Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12 Jan 2004 : Column 599Wcontinued
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards achieving the national priorities guidance performance target to reduce the per capita rate of growth in emergency readmissions of people aged 75 years or over; and for what reasons the data collection for emergency admissions was changed to an all age base from 200304. [146208]
12 Jan 2004 : Column 600W
Dr. Ladyman: The performance target for the rate of emergency readmissions within 28 days of discharge for patients of all ages as set out in the priorities and planning framework for 200306, "Improvement, Expansion and Reform", is that there will be no growth. The rate at Quarter 4, 200203 was 5.5 per cent. The latest information available is the Quarter 2, 200304 figure, which shows no growth.
The target, and subsequently the collection of monitoring information on emergency readmissions, was changed from that relating only to patients aged 75 because it was perceived as being ageist in that older people could be denied access to hospital services in order to meet a performance target. Emergency readmissions targets and data collections have, therefore, covered all ages since 2002.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what progress his Department has made in its consideration of the indemnification of water supply companies against claims arising from fluoridation; [146011]
(3) what guidance his Department has given to strategic health authorities on evaluating public opinion on fluoridation of the water supply. [146013]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Section 58 of the Water Act 2003 provides for regulations to be made on both the process which strategic health authorities are to follow in order to consult and ascertain opinion on proposals to fluoridate their water supplies and the indemnities to be made available to water undertakers in respect of any liabilities which they may incur in fluoridating water. We plan to make these regulations, which are subject to affirmative resolution, during 2004. Subject to their approval, we will issue guidance to strategic health authorities on their implementation including standards for consultations which ensure that the views of both proponents and opponents of fluoridation are expressed and taken into account.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to approve the governance arrangements of the first wave of foundation hospitals. [145194]
Mr. Hutton: The Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 provides for national health service trusts to submit their applications for NHS foundation trust status to the Independent Regulator. The Independent Regulator must be satisfied that the applicant's constitution is in accordance with Schedule 1 of the Health and Social Care Act 2003 before granting an authorisation.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assistance his Department will offer foundation hospitals in developing (a) ethical and (b) environmental, (i) investment, (ii) banking and (iii) procurement policies. [145716]
12 Jan 2004 : Column 601W
Mr. Hutton: National Health Service foundation trusts will develop their own investment, banking and procurement policies, subject to any conditions set by the Independent Regulator in their terms of authorisation. NHS foundation trusts will not be subject to directions from the Department, but they will be able to continue to access guidance and best practice developed or disseminated by the Department and its agencies, including NHS Estates and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice has been given to trusts seeking foundation status on (a) building up an active membership and (b) demonstrating their understanding of mutual organisations. [146546]
Mr. Hutton: Department of Health officials are working with the first wave of applicants for national health service foundation trust status on membership issues, which includes holding regular meetings with the trusts. The advice given at the meetings includes significant input from the mutual sector both on building an active membership and developing a better understanding of the mutual sector. This is supported by a comprehensive source book, "NHS Foundation TrustsA guide to the governance arrangements", which was developed with advice from a group of external experts on governance.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is issued to NHS Trusts on the disposal of NHS assets; and what changes are proposed as a result of foundation status being achieved. [146547]
Mr. Hutton: Guidance on the disposal of surplus national health service property assets is contained in the Department's "Estatecode", a copy of which is available in the Library. Guidance on the accounting treatment for disposals of assets is contained in the NHS "Capital Accounting Manual", which is publicly available on the Department's web-site at www. doh.gov.uk.
Section 16 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 prevents NHS foundation trusts from disposing of NHS property designated as protected without the approval of the
12 Jan 2004 : Column 602W
Independent Regulator. The Independent Regulator will be issuing guidance on this to NHS foundation trusts.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts have indicated that they will not be able to assure out-of-hours cover for general practitioners in (a) April 2004 and (b) August 2004. [143188]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 11 December 2003]: None. From April 2004, general practices will be able to opt out of out-of-hours services with the agreement of their primary care trust (PCT). PCTs will not agree to opt-outs unless they have put in place proper alternative arrangements. Opting out will become a right in all but exceptional circumstances from January 2005.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of general practitioners have indicated that they intend to opt out of 24-hour cover, broken down by (a) rural practices, (b) urban practices and (c) strategic health authority. [143189]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 11 December 2003]: Primary care trusts are working with their local practices to establish the position, but full information is not available. We expect, however, that the majority of general practitioners will choose to opt-out of responsibility for providing services overnight and at weekends.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) general practitioners' surgeries and (b) single-handed general practitioners' surgeries there were in each of the last five years for which figures are available in (i) England, (ii) each region and (iii) each strategic health authority. [144318]
Mr. Hutton: Data on the number of general practitioner partnerships, including single-handed practitioners is published annually and is available at http://www. doh.gov.uk/public/stats1.htm. The information requested is shown in the table. The total number of partnerships fell during the period 1998 to 2003 however there has been a steady trend towards larger partnerships and more general practitioners working in the national health service than ever before.
