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17 May 2004 : Column 797W—continued
Early Retirement
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department took early retirement and at what total cost, in the last financial year. [171864]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
65 staff took early retirement in the Department in the financial year 2003–04 at a cost of £6,311,042, including annual compensation payments until staff reach normal retirement age.
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Eating Disorders
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which local health authorities provide a specialist eating disorders service; where these services are located; and how many in-patient beds each facility had in each of the last five years. [172470]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not centrally available.
Details of services available locally can be obtained from strategic health authorities.
The hon. Member may wish to contact the Eating Disorders Association (Registered Charity No. 801343), which provides information on the services available across the country, at the following address.
Eating Disorders Association
103 Prince of Wales Road Norwich NR1 1DW
Direct Line 0870 7703221
Fax 01603 664915
Email media@edauk.com
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department has made available for the specific treatment of eating disorders in each of the last five years. [172474]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In his 2002 Budget announcement, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced the largest sustained increase in funding of any five-year period in the history of the national health service. Over the years 2003–04 to 2007–08, these plans mean that expenditure on the NHS will increase on average by 7.4 per cent., a year over and above inflation. However in keeping with the philosophy of "Shifting the Balance of Power", primary care trusts are free to decide the allocation of resources locally.
Fluoride
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he expects to (a) receive and (b) publish the results of the Newcastle university research study on the bioavailability of artificial and natural fluoride in drinking water; [172110]
(2) when he expects to receive the Chief Medical and Chief Dental Officers' report (a) on the relevance and priority of the Medical Research Council report on water fluoridation and (b) setting out the alternatives available to residents of fluoridated areas who do not wish to drink fluoridated water; and if he will make a statement. [172112]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The report of the research study into the bioavailability of fluoride in naturally and artificially fluoridated drinking water will be placed in the Library when available. The results of the research will enable the Chief Medical and Chief Dental Officer to complete their advice which will cover both research requirements and the conduct of consultations on fluoridating local water supplies. All drinking water contains some fluoride. Strategic health authorities undertaking consultations on proposals to increase the
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fluoride content will need to take into account the views of any people who do not wish to drink fluoridated water.
Foreign Health Professionals
Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS (a) doctors and (b) nurses trained abroad in each of the last three years. [172017]
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Mr. Hutton: The number of doctors employed in the national health service by country of qualification for each of the last three years is shown in the table.
The Department does not collect information on the number of nurses employed in the NHS who trained abroad. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) holds information on the number of overseas nurses entering the register each year. This information can be found on the NMC website at www.nmc-uk.org.
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Doctors | 100,289 | 104,448 | 109,964 |
| of which: | |||
| Qualified within United Kingdom | 69,833 | 71,284 | 74,037 |
| Qualified within the rest of the European Economic Area | 4,829 | 5,097 | 5,379 |
| Qualified Elsewhere | 22,095 | 24,413 | 26,785 |
| Unknown(35) | 3,532 | 3,654 | 3,763 |
| HCHS medical and dental staff(36) | 68,484 | 72,168 | 76,400 |
| Of which: | |||
| Qualified within United Kingdom | 43,831 | 45,017 | 46,890 |
| Qualified within the rest of the European Economic Area | 3,574 | 3,741 | 3,932 |
| Qualified Elsewhere | 17,547 | 19,756 | 21,815 |
| Unknown(35) | 3,532 | 3,654 | 3,763 |
| General Medical Practitioner(37) | 31,805 | 32,280 | 33,564 |
| Of which: | |||
| Qualified within United Kingdom | 26,002 | 26,267 | 27,147 |
| Qualified within the rest of the European Economic Area | 1,255 | 1,356 | 1,447 |
| Qualified Elsewhere | 4,548 | 4,657 | 4,970 |
(35) Information about country of qualification is derived from the General Medical Council. For staff in dental specialties, with a General Dental Council registration, the country of qualification is therefore unknown
(36) Excludes Hospital Medical Hospital Practitioners and Hospital Medical Clinical Assistants, most of whom are GPs working part-time in hospitals
(37) All practitioners include GMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, GP Registrars, Salaried Doctors (Para 52 SPA), PMS Other and GP Retainers.
Source:
Department of Health medical and dental workforce census
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
Foundation Trusts
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of the regulator of NHS foundation trusts will be for each of the next three years. [171262]
Mr. Hutton: The provisional amount in parliamentary estimates that has been allocated to the office of the independent regulator for 2004–05 is £5 million. Negotiations on the actual amount of the budget for 2004–05 are nearing completion. The office of the independent regulator is currently classified by the Cabinet Office as an executive non-departmental public body of the Department, and therefore for future financial years the Department will allocate funds based on costed business plans provided by the chairman of the independent regulator each year for inclusion in the departmental vote.
The chairman of the independent regulator is the accounting officer and is responsible for ensuring that the public funds for which he is responsible are properly managed and safeguarded, and are used in line with the regulator's statutory functions and responsibilities. This includes a duty to exercise functions effectively, efficiently and economically.
General Practitioners
Ms. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has undertaken into the most common reasons for people visiting their general practitioner; what the results were; and if he will make a statement. [168717]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department does not commission such research but studies of this kind are made by the Office of Health Economics.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner premises have been (a) replaced and (b) modernised in each year since 1997. [171592]
Mr. Hutton: The table shows the number of general practitioner premises replaced and modernised in each year from 2000–01. This information was not collected prior to that date.
| GP premises | Replaced | Modernised |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 163 | 403 |
| 2001–02 | 174 | 358 |
| 2002–03 | 132 | 402 |
| 2003–04(38) | 105 | 213 |
| Totals | 574 | 1,376 |
(38) Up to December 2003.
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