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6 Feb 2004 : Column 1129W—continued
Intermediate Care
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people he estimates have been diverted from requiring long-term care by the provision of intermediate care in the last three years. [152816]
Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally. However the Department of Health has commissioned independent national research into the effectiveness of intermediate care, the results of which will be available in 2005–06.
Further information about the research projects can be obtained from the websites www.prw.le.ac.uk/intcare and www.nuffield.leeds.ac.uk.
Lottery Revenue
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total value is of Lottery revenue used to support Government-sponsored projects within his Department since 1997. [149628]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 26 January 2004]: The Department has no policy or operational responsibility for distribution of National Lottery proceeds. I refer the hon. Member to the response give by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Arts at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on 26 January 2004, Official Report, column 45W.
Medical Research (Animals)
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the nature of the (a) financial and (b) other support given by Government towards the recent report by MORI, "The Use of Animals in Medical Research", on behalf of the Coalition for Medical Progress. [152615]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government contributed 50 per cent. of the cost of the 2002 MORI poll on the use of animals in medical research. This poll updated the 1999 MORI poll carried out for the Medical Research Council. The results were published on the Coalition for Medical Progress (CMP) website at www.medicalprogress.org in March 2003. No other financial support has been given to the CMP, which is funded by subscription from its members. Government Ministers have spoken at events organised by CMP to set out Government policy on the regulation of the use of animals in scientific procedures.
Memory Clinics
Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to assess the adequacy of the provision of memory clinics in England. [152801]
Dr. Ladyman: It is the responsibility of strategic health authorities to assess the development of these services.
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Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when a decision will be made on including pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the childhood vaccination schedule. [151314]
Miss Melanie Johnson: We do not have a firm date for when such a decision will be made, pending current research.
Prevenar
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding he has approved for the provision of the vaccine Prevenar on the national health service. [142932]
Miss Melanie Johnson: In order to make a decision about committing budgets to this vaccine we need to be certain that the vaccine is cost effective, that it can be introduced to the childhood programme safely and effectively and that we are confident of vaccine supplies. We will review the Department's spending plans when we are confident that the vaccine will deliver real benefits.
Registered Nursing Care
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the cost of the registered nursing care contribution in (a) 2002–03, (b) 2003–04, (c) 2004–05 and (d) 2005–06. [152814]
Dr. Ladyman: The additional allocations for national health service funded nursing care in 2002–03 and 2003–04 were £220 million and £584 million. The proposed allocations for 2004–05 and 2005–06 are £582 million and £584 million respectively. The figure for 2002–03 relates to self-funding residents only, and the other figures relate to all eligible care home residents, including those previously supported by local councils. It is for primary care trusts to manage their obligations effectively, within the total resources available.
Sexual Health
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) radio and (b) television channels he has used for sexual health campaigns since he published the sexual health strategy. [151312]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The table shows the radio stations that have been used to broadcast advertisements as part of the Government's 'Sex Lottery' campaign, launched in 2002, to raise awareness of sexually transmitted infections and promote safer sex among 18 to 30-year-olds. No television channels have been used to date.
6 Feb 2004 : Column 1131W
Statistics
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the reasons for wide variations in MRSA bacteraemia statistics between hospital trusts; and whether the variations are linked to the size of the sample numbers used. [145043]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Generally methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia rates will be higher in trusts that care for more vulnerable patients and that undertake more invasive and high-risk specialist care. A high rate does not necessarily mean that these trusts are poor performers in either infection control or other performance measures but indicate a need for further investigation. For example large teaching hospitals may import infections when patients are transferred in for specialist care.
A proportion of bacteraemias in all types of hospital are preventable and the aim is to lower MRSA bacteraemias overall. It is important that all trusts
6 Feb 2004 : Column 1132W
examine their MRSA bacteraemias to assess how much is preventable and to take appropriate control measures.
The mandatory surveillance system includes all bacteraemia reports and not a representative sample. Further information on interpreting this complex dataset is available on the Department of Health website at http://www.doh.gov.uk/cmo/mrsadata/
Statutory Sick Pay
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people employed in his Department have claimed statutory sick pay for (a) less than one week, (b) one to three weeks, (c) four to six weeks, (d) seven to 12 weeks, (e) 13 to 20 weeks and (f) 21 to 28 weeks in each year since 1997. [148627]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The report, "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service", is published annually.
It describes and comments upon the amount and type of sickness absence recorded by the Home Civil Service and its individual Departments and Agencies. The report is available on the internet at: http://www. cabinet-office.gov.uk/civilservice/publications/sickness/index.htm
Copies are also available in the Library.
Waiting Times
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average length of time a patient was on the waiting list for treatment for (a) cancer, (b) heart disease, (c) hip replacement and (d) liver complaints was in (i) St. Helens and Knowsley Authority, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) the North West Region in each year since 1992; [141477]
- (2) how many (a) cancer, (b) heart disease, (c) hip replacement and (d) liver complaint patients resident in St. Helens were on a waiting list for treatment in each year since 1992. [141478]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Figures on the average waiting times are not available. The information requested on the number of people waiting for treatment is shown in the following table. Data specifically on liver disease and hip replacement are not collected centrally.
| Specialty | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Organisation | Cardiology | Clinical oncology | |
| 1993–94 | St. Helens and Knowsley District Health Authority | 120 | 8 |
| 1994–95 | St. Helens and Knowsley District Health Authority | 133 | 12 |
| 1995–96 | St. Helens and Knowsley District Health Authority | n/a | n/a |
| 1996–97 | St. Helens and Knowsley Health Authority | 103 | 5 |
| 1997–98 | St. Helens and Knowsley Health Authority | 188 | 4 |
| 1998–99 | St. Helens and Knowsley Health Authority | 179 | 2 |
| 1999–2000 | St. Helens and Knowsley Health Authority | 200 | 5 |
| 2000–01 | St. Helens and Knowsley Health Authority | 125 | 3 |
| 2001–02 | St. Helens and Knowsley Health Authority | 303 | 5 |
| 2002–03 | St. Helens PCT | 217 | 4 |
| 2002–03 | Knowsley PCT | 184 | 3 |