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18 Nov 2003 : Column 850W—continued
Digital Hearing Aids
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting time is for digital hearing aids in the NHS, broken down by primary care trust area. [138491]
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Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally. We have invested £94 million over two years, which will be used to make digital hearing aids available across England by April 2005.
Early Intervention Services
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been invested in the (a) planning and (b) establishment of Early Intervention Services; how much has been allocated to each primary care trust; how many Early Intervention Services have been establshed; and where they are. [138475]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The funds necessary to set up early intervention teams, as envisaged in the Priorities and Planning Framework 2003–06, have been made available to primary care trusts within their general allocations.
The numbers of early intervention teams in operation, according to local implementation team catchment areas, are shown in the table.
| Local implementation team | Number of services |
|---|---|
| Birmingham | 3 |
| Croydon | 1 |
| Devon and Torbay | 1 |
| Dewsbury | 1 |
| East Yorkshire | 1 |
| Hartlepool | 1 |
| Lambeth | 2 |
| Lincolnshire | 1 |
| Luton | 1 |
| Northumberland | 1 |
| Plymouth | 1 |
| Salford | 1 |
| Sheffield | 1 |
| Suffolk | 1 |
| Sutton and Merton | 1 |
| Tameside and Glossop | 1 |
| Tower Hamlets | 1 |
| Trafford | 1 |
| Wandsworth | 1 |
| Wolverhampton | 1 |
| Worcestershire | 1 |
| Total | 24 |
Epilepsy
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the provision of specialist epilepsy nurses for children with epilepsy. [139149]
Dr. Ladyman: We recognise the important role that epilepsy specialist nurses play in the treatment and management of children and adults with epilepsy. Around 100 epilepsy specialist nursing posts have already been developed in both hospital and community settings. Primary care trusts are best placed to determine the number of such posts required to support the development and delivery of local epilepsy services.
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We are currently developing the national service framework (NSF) for long term conditions, which will focus on improving the standard of neurology services across England for a range of conditions, including epilepsy. As part of the process of developing the NSF, work is in hand to consider relevant work force issues such as the need for increased numbers of staff but also for new ways of working, including skill mix, role extensions and multi-disciplinary working, based around patient needs. We expect that the group looking at these work force issues will make recommendations on the future supply of professionals and development of new ways of working to inform national work force planning processes. The needs of people with epilepsy will be considered in this work alongside other specialties and conditions.
Foundation Hospital Trusts
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the likely range of costs of (a) building and (b) maintaining the membership base of an NHS foundation trust. [138559]
Mr. Hutton: The costs associated with a membership base for a National Health Service foundation trust will depend on a number of factors, including the size of membership. Experience of other membership organisations suggested that the cost of establishing and maintaining a membership base of 5,000 people is likely to be approximately £2.25 per member per annum, although these costs will be lower the larger the membership.
Foundation Trusts
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he made of the effects of piloting the proposals for NHS foundation trusts before allowing their roll-out in England. [139117]
Mr. Hutton: Piloting was a consideration as the proposals for national health service foundation trusts were developed. However, it was concluded that piloting would not achieve the radical and comprehensive reform that is required to deliver the freedoms and local accountability central to the Government's policy on NHS foundation trusts. There will, however, be opportunities to learn from the experience of the first wave NHS foundation trust applications.
General Practitioners
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow), of 8 January 2003, Official Report, columns 278–79W, on general practitioners, what the figures were for the year to April 2003. [137377]
Mr. Hutton: The number of whole-time equivalent general practitioners in each strategic health authority, Government office region and in England between October 1997 and March 2003 are shown in the table.
18 Nov 2003 : Column 853W
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 27,660 | 27,848 | 28,033 | 28,154 | 28,439 |
| North East | 1,402 | 1,418 | 1,426 | 1,434 | 1,488 |
| Northumberland, Tyne and Wear | 782 | 802 | 807 | 812 | 836 |
| County Durham and Tees Valley | 620 | 617 | 619 | 622 | 652 |
| North West | 3,834 | 3,822 | 3,880 | 3,874 | 3,903 |
| Cumbria and Lancashire | 1,079 | 1,083 | 1,090 | 1,079 | 1,093 |
| Greater Manchester | 1,409 | 1,404 | 1,420 | 1,424 | 1,422 |
| Cheshire and Merseyside | 1,346 | 1,335 | 1,370 | 1,371 | 1,388 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 2,848 | 2,843 | 2,892 | 2,911 | 2,950 |
| North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 944 | 934 | 951 | 959 | 968 |
| West Yorkshire | 1,188 | 1,198 | 1,221 | 1,227 | 1,248 |
| South Yorkshire | 716 | 711 | 720 | 725 | 734 |
| West Midlands | 2,877 | 2,901 | 2,920 | 2,959 | 2,962 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 757 | 776 | 787 | 792 | 779 |
| Birmingham and the Black Country | 1,261 | 1,272 | 1,279 | 1,299 | 1,305 |
| Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire | 859 | 853 | 853 | 869 | 878 |
| East Midlands | 2,220 | 2,233 | 2,227 | 2,225 | 2,261 |
| Trent | 1,363 | 1,382 | 1,386 | 1,408 | 1,434 |
| Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland | 857 | 851 | 841 | 817 | 827 |
| East of England | 2,901 | 2,955 | 2,963 | 2,979 | 2,987 |
| Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire | 1,227 | 1,243 | 1,250 | 1,268 | 1,276 |
| Bedford and Hertfordshire | 869 | 892 | 894 | 897 | 906 |
| Essex | 805 | 819 | 819 | 814 | 805 |
| London | 4,225 | 4,212 | 4,198 | 4,217 | 4,212 |
| North West London | 1,107 | 1,097 | 1,055 | 1,044 | 1,064 |
| North Central London | 738 | 741 | 727 | 748 | 746 |
| North East London | 835 | 845 | 844 | 866 | 841 |
| South East London | 814 | 810 | 840 | 825 | 833 |
| South West London | 731 | 720 | 732 | 735 | 727 |
| South East | 4,410 | 4,482 | 4,512 | 4,507 | 4,579 |
| Thames Valley | 1,145 | 1,186 | 1,198 | 1,202 | 1,218 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 996 | 999 | 1,014 | 1,017 | 1,037 |
| Kent and Medway | 860 | 867 | 868 | 853 | 860 |
| Surrey and Sussex | 1,410 | 1,430 | 1,432 | 1,435 | 1,464 |
| South West | 2,942 | 2,981 | 3,014 | 3,048 | 3,097 |
| Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire | 1,225 | 1,257 | 1,281 | 1,289 | 1,301 |
| South West Peninsula | 990 | 981 | 972 | 1,000 | 1,025 |
| Somerset and Dorset | 727 | 744 | 761 | 759 | 771 |
(41) All Practitioners (excluding GP retainers) include QMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, GP Registrars, Salaried Doctors (Para 52 SFA), PMS Other and Flexible Career Scheme GPs.
(42) GP retainers were first collected in 1999 and have been omitted for comparability purposes.
Notes:
1. WTE data has been estimated using the results from the 1992–93 GMP Workload Survey;
Full time = 1.00 wte;
Three quarter time = 0.69 wte;
Job share = 0.65 wte;
Half time = 0.60 wte.
2. Totals may not add up to sum of component parts due to rounding
3. Data as at 1 October 1997–99, 30 September 2000–02, 31 March 2002–03
Source:
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.
18 Nov 2003 : Column 855W
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