2002, suggested that 83 per cent. of hospitals have plans in place to have a specialist stroke service by April 2004.

The Department of Health will be monitoring formally the overall stroke milestone in April 2004, as this is included as one of the key targets in Improvement, Expansion and Reform, the priorities and planning framework for 2003–06. It is now for strategic health authorities to plan, deliver and monitor progress locally on the other stroke milestones in the national service framework.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his assessment is of how successfully implemented the medicine reviews are for older people as referred to on page 172 of the National Service Framework for Older People. [124587]

Dr. Ladyman: A monitoring exercise, conducted at the end of 2002 through the strategic health authorities (SHAs), suggested that 29 per cent. of practices had mechanisms in place to review medicines prescribed to those aged 75 and over, in accordance with the national service framework (NSF) for older people.

The Department of Health will be monitoring formally the key targets in Improvement, Expansion and Reform, the priorities and planning framework for 2003–06. It is now for SHAs to plan, deliver and monitor progress locally on the other milestones in the NSF.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints have been received by NHS organisations from older people and carers under systems set up under the National Standards Framework for Older People. [124924]

Dr. Ladyman: It is for local National Health Service organisations to analyse and report on complaints received from older people and their carers. This information is not collected centrally.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many risk management procedures under the National Standards Framework for Older People are (a) in development and (b) planned but not in place in providers of health and social care. [124926]

Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Department of Health will be monitoring formally the overall falls milestone of integrated health and social care falls services by April 2005 as this is included as one of the key targets in Improvement, Expansion and Reform, the priorities and planning framework for 2003–2006. It is now for strategic health authorities to plan, deliver and monitor progress locally on the other falls milestones in the national service framework.

Ophthalmic Laser Treatment

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on Early Day Motion 1494 (Ophthalmic Laser Treatment). [125024]

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Ms Rosie Winterton: The Royal College of Ophthalmologists recommends that only qualified ophthalmologists should be able to undertake laser eye surgery and that they should have undertaken additional specialist training in refractive surgery.

Establishments where Class 4 laser treatment (the type used in laser eye surgery) is provided are required to be registered with the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) as independent hospitals, under the Care Standards Act 2000. Establishments are required to meet certain standards, amongst which is the requirement to ensure that all staff using lasers and intense pulsed light sources use them only for treatments for which they have been trained and, where appropriate, hold qualifications and that they receive regular training. Independent hospitals are inspected by the NCSC at least once every 12 months.

Prescription Charges

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of abolishing prescription charges in England. [125416]

Ms Rosie Winterton: We estimate that the loss of prescription charge income in England would be around £446 million in 2003–04. Additionally, there could be significant additional costs to the drugs bill if people who currently pay charges sought prescriptions for medicines and other items which they currently purchase.

Primary Care Trusts

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 30 June 2003, Official

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Report, column 173W, on primary care trusts, if he will list the average distance from target in each primary care trust, in each year since 1997. [124254]

Mr. Hutton: Information on primary care trust distances from targets for 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06 have been placed in the Library. Prior to 2003–04 allocations were made to health authorities.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to publish this year's star ratings with the local context of each primary care trust. [124391]

Mr. Hutton: The next set of national health service performance (star) ratings will be published this summer by the Commission for Health Improvement, the independent regulator for NHS performance. The performance ratings system provides a high level overview of NHS organisations' performance across a wide range of measures.

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