---

12 May 2004 : Column 449W—continued

Care Qualifications

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the number of home care workers who have (a) obtained and (b) have yet to obtain NVQ level 2 in care. [171006]

Mr. Hutton: This information is not collected centrally. Since April 2004, the regulation and inspection of domiciliary care services has been the responsibility for the commission for social care inspection (CSCI). Information about the numbers of staff and their qualifications are provided to the CSCI as part of the registration process. Aggregate information is therefore likely to become available after March 2005.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the availability of courses in NVQ level 2 in care; and if he will make a statement. [171007]

Mr. Hutton: The nature of the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) level 2 in care and its assessment precludes the provision of courses specifically designed to support study for this qualification. Candidates require access to specific educational or training courses according to their existing level of knowledge and skill. Such courses are provided locally and information about them is not collected centrally by the Department.
 
12 May 2004 : Column 450W
 

Topss England and the Learning and Skills Council have been working to ensure that social care employers have robust NVQ frameworks and increased number of NVQ assessors and verifiers in place so that staff can complete NVQs in care.

Catheter Laboratories

Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many catheter laboratories there are at Manchester Royal Infirmary; when the last new one was opened; how many patients were treated in its first 12 months of working; and what the levels of throughput were of the older laboratories over the same period. [170143]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information is not collected centrally and is a matter for the Central Manchester and Manchester Children's Hospital National Health Service Trust.

Chief Medical Officer's Report

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the reasons are for the delay in the publication of the report on health and activity written by the Chief Medical Officer and due to be published last year; [165238]

(2) if he will publish the report on health and activity written by the Chief Medical Officer last year. [165247]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Chief Medical Officer's (CMO) report, "At Least Five a Week", was published on 29 April. It is the authoritative source document on the health benefits of physical activity for England. The report includes the most up-to-date academic literature and was fully peer reviewed before publication.

Dentistry

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take further measures to increase the availability of NHS dentistry. [168095]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government are committed to rebuilding and restoring national health service dentistry to improve oral health. New legislation in the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 will underpin a modernised, high-quality primary dental service, properly integrated with the rest of the NHS. The aim is to deliver better access to services, better working lives for dentists and their teams, better oral health and an improved patient experience.

As part of the new arrangements, the current remuneration system, which is based on item of service fees, will be abolished and replaced by a much simpler contract. Under transitional arrangements we are developing a simple but robust 'base contract' which all dentists and primary care trusts (PCTs) will be able to put in place from 2005. These transitional arrangements will provide protection of dentists gross earnings for three years to enable them to come off the treadmill of item of service fees, to see their patients at intervals appropriate to their oral health needs and to modernise and adjust their workload. These proposals are set out in "Framework proposals for primary dental services in
 
12 May 2004 : Column 451W
 
England from 2005" which was published on 24 February and on which we have been seeking views from dental representative bodies.

In the meantime we have provided new investment totalling £90 million to NHS dentistry over the last year. £59 million will support access and is aimed at increasing access to NHS dentistry for patients. Strategic health authorities have been advised of their shares and are working with their PCTs to address access issues. £30 million is to support information technology and the balance of £1 million will support organisational development locally.

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he is taking to improve NHS dentistry for pensioners in Gloucester. [169984]

Ms Rosie Winterton: We have provided new investment totalling £90 million to national health service dentistry over the last year. £59 million will support access, and strategic health authorities (SHAs) have been advised of their shares and are working with their primary care trusts (PCTs), including those in Gloucestershire, to address access issues. £30 million is to support information technology and the balance of £1 million will support organisational development locally.

In Gloucestershire, the existing dental access centres offer emergency and routine dental treatment—this is prioritised according to patients' needs and the demands placed on the service.

All the PCTs in Gloucestershire have been invited by Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA to submit proposals to improve access to dental care, funded through the SHA's £2 million share of the access funding. They are also exploring the possibility of establishing an outreach-teaching pilot for dental and dental therapy students with Bristol University.

West Gloucestershire PCT is one of the 16 PCTs in England with which the NHS dentistry support team is working. The support team has made several visits to Gloucestershire towards the end of 2003, and an action plan to establish new dental practices in Cinderford, in the Forest of Dean, and Gloucester City will be agreed by the end of April 2004. Additionally, work is underway to explore the potential for overseas recruitment in Gloucestershire.

This work is to improve NHS dentistry for all patients in Gloucester including pensioners.

Departmental Annual Report

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the production of his Department's latest annual report cost; how many copies were printed; how many copies of it were sold at its cover price; to whom copies of the report have been provided free of charge; and how many copies were provided free of charge. [171145]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The total cost to the Department of producing the 2004 Departmental report was £27,532. This included £20,577 for design, typesetting and artwork and a further £6,955 for the cost of the copies ordered by the Department.
 
12 May 2004 : Column 452W
 

This year 1,500 copies of the report were printed.

Those who receive free copies of the departmental report are chief executives of strategic health authorities, departmental senior civil service, directors of social care, parliamentary Libraries, Her Majesty's Treasury and Department of Health Ministers' private offices. This came to a total of over 640 copies that were provided free of charge.

Information is not yet available on how many reports have been sold at the cover price.

The report is also available on the Department's website at

http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/AnnualReports.

Departmental Procurement

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the (a) crockery, (b) cutlery and (c) glassware procured by his Department over the last five years is of British manufacture. [170801]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Crockery and cutlery in use in the Department for catering and hospitality is supplied by the Department's catering contractor.

Digital Hearing Aids

Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when digital hearing aids will be available on the NHS in the constituency of Blackpool, North and Fleetwood. [170591]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Digital hearing aids have been available on the national health service from the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust since January 2004. Priority is currently being given to new patients who require a hearing aid for the first time. However, existing patients are eligible for consideration subject to agreed criteria.

---