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National Care Standards Commission

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the budget of the National Care Standards Commission was spent on the inspection of independent boarding schools belonging to the (a) Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools and (b) Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference in the last year for which figures are available; and what regulations he has set on the regularity of inspections of (i) HMC and IAPS schools and (ii) other private boarding schools. [125176]

Dr. Ladyman: Expenditure by the National Care Standards Commission on the inspection of independent boarding schools belonging to the Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS) or the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference (HHC) is not available as this is not currently separately identifiable from other budgetary information.

The frequency of inspections of boarding schools is set out in the National Care Standards Commission (Inspection of Schools and Colleges) Directions 2002. These set out the inspection requirements for boarding schools or colleges as a minimum of one inspection in every period of thirty-six months commencing on
 
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1 April 2002. No distinction is made about frequency of inspection between those schools who are members of IAPS or HMC or those who are not.

National Fruit Scheme

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the maintained nursery schools in (a) London and (b) the West Midlands so
 
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far excluded from the National School Fruit scheme are located in the most deprived (i) 5 per cent., (ii) 10 per cent. and (iii) 25 per cent. of wards according to the Index of Local Deprivation; and what proportion of primary schools so far included in the scheme are located in the most deprived (A) 5 per cent., (B) 10 per cent. and (C) 25 per cent. of wards. [119996]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The figures requested are shown in the table.

	LEA maintained nurseries excluded from the National School Fruit Scheme		Schools participating in the National School Fruit Scheme
	West Midlands	London	West Midlands	London
Total number	75	86	1,744	1,557
Proportion located in most deprived 5 per cent. of wards (%)	24	17	12	7
Proportion located in most deprived 10 per cent. of wards (%)	40	27	20	13
Proportion located in most deprived 25 per cent. of wards (%)	83	51	40	30

Note:
Deprivation is measured according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

NHS Patient Rights

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what rights an NHS patient has to know the professional qualifications of an NHS employee responsible for his care; how a patient can exercise such rights; and if he will make a statement. [125569]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 15 July 2003]: Patients need to be able to be confident that every person treating them is qualified to do so. This is a requirement of the regulatory bodies, such as the General Medical Council, with whom clinicians have to be registered. If a patient wants specific details, the Code of Practice on Openness in the National Health Service makes it possible for   them to receive details of a hospital clinician's qualifications, whilst general practitioners must publish their qualifications in their practice leaflet.

Nosocomial Infections

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the risk of nosocomial infections in medical assessment units; and what guidance has been given to the NHS on this issue. [126156]

Miss Melanie Johnson: No specific guidance on medical assessment units has been issued, but we have set standards to ensure there is a managed environment which minimises the risk of infection to patients, staff and visitors. Analyses of hospital performance in infection control standards has recently shown an improvement and this contributed to the improved star ratings this year.

However, more needs to be done and we are continuing to work to improve infection control in hospitals. The Chief Medical Officer is leading a new initiative to produce a longer term strategy to reduce healthcare associated infections.

Obesity

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 4 July 2003 to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Mr. Marsden), Official Report, columns 529–30W, on childhood obesity, how many prescription items of orlistat were dispensed in the community in England in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many children received the drug in each of those years. [126345]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The table shows the total number of prescription items of Orlistat that were dispensed in the community in England from 1998 to 2002. In 2002, out of the 541,400 items dispensed in the community in England an estimated 3,000 prescription items, or 0.5 per cent., of the total, of Orlistat were for children. It is estimated that slightly less than 3,000 items of Orlistat were dispensed to children in 2001.

Comparable data for items dispensed to children is not available for earlier years. There is no information available on the number of children who received Orlistat.
Total number of prescription items of Orlistat that were dispensed in the community in England

	Thousand
1998	17.9
1999	127.8
2000	156.3
2001	416.0
2002	541.4

Source:
Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) data from the PPA

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished consultant episodes relating to obesity there were in each region in each year since 1997. [126347]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Information on the number of finished consultant episodes by region in national health service hospitals for the five years since 1997, where obesity is the primary diagnosis, is shown in the table.
 
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Region	1997–1998	1998–1999	1999–2000	2000–2001	2001–2002
Northern and Yorkshire	237	287	352	379	377
Trent	117	144	147	151	95
Anglia and Oxford (Eastern)	40	64	35	46	51
North Thames (London	136	141	221	287	229
South Thames (South East)	68	86	83	54	88
South West	77	115	53	58	75
West Midlands	43	91	51	57	58
North West	92	146	144	171	175
Total	810	1,074	1,086	1,203	1,148

Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health, England.

Older People

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 10 July 2003, Official Report, columns 1013–14W, on older people, if he will place in the Library a copy of the information collated through strategic health authorities concerning the national service framework. [126636]

Dr. Ladyman: The reports provided to strategic health authorities (SHAs) by local national health service bodies and councils giving information on the implementation of the single assessment process for older people have been analysed, and issues addressed, at the SHA level. Individual reports were made available to the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) where appropriate. A number of overview reports compiled by SHAs on the localities reporting to them have been copied to the Department of Health for information. Intelligence from these overview reports, allied to discussion with SHA and SSI officials, has helped the Department understand where progress has been made and the challenges lie. As a result a brief working summary of key issues was tabled at the implementation conferences held by the Department in January and February 2003. There are no plans to publish this summary more widely. The Department plans to publish a more formal report on the single assessment process, based on issues arising from the overview reports from 2002, the equivalent reports from 2003 and other intelligence later this year.

In March 2003, the Department published a report of progress on all aspects of the national service framework for older people, including the single assessment process. The report was titled "National Service Framework for Older People—a report of progress and future challenges, 2003". A copy is available in the Library.

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