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Mersey Regional Ambulance Service

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (1) if he will place in the Library the conclusions of Pearl Brown's report into the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service; [165341]

(2) pursuant to his answer of 10 March 2004, Official Report, column 1606W, on NHS trust documents, what changes of policy took place between the date the Department obtained copies of the lone worker policy of the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service and the date it was asked to place a copy of Ms Pearl Brown's report in the Library; what his policy is on the documents and types of documents his Department is prepared to obtain at the request of honourable Members when those documents are not among those it routinely collects; why the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority has been able to obtain a copy of Pearl Brown's report; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that recommendations made in Pearl Brown's report are implemented. [165479]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 19 April 2004]: There has been no change to the Department's policy on obtaining National Health Service documents. The Department would not generally seek to obtain copies of documents or information which it did not already hold. This approach is in line with the Open Government Code of Practice on Access to Government Information and is consistent with the relationship between the Department and NHS organisations following the Shifting the Balance of Power initiative.

The requested documents were provided because they were publicly available. The Pearl Brown report on the management of the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service is a confidential document. At the time of commissioning the report, Pearl Brown agreed that the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority (SHA) would receive a copy.

The report was commissioned solely by the trust, and neither the Department nor the Cheshire and Merseyside SHA had any input to it. The responsibility for implementing the recommendations of the report lies with the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Musculoskeletal Disease

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to include the management of musculoskeletal pain within the terms of the new general practitioner contract; and if he will make a statement. [166205]

Mr. Hutton: Changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) of the new General Medical Services Contract will be negotiated between the NHS Confederation and the British Medical Association, following recommendations from an independent,
 
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United Kingdom wide review group. The independent review group will decide what disease areas to consider for addition to the QOF.

NHS Property Sales

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the cost to the Department was of the decision to terminate the sale of surplus NHS properties to Miller/HBOS, including costs borne by the potential acquirer, for which the Department will have to pay compensation; [168346]

(2) what discussions the Department has had with Miller/HBOS about the compensation for costs incurred on the aborted property transaction. [168347]

Mr. Hutton: Discussions about levels of compensation are continuing. Once concluded any sums agreed will be declared in the Department's accounts.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when Miller/HBOS were advised that the deal to sell them the surplus NHS sites would no longer go ahead. [168348]

Mr. Hutton: Miller/Halifax Bank of Scotland were formally informed by NHS Estates that they would not be proceeding with the proposed real estate partnership on 19 December 2003.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the proceeds of the sale of surplus NHS sites to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be; what they would have been under the aborted sale to Miller/HBOS; when the receipts will be received; when they would have been received from Miller/HBOS, and how many affordable houses (a) will be built and (b) would have been built on the site under the aborted sale to Miller/HBOS. [168349]

Mr. Hutton: Negotiations concerning the proposed real estate partnership with Miller/Halifax Bank of Scotland had not concluded when the decision was taken not to proceed and it is not possible to say what the final terms would have been, nor the timings of any payments.

Discussions are still underway with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) on the timing of any transfer and the market value of the sites.

The number of affordable homes to be built on those sites which are transferred will be determined by the ODPM and the planning process.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the current owners of each of the surplus NHS sites to be sold to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. [168352]

Mr. Hutton: All the properties are owned by the Secretary of State for Health, other than a small number where a leasehold interest is held.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that the proceeds of the sale of each of the surplus NHS sites should be given to the relevant local primary care trust or other local NHS trusts. [168353]

 
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Mr. Hutton: No. All of the sites to be transferred to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have been identified as surplus for some time. The cost of managing surplus properties rests with central budgets and these are credited with the benefit of any receipts.

Cash surpluses are added to normal allocations and passed out to the benefit of the entire national health service.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the proceeds of the sale of surplus NHS sites to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be (a) retained by the Department for use on (i) capital and (ii) revenue projects that it specifies and (b) allocated to the local NHS trust in the areas where land sales will take place. [168354]

Mr. Hutton: Proceeds from the sale of surplus land are treated as capital receipts. The net sale receipts, after holding and sale costs have been paid, is added to the overall capital allocations and passed out to the national health service. No funds are earmarked for use either locally or nationally.

NHS Usage Statistics

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the percentage of people using the NHS in (a) 2005 and (b) 2010 who will be above retirement age. [165878]

Mr. Hutton: The Government Actuary's Department forecasts that in 2005 16 per cent. of the population will be aged 65 or over, and in 2010, 17 per cent.

Older people will typically make greater use of the national health service (NHS). In 2000–01 people aged 65 or over accounted for approximately 41 per cent. of total expenditure, despite accounting for only 16 per cent. of the population (Office for National Statistics). Assuming the same pattern of use, a similar proportion of NHS expenditure will be accounted for by patients aged over 65 in 2005, with perhaps a small rise by 2010. Derek Wanless, in his interim report on the long-term demographic and medical trends that will affect the health service, "Securing our future health: taking a long-term view", November 2001, commented that "the impact of ageing on future expenditure is likely to be comparatively small compared to other cost drivers".

Nursing Provision

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) district nurses, (b) health visitors and (c) midwives there were in each Greater London NHS Trust in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) headcount and (ii) whole-time equivalent. [168941]

Mr. Hutton: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Obesity

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of excess deaths linked to obesity in each of the last five years. [169048]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not available.
 
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Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many different anti-obesity drugs are prescribed in the NHS; [169049]

(2) how many prescriptions for obesity drugs have been issued in each of the last five years. [169057]

Miss Melanie Johnson: In 2003, six different chemical entities of drugs used in the treatment of obesity were dispensed in the community in England. However, Orlistat and Sibutramine (the two National Institute for Clinical Excellence-appraised drugs) accounted for virtually all the items (99.96 per cent. of total items).

The table shows the number of prescriptions for obesity drugs issued in the last five years.
Thousand

	Number of prescription items (obesity drugs)
1999	148.1
2000	162.3
2001	470.3
2002	738.9
2003	690.0

Source:
Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) data from the Prescription Pricing Authority.

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