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Rheumatological/Musculoskeletal Conditions

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proportion of hospital trusts provide access to a multidisciplinary team for patients with rheumatological conditions; [171931]

(2) what steps are being taken to increase patient access to direct advice, information and support to assist them in coping with their conditions. [171933]

Dr. Ladyman: Information is not collected centrally on the proportion of hospital trusts with access to a multidisciplinary team for patients with rheumatological conditions.

The Department is driving forward a major programme of work to improve equality of access to all national health service treatment and care services. Priorities for health and social care are set out in "Improvement, Expansion and Reform", the priorities and planning framework for 2003–06. Although rheumatological conditions are not identified specifically, people with these conditions stand to benefit from the improvement in access to specialist care for patients with any form of orthopaedic condition.

Maximum waiting times have fallen over the past few years and will continue to do so. By the end of 2005, the maximum waiting time for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant will fall to three months and the maximum wait for inpatient treatment will fall to six months. Also, the older peoples' national service framework set standards that will improve treatment and care for a range of older people, including those with rheumatological conditions.

Royal Colleges

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of those classified as (a) senior managers, (b) managers, (c) clerical staff and (d) administrative staff within the NHS are eligible to join a royal college; and how many are not. [171361]

 
12 May 2004 : Column 467W
 

Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Scanners

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost of a (a) MRI scanner and (b) CT scanner. [169709]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The costs of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners are dependent on the precise specification of equipment required at each individual institution. Costs may also be influenced by the method used to purchase equipment.

In England, costs range from £300,000 to £700,000 for CT scanners and £650,000 to £1,500,000 for MRI scanners. These costs are not inclusive of value added tax or any necessary build and installation costs.
 
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Solvent Abuse

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many children were treated for solvent abuse in each of the last seven years; [169031]

(2) what the average waiting time is for children requiring consultations for solvent abuse. [169032]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not available centrally.

Tuberculosis

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of tuberculosis there were in Greater London, broken down by national health service trust, in each year since 1997. [170501]

Mr. Hutton: Information on the number of tuberculosis cases is not available broken down by national health service trust. As the nearest alternative, information on tuberculosis notification is shown in the table at local authority level.

Local authority	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003(44)
Barking and Dagenham	22	37	32	40	28	46	46
Barnet	63	77	50	71	77	93	88
Bexley	18	17	22	17	21	22	35
Brent	195	163	211	287	293	226	175
Bromley	21	13	26	28	26	9	20
Camden	105	103	78	81	100	125	119
City of London	—	—	2	1	1	2	5
Croydon	64	83	87	92	85	108	108
Ealing	162	212	197	238	240	261	153
Enfield	45	68	63	83	79	111	72
Greenwich	54	70	59	59	91	98	88
Hackney	117	121	96	180	176	138	217
Hammersmith and Fulham	54	59	49	75	34	10	19
Haringey	145	99	135	158	158	79	106
Harrow	64	73	75	89	99	124	110
Havering	19	6	12	27	21	15	19
Hillingdon	75	98	79	86	93	98	123
Hounslow	74	79	105	104	45	24	42
Islington	77	84	93	93	106	112	113
Kensington and Chelsea	51	43	64	45	47	36	47
Kingston upon Thames	10	17	15	12	17	18	8
Lambeth	94	102	100	126	137	98	122
Lewisham	57	78	68	68	64	82	34
Merton	39	21	30	40	43	65	30
Newham	174	213	237	290	238	228	247
Redbridge	100	70	71	58	73	91	97
Richmond upon Thames	9	14	16	9	14	16	6
Southwark	75	61	74	102	98	69	76
Sutton	23	18	15	14	23	31	34
Tower Hamlets	136	104	107	120	128	151	135
Waltham Forest	94	93	93	102	87	93	99
Wandsworth	70	67	59	51	55	87	95
Westminster, City of	105	81	89	92	89	73	98
London total	2,411	2,444	2,503	2,938	2,886	2,839	2,786

⁽⁴⁴⁾ 2003 is provisional data and may be subject to small adjustments in the future.
Sources:
Statutory Notifications to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre.
All forms of Tuberculosis. Corrected Notifications.
Data excludes chemoprophylaxis.
Data excludes Port Health Authorities.
Population denominators ONS.

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of people eligible for the BCG inoculation in Greater London, broken down by national health service trust, received it in each year since 1997. [170507]

Mr. Hutton: Information is not available in the format requested. The number of BCG vaccinations to children aged under one and those aged 10–15 given by trusts in London is shown in table 9 of the annual statistical bulletin "NHS Immunisation Statistics,
 
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England: 2002–03" and in similar tables in earlier bulletins, copies of which are available in the Library. Copies of bulletins from 1998–99 onwards are also available electronically on the Department's website at:

www.publications.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0316.htm,

www.publications.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0218.htm,

www.publications.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0121.htm,

www.publications.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0026.htm and

www.publications.doh.gov.uk/public/sb9928.htm.

Waiting Lists/Times

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of patients with suspected cancer in Burnley saw an NHS consultant within two weeks in each of the last seven years. [167943]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected on a constituency basis. Information from 2000–01, the earliest available, is shown in the table and relates to the national health service organisations serving the Burnley area.
Waiting times for first consultant out-patient appointment for suspected cancer following urgent GP referral

		Seen within 2 weeks
	NHS Trust	Percentage	Number
2000–01	Blackburn Hyndburn and Ribble    Valley Health Care NHS Trust	100.0	175
2000–01	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	100.0	173
2001–02	Blackburn Hyndburn and Ribble    Valley Health Care NHS Trust	100.0	229
2001–02	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	100.0	262
2002–03	Blackburn Hyndburn and Ribble    Valley Health Care NHS Trust	99.6	246
2002–03	Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust	100.0	317
2003–04	East Lancashire Hospitals NHS    Trust	100.0	688

Note:
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust was formed from the merger of Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust and Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust on 1 April 2003
Source:
DH form QMCW.

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