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3 Nov 2003 : Column 533W—continued

Severance Payments

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many severance payments in excess of (a) £500,000 and (b) £700,000, including all benefits, have been made to NHS executives serving in the areas covered by the Surrey and Sussex and South West London strategic health authorities in the past 12 months. [132385]

Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not held centrally.

Sight Tests

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many free sight tests were given to (a) pensioners, (b) children and (c) others in (i) West Sussex and (ii) England in each year since 1997. [134779]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The table shows the number of National Health Service sight tests paid for in West Sussex Health Authority for 1997–98 to 2002–03. Figures for the number of sight tests by age are not collected centrally. The table shows the number of sight test in the categories "children aged 0 to 15" and "patient aged 60 and over".

3 Nov 2003 : Column 534W

Eligibility to NHS sight tests was extended to those aged 60 and over from 1 April 1999. There was an increase of 2.4 million sight tests between 1998–99 and 1999–2000 in England. It is fair to assume that the vast majority of this increase was due to newly eligible people aged 60 or over obtaining NHS sight tests.

However, some patients aged 60 and over will be eligible for sight tests for other reasons as well, for example, on income grounds. The classification for such patients will depend on the patient and the practitioner. The increase in the number of sight tests for those over 60 may therefore reflect an increasing awareness of the eligibility of over 60s.

General Ophthalmic Services: Number of sight tests paid for in West Sussex Health Authority and England for the year's 1997–98 to 2002–03Thousands

Year	Sight tests for children 0 to 15	Sight tests for those aged 60 and over	Sight tests for other categories	Total number of sight tests
	West Sussex
1997–98	34.0	-	-	95.4
1998–99	39.1	-	-	97.3
1999–2000	34.5	73.7	41.0	149.3
2000–01	36.5	77.4	40.5	154.4
2001–02	36.5	84.2	31.6	152.3
2002–03	30.7	89.5	34.8	155.0
England
1997–98	2,385.5	-	-	6991.3
1998–99	2,458.9	-	-	6992.3
1999–2000	2,425.7	3,301.4	3,672.3	9399.4
2000–01	2,404.0	3,753.3	3,409.8	9567.1
2001–02	2,374.9	4,013.0	3,419.5	9807.4
2002–03	2,284.4	4,135.7	3,242.0	9662.1

Note:Data on eligibility category is derived from a 2 per cent. sample.

Smoking

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the incidence of smoking is in the UK, broken down by ethnic origin. [133246]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information is not available in the form requested. The available data are shown in the table.

Prevalence of cigarette smoking amongst adults aged 16 and over, by minority ethnic group—England 1999

Cigarette smoking status (self reported)	Black Caribbean	Indian	Pakistani	Bangladeshi	Chinese	Irish	General population
Men
Current cigarette smoker	35	23	26	44	17	39	27
Ex-regular cigarette smoker	18	12	7	10	18	29	31
Never regular cigarette smoker	47	65	67	46	65	32	42
Women
Current cigarette smoker	25	6	5	1	9	33	27
Ex-regular cigarette smoker	11	1	1	1	3	25	22
Never regular cigarette smoker	64	93	94	98	88	42	52

Source:

Department of Health report: 'Health Survey for England—The Health of Minority Ethnic Groups 99' (adapted from table 4.1).

Available from the internet at:

http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/doh/survey99/hse99-t4–1.htm

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health where the smoking cessation co-ordinators in post at 31 March 2002 were based; and how many smoking cessation co-ordinators are in post. [133914]

Miss Melanie Johnson: On 31 March 2002, there were 109 smoking cessation co-ordinators (whole time equivalent) in post in the former health authorities. Further information is not available.

3 Nov 2003 : Column 535W

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated for the campaign to highlight the dangers of smoking (a) in 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [133915]

Miss Melanie Johnson: To date, a total of £24,103,130 has been committed to the tobacco information campaign in 2003–04. The final total for this year is not yet available and the sum allocated for 2004–05 has not been set.

Private Patients

Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total amount invoiced to private patients by NHS trusts was in each of the last five years. [135911]

Mr. Hutton: The Department does not keep any information relating to such invoices.

Social Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the running cost of the General Social Care Council was in each of the last five years. [134809]

Dr. Ladyman: The General Social Care Council has only been in operation since October 2001. Its operating costs were £4,034,000 in the financial year 2001–02 and £9,786,000 in the financial year 2002–03, its first full year of operation.

3 Nov 2003 : Column 536W

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are employed by the General Social Care Council. [134810]

Dr. Ladyman: The General Social Care Council currently employs 119 members of staff: 113 full-time and six part-time.

Waiting Lists

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were on in-patient waiting lists for (a) Hull Royal Infirmary and (b) Castle Hill Hospital in the last month for which figures are available. [132524]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 16 October 2003]: Information relating to individual hospital sites is not held centrally. However, as at 31 August 2003, 10,349 patients were waiting for elective inpatient admission at the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals National Health Service Trust, none of whom had been waiting for more than 12 months.

Source:

Department of Health.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list hospital trusts in London which have experienced an increase in (a) in-patient, (b) out-patient and (c) total waiting lists in the past two years. [133746]

Mr. Hutton: Information is not collected centrally on the total out-patient waiting list in London. National health service trusts which have shown an increase in their elective in-patient admission waiting lists are shown in the table.

NHS Trusts within London who have shown an increase in their elective in-patient admission list in comparison with their over 12 month waiters

	August 2001		August 2003		Difference over time
NHS trusts	Total list	Over 12 month waiters	Total list	Over 12 month waiters	Total list	Over 12 month waiters
Barnett & Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust	7,575	601	8,513	0	938	-601
Bromley hospitals NHS Trust	5,576	147	5,610	0	34	-147
Chelsea & Westminster Hospitals NHS Trust	2,873	52	2,927	0	54	-52
Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust	5,592	179	6,314	0	722	-179
Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust	2,136	34	2,171	0	35	-34
Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust	3,839	400	3,927	0	88	-400
Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust	2,564	0	3,302	0	738	0
Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust	83	0	291	0	208	0

Waiting Times

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the (a) average and (b) maximum waiting time in (i) England, (ii) each strategic health authority and (iii) each NHS trust for CT scans in each of the last six years. [132781]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Data is not collected centrally on waiting times for computed tomography (CT) scans. The length of time that a patient may have to wait for a scan is dependent on their clinical condition. Emergency cases need to be seen immediately. Other cases will be carried out as quickly as possible, dependent on the clinical priority of all patients waiting to be scanned.

Where a CT scan forms part of the diagnostic process for a patient urgently referred with suspected cancer, this will be covered by the target of a maximum two months wait from urgent referral to first treatment, which will be in place for all cancers by the end of 2005.

The Cancer Capital Modernisation Fund and the NHS Cancer Plan has provided funding for 200 new and replacement CT scanners to increase the capacity of diagnostic services by 2004.

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