House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 1 Apr 2004 (pt 33)

1 Apr 2004 : Column 1664W—continued

Community Hospitals

Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned on the movement of NHS staff into and out of the community hospitals at (a) Townlands, (b) Wallingford, (c) Abingdon, (d) Wantage, (e) Watlington and (f) Didcot. [164100]

Ms Rosie Winterton: No research has been commissioned on the movement of national health service staff into and out of these community hospitals.

Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the retention rate of staff was in the latest period for which figures are available at the community hospitals at (a) Townlands, (b) Wallingford, (c) Abingdon, (d) Wantage, (e) Watlington and (f) Didcot. [164104]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Mr. Donaldson . To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to provide funding for research on the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy; [164345]

(3) what amount will be spent on researching treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy over the next five years. [164932]

1 Apr 2004 : Column 1665W

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 29 March 2004]: On 29 March 2004, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that the researchers supported by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign were successful in their bid for research funding. They have been awarded £1.6 million to fund research to underpin the development of a novel gene therapy treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Ethical and Environmental Investment Policies

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 603W, on ethical and environmental investment policies, whether this information will be (a) automatically sent to the foundation hospital trusts and (b) sent on request. [164638]

Mr. Hutton: I refer my hon. Friend to my response of 26 January 2004, Official Report, column 177W.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 603W, on ethical and environmental investment policies, if he will set minimum standards for the ethical and environmental investments. [164658]

Mr. Hutton: I refer my hon. Friend to my response of 10 February 2004, Official Report, column 1410W.

Foundation Trusts (Governorship Elections)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to ensure that the membership is announced in advance of any foundation trust governorship election; and what guidance he is providing to trusts on this matter.[R] [164033]

Mr. Hutton: The Public Benefit Corporation (Register of Members) Regulations 2004 were laid in Parliament on 5 March 2004. Subject to Parliamentary approval, they come into force on 1 April 2004 and set out how trusts should maintain registers of members once they have been authorised by the regulator. Registers are to be made public other than in the circumstances set out in the Regulations. The obligation to keep a public register of members only arises once a National health service trust receives an authorisation from the independent regulator to be a NHS foundation

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trust. Guidance on interpretation of the Regulations has been provided to all NHS trusts applying for NHS foundation trust status.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable is for forthcoming elections to the boards of governors of foundation trusts.[R] [164034]

Mr. Hutton: The timetable for elections to the board of governors is a matter for each applicant national health service trust. The Department has issued model rules and guidance and these are available in the Library. The Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 provides for the commencement of elections once a trust has made an application to the regulator. The independent regulator is responsible for ensuring that a NHS foundation trust's constitution, including its provisions for carrying out elections, is in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

General Medical Services Contract

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the quality and outcomes framework of the General Medical Services contract will be subject to review. [164900]

Mr. Hutton: An independent, United Kingdom-wide review group will be established by the end of this year and will review the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) from then. This will be an ongoing process. Any changes to the QOF of the new general medical services contract will be negotiated and agreed between the NHS Confederation and the British Medical Association.

General Practitioners

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners per head of population there were in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) England in each year since 1997. [162917]

Mr. Hutton: The Department collects figures by primary care trust (PCT) only, not by constituency .The number of unrestricted principals and equivalents (UPE) per head of population in South Tyneside PCT and primary care group (PCG) since 1999 and in Tyne and Wear, the North East and England since 1997 are shown in the table.

Unrestricted Principals and Equivalents ⁽⁵²⁾ (UPEs) per 100,000 patients for England, South Tyneside PCG/PCT,Tyne and Wear and the North East

Number (headcount)

North East 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

England 53 54 54 54 54 54 55

South Tyneside PCG n/a n/a 51 51 n/a n/a n/a

South Tyneside PCT — — — — 52 52 52

Tyne and Wear ⁽⁵³⁾ 53 53 54 55 57 59 61

North East 53 53 54 55 56 57 59

Number (headcount)
North East	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
England	53	54	54	54	54	54	55
South Tyneside PCG	n/a	n/a	51	51	n/a	n/a	n/a
South Tyneside PCT	—	—	—	—	52	52	52
Tyne and Wear ⁽⁵³⁾	53	53	54	55	57	59	61
North East	53	53	54	55	56	57	59

n/a = not available.

⁽⁵²⁾ Unrestricted Principals and Equivalents (UPEs) includes GMS Unrestricted Principals and Equivalents, PMS Contracted GPs and PMS Salaried GPs.

⁽⁵³⁾ The first PCTs were established in 2001, data previous to this was collected by health authorities figures for South Tyneside PCG appear comparable to South Tyneside PCT.

Sources:

Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.

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Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of patients were offered a first appointment with a general practitioner within two working days in (a) Crosby and (b) England in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [164360]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Data on the availability of appointments to see a general practitioner has been collected since September 2001. Since then, there has been great progress in offering patients the opportunity to see a GP quickly and the overwhelming majority of patients (nationally 96 per cent. at January 2004) can now see a GP within two working days. Data for England, for South Sefton and Southport and Formby primary care trusts (PCTs) and for the former Sefton Health Authority (HA) are shown in the table.

Percentage of patients being offered an appointment with a GP within 48 hours

England South Sefton PCT Southport and Formby PCT

January 2004 96.4 90.0 100.0

March 2003 88.2 90.4 100.0

1 March 2002⁽⁵⁴⁾ 74.6 78.0 ⁽⁵⁵⁾—

September 2001⁽⁵⁴⁾ 80.1 67.0 ⁽⁵⁵⁾—

	England	South Sefton PCT	Southport and Formby PCT
January 2004	96.4	90.0	100.0
March 2003	88.2	90.4	100.0
1 March 2002⁽⁵⁴⁾	74.6	78.0	⁽⁵⁵⁾—
September 2001⁽⁵⁴⁾	80.1	67.0	⁽⁵⁵⁾—

⁽⁵⁴⁾ Data collected between September 2001 and March 2002 are based on the percentage of practices, not patients and are not strictly comparable but are included here for completeness.

⁽⁵⁵⁾ Sefton HA results cover both PCTs.

Health Promotion England

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2004, Official Report, column 856W, on Health Promotion England, what happened to the underspends. [159128]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Health Promotion England was funded from the Department's central budget programme in 2000–01 and 2001–02. Typically, underspends from individual budgets within the

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programme would have been available for redeployment across the remainder of the central budget programme.

The fact that individual budgets within the overall central budget programme show underspends or overspends against individual allocations is not significant. The large central revenue programmes are managed, controlled and reconciled through the use of overall budget envelopes rather than on a specific budget or area basis.

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