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18 Sept 2003 : Column 974W—continued
Disability Legislation
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce legislation on disability; what representations he has received over the need for such legislation; and if he will make a statement. [130208]
Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
On 1 July, Parliament approved Regulations which will make significant changes to the employment provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act. Ending various employment and occupational exemptions will bring within scope of the Act over one million additional employers and around seven million jobs, in which 600,000 disabled people already work. These Regulations implement the main employment recommendations of the Disability Rights Task Force that were supported by the Government in our document "Towards Inclusion". As we have said, we shall be laying further Regulations in due course—such as on occupational pensions—which will make further changes to the DDA's employment provisions. All these regulations will come into force in October 2004.
Later this year we will publish a draft Disability Bill which will contain proposals on other measures recommended by the Task Force and outlined in "Towards Inclusion", such as changes to the DDA affecting the public sector, transport and premises, some widening of the definition of disability and covering membership of larger private clubs.
We intend that the draft Bill should undergo pre-legislative scrutiny. We continue to receive a wide range of representations from disability organisations, business, trade unions, employers, disabled people and others on civil rights legislation for disabled people.
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Health Conferences
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of sending (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants to health conferences in (i) the UK and (ii) overseas in each of the last five years. [127378]
Mr. Hutton: Information is not available in the form requested.
Health Vacancies
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies there are for (a) nurses, (b) doctors and consultants and (c) radiographers and other technical positions, broken down by NHS trust. [106626]
Mr. Hutton: The national health service vacancy survey collects information on the number of posts which trusts are actively trying to fill which have been vacant for three months or more. The available information has been placed in the Library.
Hip Replacements
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England with hip replacements had to undergo a hip revision within (a) three years, (b) five years and (c) 10 years in the last 12 months. [127539]
Mr. Hutton: The Department is unable to provide this information, as the Hospital Episode Statistics data do not identify individual patients.
In 2000, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence published guidance on the selection of prosthesis and set a benchmark that no more than 10 per cent. of patients should require revision surgery within 10 years, or evidence from at least three years follow up which when extrapolated, implies an equivalent performance.
The Department established a National Joint Registry (NJR) for total hip and knee replacements in April 2003. This collects data on hip and knee replacements carried out in the national health service and private sector in England and Wales. The NJR will look at the performance of hip and knee implants, and will over time be able to provide this information.
Hospital Bed Occupancy
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the average bed occupancy rate, as a percentage, for each NHS hospital trust in England from April 2001 to April 2003. [127496]
Mr. Hutton: Data on average bed occupancy rates are available on an annual basis, at national health service trust level and for England, for the years 2000–01 to 2001–02 on the Department of Health's website at: www.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/data requests/beds open overnight.htm
Data for 2002–03 are not yet available.
The latest available statistics for 2001–02 show that the number of general and acute beds increased by over 1,500 to 136,583 over the previous two years. This represents over two thirds of the target set out in the NHS Plan.
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Hospital Cleanliness
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evaluation he has undertaken into the efficiency of the league tables for hospital cleanliness; and what plans he has to amend them. [127707]
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 per cent. to 78 per cent. (2000–2003) while the number being assessed as 'Red' has fallen from 36 per cent. to zero over the same period.
There are no plans at present to change the system.
Medicines and Healthcare ProductsRegulatory Agency
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the role of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in negotiations with the European Commission on the proposed Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive. [128312]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and, before April 2003, the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) represented the UK Government in the negotiations on the proposed Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products that have taken place in the Council of Ministers Working Group in 2002 and 2003 under the chairmanship of successive European Union Presidencies. Before the publication in 2002 of the European Commission's formal proposals for a Directive the MCA had a range of discussions with the European Commission and representatives of other Member States, predominantly in the European Pharmaceutical Committee and an expert group set up by that Committee, about the emerging proposals.
During this period the MCA and later the MHRA has held discussions on a number of occasions with the UK herbal sector about issues and priorities to be pursued in the negotiations, notably the case for flexibility to take greater account of evidence of traditional use from outside the EU and to permit vitamins and minerals to be added to traditional herbal remedies registered under the proposed Directive.
Mixed-sex Hospital Wards
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to end all use of mixed sex wards. [130997]
Mr. Hutton: The Department of Health has set three objectives to support the elimination of mixed sex accommodation. A small number of hospitals have yet to achieve these objectives on every ward. This is because a number of new hospitals and healthcare facilities are currently in construction, which will upon completion bring all wards to the required standards.
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Guidance issued to national health service trusts on the achievement of the objectives made it clear that a variety of ward layouts and designs could be used to deliver separate sleeping accommodation, including the use of single-sex wards, or combinations of single-sex bays and individual rooms. Single-sex bays, together with increasing numbers of single rooms, are common features of modern hospital design both here and abroad, and can provide perfectly acceptable levels of privacy and dignity.
NHS Charges
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the (a) items and (b) procedures in the NHS for which charges are made. [127559]
Mr. Hutton: Treatment provided by the national health service is free at the point of delivery except in cases where specific legislation has been passed allowing a charge to be made. The current items and services for which a charge can be made are:
- prescriptions;
dental services;
the supply of optical appliances by the hospital eye service;
treatment of private patients;
treatment of overseas visitors;
appliances such as wigs and fabric supports.
In addition to the above, NHS hospitals can charge for certain patient services using income generation powers. However a charge can only be made where the service is considered to be additional treatment over and above the normal service provision. Any item or service that is considered to be an integral part of a patient's treatment by their clinician remains free of charge.
NHS IT Programme
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the McKinsey report on the national IT programme for the NHS made an assessment of the total cost of the programme. [129230]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 11 September 2003]: The report in question was commissioned to help inform planning for the National Programme for Information Technology in the National Health Service. It did not attempt to assess the cost of the national programme, funding for which was announced in January 2003.
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