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23 Feb 2004 : Column 268W—continued
Cardiac Care
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people from each primary care trust
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area in England received cardiac treatment at Brighton hospitals in the most recent year for which information is available. [154873]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 12 February 2004]: Information on number of people from each primary care trust (PCT) area in England who have received cardiac treatment at Brighton hospitals, is shown in the table. The latest information available is for 2002–03.
Notes:
1. Finished admission episodes—A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
2. All Operations count of Episodes—These figures represent a count of all FCEs where the procedure was mentioned in any of the 12 (4 prior to 2002–03) operation fields in a HES record. A record is only included once in each count, even if an operation is mentioned in more than one operation field of the record.
3. Low Numbers—Due to reasons of confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been suppressed and replaced with an asterisk.
4. Grossing—Figures have not (yet) been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.
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Care Homes
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of differences in fee levels for care home places in different parts of the country. [155806]
Dr. Ladyman: Independent data published in July 2003 found that the number of care home places available nationally exceeded demand by 10,000. Where there are local capacity issues to be addressed, it is for local councils to assess the need for care home places in their areas in the light of local circumstances and preferences and to commission services to meet assessed needs. They should act in consultation with people needing services and local providers.
Children's NHS Framework
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish the Children's National Health Service Framework; and if he will make a statement. [155539]
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Dr. Ladyman: The national service framework for children, young people and maternity services will be published later this year.
Clinical Negligence
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the national health service resulting from clinical negligence was in each year from 1990 to 2002. [156016]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The total cost of medical negligence in each year since 1996, as prepared by the National Audit Office and presented in the National Health Service Summarised Accounts for England, is in the table. Information for the period 1990 to 1995 was not collected centrally.
| In year expenditure | |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | £235 |
| 1997–98 | £144 |
| 1998–99 | £221 |
| 1999–2000 | £373 |
| 2000–01 | £415 |
| 2001–02 | £446 |
Note:
Changes to accounting policies imposed by Her Majesty's Treasury over the years mean that these amounts are not directly comparable.
Community Health Councils
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for how many former community health council premises which are empty, payments for (a) leases, (b) rent, (c) rates and (d) security costs are still being made; [149762]
- (2) what the estimated cost is of (a) maintaining and (b) securing empty community health council premises until alternative uses have been found. [149763]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There are currently 96 vacant community health council offices and the estimated cost for rent, rates, services and security is £1.62 million per annum. A number of these premises are under offer or are awaiting sale or assignment to other bodies, including national health service organisations, and the position will change as these progress.
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of abolishing community health councils. [149776]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is not possible to give the exact costs for abolishing community health councils (CHCs). We have estimated the running costs for CHCs from 1 April to 1 December 2003 and for a residual period up to March 2004 at £15 million. Additionally, redundancy costs are estimated at £14.9 million and the estimated costs for rent, rates, servicing and security of vacant CHC offices is £1.62 million per annum. A number of these premises are under offer or are awaiting sale or assignment to other bodies, including national health service organisations, and the position will change as these progress.
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Nappies
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action the Government is taking to promote the use of reusable nappies in hospitals. [154771]
Dr. Ladyman: The Government firmly believes that women and their families should be given information on the use of both re-usable and disposable nappies to make an informed choice. The Pregnancy Book and Birth to Five are two comprehensive information booklets produced by the Department of Health, which are given free to all first time mothers. Both publications give detailed information on both reusable and disposable nappies, including information about nappy laundering services, and suggest that parents ask their midwife to show them how to fold/pin terry nappies if they decide to use them.
It is for individual units and trusts to decide on the practicalities of promoting the use of terry nappies in their own maternity units.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS spent on the (a) purchase and (b) disposal of (i) disposable nappies and (ii) reusable nappies in the last year for which figures are available. [154772]
Dr. Ladyman: The National Health Service provides very few nappies for newborn babies; mothers are encouraged to provide their own nappies. The main exception is extremely premature babies, for whom commercially available nappies are too large. NHS-bought nappies are therefore provided.
The vast majority of nappies purchased by the NHS are provided for children with disabilities who are incontinent. We do not have central information on the purchase of reusable nappies.
During the financial year 2002–03, the NHS bought approximately 12 million disposable nappies, with a value of £1.5 million.
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