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Flu Vaccine

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on advertising the free influenza vaccine. [152759]

Miss Melanie Johnson: £1,411,000.00 was spent on this year's flu advertising campaign.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies his Department undertook to find the most effective way of informing people about their eligibility for the free influenza vaccine. [152760]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Each year, the Department conducts research before and after the advertising campaign to measure awareness among our target audience. Research has consistently proved television as the best media for advertising free flu vaccination.

Glenfield Hospital

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients at the Herschel Prins Low Secure Unit at the Glenfield Hospital site in Leicestershire have been found not to have mental health problems. [154636]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally.

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of building the Herchel Prins Unit at Glenfield Hospital in Leicestershire; what its running costs were in the last financial year; and what this cost was per patient. [154637]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected in the format requested.

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Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have escaped from the Herschel Prins Unit at Glenfield Hospital in Leicestershire in the last year. [154638]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally.

General Practitioners

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the procedure is for transferring general practitioner held records when a patient moves practices. [153750]

Mr. Hutton: When a patient registers with a new general practitioner, the doctor will request the transfer of medical records via the primary care trust.

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what investigation he has made of delays in transferring general practitioner records when a patient moves. [153794]

Mr. Hutton: A survey conducted by the Department in 1997 showed that, on average, 85 per cent. of medical records were transferred within the timescale guidance issued by the Department. These targets are six weeks for routine cases and two working days for urgent cases.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the arrangements are for (a) setting, (b) regulating, (c) monitoring and (d) reporting on performance and clinical governance standards for (i) private agencies and (ii) NHS organisations providing out-of-hours GP services. [152742]

Mr. Hutton: At present, all organisations providing out of hours—both private and not-for-profit—have to meet nationally set quality standards and report to primary care trusts (PCTs) on performance, including clinical governance.

Under the new general medical services (GMS) contract, anyone who provides services out of hours, including individuals contracted by the PCT, and organisations, will need to meet national quality standards. These standards are currently under review by an expert group to make them an integral part of GMS and personal medical services contracting. Strategic health authorities will performance manage PCTs in their delivery of out of hours services.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners recruited through flexible career schemes were working as locums in the NHS before joining the scheme. [153110]

Mr. Hutton: The most recent data available is from the June 2003 census, which showed that, of the 85 general practitioners who were counted as flexible career scheme doctors, 25 had last been counted in the census as a locum.

Haemophilia

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what access patients in the South West have to treatment that is in accordance with national standards

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for haemophilia care published in the National Service Specification for Haemophilia and Related Conditions in 2001; and if he will make a statement; [154576]

(2) what plans he has for the provision of a comprehensive care centre for haemophilia in the South West; and if he will make a statement. [154577]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Our policy, "Shifting the Balance of Power", means that the local national health service has responsibility for planning and developing health services according to local needs and demands.

In 2001, The Haemophilia Alliance produced a National Service Specification for a service that allows people with haemophilia the best care that can be made available. The Government welcomed this model service specification, which sets out clear standards of care for patients with inherited bleeding disorders. NHS commissioners of haemophilia services will find the document an invaluable resource when planning and developing services for patients.

I understand that there are 10 haemophilia centres throughout the South West region, which provide a good range of services between them. The United Kingdom Haemophilia Centre Doctor's Organisation (UKHCDO) is the body responsible for designating comprehensive care centres, and I am informed that the haemophilia centre directors in the South West are in regular contact with the chair of the UKHCDO about the provision of services in the South West.

The following is a list of the Haemophilia Centres in the South West:

Bath, Bristol (Infirmary and Children's) for the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area

Bournemouth/Poole, Dorchester, Taunton/Yeovil for the Dorset and Somerset SHA area

Barnstaple, Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Truro for the South West Peninsula SHA area.

Integrated Community Equipment Service Group

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out the work programme for the Integrated Community Equipment Service Group for 2004.[R] [154992]

Dr. Ladyman: The integrating community equipment services team will continue to support local equipment services as they further develop their integration during 2004. The team members do this through:

supporting regional networks of service leads and, during this year, they will aim to help the networks become self-sustaining

visiting services, particularly those that appear to need extra help

maintaining a popular and informative internet site: www.icesdoh.org/.

Joint Consultative Forum

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met his counterparts from the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament in the joint consultative forum. [154090]

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Ms Rosie Winterton: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, has regular meetings with his counterparts from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Junior Doctors

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the protection of salary for junior doctors working at hospitals as part of a rotation, with particular reference to Great Ormond Street. [R] [153418]

Mr. Hutton: Junior doctors receive a banding supplement reflecting the amount and intensity of their out of hours work. When junior doctors contract for a rotation they are made aware of the bandings of the posts they will be working in. As circumstances change, posts may be adjusted and rebanded and the pay for new entrants to such posts may reduce to a level commensurate with the work undertaken. However, for those already contracted to fill those posts, rotation pay protection (built into the national contract for all doctors in training) applies.

National health service trusts are responsible for ensuring that appropriate rotation and salary arrangements are in place for junior doctors, in line with national guidance.

Under those arrangements, there is regular monitoring to ensure that rotas are satisfactory, that junior doctors hours are within agreed limits and that safe services are provided.

Great Ormond Street has these arrangements in place and policies and procedures under which any concerns can be raised and addressed.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of whether hospitals are changing junior doctors' hours of work statistics to ensure that they conform to the (a) New Deal and (b) European Working Time Directive.[R] [153734]

Mr. Hutton: Information collected on junior doctors' hours in the assessment of New Deal compliance, as required by their contract of employment, is based on information supplied by the junior doctors themselves. Before this data is collated centrally, it is validated by junior doctors at national health service trust level. We have no reason to suppose that these returns are anything but an accurate representation of the work situation. Information is not collected centrally on Working Time Directive compliance at trust level; this is a matter for the hospitals concerned.

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