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15 Dec 2003 : Column 759W—continued
Body Mass Index
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the adult population had a body mass index greater than 25 in (a) England and (b) each region in each year since 1990. [141582]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Figures available from the Health Survey for England have been placed in the Library. For those adult respondents with a valid height and weight measurement from which the body mass index could be calculated, it gives, for England, the percentage with a body mass index (BMI) over 25 by sex for the period 1991 to 2001 and by Government Office Region and sex for the period 1998 to 2001. Figures are not available for 1990. Figures prior to 1998 are not available by Government Office Region.
Breastfeeding
Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish guidelines for primary care trusts on collection of statistics on breastfeeding. [142298]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 8 December 2003]: Guidelines for primary care trusts on the collection of statistics on breastfeeding initiation were made available to national health service staff on 28 November 2003 via the Department of Health's data collection website.
Cancer Survey
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the statistical tables analysing the national patient cancer survey to inform future surveys, commissioned by his Department and made available to the Commission for Health Improvement. [141580]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The analysis of the national cancer patient survey is expected to be complete by spring 2004. A copy of the analysis will be placed in the Library.
Choice and Plurality Policies
Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether patients will be able to choose their general practitioner under the Choice and Plurality policies. [140624]
Mr. Hutton: Patients are already able to choose their general practitioner. "Building on the Best" (Cm 6079), published on 9 December 2003, commits us to extending the opportunities for patients to exercise this choice alongside the new general medical services contract which is now being implemented.
Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the application of his Choice and Plurality policies to patients suffering from mental ill health. [140626]
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Mr. Hutton: On 9 December 2003, the Government published "Building on the Best: Choice, Responsiveness and Equity in the NHS". This strategy document sets out areas for priority action and those for further exploration including recommendations made by the mental health task group. A copy of the document in available in the Library.
Civil Servants (Disablement)
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many senior civil servants in his Department are disabled, expressed (a) in actual terms and (b) as a percentage of WTE staff. [143065]
Ms Rosie Winterton: All staff are asked to volunteer information in our equal opportunities monitoring but they are under no compulsion to reply.
Of those that have made a declaration in returned Equal Opportunities monitoring forms there are seven disabled staff in the senior civil service in the Department of Health—excluding its agencies and arms length bodies. This represents 2.33 per cent. of whole-time equivalent staff which currently stands at 300.5.
Closed GP Lists
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of (a) general practitioners and (b) general practices in England have been operating closed lists each month since January 1990. [141060]
Mr. Hutton: The Department does not collect this information. However we know that closed lists are restricting the exercise of patient choice in some areas. The new general medical services contract addresses this problem by including arrangements for primary care trusts to offer support to those practices which face the possibility of needing to close their patient lists.
Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the appointment of Anna Walker as chief executive of the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection was made by the NHS Appointments Commission. [141315]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No. The National Health Service Appointments Commission is not responsible for the appointment of executives. The appointment was made by the shadow Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection, in anticipation of paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 6 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003. As well as the shadow Chair and Commissioners, the selection panel included an independent panel member.
Community Hospitals
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds in community hospitals there were in each year since 1990. [141041]
Mr. Hutton: The Department does not hold this information. However, the Community Hospitals Association carried out a survey, which was reported in the British Journal of General Practice (February 2001). This identified 471 community hospitals in the United
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Kingdom, containing 18,579 beds, and concluded there had not been a substantial reduction over the past 25 years.
Computer Games
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on developing computer games in each year since 1997, broken down by game. [142243]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Computer games commissioned by the Department of Health's Communications Directorate since 1997 are shown in the table.
| Game | ||
|---|---|---|
| NHS Careers School Competition | Mindnseek | |
| 1997–98 | — | — |
| 1998–99 | — | — |
| 1999–2000 | (31)— | — |
| 2000–01 | (31)— | — |
| 2001–02 | — | — |
| 2002–03 | — | (31)— |
| 2003–04 | — | — |
(31) Costs for these games cannot be identified as they were produced as a single element within a broader project.
Consultant Neurologists
Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultant neurologists are employed in the NHS. [142503]
Mr. Hutton: The number of consultant neurologists employed by the National Health Service was 407 as at June 2003.
Between September 1999 and June 2003, the number of consultant neurologists working in the NHS increased by 102, or 33 per cent.
Consultation with Businesses
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department uses a database of individual small businesses for consultation purposes. [142481]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department of Health does not use a central database of individual small businesses for consultation purposes. Individual client groups within the Department keep in touch with organisations operating within their policy responsibilities, as appropriate, but these bodies would rarely include small businesses. If a small business interest was identified, the Department would arrange for consultation through the small business service of the Department of Trade and Industry.
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of regulations introduced by the Department have been subject to a consultation period of less than 12 weeks since the introduction of the Code of Practice on Consultations. [142489]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There is not always a direct correlation between Government consultations and individual regulations. For example, there would not be a consultation prior to certain statutory instruments setting up a new primary care trust or transferring property between national health service trusts.
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The Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultation came into effect on 1 January 2001. In the period 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2002, the Department of Health has published 124 consultations covered by the Code, of which 18 were less than 12 weeks.
Delayed Discharges
Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 2003–04 delayed discharge statistics for England. [142066]
Dr. Ladyman: The latest figures on delayed discharge for Quarter 2, 2003–04 (September 2003) have been placed in the Library. The figures for Quarter 1 are available in the Library.
Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish statistics on the number of emergency readmissions to NHS hospitals of patients aged 75 and over in England, for each quarter since January, for which figures are available. [142067]
Dr. Ladyman: Monitoring information on readmissions within 28 days of discharge is collected for all ages only. Information is available at primary care trust and strategic health authority level. Information for Quarter 4, 2002–03 (January 2003 to March 2003), Quarter 1, 2003–04 (April 2003 to June 2003) and Quarter 2, 2003–04 (July 2003 to September 2003) has been placed in the Library.
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