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NHS Recruitment

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of whether NHS organisations adhere to the Code of Practice on Ethical Recruitment in the granting of work permits to foreign healthcare applicants. [170668]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 4 May 2004]: We monitor compliance to the code of practice through information supplied by strategic health authorities and also publish of a list of agencies who agree to comply with the code.
 
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National health Service employers may only apply for a work permit following a professional registration assessment by the relevant statutory body.

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which medical professionals from EU accession countries after 1 May will help to fill vacancies for (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) dentists in the NHS. [168069]

Mr. Hutton: No assessment has been made on how many national health service vacancies could be filled by healthcare professionals from European Union accession countries after 1 May.

However, international recruitment has a long established history with many healthcare staff from around the world having come to the United Kingdom at some point in their career. International recruitment has made a key contribution to the delivery of services in the NHS, and is a two way process. Welcoming healthcare professionals from abroad gives valuable opportunities for a transfer of experience and the sharing of ideas.
 
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NHS Therapists

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS therapists for children with disabilities in mainstream schools have been recruited in the last three years; how many additional training places for such NHS therapists have been created in the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [170607]

Mr. Hutton: Information is not specifically available on the number of therapists for children with disabilities that have been recruited to the national health service. The tables show the number of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists employed in the NHS and entering training each year.

Between September 2000 and 2003, the number of speech and language therapists employed in the NHS has increased by 15 per cent. Physiotherapists have increased by 15 per cent., and occupational therapists by 17 per cent.. The Government is also increasing the number of students entering training each year; since 1999–2000, training places in speech and language therapy have increased by 31 per cent., in occupational therapy by 44 per cent., and by 60 per cent., in physiotherapy.
NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): Qualified speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists employed in the NHS as at 30 September each year Headcount

					Increase
	2000	2001	2002	2003	Number	Percentage
Speech and language	5,430	5,685	5,960	6,243	813	15.0
Therapists
Occupational therapists	13,129	13,914	14,749	15,391	2,262	17.2
Physiotherapists	15,608	16,212	16,885	17,922	2,314	14.8

Source:
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census.




Training commissions Headcount

					Increase
	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	Number	Percentage
Speech and language	457	558	553	597	140	30.6
Therapists
Occupational therapists	1,173	1,385	1,563	1,692	519	44.2
Physiotherapists	1,346	1,473	1,780	2,157	811	60.3

Source:
Department of Health Quarterly Monitoring

Parliamentary Questions

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the hon. Member for Richmond Park will receive an answer to her questions regarding the use of Thimerosal, tabled on 22 March. [168865]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I replied to the hon. Member on 4 May 2004, Official Report, column 1474W and 5 May 2004, Official Report, column 1626W.

Patient Forums

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of patient forums in representing the interests of patients following the abolition of community health councils; and if he will make a statement. [167291]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Community health councils had a general duty to represent the interests of the public in the health service. The new system of patient and public involvement is a much broader structure with a range of specific features.

The new system comprises on the spot support for patients through patient advice and liaison services (PALS), independent support for complainants through the independent complaints advocacy service (ICAS), the powers to scrutinise health services by overview and scrutiny committees of local authorities, and a duty on the national health service to involve and consult patients and the public in the planning and development of services.
 
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On top of these arrangements there are also 572 independent patients' forums with a clear remit to monitor local NHS services, obtain the views of patients using those services and feed those views into local decision-making.

The Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, the independent body responsible for supporting, advising on and monitoring the work of forums will also be responsible for reviewing how effectively forums have been in carrying out their responsibilities. It is also responsible for ensuring that appropriate and high quality support is provided to forums by the forum support organisations—it does this through rigorous contract and performance management arrangements.

Press Officers

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many press officers were employed in his Department in each year from 1990–91 to 2003–04; what the total cost was in each year; and if he will make a statement. [162845]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The cost for all staff employed in the media centre from 1997–98 to 2003–04 is shown in table 1.
Table 1

	Cost (£ million)
1997–98	1,062
1998–99	1,239
1999–2000	1,253
2000–01	1,233
2001–02	1,279
2002–03	1,077
2003–04	1,284

Information showing the number of press officers employed by the Department is shown in table 2.
Table 2

	Staff
1990–91	11
1991–92	12
1992–93	14
1993–94	14
1994–95	14
1995–96	17
1996–97	17
1997–98	15
1998–99	15
1999–2000	16
2000–01	19
2001–02	22
2002–03	24
2003–04	26

The cost of employing press officers from 1990–91 to 1996–97 could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

QA Business Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what action he is taking to complete the
 
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compensation calculations in respect of former employees of QA Business Services to achieve final conclusion of their claims; [170476]

(2) when he expects all the agreed compensation claims in respect of former employees of QA Business Services to be settled and paid. [170532]

Dr. Ladyman: Almost all the former employees of QA Business Services, who have taken legal action over compensation, have now received offers in settlement. The professional advisers for the litigants have responded to the offers. We are currently considering the issues raised and will respond to the litigants shortly. It will then be a matter for the litigants to decide if the revised offers are acceptable or not.

All those non-litigants who have been shown to have suffered losses on the same basis as the litigants have already received compensation payments.

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