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17 Sept 2003 : Column 850W—continued
Nurses
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses have been recruited by the NHS from South Africa in each of the last five years. [130037]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 16 September 2003]: The information requested is not collected by the Department. Information about the number of nurses admitted to the Nursing and Midwifery Council register is published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (www.nmc-uk.org).
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS nurses were (a) suspended and (b) on gardening or special leave, at the latest date for
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which figures are available; for how long they were suspended; what the total cost was to the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [128932]
Mr. Hutton: The Department of Health does not collect any information centrally on the numbers of National Health Service nurses that are suspended or on special leave.
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses are in training; and how many were in training in 1997. [130543]
Mr. Hutton: In 1997–98 there were 38,412 nurses and midwives in pre-registration training. In 2002–03 there were 60,189 nurses in pre-registration training, an increase of 57 per cent.
Obesity Reduction
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken in the last two years in (a) the London borough of Richmond upon Thames, (b) Inner London and (c) Greater London to reduce obesity; and if he will make a statement. [128774]
Mr. Hutton: Local strategies on reducing obesity are being developed as part of the national service framework for coronary heart disease and national service framework for diabetes. These programmes include a range of initiatives aimed at promoting healthy eating and increasing levels of physical activity. As part of the national school fruit scheme, over 300,000 children in London are receiving a piece of free fruit every school day. 32 schools in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames (primary and secondary) are part of the healthy schools scheme (launched nationally in 1999 as the national healthy school standard). In addition Richmond and Twickenham Primary Care Trust has delivered two healthy eating support programmes to tackle obesity and related diseases.
Ongoing initiatives have a role in obesity prevention including the reform of the welfare food scheme, various school based initiatives such as the national school fruit scheme, the five-a-day community programme and the local exercise action pilots.
Activity to tackle obesity in London is being delivered by a wide range of organisations and initiatives through a variety of funding sources, examples of these are:
- approximately 15 healthy living centres situated within communities with high levels of deprivation and health needs, have a focus on tackling obesity;
nine five-a-day projects in London have been established in the most 20 per cent. deprived of primary care trusts;
the national school fruit scheme has 90 per cent. coverage in London in all local education authority maintained primary and infant schools;
a school sport co-ordinators programme that aims to promote physical activity in out of school hours learning is also in place across London.
Overseas Nurses
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what efforts his Department is making to enforce the ban on the recruitment of nurses from developing countries. [129116]
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Mr. Hutton: The code of practice for national health service employers involved in the international recruitment of health care professionals was published in October 2001.
The code states that developing countries should not be targeted for recruitment, nor should NHS employers contract with agencies, which do not comply with the code. Workforce development confederations are working closely with NHS employers in their area to ensure their compliance.
The Department has established a list of recruitment agencies that are operating in line with the code. The list appears on the Department website www.doh.gov.uk/international-recruitment.
Overseas Visitors (NHS Treatment)
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on treatment on the NHS for overseas visitors who are fully or partially exempt from the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, in each of the last five years. [128702]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 15 September 2003]: This information is not available centrally. Once it has been established that an overseas visitor is exempt from charges, they are dealt with in the same way as any other patient and national health service trusts are not required to keep a separate record of the cost of their treatment.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many named day written parliamentary questions tabled to him between 1 February and 1 July received (a) a substantive answer on the named day and (b) a holding answer; [127498]
- (2) how many named day written Parliamentary questions were tabled to him between 1 February and 1 July; and how many of those which received a holding answer were given a substantive answer (a) within three days, (b) within seven days, (c) within 14 days, (d) within 28 days and (e) over 28 days. [127511]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department received 549 named day written Parliamentary Questions between 1 February and 1 July 2003. Of these, 146 were answered on the day named, and 403 received substantive replies after being given a holding answer. The breakdown of days within which answers were given is shown in the table.
