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26 Apr 2004 : Column 837W—continued

Intermediate Care Places

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) intermediate care beds and (b) non-residential intermediate care places there were in March; and if he will make a statement. [168645]

Dr. Ladyman: The Department is currently collecting and validating this data. It is anticipated that the information will be available at the end of May 2004.
 
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Medical Students

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many students completed their studies in medicine at each university in each of the last six years; and how many in each year chose not to continue their training at hospitals within the United Kingdom. [161482]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 22 March 2004]: This information is not available in the form requested. There is no precise data on how many students do not complete undergraduate medical degree courses, nor on how many do not join the national health service medical workforce after graduating. However, apart from those overseas students who return home immediately upon graduating, we believe that virtually all graduates from English medical schools take up posts as pre-registration house officers (PRHOs) in the NHS within 18 months of graduating.

The number of students who graduated from medical schools in England in the last six years is shown in table 1.
1. Actual medical school output in England 1997–99 to 2002–03

	Total output of students
University	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03
University of Birmingham	155	169	169	192	191	189
University of Bristol	141	141	139	124	158	142
University of Cambridge	115	133	132	134	128	126
University of Leeds	153	181	189	158	155	155
University of Leicester	122	167	146	156	164	159
University of Liverpool	180	162	173	190	180	187
King's College (incl. United Medical and Dental Schools), London	322	320	359	309	308	322
University College Medical School (incl. Royal Free Hospital       School of Medicine), London	338	297	352	320	305	361
St. George's Hospital Medical School, London	189	150	157	160	127	189
Imperial College (St. Mary's and Charing Cross), London	269	207	263	257	275	273
Queen Mary's, London (Bart's and the London)	220	223	212	205	164	251
University of Manchester	280	280	306	304	279	352
University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne	164	137	161	182	193	178
University of Nottingham	162	152	168	164	188	197
University of Oxford	106	100	102	100	102	94
University of Sheffield	191	144	196	189	214	198
University of Southampton	154	134	149	142	149	149
Total England	3,261	3,097	3,373	3,286	3,280	3,522

Source:
Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The number of United Kingdom-qualified PRHOs in England in the last six years is shown in table 2.
2. UK qualified house officers in England 1998–2003

	Number
1998	3,173
1999	3,122
2000	3,297
2001	3,176
2002	3,205
2003	3,344

Source:
Department of Health medical and dental workforce survey.

Responsibility for Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish medical schools is the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

Mid and South Bucks Health Community

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the definition is of the Mid and South Bucks Health Community; and whether this body has a statutory basis in law. [167600]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 23 April 2004]: The term 'Mid and South Bucks Health Community' refers to both the providers of health services and the people who use or have access to the health services in the Mid and South Buckinghamshire area.

The body does not exist in law, but, within the geographical area of Mid and South Buckinghamshire there are the following trusts:

Chiltern and South Bucks Primary Care Trust (PCT).

Wycombe PCT.

Vale of Aylesbury PCT.

Buckinghamshire Hospitals National Health Service Trust.

Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Trust.

 
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Minimum Data Setting Software

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress in the use of minimum data setting software in the care sector. [161631]

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 16 March 2004]: I am not aware of any developments on minimum data setting software.

Work continues on the development of minimum data sets to support the sharing of information along care pathways and the production of comparative clinical information to enable services to monitor quality and clinical performance in each of the following national service framework areas:

Cancer

Coronary heart disease

Mental health

Older people, including single assessment, stroke, falls and dementia

Diabetes

Renal services

In relation to social services, which are not covered by the majority of the above, core information requirements for adult and elderly social services were published in August 2001. More recently the Department has published a document defining the electronic social care record.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those local authorities which have been trialling minimum data setting software; and when they are expected to make an evaluation of its effectiveness. [161632]

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 16 March 2004]: I am not aware of any nationally sponsored trials of minimum data setting software in local authorities.

Motor Neurone Disease

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his plans for (a) research into and (b) treatment of motor neurone disease. [167228]

Dr. Ladyman: The Government are investing an additional £40 million in stem cell research in 2004–06, which offers enormous potential in producing new treatments for diseases such as motor neurone disease (MND).

The Government are also funding the creation of a national stem cell bank. The first of its kind in the world, it will hold all types of stem cells as a resource for researchers.

The main Government agency for research into the causes of and treatments of diseases is the Medical Research Council (MRC) which receives its funding via the Department of Trade and Industry. The MRC spent £2 million in 2002–03 on research relevant to MND and on basic work on the function of motor neurones.

We are developing a national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions which will focus on services for people with neurological conditions such as MND.
 
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The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been asked to develop a clinical guideline on appropriate methods of feeding for patients who have difficulty in swallowing, which is due to be published in 2005.

We have also commissioned NICE to develop and publish evidence-based guidance on supportive and palliative care, which was published in March 2004.

Neurosurgical Consultants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many neurosurgical registrars are due to obtain a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training in each six month period over the next three years. [167067R]

Mr. Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table.
Number of expected CCST completion dates, in six month intervals, for Neurosurgical Registrars for England—as at 31 March 2003

Date	Expected Number
1 April 2004 to 31 September 2004	8
1 October 2004 to 31 March 2005	6
1 April 2005 to 31 September 2005	9
1 October 2005 to 31 March 2006	8
1 April 2006 to 31 September 2006	6
1 October 2006 to 31 March 2007	5

Source:
Department of Health Planning Extract—31 March 2003

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