12 Jan 2004 : Column 603W
2001 | 2002 | June 2003 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UPE partners hips | of which: single-handed | UPE partners hips | of which: single-handed | UPE partners hips | of which: single-handed | ||||
England total | 8,817 | 2,534 | 8,748 | 2,482 | 8,750 | 2,485 | |||
Number of UPEs | 27,843 | 28,031 | 28,384 | ||||||
North | 2,653 | 769 | 2,632 | 760 | 2,635 | 750 | |||
Northumberland, Tyne & Wear | 237 | 48 | 235 | 43 | 235 | 45 | |||
Country Durham & Tees Valley | 167 | 34 | 168 | 36 | 176 | 40 | |||
North & East Yorkshire & Northern Lincolnshire | 265 | 70 | 266 | 74 | 265 | 67 | |||
West Yorkshire | 378 | 108 | 375 | 99 | 378 | 101 | |||
Cumbria & Lancashire | 375 | 122 | 368 | 117 | 365 | 117 | |||
Greater Manchester | 562 | 201 | 555 | 202 | 553 | 196 | |||
Cheshire & Merseyside | 440 | 127 | 439 | 127 | 437 | 123 | |||
South Yorkshire | 229 | 59 | 226 | 62 | 226 | 61 | |||
Midlands & Eastern | 2,506 | 709 | 2,478 | 698 | 2,477 | 707 | |||
Norfolk, Suffolk & Cambridgeshire | 309 | 44 | 301 | 37 | 304 | 38 | |||
Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire | 230 | 53 | 229 | 51 | 230 | 51 | |||
Essex | 278 | 95 | 274 | 92 | 269 | 96 | |||
Trent | 426 | 91 | 424 | 94 | 420 | 88 | |||
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland | 226 | 53 | 223 | 48 | 226 | 54 | |||
Shropshire & Staffordshire | 271 | 104 | 267 | 100 | 271 | 106 | |||
Birmingham & the Black Country | 534 | 234 | 529 | 237 | 528 | 235 | |||
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire | 232 | 35 | 231 | 39 | 229 | 39 | |||
London | 1,691 | 717 | 1,675 | 701 | 1,698 | 717 | |||
North West London | 459 | 200 | 448 | 191 | 463 | 202 | |||
North Central London | 306 | 137 | 310 | 142 | 320 | 157 | |||
North East London | 380 | 192 | 378 | 191 | 372 | 182 | |||
South East London | 304 | 114 | 297 | 109 | 305 | 117 | |||
South West London | 242 | 74 | 242 | 68 | 238 | 59 | |||
South | 1,967 | 339 | 1,963 | 323 | 1,940 | 311 | |||
Thames Valley | 296 | 39 | 297 | 41 | 297 | 40 | |||
Hampshire & Isle of Wight | 238 | 25 | 240 | 24 | 235 | 27 | |||
Kent & Medway | 305 | 115 | 299 | 110 | 289 | 100 | |||
Surrey & Sussex | 367 | 69 | 367 | 60 | 366 | 61 | |||
Avon, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire | 324 | 42 | 323 | 38 | 325 | 39 | |||
South West Peninsula | 252 | 27 | 252 | 28 | 250 | 27 | |||
Dorset & Somerset | 185 | 22 | 185 | 22 | 178 | 17 |
(23) UPEs include QMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs and PMS Salaried GPs.
Note:
Data as at 1 October 199899, 30 September 200002 and 30 June 2003
'Single-handed' means an UPE who is not in partnership with another UPE although many so called 'single-handers' work with another GP qualified doctor.
Source:
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
12 Jan 2004 : Column 605W
Next Section | Index | Home Page |