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9 Feb 2004 : Column 1206W—continued
NHS Trusts
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what rules govern recruitment by the Department of people appointed to run trust franchises before their contract has expired. [153272]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 6 February 2004]: All external recruitment into the Department is governed by the provisions of the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code.
NHS Waste Site Thefts
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on thefts of (a) controlled drugs and (b) time-expired pharmaceuticals from sites disposing of NHS waste. [150441]
Mr. Hutton: Controlled drugs or pharmaceuticals for disposal are defined as special waste and must only be disposed of at waste disposal sites licensed by the Environment Agency (EA) to dispose of special waste. The national health service is required to complete consignment notes as part of the waste disposal audit procedure required by the EA. Although there is an expectation that the NHS will undertake periodic checks to ensure that this waste is properly disposed of, the prime responsibility for guarding against thefts at the waste disposal sites rests with the waste disposal contractor.
NICE
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland about the extension of National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines to Northern Ireland; what criteria are involved in deciding whether a guideline will be extended; and if he will make a statement. [152258]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: Officials in the Department have had preliminary discussions with their Northern Ireland counterparts about the development of links between the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and Northern Ireland. No conclusions have yet been reached.
NICE guidance is freely available on its website and can be adopted by any Government or health service that wishes to do so.
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish a dedicated investigation into the implementation by NHS trusts of National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance. [153220]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We have no plans to establish such an investigation. The National Cancer Director is currently reviewing the uptake of cancer drugs approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). The Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAI) will inspect against healthcare standards, which are currently under development and these are likely to require National Health Service treatment and care to be based upon nationally agreed best practice and guidance, including that issued by NICE.
Nurses
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses working in the NHS have been recruited from developing countries under (a) memoranda of understanding and (b) bilateral agreements with other countries in each of the last five years. [150651]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 26 January 2004]: The Department signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine Government last year. To date, the national health service has recruited 176 nurses directly through the agreement.
The Department has an agreement with the Ministry of Health in India. To date, the NHS has recruited 431 nurses directly as a result of this agreement.
We have recently signed a memorandum of understanding with South Africa to offer South African and English health care professionals the chance to go on time-limited placements to the other country.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses working within the NHS have come to the United Kingdom from developing countries in each of the last five years, broken down by country of origin. [150657]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 26 January 2004]: The information requested is not collected centrally.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register all nurses who work in the United Kingdom and produce a statistical breakdown of their register. An analysis of the register can be found on the NMC website at www.nmc-uk.org.
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Orlistat
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescription items of Orlistat were dispensed in the community in England in 2003; and how many children received the drug. [152002]
Miss Melanie Johnson: From January to September 2003, 374,300 items of Orlistat were dispensed in the community in England. The number of items prescribed to children is not available. However, in 2002, out of the 541,400 items dispensed, an estimated 3,000 were for children.
Permanent Vegetative State
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many requests for withdrawal of food and fluid to patients in permanent vegetative state have been (a) made and (b) refused in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [152772]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In proceedings where a request has been made to withdraw artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) from a patient in a permanent vegetative state (PVS), the Official Solicitor acts as a Litigation Friend of the Patient.
The Official Solicitor has been involved in a total of 36 cases in the last 10 years, in which a declaration from the court has been obtained that it is lawful for ANH to be withdrawn from a patient in PVS. The breakdown according to the year is shown in the table.
| Year | Number of declarations |
|---|---|
| 1993 | 1 |
| 1994 | 3 |
| 1995 | 4 |
| 1996 | 2 |
| 1997 | 3 |
| 1998 | 5 |
| 1999 | 1 |
| 2000 | 7 |
| 2001 | 3 |
| 2002 | 4 |
| 2003 | 3 |
There have not been any such cases which have reached the court for a decision and a declaration has not been granted.
Prescription Charges (Exemption)
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria are used to determine which diseases warrant prescription charge exemption. [153226]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The list of medical conditions conferring prescription charge exemption was introduced in 1968. It was agreed in discussion with the medical profession. We have no plans to change it.
Renal Services
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will launch the modernisation programmes he announced to support the implementation and delivery of the first part of the Renal Services National Service Framework; whether the programmes will take account of the views of all stakeholders involved in the renal
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field; whether his Department will be running implementation workshops for primary care trusts; and whether the programmes will be designed to help primary care trusts to meet the standards that need to be met by (a) 2006 and (b) 2014. [152965]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The national service framework (NSF) for Renal Services—part one: dialysis and transplantation set out plans for five modernisation programmes:
- re-designing the workforce
- re-engineering elective dialysis access surgery
- re-designing hospital access (patient transport)
- re-designing care plans for partnership and choice
- re-designing the built environment
Work is in hand to develop the programmes together with key stakeholders.
Expressions of interest are presently being sought from renal units, with the support of their strategic health authorities, to establish two pilot sites to develop effective workforce models for renal services, focusing particularly on elective dialysis access surgery.
Pilot sites for improving patient transport services for people needing haemodialysis treatment will be sought later this year. This programme will complement other work to develop a framework of eligibility criteria for all people who use patient transport services.
A patient conference on care plans and choice was held in December 2003 and the outputs from that are informing the next stage of this programme.
A new Health Building Note on satellite dialysis units was published on 14 January and further guidance on main renal units and transplant centres will follow later this year.
We have announced that a renal advisory group is being set up ensure that part two of the NSF is prepared with implementation in mind, and to provide national advice to support the pilot programmes, which will be key to implementation of part one. The advisory group will be able to form a view on how local arrangements are developing and how renal networks are shaping up.
Saxon Square Health Centre (Christchurch)
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on which date the health centre at Saxon Square, Christchurch was vacated by the NHS; what steps have been taken by the NHS to dispose of the building; and how much has been spent on (a) security and (b) rates on the property since its vacation. [150535]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 26 January 2004]: Efforts to dispose, by way of auction or private treaty, of this second floor leasehold accommodation continue to be hampered by the restrictive covenants contained within the lease. The health centre was vacated in 1989 and work is on-going to secure an assignee or sub tenant. Figures are available from 1999 and show that some £257 and £73,600 has been spent on security and rates respectively since that date.
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