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11 May 2004 : Column 318W—continued
NHS Staff (Manchester)
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS (a) doctors and (b) nurses there were in Manchester, Gorton in each of the last seven years. [167383]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Northumbria NHS Trust
Mr. Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to improve accident and emergency services at hospitals within the Northumbria NHS Trust since 1997. [170420]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The following steps have been taken to improve accident and emergency services at Northumbria Healthcare:
Opening a rapid assessment and treatment unit.
Expansion of the A&E consultant team to 10 consultants at the North Tyneside General Hospital and Wansbeck General Hospital.
A major refurbishment and extension of the two A&E departments.
Opening of a dedicated minor injuries area.
Development of a dedicated emergency nurse practitioner services at both hospital sites.
Development of an emergency nurse practitioner services in community hospitals.
Introduction of care facilitators across the trust to reduce delays during hospital care and to help co-ordinate the patient's journey.
The emergency services collaborative has also helped to redesign systems and unnecessary steps out of the patient pathway. This is being continued under the Improving Partnership in Hospitals programme.
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Osteoporosis
Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he expects the first National Service Framework osteoporosis milestone to be achieved by April. [169872]
Dr. Ladyman: The national service framework for older people requires integrated falls services to be in place locally by April 2005. This should include appropriate links to osteoporosis. The Department will be monitoring formally the 2005 milestone at strategic health authority (SHA) level as this is included as one of the key targets in Improvement, Expansion and Reform, the priorities and planning framework for 2003–06. All SHAs except one currently report that the April 2005 target will be achieved in their area. The Department has offered support to this SHA.
Pharmacy Services
John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library copies of responses to the consultation on proposals to reform and modernise the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1992 in relation to the proposed exemption of large shopping developments from the control of entry requirements for retail pharmacy services. [157513]
Ms Rosie Winterton [pursuant to her answer, 8 March 2004, Official Report, c. 1334W]: I regret my previous response was incorrect. The number of responses to the Department's consultation on proposals to reform and modernise the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1993 should have been 267.
Radiographers
Mr. Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many radiographers have been employed in the NHS in each of the last five years. [170430]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Headcount | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total qualified radiography staff | Diagnostic radiography(35) | Therapeutic radiography | |
| 1999 | 12,330 | 10,839 | 1,491 |
| 2000 | 12,489 | 11,036 | 1,453 |
| 2001 | 12,706 | 11,163 | 1,543 |
| 2002 | 13,031 | 11,489 | 1,542 |
| 2003 | 13,344 | 11,687 | 1,657 |
(35) New occupation codes for healthcare scientists were introduced in 2003. As a result, a small number of staff previously included under diagnostic radiography are now classified within medical physics.
Source:
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census.
Serotonin
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions have been issued for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for (a) children and (b) adults in each of the last 10 years. [169897]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the total number of prescription items of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) dispensed in the community in England and the estimated number of prescription items of SSRIs dispensed in the community in England to children and adults are shown in the table. Figures for the total number of SSRI items are provided for the last 10 years (1994 to 2003). However, the Department does not have information on the estimated numbers of prescription items dispensed to children or adults available before 1999.
Total number of prescription items of SSRIs, and estimated number of prescription items of SSRIs dispensed to children and adults which were dispensed in the community in England, 1994 to 2003
| Thousand | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated number of prescription items dispensed to: | |||
| Total number of prescription items | Children | Adults | |
| 1994 | 2,681.2 | (36)— | (36)— |
| 1995 | 3,807.8 | (36)— | (36)— |
| 1996 | 5,136.0 | (36)— | (36)— |
| 1997 | 6,555.8 | (36)— | (36)— |
| 1998 | 7,581.6 | (36)— | (36)— |
| 1999 | 8,929.4 | 100 | 8,800 |
| 2000 | 10,442.5 | 110 | 10,000 |
| 2001 | 12,085.1 | 150 | 12,000 |
| 2002 | 13,304.0 | 170 | 13,000 |
| 2003 | 13,816.9 | 110 | 14,000 |
(36) Information for groups of patients not required to pay a charge (e.g. children) prior to 1999 is not available.
Notes:
1. PCA data covers all prescription items that were dispensed in the community in England. It does not include items dispensed in hospitals or private prescriptions.
2. Information for groups of patients not required to pay a charge (e.g. children) is based on a 1 in 20 sample of all exempt prescriptions dispensed in the community. The information for children and hence adults is therefore an estimate and subject to sampling errors. To reflect this the figures have been rounded appropriately. (Figures over 100,000 are rounded to the nearest 10,000. Figures over a million are rounded to the nearest 100,000, and figures over 10 million are rounded to the nearest million.) Rounding applies to exemption data only. The total number of SSRI prescriptions is an actual figure (not an estimate) and has not been rounded. The number of items dispensed to adults was estimated by subtracting the estimates for children from the total SSRI items. Hence, rounding also applies to the adults.
3. Due to rounding, the sum of the components may not equal the total items.
4. Data on exemption categories for SSRIs is only available from 1999. The exemption data for children and adults for 1999 and 2000 is not strictly comparable with data for 2001 onwards. Exemption data for children and adults from 2001 is based on a 1 in 20 sample of all exempt prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists, appliance contractors and dispensing doctors. Exemption data for 1999 and 2000 is based on those dispensed by chemists and appliance contractors only and excludes those dispensed by dispensing doctors. No exemption figures for dispensing doctor for 1999 and 2000 are available but the figures presented are the best estimates of the total figure for children and adult prescriptions. This does not apply to the total number of SSRI prescription items—data for all years includes all items dispensed in the community (including dispensing doctors).
5. Children are defined here as children aged under 16 and young people in full-time education aged 16,17 or 18.
6. The exemption data is identified from the box ticked on the back of the prescription form and relies on the form being completed correctly which may not always be the case.
7. SSRIs are defined in the British National Formulary (BNF) paragraph 4.3.3.
8. Data in the table is in thousands.
9. Definition of prescription item: Doctors write prescriptions on a prescription form. Each single item written on the form is counted as a prescription item.
Source:
Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) data from the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA).
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