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5 Jan 2004 : Column 184W—continued
Departmental Staff
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 10 December, Official Report, columns 502–3W, on departmental staff, (1) if he will list the job titles of each member of staff in the Health and Social Care Delivery Group; [144952]
- (2) if he will list the job titles of each member of staff in the Health and Social Care Standards and Quality Business Group; [144953]
(3) if he will list the job titles of each member of staff in the Strategy and Business Development Group. [144954]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department is currently undergoing an extensive change programme. The basic framework has been agreed and was detailed in my previous answer. Job titles and details of the structure are subject to confirmation by group directors.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 10 December, Official Report, columns 502–3W, on departmental staff, what the activities are of each business group. [144955]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The activities of the Department's three business groups are as follows:
- Delivery—responsible for supporting the delivery of the targets set out in the NHS Plan. These include reducing waiting times, increasing choice for National Health Service patients, securing resources for NHS and local government organisations, ensuring the NHS has the capacity to deliver services to patients, and integrating NHS information technology systems to deliver modernised patient services.
5 Jan 2004 : Column 185W
- Standards and Quality—responsible for the majority of our policy-making responsibilities, ranging from leading-edge scientific developments and medical innovations, such as stem cell research, to lifestyle issues such as obesity. The group will set standards and define quality in health and social care services, maintain and promote health and well being, ensure safety of patients and service users, and deliver some of the Government's key programmes, such as tackling coronary heart disease and cancer.
- Strategy and Business Development—responsible for important corporate services (such as communications, corporate human resources and information technology), ensuring the Department is run effectively and efficiently. The group also leads important programmes and policies (such as system reform, equality, medicine and pharmacy, user experience and involvement and professional leadership).
The new structure of the Department is as follows:
Department of Health Mangement Board
- Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive —Sir Nigel Crisp
- John Bacon, Sir Liam Donaldson, Hugh Taylor, Sian Jarvis, Sarah Mullally, Richard Douglas, Directory of Strategy
- Group Director—Sir Liam Donaldson
- 804 posts
Health Protection, International Health and Scientific Development
Research and Development
Quality and Standards
Health Improvement
Care Services
Regional Public Health
Group Business Team
- Group Director—Hugh Taylor
815 posts
Corporate Management and Development
- Hugh Taylor
Corporate Human Resources
Information Services
Customer Services
Medicines Pharmacy and Industry
Secretariat
- Sarah Mullally
Improving Patient Experience Programme
The Professions
- Sian Jarvis
Media Centre Campaign
Management Strategy
Policy Communications
Programmes and Planning
- Strategy Unit
Corporate Analytical Centre
Customer Intelligence
System and Policy Development
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626 posts
Access
Finance and Investment
Workforce
Information Systems and National Programme Delivery
Programmes and Performance
Group Business Team
Ms Rosie Winterton: We recognised that the Department must change to reflect recent changes in the national health service and social care. It was clear that, with the Government's focus on shifting power to the frontline and the formation of many independent bodies, the Department's role and functions would reduce. We decided a reduction of at least a third was necessary to reflect our new role in providing strategic direction and leadership to the NHS and social care.
The radical Change Programme will reduce the size of the core Department by 1,400—from over 3,600 posts to 2,200—by October 2004. This represents a 38 per cent. reduction at the centre. Half of those posts will not be replaced and will be achieved by efficiency savings, while the rest of the reduction will result from transferring posts to other national bodies, which are also the subject of review.
We have indicated our intention to maintain the current proportion of Departmental staff in Leeds and London. The final numbers at each location are yet to be finalised. We estimate that most of the reductions will be through natural turnover or early retirements. A voluntary scheme has already been launched for those over 50. The Department has had a 'vacancy freeze' in place for the last six months, to ensure staff are given the best opportunities to seek alternative posts, and we are actively monitoring turnover. The Department is using professional support to help those staff affected by the changes.
Diagnostic and Treatment Centres
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned for an evaluation of diagnostic and treatment centres. [144949]
Mr. Hutton: An evaluation of National Health Service treatment centres has been commissioned from a consortium made up of University College London and the University of Southampton, under the NHS service delivery and organisation research programme. The evaluation began in March 2003 and is being carried out over three years.
Doctors' Earnings
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the earnings of (a) a locum doctor and (b) a doctor with a permanent position within an NHS trust in the last year for which figures are available. [142395]
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Mr. Hutton: Estimated annual earnings of hospital doctors as at August 2002 (the latest figures available) are given in the table.
| Staff grade | Mean year earnings (£) |
|---|---|
| Consultant | 82,936 |
| Non-consultant career grades | 56,751 |
| House officer | 28,201 |
| Other hospital grades | 58,103 |
| Registrars | 52,623 |
| Senior house officer | 41,124 |
Information is not held centrally on the average annual earnings of locum doctors.
Domiciliary Care
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many domiciliary care providers have (a) applied for and (b) met the registration standards. [140640]
Dr. Ladyman: As at 30 November, 4,322 domiciliary care providers have applied for registration. 3,155 of these applications have been validated and are being processed, and 243 domiciliary care providers met the registration standard.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many domiciliary care providers have been registered by the National Care Standards Commission in each region. [140642]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Region | Services registered |
|---|---|
| South West | 72 |
| South East | 70 |
| London | 40 |
| West Midlands | 20 |
| North West | 20 |
| North East | 7 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 6 |
| East Midlands | 6 |
| Eastern | 2 |
| Total | 243 |
Note:
Information as at 30 November 2003.
Drug Eluting Stents
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how he plans to incorporate guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence on drug eluting stents into the National Standards Framework on coronary heart disease; [145783]
- (2) whether his Department has estimated the cost to the NHS of the increased use of drug eluting stents following guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. [145782]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The national service framework for coronary heart disease (NSF CHD), published in March 2000, sets the agenda for the modernisation of CHD services over a 10 year period. Standard 10 deals with revascularisation and states that
'NHS Trusts should put in place hospital-wide systems of care so that patients with suspected or confirmed coronary heart disease
5 Jan 2004 : Column 188W
- receive timely and appropriate investigation and treatment to relieve their symptoms and reduce their risk of subsequent coronary events'.
The NICE guidance estimates that the additional cost of drug eluting stents would be between £6 million and £7.2 million per year, assuming the use of about 12,000 DES costing an additional £500 to £600 each.
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