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18 May 2004 : Column 965W—continued
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will answer parliamentary question, ref. 164392 tabled by the hon. Member for Southend, West. [172573]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 12 May 2004]: I replied to the hon. Member today.
Primary Care Trusts
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been issued concerning the (a) number of and (b) population covered by primary care trusts. [173099]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 14 May 2004]: "The New NHS", published in 1997 set out a vision for the national health service and for primary care trusts (PCTs) as a key driver to improve health and make the NHS modern and dependable.
This was followed by two key guidance documents. The first document, issued in April 1999, "Primary Care Trusts Establishing Better Services", sought to address questions about how PCTs would be established and the principles for coverage and size. This was followed up with "Primary Care Trusts: Establishment, the preparatory period and their Function", which provided additional guidance on PCT boundaries.
Neither document specified numbers of, or population to be covered by PCTs. The function of PCTs is to meet local health care needs by making local decisions that respond to the community. PCTs were encouraged to centre around natural communities and to seek coterminosity with other bodies where appropriate. However, the overriding principle for determining a PCT boundary is a coherent and cogent focus on meeting the needs of all people living within that community.
Prostate Cancer
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in removing regional variations in the (a) diagnosis and treatment and (b) outcomes for prostate cancer. [173086]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) 'Improving Outcomes in Urological Cancers' manual was published in September 2002. It aims to ensure that all patients have access to a uniformly high quality of care in the community or hospital no matter where they live. Cancer networks across England are currently drawing up action plans to implement the guidance. Progress in implementing the guidance will be assessed during the next round of peer review due to start later this year.
In addition, as part of the prostate cancer risk management programme (PCRMP), all general practitioners in England have been sent an evidence-based resource pack to help them counsel men worried about prostate cancer. The PCRMP is reducing geographical variation across England by: standardising guidelines for GPs; standardising information for patients; and providing explicit quality standards for prostate cancer testing.
18 May 2004 : Column 966W
Public Appointments (Political Affiliations)
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many appointees to the boards of (a) strategic health authorities and (b) primary care trusts have declared political activity for (i) the Labour Party, (ii) the Conservative Party, (iii) the Liberal Democrats and (iv) other political parties; and in each case what percentage this represents of the total number of appointments made; [159626]
(2) how many councillors have been appointed as (a) chairman and (b) non-executive directors of (i) strategic health authorities and (ii) primary care trusts; and how many declared a political affiliation to (A) the Labour Party, (B) the Conservative Party, (C) the Liberal Democrats and (D) other political parties; [159629]
(3) how many board members of NHS trusts have been re-appointed to their posts in each of the last five years for which records are available; of those re-appointed, how many have declared political activity for (a) the Labour Party, (b) the Conservative Party, (c) the Liberal Democrat Party and (d) other political parties; and what percentage each category constitutes of the total number of re-appointments; [159630]
(4) how many appointees to the boards of NHS trusts in each of the last five years have declared political activity for (a) the Labour Party, (b) the Conservative Party, (c) the Liberal Democrats and (d) other political parties; and in each case what percentage this represents of the total number of appointments made; [159627]
(5) how many councillors have been appointed as (a) chairman and (b) non-executive directors of NHS trusts in each of the last five years; and how many declared a political affiliation to (i) the Labour Party, (ii) the Conservative Party, (iii) the Liberal Democrats and (iv) other political parties; [159628]
(6) how many members of primary care trusts have been re-appointed to their posts; how many of those who have been re-appointed have declared political activity for (a) the Labour Party, (b) the Conservative Party, (c) the Liberal Democrat Party and (d) other political parties; and what percentage each category constitutes of the total number of re-appointments. [159631]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is shown in the tables.
18 May 2004 : Column 967W
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003 to end of January 2004 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| None | 388 | 70.29 | 419 | 75.22 | 306 | 73.73 |
| Conservative | 16 | 2.90 | 24 | 4.31 | 24 | 5.78 |
| Labour | 122 | 22.10 | 92 | 16.52 | 62 | 14.94 |
| Liberal Democrat | 21 | 3.80 | 15 | 2.69 | 18 | 4.34 |
| Other | 5 | 0.91 | 7 | 1.26 | 5 | 1.20 |
| Total | 552 | 100.00 | 557 | 100.00 | 415 | 100.00 |
Note:
Separate information on NHS trusts is not available for the previous two years.
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| Chairs | ||||||
| Conservative | 1 | 11.11 | 1 | 20.00 | — | — |
| Labour | 8 | 88.89 | 3 | 60.00 | 4 | 100.00 |
| Liberal Democrat | — | — | 1 | 20.00 | — | — |
| Other | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 9 | 100.00 | 5 | 100.00 | 4 | 100.00 |
| Non-executives | ||||||
| Conservative | 4 | 8.89 | 6 | 13.33 | 3 | 11.54 |
| Labour | 33 | 73.33 | 33 | 73.33 | 13 | 50.00 |
| Liberal Democrat | 8 | 17.78 | 3 | 6.67 | 6 | 23.08 |
| Other | — | — | 3 | 6.67 | 4 | 15.38 |
| Total | 45 | 100.00 | 45 | 100.00 | 26 | 100.00 |
Note:
Information for the previous two years is not available.
Chairs | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003 to end of January 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | — | 1 | — |
| Labour | — | 7 | 1 |
| Liberal Democrat | — | 3 | — |
| Other | — | — | — |
| Total | — | 11 | 1 |
18 May 2004 : Column 968W
Non-executives | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003 to end of January 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | — | 10 | 4 |
| Labour | — | 47 | 11 |
| Liberal Democrat | — | 12 | — |
| Other | — | 7 | 1 |
| Total | — | 76 | 16 |
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003 to end of January 2004 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| None | 146 | 66.67 | 174 | 73.11 | 151 | 71.9 |
| Conservative | 2 | 0.91 | 11 | 4.62 | 9 | 4.29 |
| Labour | 59 | 26.94 | 44 | 18.49 | 38 | 18.10 |
| Liberal Democrat | 10 | 4.57 | 7 | 2.94 | 11 | 5.24 |
| Other | 2 | 0.91 | 2 | 0.84 | 1 | 0.48 |
| Total | 219 | 100 | 238 | 100 | 210 | 100 |
Note:
Information on the previous two years is not available.
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003 to end of January 2004 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| None | 2 | 66.67 | 17 | 77.27 | 59 | 64.13 |
| Conservative | — | — | 1 | 4.55 | 2 | 2.17 |
| Labour | 1 | 33.33 | 3 | 13.64 | 24 | 26.09 |
| Liberal Democrat | — | — | — | — | 6 | 6.52 |
| Other | — | — | 1 | 4.55 | 1 | 1.09 |
| Total | 3 | 100 | 22 | 100 | 92 | 100 |
18 May 2004 : Column 969W
In November 2002, the National Health Service Appointments Commission (the body responsible for making appointments to NHS boards) instructed the Nuffield Centre at Leeds University to carry out an analysis of the candidates appointed by the Commission and their political activity. The research found that the higher number of Labour activists appointed largely reflected the higher proportion of Labour activists that applied; and did not suggest any systematic preference for one political party over another.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid in fees to (a) members of primary care trusts, (b) members of strategic health authorities and (c) board members of NHS trusts who have declared political activity for (i) the Labour Party, (ii) the Conservative Party, (iii) the Liberal Democrat Party and (iv) other political parties in each of the last five years for which records are available. [159632]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally.
Some members refuse to accept any payment, so it would not be possible to calculate the figure that trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities actually pay out to their board members without going to all the individual bodies for the information. Therefore, the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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