| Interval (calendar days after the holdinganswer) within which a substantive answerwas given | Number of PQs |
|---|---|
| 1–3 | 150 |
| 4–7 | 117 |
| 8–14 | 66 |
| 15–28 | 53 |
| Over 28 | 17 |
| Total | 403 |
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many written Parliamentary Questions he received
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in each Parliamentary year since May 1997; how many received no answer due to the information not being collected or held centrally; and what proportion of the total number of written questions received this represented in each year. [127506]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Using Table Office information for previous years, the number of parliamentary Questions received in each Parliamentary year since 1997 is shown in the table:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 4,316 |
| 1998–99 | 2,769 |
| 1999–2000 | 3,864 |
| 2000–01 | 1,798 |
| 2001–02 | 9,314 |
| 2002–03 | (33)6,970 |
(33) To 1 July 2003
Information is not collected centrally on the number of PQs that received no answer and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Written Questions
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many ordinary written Parliamentary questions were tabled to him between 15 October 2002 and 1 July 2003; [127517]
- (2) how many ordinary written questions that were tabled between 15 October 2002 and 1 July 2003 received a substantive answer (a) within three days, (b) within seven days, (c) within fourteen days, (d) within 28 days and (e) over 28 days. [127436]
Ms Rosie Winterton: A total of 5,637 ordinary written Parliamentary Questions were tabled between 15 October 2002 and 1 July 2003.
The breakdown by days within which answers were given, based on a 10 per cent. sample of the total, is shown in the table.
| Interval (calendar days) after the question'sdue date in which an answer was given | Number of PQs |
|---|---|
| 0–3 | 80 |
| 4–7 | 201 |
| 8–14 | 165 |
| 15–28 | 116 |
| Over 28 | 46 |
| Total | 608 |
Patient Readmissions
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of discharged patients were readmitted within one month as emergencies in each quarter of the past five years. [130327]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department of Health collects quarterly monitoring information on emergency readmissions within 28 days of discharge for patients of all ages. This information has been collected since 2002–03 and the information is set out in table 1.
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Prior to 2002–03, the target for emergency readmissions related only to those patients aged 75 and over. Table 2 also includes the quarterly information for patients aged 75 and over prior to 2002–03.
| Financialyear | Quarter | Number of people of all ages discharged from hospital | Number of people of all ages readmitted as an emergency within 28 days of discharge | Rate of 28 day emergency readmission for people of all ages (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | Q1 | 2,402,573 | 135,153 | 5.6 |
| 2002–03 | Q4 | 2,501,481 | 138,742 | 5.5 |
| 2002–03 | Q3 | 2,429,606 | 131,704 | 5.4 |
| 2002–03 | Q2 | 2,334,696 | 124,176 | 5.3 |
| 2002–03 | Q1 | 2,313,818 | 125,085 | 5.4 |
| Financial year | Quarter | Number of people aged 75 and over discharged from hospital | Number of people aged 75 and over readmitted as an emergency within 28 days of discharge | Rate of 28 day emergency readmission for people aged over 75 (percentage) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | Q4 | 437,034 | 31,493 | 7.2 | |
| 2001–02 | Q3 | 429,124 | 31,427 | 7.3 | |
| 2001–02 | Q2 | 422,143 | 30,083 | 7.1 | |
| 2001–02 | Q1 | 408,817 | 29,878 | 7.3 | |
| 2000–01 | Q4 | 409,335 | 31,538 | 7.7 | |
| 2000–01 | Q3 | 411,137 | 29,896 | 7.3 | |
| 2000–01 | Q2 | 406,761 | 28,820 | 7.1 | |
| 2000–01 | Q1 | 390,010 | 28,735 | 7.4 | |
| 1999–2000Q4 | 377,277 | 28,611 | 7.6 | ||
| 1999–2000Q3 | 368,244 | 26,523 | 7.2 | ||
| 1999–2000Q2 | 368,329 | 26,758 | 7.3 | ||
| 1999–2000Q1 | 346,079 | 26,702 | 7.7 | ||
| 1998–99 | Q4 | 365,801 | 29,933 | 8.2 | |
| 1998–99 | Q3 | 361,266 | 29,110 | 8.1 | |
| 1998–99 | Q2 | 357,275 | 28,839 | 8.1 | |
| 1998–99 | Q1 | 342,787 | 29,213 | 8.5 | |
| 1997–98 | Q4 | 343,170 | 24,435 | 7.1 | |
| 1997–98 | Q3 | 335,188 | 23,771 | 7.1 | |
| 1997–98 | Q2 | 333,781 | 22,385 | 6.7 | |
| 1997–98 | Q1 | 326,996 | 23,557 | 7.2 | |
| 1996–97 | Q4 | 339,389 | 23,625 | 7.0 | |
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