| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
28 Oct 2003 : Column 223W—continued
Nursing Homes
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the powers used by the Government on which it bases the system for the payment of the nursing element of a patient's nursing home fees. [134218]
Dr. Ladyman: The National Health Service has a general duty under section 3 of the National Health Service Act 1977 to provide nursing services to such extent as it considers necessary to meet all reasonable requirements. This duty has been delegated by the Secretary of State to primary care trusts (PCTs) pursuant to section 16B of the 1977 Act and section 17 of the same Act gives the Secretary of State the power to direct a PCT about the exercise of those functions. The National Health Service (Nursing Care in Residential Accommodation) (England) Directions 2001 directed the NHS to provide nursing care for all care home residents, where nursing care had the same meaning as in section 49(2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2001. PCTs are required to follow these Directions and guidance has been issued to PCTs about the practical operation of the system
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will issue guidance on the funding of nursing care in residential and nursing homes following the Coughlan case. [134219]
Dr. Ladyman: Guidance on the provision of National Health Service-funded nursing care in nursing homes, Guidance on NHS funded nursing care, was published on 12 March 2003. Guidance on the issues raised by the Coughlan judgement, Continuing care: NHS and Local Councils' responsibilities, was issued on 28 June 2001. There are no current plans to issue new guidance.
Radiotherapy
Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent representations he has received about average waiting times for radiotherapy treatment; [134640]
- (2) what recent representations he has received about shortages of (a) radiographers and (b) radiologists; and if he will make a statement. [134641]
28 Oct 2003 : Column 224W
Mr. Hutton: The Department has received representations from the Royal College of Radiologists, the Society of Radiographers and others about waiting times and staff shortages in radiotherapy. We are working with the Society of Radiographers and the Royal College of Radiologists to look at all ways of increasing the radiotherapy work force. We have increased the number of therapy radiographers by 10 per cent. since 1997 and to ensure future growth, we have more than doubled, by 111 per cent., the number of training places at universities. We are also extending the careers of radiotherapy staff through new ways of working, which will allow staff to develop and extend their roles in the profession. We have also increased the number of clinical oncologists by 28 per cent., with numbers set to rise further.
We are also making improvements in radiotherapy services by investment in replacement and additional radiotherapy equipment and streamlining and re-designing care processes through the cancer services collaborative.
Speech and Language Therapy
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS speech and language therapy staff have been employed in each of the last seven years. [135167]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table. Between September 1997 and 2002, the number of qualified speech and language therapists employed in the national health service has increased by 1,089, or 22 per cent.
| Headcount | Whole-time equivalents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 4,705 | 3,585 |
| 1997 | 4,871 | 3,742 |
| 1998 | 5,031 | 3,831 |
| 1999 | 5,185 | 3,939 |
| 2000 | 5,430 | 4,066 |
| 2001 | 5,685 | 4,207 |
| 2002 | 5,960 | 4,365 |
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Source:
Department of Health Non-medical Workforce Census.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the vacancy rates for speech and language staff, broken down by primary care trust area. [135168]
Mr. Hutton: Information on the rate of vacancies lasting three months or more for speech and language therapists for each primary care trust organisation has been placed in the Library. As at March 2003, the three-month vacancy rate in England was 3.2 per cent., a fall from 5.2 per cent. in the previous year.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hours per child subject is spent on average a year by speech and language therapists. [135169]
28 Oct 2003 : Column 225W
Dr. Ladyman: Information is not collected centrally which would enable an estimate to be made. Time spent will vary widely between different children, depending on their clinical needs.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children in England are receiving therapy from NHS speech and language professionals in England, broken down by primary care trust area. [135170]
Dr. Ladyman: Information on the numbers of children receiving therapy is not collected centrally.
28 Oct 2003 : Column 226W
Information on initial contacts, to new episodes of care, is available for the age group 0–15 years, but is broken down by provider, not by primary care trust area.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many speech and language therapy sessions there were on average per week for each NHS patient receiving such treatment in each of the past five years. [134855]
Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally.