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9 Feb 2004 : Column 1203W—continued
Dentistry
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of dental academics teaching dental students in each year since 1990; and if he will make a statement. [152829]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of dental academics in each year since 1990 is not held centrally. A survey undertaken by Universities UK in 2001 showed that there were 476 academic posts in the 15 dental schools in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the problem of clinical dental technicians illegally performing dental procedures in the UK; and if he will make a statement; [152830]
- (2) how many prosecutions of clinical dental technicians working illegally in the UK there were in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [152831]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The table shows the number of prosecutions for illegal dental practice undertaken by the General Dental Council (GDC). These do not all involve technicians.
| Total prosecutions | Total convictions | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3 | 3 |
| 2001 | 20 | 19 |
| 2002 | 7 | 7 |
| 2003 | 10 | 9 |
| 2004 | 2 | 1 |
The Department is working with the GDC to provide for the registration of appropriately trained clinical dental technicians. An Order to amend the Dentists Act 1984 is being drafted under Section 60 of the Health Act 1999 which, after the necessary consultations, will be laid before Parliament later this year.
General Practitioners
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners there were per head of population in (a) Brent East, (b) Brent Primary Care trust area, (c) London and (d) England on the latest date for which figures are available. [149900]
Mr. Hutton: The latest comparative figures available for general practitioners (GP) in England, London and Brent primary care trust (PCT) is for 2001 and is shown in the table.
Between 2001 and 2002 the number of whole-time equivalent GPs in Brent PCT has increased by 15.
The Department of Health collects figures by PCT only, not by constituency.
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| England as at30 September2001 | All practitioners(12) | Population | Practitioners per 100,000 population |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 28,854 | 49,389,736 | 58.4 |
| Of which: | |||
| London | 4,261 | 7,307,911 | 58.3 |
| Of which: | |||
| Brent PCT | 167 | 263,629 | 63.4 |
(12) All Practitioners include GMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, GP Registrars, Salaried Doctors (Para 52 SFA), PMS Other and GP Retainers.
Notes:
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.
Source:
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics 2001 ONS Population Census.
Height and Weight Monitoring (Young Children)
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy for the (a) height and (b) weight of (i) pre-school, (ii) infant school and (iii) junior school children to be monitored on a regular basis. [154143]
Dr. Ladyman: Height and weight measurements in early childhood form a part of the child health surveillance programme. Intervals between checks are determined by the primary health care team in the light of professional judgement. Height and weight monitoring after school entry is undertaken on a selective basis when there is concern about a child's health or growth.
Life Expectancy
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the effect of obesity on life expectancy; and what research his Department has commissioned into projected levels of life expectancy of the population of the UK in this century. [152181]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The National Audit Office report, Tackling Obesity in England, published in 2001, found that deaths linked to obesity shortened life by an average of nine years.
The Government Actuary's Department report, published in December 2003, projected the average life expectancy at birth would increase from 75.9 years in 2002 to 81.0 in 2031 for men and from 80.5 years to 84.9 years for women over the same period.
Mindnseek Website
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hits have been recorded for the website mindnseek.net since it was established; and what evaluation of the project has been undertaken. [149863]
Ms Rosie Winterton: From its launch in February 2003 until October 2003 (the most recent time for which figures are available), there were 3,179,390 hits for the mindnseek website. The average time spent on the site in this time was 41 minutes.
9 Feb 2004 : Column 1205W
Evaluation of the Read the Signs campaign, of which the mindnseek website is a component, was conducted between March and April 2003. A copy of the Report of Findings has been placed in the Library. Further evaluation of the website will be carried out as part of the overall "mind out for mental health" campaign evaluation at the end of the current financial year.
NHS Bank
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) budget, (b) turnover and (c) outturn was for the NHS Bank in each of the last three years. [151568]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Budget | Allocated | Expenditure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002–03 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 2003–04 | 152 | 152 | 152 |
NHS Budgets
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he has taken to ensure that primary care trusts serving areas where targets for additional housing have been set under the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's community plan will be provided with sufficient (a) revenue and (b) capital funding to meet consequential changes in demand for health services; [151635]
- (2) what steps are being taken to meet budget requirements of each primary care trust serving areas of expanding population in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06. [151705]
Mr. Hutton: Revenue allocations for the provision of healthcare, made to primary care trusts (PCTs) for 2003–04 to 2005–06 were announced on 11 December 2002. There are no plans to revisit these allocations.
Any changes in PCT population figures will be taken into account for the next round of allocations. Preparatory work for the next allocations round, covering the period up to 2007–08, will commence shortly.
The Department of Health has started to analyse the impact on health care need of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister growth area initiative. This is ongoing work and we are still considering the appropriateness of providing additional funding for these areas.
NHS Buildings
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards the target of reducing the value of NHS building backlog maintenance by 25 per cent. by 2004. [150043]
Mr. Hutton: NHS Estates collects data on backlog maintenance from national health service trusts through its Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC). The latest data relate to 2002–03 and these remain the
9 Feb 2004 : Column 1206W
subject of a statistical validation exercise which will be completed shortly. Once the validation exercise is complete I will write to the hon. Member.
NHS Governance
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria the Health Ombudsman uses in deciding whether to investigate a complaint against a health authority; and what assessment the Ombudsman makes of convenors' reports in making decisions about investigating complaints. [152156]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is a matter for the Health Service Ombudsman.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he issues to health authorities on the timescale for dealing with complaints. [152157]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Guidance on the operation the national health service complaints procedure was issued in March 1996, including details on the performance targets for dealing with complaints. The guidance is available on the Department's website at www. doh.gov.uk/complaints.
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