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8 Sept 2003 : Column 222W—continued

MRI Scanners

Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many MRI scanners are available to patients in Somerset; where they are located; and how old each scanner is. [127823]

Ms Rosie Winterton: There are two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners located within the Somerset area, as shown in the table. In addition, patients in Somerset have access to MRI scanners located within neighbouring trusts as listed.

8 Sept 2003 : Column 223W

MRI scanners available to patients in Somerset

National health service trustHospitalYear installed
Somerset area trusts
East SomersetYeovil district hospital1995
Taunton and SomersetTaunton and Somerset hospital2001
Neighbouring trusts
The Royal United hospitalRoyal United hospital, Bath1996
The North BristolFrenchay hospital, Bristol (two scanners)1994 and 2002
Southmead hospital, Bristol2000
United Bristol HealthcareBristol Royal Infirmary (two scanners)1992 and 2002
Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre1996
The Royal Devon and Exeter HealthcareRoyal Devon and Exeter hospital, Wonford1995

National Fruit Scheme

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evaluation of the National Fruit Scheme has been completed; and when he will publish the results. [128232]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Evaluation of the National School Fruit Scheme pilots was carried out by the Department of Health in 2000 and 2001 to examine the practicalities of operating the scheme within schools and the logistics of the supply and distribution arrangements. The results of this were published in March 2002 in a summary document, "National School Fruit Scheme Evaluation Summary".

Further ongoing evaluation has been conducted by the Department on the practicalities of implementing the Food Dudes programme in large numbers of schools and on the practicalities of introducing different produce types including carrots and tomatoes. The Department is considering the most appropriate format for publication of these further evaluations. In addition, the New Opportunities Fund has recently commissioned an evaluation of the dietary impact of the scheme.

New Hospitals

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which foreign companies have submitted bids to (a) build, (b) staff and (c) run new hospital establishments; and which health trusts (i) have invited bids and (ii) plan to invite bids in the next year. [127917]

Mr. Hutton: No information is held centrally regarding the country in which bidders on new hospital establishments are either registered or owned.

Procurement for standard hospital buildings/facilities can be broken up into two categories: Private Finance Initiative (PFI), including PFI build and PFI Diagnosis and Treatment Centres (DTCs) and publicly funded, comprising the DTC programme and ProCure21 Initiative (ProCure21). Under ProCure21, the capital spend of £1.2 billion per year will be divided between a group of pre-tendered Principal Supply Chain Partners.

Under the PFI, procurement timetables are held centrally only for major prioritised schemes (capital value over £20 million).

8 Sept 2003 : Column 224W

Listed below are all schemes that have invited bids and are currently in procurement with a capital value of £20 million or over.
























Listed below are trusts that are currently timetabled to invite bids by advertising in the Official Journal of the European Communities (OJEC) within the next calendar year.
















8 Sept 2003 : Column 225W

The following is a list of publicly funded schemes over £20 million that are currently in the procurement stages.





Eleven trusts that published OJEC advertisements in December 2002 with a capital value of £20 million and above are:













The trusts in ProCure21 with schemes with a capital value of £20 million and above are:








Diabetes

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are employed directly in management of diabetes within the NHS. [127650]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Of the staff directly involved in the management of diabetes, the workforce census only separately identifies the medical speciality of endocrinology and diabetes mellitus.

As at 31 March 2003, there were 473 hospital medical consultants within the speciality. This represents an increase of 62 per cent. since September 1997.

NHS (Ethnic Minorities)

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to ensure equal access to the delivery of services within the NHS for ethnic minority groups. [127385]

Mr. Hutton: The Department is committed to transforming the national health service so that it produces faster, fairer services with equity of access for all. The creation of more equal access for black and minority ethnic people is an integral and vital aspect of the Department's programme of investment and reform.

8 Sept 2003 : Column 226W

The Department is taking action at a number of levels to ensure equal access to NHS services.

A primary care trust (PCT) transformational change programme has been jointly sponsored by the Department, the national primary and care trust development programme and Manchester Central PCT aimed at promoting excellence on race equality among PCTs including improving access to services for minority ethnic people.

A core group of strategic health authority (SHA) chief executives have convened to undertake work to provide practical steps to help SHAs deliver the race equality agenda and improve access for minority ethnic communities.

The Department is committed to the collection of ethnic origin information using the 2001 Census categories as part of the process of monitoring access to services within the NHS.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide a breakdown by ethnic minority working within the NHS. [127719]

Mr. Hutton: The following table shows the percentage of medical, dental and non-medical staff by ethnic category working in the national health service as at September 2002.

Hospital, public health medicine and community health services (HCHS): Medical, dental and non-medical(61) staff by ethnic category

England, as at 30 September 2002Numbers (percentages)
All staff100.0
All ethnic groups73.1
2001White58.8
PopulationBlack or Black British2.3
CensusAsian or Asian British3.1
EthnicChinese0.3
GroupMixed0.6
CategoriesAny other ethnic group1.0
Not Stated7.0
All Ethnic Groups26.9
EarlierWhite23.7
EthnicBlack0.7
GroupAsian1.4
CategoriesAny other ethnic group0.5
Not Stated0.6

Notes:

1. The ethnic breakdown of non medical staff is estimated from the 66 per cent. of HCHS organisation that reported 90 per cent. or more valid ethnic codes on the September 2002 census.

2. From 1 April 2001, newly appointed staff have been asked to classify themselves using the ethnic categories listed in the 2001 population census. Existing staff will be reclassified over time but data returns currently include a mixture of 2001 categories and older information based on 1991 population census categories.

Source:

Department of Health medical and dental workforce census. Department of Health non-medical workforce census.



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