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1 Sept 2003 : Column 947W—continued
NHS Dentistry
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices in each primary care trust are accepting new patients for treatment on the NHS who are (a) elderly, (b) children, (c) unemployed and (d) disabled. [126323]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of dental practices accepting new patients for National Health Service treatment who are elderly, unemployed and disabled is not held centrally.
Children are exempt from dental charges and many unemployed, elderly and disabled people are eligible for full or partial remission of charges.
Information on the number of general dental service (GDS) practices and personal dental service (PDS) pilots in each primary care trust (PCT) reported at 21 July 2003 on the www.nhs.uk website as accepting patients exempt from dental charges for registration and accepting children for registration has been placed in the Library.
In addition, other practices, including PDS pilots, among them, dental access centres, will be providing NHS dental care to patients without registration.
When a GDS or PDS dentist accepts a patient for registration they have an obligation to provide NHS dental treatment as required to secure and maintain the oral health of that patient.
NHS Senior Management
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what measures he has put in place in the last two years to track the career moves of (a) chairmen, (b) chief executives, (c) directors and (d) senior management positions within the national health service; [126699]
- (2) what measures he has put in place in the last two years to gather data on (a) career progression and (b) wastage rates of (i) chairmen, (ii) chief executives, (iii) directors and (iv) senior management positions within the national health service. [126700]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: Since it was established in April 2001, the National Health Service Leadership Centre has drawn up development portfolios for chief executives, executive directors and clinical staff across the NHS. Most recently a development portfolio has been developed with the NHS Appointments Commission for chairs. These programmes are designed to provide focused development and have helped to track the careers of some senior staff in the NHS. More recently, the Leadership Centre has established a career development and succession planning scheme known as 'NHS Leaders'. This is intended to build and strengthen leadership across the NHS; to ensure that all senior leaders have personal development plans and are supported in their career development; to provide information to support appointments and succession planning; and to provide tailored development for newcomers to improve the performance of the NHS. A database of all senior leaders has also been compiled which will track the careers of these leaders.
The NHS Appointments Commission has established a record keeping system for all chairs and non-executives which records their service to the NHS. This is particularly useful when encouraging non-executives to apply for chair positions. The Commission also records those individuals who resign from their board.
NHS Staff
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many whole-time equivalent (a) occupational therapists, (b) ophthalmologists, (c) opticians, (d) physiotherapists, (e) chiropodists, (f) dieticians, (g) music therapists and (h) drama therapists worked in the NHS in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [127022]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table.
Compared with 1998 there are now 20 per cent. more consultants in ophthalmology, 23 per cent. more occupational therapists, 17 per cent. more orthoptists and opticians, 16 per cent. more physiotherapists, 6 per cent. more chiropodists, 21 per cent. more dieticians and 15 per cent. more arts therapists.
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consultants in Ophthalmology | 556 | 582 | 606 | 613 | 661 |
| Consultants in medical Ophthalmology | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 7 |
| Occupational therapists | 10,194 | 10,792 | 11,188 | 11,816 | 12,541 |
| Orthoptists/opticians(81) | 878 | 890 | 919 | 1,013 | 1,026 |
| Physiotherapists | 11,709 | 12,047 | 12,515 | 12,992 | 13,586 |
| Chiropodists | 2,750 | 2,771 | 2,847 | 2,894 | 2,916 |
| Dieticians | 1,961 | 2,058 | 2,129 | 2,255 | 2,377 |
| Art/music/drama therapists | 413 | 416 | 452 | 453 | 477 |
(81) This does not include private sector opticians who carry out NHS work for the General Ophthalmic Service
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Sources:
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census
Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Census
1 Sept 2003 : Column 949W
NHS Treatment Statistics
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received treatment from the NHS in (a) England and (b) Essex in each year since 1980. [124873]
Mr. Hutton: Figures for general practitioner consultations, walk-in centre visits, accident and emergency attendances, hospital out-patient attendances, day case admissions and overnight hospital admissions have been placed in the Library. The national health service does not report to the Department of Health whether or not treatment was given, but only whether the consultation or admission took place, which is what is displayed in the figures.
NICE Research
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the National Institute for Clinical Excellence's research into the use of (a) clopidogrel and (b) dipyridamole for the prevention of (i) occlusive vascular and (ii) arterosclerotic events. [127032]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is appraising the clinical and cost effectiveness of clopidogrel and modified-release dipyridamole for the prevention of occlusive vascular events. NICE expects to publish guidance in June 2004. Further details are available on NICE'S website at www.nice.org.uk
North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust (Secondment)
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the decision by North Cheshire Hospitals NHS trusts not to allow further secondments for support care workers to train as nurses. [125797]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 15 July 2003]: The secondment of staff onto nursing courses is a matter for individual national health service trusts. However, enabling healthcare assistants (HCAs) to train as nurses is an important part of our strategy to increase the NHS nursing workforce.
At present, the North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust has temporarily suspended the secondment of HCA's for nurse training. The trust is currently reviewing the selection processes so as to include more staff and to identify permanent methods of funding.
As soon as a solution is identified, the North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust will re-open the secondment provision.
Obesity
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many stomach stapling operations there were in each region in each of the last five years; and how many of these were carried out on children. [126346]
Mr. Hutton: The Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database provides data on the number of surgical operations and procedures carried out in the national health service. Data on stomach stapling are collected under the code for partitioning of stomach. This code
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includes a number of procedures, and no further breakdown is available to identify stomach stapling procedures separately.
Operation Costs
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) hip replacement, (b) knee replacement, (c) cataract, (d) heart bypass and (e) varicose veins cost on average in 2002–03 (i) a private patient and (ii) the NHS; and what the difference was between the mid-private price and 60 per cent. of the NHS average cost. [125401]
Mr. Hutton: The Department does not collect information on the average cost of treatments provided to private patients.
The national average costs for treatments within the national health service for 2002–03 are not currently available.
Overseas Patients
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are in place within NHS hospitals to monitor whether patients from overseas are eligible for free treatment on the NHS. [126013]
Mr. Hutton: Entitlement to national health service hospital treatment is based on residence in the United Kingdom. People who are not normally resident in the UK are subject to the provisions of the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations, as amended, in 1991 (SI No. 438), 1994 (SI No. 1535), 2000 (SI No. 602), 2000 (SI No. 909).
The regulations place a responsibility on NHS trusts to establish a patient's residence. All patients should be asked, as a routine part of the admissions procedure, about their residence in the UK. A more detailed interview follows if it appears that they may be liable to charges. The Department of Health issued guidance to the NHS on this in 1988. Updated guidance was issued on 27 July 2003.
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what entitlement overseas residents have to free NHS treatment, with particular reference to primary care. [125669]
Mr. Hutton: Overseas residents visiting the United Kingdom are eligible for free emergency or immediately necessary treatment from a primary care provider. For other primary medical care general practitioners or personal medical services, providers may accept such people as registered patients or as fee paying private patients. The Government expect general practice to exercise this discretion with sensitivity and due regard to the circumstances of each case. NHS walk-in centres routinely charge overseas visitors for use of the service.
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