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8 Sept 2003 : Column 5W—continued

Cosmetic Surgery

Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to ensure that cosmetic surgery clinics check the qualifications and expertise of the surgeons they employ. [126829]

Mr. Hutton: Under the Care Standards Act 2000, from 1 April 2002 all independent health care providers have been regulated by the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC). The NCSC has a health directorate devoted to the inspection and regulation of independent health care providers, who are required to meet national minimum standards. These require that cosmetic surgeons are registered with the General Medical Council and that pre and post employment checks are carried out, including validation of qualifications, and that employment references are sought.

If the NCSC discovers that an independent hospital is not complying with these standards, it has the power to take appropriate regulatory action to ensure they are met.

Emergency Planning

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards training (a) general practitioners, (b) staff at NHS Direct and (c) accident and emergency staff to spot outbreaks of infectious diseases. [122103]

Mr. Hutton: Training is long established for health care workers to respond to routine outbreaks of infectious diseases. Since 11 September 2001, training to spot outbreaks of infectious diseases caused by the deliberate release of biological agents has increased. This has included educational articles in national and international medical journals, authoritative and up-to-date advice on the Department of Health and Health Protection Agency's web-sites and seminars/conferences for specific groups of healthcare workers. These seminars follow the principle of "Training the Trainer" and will be cascaded to other health care professionals. More are planned this year. Training for a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incident is now the responsibility of the Health Protection Agency [HPA].

For general practitioners, a conference was organised by the Department of Health and the Royal College of General Practitioners in early July.

All NHS Direct staff have been trained in the rationale, mechanism and importance of their surveillance programme, set up to detect outbreaks of infectious diseases. Analysts have been trained to deliver

8 Sept 2003 : Column 6W

daily surveillance reports and a training module is being developed, in collaboration with the HPA, on emergency planning.

Accident and emergency staff have been trained through seminars for example 'Silent Weapons' and advanced life support group training.

Healthcare-associated Infections

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the targeted action plans for healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance as set out in "Getting Ahead of the Curve" for tackling HAI. [126842]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The targeted action plans for healthcare associated infection and antimicrobial resistance as set out in "Getting Ahead of the Curve" will contribute to the Government's longer term strategy to prevent and reduce healthcare associated infections.

Hospital Hygiene

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the traffic light league tables for hospital cleanliness; what plans he has to change the system; and if he will make a statement. [126358]

Mr. Hutton: The patient environment action team programme, and the resulting 'traffic light' ratings awarded to hospitals, have been significant factors in improving the environmental conditions, including standards of cleanliness, in hospitals.

Since the introduction of the system the number of 'Green' hospitals has increased from 22.3 per cent. to 60 per cent. (2000–02) while the number being assessed as 'Red' has fallen from 35.5 per cent. to zero over the same period.

There are no plans to change the system.

Hospital Laundry Facilities

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals do not have laundry facilities on site; and whether he intends to require all hospitals to have internal laundries. [126416]

Mr. Hutton: No information is held centrally on the number of hospitals with on-site laundry facilities.

There is no intention to require all hospitals to have laundries on site. The management and control of hospital linen is administered at local level. National health service trusts are required to have risk management protocols with regard to effective laundry practice.

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has for requiring nurses and medical staff to keep their uniforms at work to be laundered after each use rather than travelling to work in uniform. [126417]

Mr. Hutton: Provision and laundering of staff uniforms is a matter for individual trusts to determine. There are no proposals to require staff to leave uniforms at work for trusts to launder.

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Maternity Care

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent midwives were employed in the NHS in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [126997]

Mr. Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table.

Between 2000 and 2002, there has been an increase of 460 whole-time equivalent midwives as training numbers have increased and recruitment and retention strategies have been implemented.

NHS midwives as at 30 September each year

	Whole-time equivalents
1998	18,168
1999	17,876
2000	17,662
2001	18,048
2002	18,119

Source:

Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce census

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms the NHS has for offering homebirth and natural birthing opportunities to expectant mothers. [126998]

Dr. Ladyman: The national health service provides a variety of types of care for women during pregnancy and childbirth, including home birth and natural birthing opportunities. The Department of Health advocates local decision making in designing appropriate, effective services that fit in with the ethos of woman-centred care. It is inevitable that the requirements of women will vary in different parts of the country and this is why it is so important that decisions about service provision are made at a local level.

The Department of Health is currently developing the children's national service framework (NSF) which includes a maternity module. The NSF will focus on extending maternity choices, so that women in all parts of the country have a greater choice in the place and type of birth.

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the numbers of consultant obstetricians in labour units in the NHS; what guidelines he has issued on the (a) optimum and (b) minimum coverage of labour units by consultant obstetricians; and what the average number of consultant obstetricians in labour units in (i) England and (ii) each strategic health authority is. [124224]

Dr. Ladyman: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Department of Health officials have received a number of representations on numbers of consultants in obstetrics and gynaecology on labour units, in particular, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology.

These include contributions to the report to the children task force from the maternity and neonatal workforce group, annual speciality review meetings and the maternity module of the children's national service framework.

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The Department of Health does not issue professional guidance on labour ward cover. This is a matter for the professional bodies and for local determination according to a units circumstances and requirements.

We do not collect figures on the number of consultant obstetricians in labour units in England. The number of consultants with an obstetric and gynaecology speciality in each strategic health authority is shown in the table.

Hospital medical consultants with an obstetrics and gynaecology speciality by strategic health authority—as at 30 September 2002—(headcount)

		Numbers
	England	1,308
Q01	Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire	57
Q02	Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire	31
Q03	Essex	27
Q04	North West London	70
Q05	North Central London	49
Q06	North East London	63
Q07	South East London	52
Q08	South West London	36
Q09	Northumberland, Tyne and Wear	47
Q10	County Durham and Tees Valley	38
Q11	North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire	36
Q12	West Yorkshire	51
Q13	Cumbria and Lancashire	43
Q14	Greater Manchester	74
Q15	Cheshire and Merseyside	69
Q16	Thames Valley	48
Q17	Hampshire and Isle of Wight	40
Q18	Kent and Medway	43
Q19	Surrey and Sussex	61
Q20	Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire	53
Q21	South West Peninsula	30
Q22	Dorset and Somerset	24
Q23	South Yorkshire	47
Q24	Trent	55
Q25	Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland	38
Q26	Shropshire and Staffordshire	26
Q27	Birmingham and the Black Country	65
Q28	Coventry, Warwickshire, Hertfordshire and Worcestershire	35

Source:

Department of Health medical and dental workforce census

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average number of babies born per bed per day in labour units in (a) England and (b) each strategic health authority has been in each year since 1997. [124227]

Dr. Ladyman: The information is not available in the format requested. Information about maternities and maternity beds in England is shown in the table. However, information by strategic health authority is not available.

Number of maternities and available maternity beds, England, 1997–98 to 2002–02

Year	Maternities	Availablematernity beds	Maternities per bed per day
1997–98	585,000	10,781	0.15
1998–99	577,500	10,398	0.15
1999–2000	565,300	10,203	0.15
2000–01	549,600	9,767	0.15
2001–02	541,700	9,812	0.15

Source:

Maternities—DH/SD3G; available beds—DH/hospital activity statistics

8 Sept 2003 : Column 9W

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