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30 Apr 2004 : Column 1355W—continued

Knee/Hip Operations

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many replacement (a) knee and (b) hip joint operations have been carried out in each year since 1980. [168603]

Mr. Hutton: The following table shows the counts of finished consultant episodes for knee and hip replacement operations carried out in national health service hospitals in England for the years 1989–1990 to 2002–03. The Department is unable to provide data before 1989–1990, as the data collected before that year is not directly comparable to the hospital episode statistics currently collected.

	Count of hip replacement operations	Count of knee replacement operations
1989–90	51,732	12,817
1990–91	51,276	14,464
1991–92	56,973	17,688
1992–93	59,033	20,404
1993–94	60,363	23,052
1994–95	65,158	26,125
1995–96	66,436	29,750
1996–97	64,507	27,150
1997–98	63,033	27,592
1998–99	70,101	32,761
1999–2000	70,672	33,750
2000–01	73,444	37,412
2001–02	72,788	39,132
2002–03	77,902	46,036

Source:
Hospital episode statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Medication Review Curriculum

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards developing a medication review curriculum for (a) providers of education and (b) those seeking training on medication reviews; and if he will make a statement. [168708]

Mr. Hutton: The Department is not responsible for setting curricula for health professional training; that is rightly the responsibility of the statutory and professional bodies. However, we do share a
 
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commitment with those bodies that all health professionals are trained so that they have the skills and knowledge to deliver a high quality health service to all groups of the population with whom they deal.

National Service Frameworks

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what specific funding has been allocated for the implementation of each of the national service frameworks in each of the last three years. [168805]

Mr. Hutton: For 2002–03, there was limited earmarking of funds within health authorities' revenue allocations. The following sums formed part of the allocations with the intention that they were spent on the purpose for which they were included:

£76 million for cancer;

£60 million for CHD; and

£75 million for mental health.

For 2003–04 to 2005–06 there has been no earmarking of funds within primary care trust revenue allocations. None of the growth money has been identified for specific purposes.

Neurosurgical Consultants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many neurosurgical consultants are expected to retire in each of the next five years. [167060]

Mr. Hutton: Analysis of recent past data suggests that if we take account of those leaving for career breaks and other reasons, as well as those leaving for retirement, a total of around 11 or 12 neurosurgical consultants leave each year. This is more than offset by the number of new joiners, rejoiners and those recruited through various recruitment and retention initiatives. We would not expect the number of leavers to change very much over time.

North Bristol NHS Trust

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been lent by the NHS Bank to North Bristol NHS Trust in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04; and how much is expected to be lent in (c) 2004–05 and (d) 2005–06 and beyond; how much of this is expected to be repaid, and over what timescale; and if he will make a statement. [169014]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 27 April 2004]: Applications for NHS Bank assistance are made on behalf of national health service trusts by the managing strategic health authority (SHA). The North Bristol
 
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trust received the following sums from the overall sums made available to Avon Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA area.

	£ million
2002–2003	0
2003–2004	18.1

Final decisions have not been made on the level of special assistance for the SHA, but they expect the North Bristol trust to receive £20 million in 2004–05. No decision has been made on funding for 2005–06.

Decisions on recovery of funds will be determined at a later stage and may well involve reductions to capital resources as well as or instead of revenue.

Patient Experience

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 7 April 2004, ref 162425, on Patient Experience, if he will set out how the money for the Patient Experience project was spent. [167398]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The project sought the views of patients, the public and national health service staff to understand the key components of a positive patient experience.

The total cost of the patient experience project was £39,722.60. This figure can be broken down into the project fee and miscellaneous expenses, as shown in the tables.

	£
Project fee	36,190.00
Miscellaneous expenses	3,532.60
Total cost of project	39,722.60

These figures can be further broken down as follows:

	£
Project fee
2 x 1 day workshops with patients (@ £8,000 each)	16,000
2 x groups with the public (@ £2,000 each)	4,000
2 x mini-groups with young people (@ £1,600 each)	3,200
3 x depth interviews with people with mental health problems (@ £600 each)	1,800
2 x groups with health practitioners (@ £2,500 each)	5,000
30 x on-street interviews with public	800
VAT (17.5 per cent. of £30,800)	5,390
Total Project Fee (excluding miscellaneous expenses)	36,190
Miscellaneous expenses
Technical costs	1035.10
Accommodation and venue hire	1145.64
Travel expenses	825.58
VAT (17.5 per cent. of £3,007.32)	526.28
Total Miscellaneous Expenses (including VAT)	3532.60

Pension Schemes

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2004, Official Report, column 865W, on pension schemes, how many people have (a) transferred their pensions into
 
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the NHS scheme and (b) been refused such transfers in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [168047]

Mr. Hutton: The number of transfer payments accepted by the National Health Service Pension Scheme in England and Wales for each of the last five years is shown in the table. The NHS Pensions Agency does not record information about transfer applications that are rejected.

1 April to 31 March	Transfer payments accepted
2003–04	8,129
2002–03	8,223
2001–02	7,781
2000–01	7,591
1999–2000	8,382

HOME DEPARTMENT

Operation Artemis

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, under (1) what authority police officers on Operation Artemis ask gamekeepers to sign a pledge supporting the Operation; and what penalty applies to any gamekeeper who refuses to do so; [167194]

(2) what precedent there is for members of the public being asked to sign a pledge in support of a police operation; [167195]

(3) what statutory basis there is for police officers on Operation Artemis to demand access to private land without a search warrant; [167196]

(4) what the cost is of Operation Artemis. [167198]

Ms Blears: Police officers have no legal authority to ask gamekeepers to sign a pledge supporting Operation Artemis. Police officers request that pledge but nobody is compelled to make it impracticable to visit each person to ask them to sign a pledge. Operation Artemis is innovative in that it has identified and seeks to raise awareness specifically amongst those who may have a motive for committing offences against Hen Harriers. Given the numbers of breeding birds the Police service considered it possible to visit many of those persons who may have a motive for criminal action. The purpose of such visits is to make people aware of the importance of complying with the criminal law and advising them individually that the Police would be embarking upon enforcement action against those who choose not to comply with the law and commit criminal offences. The request to sign up to Operation Artemis amounts to confirmation that such advice has been received.

Police officers have no power to demand access to private land. They have powers to enter such land without search warrants if they have reasonable suspicion that certain offences may have taken place or under other authorities to carry out operations such as surveillance.

The statutory basis allowing police officers on Operation Artemis in England and Wales to enter any land without a search warrant is Section 19 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
 
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The costs of Operation Artemis cannot be quantified as in the main they have been met from existing Police budgets utilising officers whose duties are to address wildlife crime .Costs relating to the production of literature and other media have been met from contributions made by the Home Office, Defra and the Statutory Nature Conservation Organisations. The Home Office has provided 3,500 for CCTV cameras at nesting sites.

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