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14 Oct 2003 : Column 93W—continued
Midwifery (Essex)
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action is he taking to fill vacancies for midwives in the area of the Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust; and if he will make a statement. [131613]
Dr. Ladyman: Essex Rivers Healthcare National Health Service Trust has embarked on a recruitment campaign to obtain more midwives and expects to appoint five whole time equivalent midwives in the near future.
A range of recruitment, retention and returner initiatives are in place to facilitate the NHS meeting the increase of 2,000 midwives by 2006. The NHS is striving to be an employer of choice and is in the process of developing and implementing modern recruitment practices. We are committed to increasing the numbers of midwives working in the NHS in order to expand service provision.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies there are for midwives in the (a) Essex strategic health authority area and (b) Essex Rivers healthcare trust. [131612]
Dr. Ladyman: The total number of vacancies for midwives is not recorded centrally. However, the number of three month vacancies for registered midwives in the Essex strategic health authority area, as at 31 March 2003, is 16. Of these, three were within Essex Rivers healthcare national health service trust.
MRI Scans
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are eligible through the Berkshire Choice pilot for MRI scans. [131029]
Mr. Hutton: The Berkshire Choice Pilot in its first phase focused on patients waiting longer than six months including access to mirror resonance imaging (MRI) scans at the Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospital. Last year an additional 40 orthopaedic patients received MRI scans.
This year, the average waiting time for MRI scans is no more than four to six weeks with no patients waiting more than six months. Due to the reduction in waiting times, no patients are currently eligible through the Berkshire Choice Pilot for MRI scans.
NHS Appointments Commission
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current appointment criteria used by the NHS Appointments Commission are for appointment to the positions of NHS trust (a) chairman, (b) chief executive and (c) board member; and whether these criteria have changed in the last two years. [131700]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The criteria for the appointment of chairs and non-executive directors to national health service boards have been placed in the Library. The only change made to the criteria over the last two years has been to reduce the time commitment expected of non-executives to 2.5 days per month. The reduction is in line with recommendations made in 'Governing the NHS—A guide for NHS Boards', which was jointly published
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by the Department and the NHS Appointments Commission in June 2003. A copy of the guide has also been placed in the Library.
Chief executives are appointed by the chair and non-executives of NHS boards, not by the NHS Appointments Commission.
NHS Land (Colchester)
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last discussed with the Secretary of State for Transport the proposed junction of the Colchester Northern Approach Road and the A12 and the sale of surplus NHS land in the area; and if he will make a statement. [131820]
Mr. Hutton: My right hon. Friend has had no discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on these specific issues.
NHSnet
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he proposes to link pharmacies to NHSnet. [131426]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The current contract for NHSnet is due to expire next year. It would be inappropriate to negotiate any amendment to this at the present time to enable community pharmacies to gain connectivity. The model of connectivity needs to take into account future requirements that may arise out of our wish to see community pharmacists as a more integrated part of the national health service, services that they may provide under the new community pharmacy contract currently under discussion and delivery of the national prescription service target outlined in "Delivering 21st Century IT Support for the NHS". The N3 networking project, which is responsible for procuring a successor network to NHSnet, is currently considering which N3 services could help meet these community pharmacy connectivity requirements.
Paddington Health Campus
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what stage of the statutory planning process the Paddington Health Campus is at. [131865]
Mr. Hutton: The North West London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) has been working closely with Westminster Council on the scheme. The council gave approval to earlier planning proposals, but more detailed work showed that these would need adapting to meet the new and larger requirements. The SHA has been working on a revised scheme with the Westminster planners and anticipates making a new outline application in the next few weeks.
Prescription Receipts
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of receipts from prescriptions paid for by recipients of incapacity benefit in each of the last five years. [131967]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No information is collected on the financial circumstances of people paying prescription charges. Therefore, no such estimate can be made.
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Prisoners' Health
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information is collected centrally on the health of prisoners; [131894]
- (2) if he will set targets to achieve improvements in the health of prisoners; [131895]
(3) if he will make it his policy to collate centrally information regarding prisoner health sufficient to establish baselines from which improvements in performance can be measured. [131896]
Dr. Ladyman: Information is routinely collected centrally on self-harm incidents, suicides and undetermined deaths and information on communicable diseases, such as hepatitis B, in the prison population. Survey work periodically captures further information on specific aspects of prisoner health, such as the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity.
Prisoners are included within the scope of the Government's overall targets for improving the health of the population.
Private Health Care (NHS Referrals)
Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many patients have been referred by the NHS in England to private healthcare providers (a) in Wales, (b) in Scotland, (c) in Northern Ireland, (d) in England and (e) abroad in each of the last five years; [131741]
- (2) how much money has been spent by the NHS in England to obtain healthcare from private healthcare providers (a) in England, (b) in Wales, (c) in Scotland, (d) in Northern Ireland and (e) abroad in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [131743]
Mr. Hutton: This information is not held centrally, but we are embarking on a major capacity expansion programme including development of treatment centres run by the independent sector.
Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria is used by the NHS in England to decide when to refer a patient to a private healthcare provider for treatment. [131742]
Mr. Hutton: The Department has not set any criteria centrally to be used when referring national health service patients for treatment to private healthcare providers. Such decisions are taken locally by primary care trusts (PCTs). In such circumstances, the criteria applied by PCTs and under centrally funded choice pilots would usually include the length of time patients have waited, their clinical appropriateness and fitness for referral to an independent provider and value for money (taking into account the availability of alternative capacity). These criteria would also apply to referrals to the new independent sector treatment centres which we are procuring currently but in addition, these will be supplemented by clear clinical pathways, building on those developed as part of the London patient choice project.
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Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (Finances)
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the forecast overspend for the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital is for financial year 2003–04. [132293]
Dr. Ladyman: The Royal Shrewsbury Hospitals National Health Service Trust merged with the Princess Royal Hospital NHS Trust on 1 October 2003. The newly formed Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is expected to fulfil its financial obligations.
All NHS trusts have been asked to plan for and achieve financial balance in 2003–04. Audited information for all NHS trusts will be published in their individual annual accounts and will be available centrally in autumn 2004.
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