| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
3 Nov 2003 : Column 530W—continued
Nurse Training
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much (a) time and (b) weighting is placed on hygiene and cleanliness in the standard training programme for an NHS nurse. [132308]
Mr. Hutton: Information on the time and weighting of hygiene and cleanliness training in pre-registration courses is not held centrally.
Pre-registration nursing education programmes are jointly approved by the regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and the relevant higher education institution. While the content must meet NMC and EU requirements, additional content may be included to reflect the employment needs of the local service providers. The current curriculum provides a grounding in nursing that would be progressed by undertaking post-registration training.
Nursing and Midwifery Council
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time staff were employed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in each year since 2000; how many of these staff were deployed in processing (a) European applications and (b) other applications; how many applications were received in each year since 2000; what the average length of time was for dealing with applications received in each year since 2000; and how many applications received in each year since 2000 were not dealt with within this average length of time. [132886]
Mr. Hutton: The Department does not collect this information. The Nursing and Midwifery Council is responsible for publishing information about its performance.
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide a breakdown by country of the applications (a) received and (b) rejected by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in each year since 2000. [132889]
Mr. Hutton: The Department does not collect this information. The Nursing and Midwifery Council is responsible for publishing information about its performance on applications it has received for registration and its decisions on those applications.
Paddington Health Campus Project
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what costs have been incurred by the Paddington Health Campus project on external consultants and advisers in each of the financial years since its inception. [132566]
Mr. Hutton: A total of £3.177 million has been spent to 31 March 2003 on advisers' fees for planning the Paddington Health Campus.
£1.479 million was spent on fees until October 2000 by the former Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster Health Authority (on behalf of the West London Partnership Forum) to provide a strategic outline case and an outline business case. These costs include fees forthe town planning application submissions necessary as a component of this process.
3 Nov 2003 : Column 531W
£231,000 was spent on fees between October 2000 and March 2001 by St Mary's Hospital National Health Service Trust on behalf of the Paddington Heath Campus project, whose partner organisations are St Mary's, the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust and Imperial College London.
£520,000 was then spent on fees in the financial year 2001–02 and £947,000 in 2002–03.
Patient Forums
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the results have been of the campaign to recruit members of the public for patient forums; [133927]
- (2) how many of the patient forums he expects to have a full quota of members by 1 December 2003. [133928]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The programme of recruitment to the patients' forums is still under way. We understand the national and local advertising campaigns have elicited a large number of applications, which are currently being processed by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH).
The CPPIH is on track for achieving full forum coverage by 1 December 2003.
Pharmacies
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what framework regulates (a) mail order and (b) internet based pharmacies; what monitoring his Department undertakes of their activities; and if he will make a statement. [135397]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 30 October 2003]: Mail order and internet-based pharmacies are governed by the provisions of the Medicines Act 1968 and, if they provide national health service pharmaceutical services, by the NHS Act 1977. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Medicines Act and related legislation which regulate the sale and supply of medicines. The MHRA does not routinely monitor internet-based pharmacies. However, its enforcement group investigates any allegations of illegal activity of which it is made aware.
In addition, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain is responsible for inspecting all pharmacy premises for registration purposes under the Medicines Act, including mail-order and internet based pharmacies. Its code of ethics and standards sets out the further professional standards required of remote delivery and on-line pharmacy services including safe and secure transportation and delivery of medicines, patient confidentiality, provision of information and advice and record keeping.
Portable Oxygen Cylinders
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 2 October 2003, Offical Report, col. 1334W, on medical equipment how many portable oxygen cylinders have been purchased for (a) England, (b) each strategic health authority and (c) each NHS trust under the contract; and if he will make a statement. [132508]
3 Nov 2003 : Column 532W
Miss Melanie Johnson: The national contract is for the rental of portable oxygen cylinders, rather than the purchase. In 2002, a review revealed 18,000 cylinders from the contract were in place in National Health Service trusts in England. Information is not held centrally for each NHS trust or strategic health authority.
Primary Care Trusts
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the impact on the Adur, Arun and Worthing primary care trust area of his Department's health policies since 1997, expressed (a) in total terms and (b) by expenditure by head of population compared with equivalent national average figures. [134780]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Figures are provided for Adur, Arun and Worthing Primary Care Trust (PCT) and in total for all PCTs in England in 2002–2003.
It is not possible to provide any historic figures due to the re-organisation of the National Health Service. The Adur, Arun and Worthing PCT has only been in existence for the one year 2002–03.
Total commissioning expenditure and expenditure per resident head of population is shown—weighted population figures are not available for PCT areas. It should also be noted that the individual and national figures are not directly comparable because the strategic health authorities would have differing commissioning policies in different areas.
| Expenditure in total per head (£000) | Expenditureper head (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| Adur, Arun and Worthing PCT | 209,560 | 968.45 |
| PCTs (England) | 42,387,867 | 865.62 |
Note:2002–03 data remains provisional.
Sources:Primary care trust audited summarisation schedules 2002–03. Primary Care Organisations—Resident Populations.
Risk Management
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospital trusts have achieved (a) CNST Level 3 and (b) a lower level of compliance. [132383]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the levels of compliance for the clinical negligence scheme for trusts, as at 31 March 2003, published by the Commission for Health Improvement has been placed in the Library.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS hospital trusts (a) do and (b) do not have a current risk management/quality control system in place. [132384]
Mr. Hutton: All national health service trusts have risk management and internal control systems in place.
As part of statutory reporting, chief executives are required to sign a statement on behalf of their board to the effect that they have reviewed the effectiveness of the system of internal control. This statement is published in the annual report and accounts of every NHS organisation.
3 Nov 2003 : Column 533W
School Meals
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of 4 to 7-year-olds are entitled to participate in the national school fruit scheme; and when he expects this scheme to be in place for all children. [133910]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The national school fruit scheme will entitle every child aged four to six in local education authority schools to a free piece of fruit each school day. Children aged seven or three will also receive fruit where they share classes with children aged six or four. Region-wide pilots for the scheme have been introduced so far in four of the nine English regions, with funding from the New Opportunities Fund, and nearly half of all eligible children in England are in schools that are participating in the scheme. We are examining the practicalities of the scheme through these pilots before rolling it out nationally next year.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |