| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 May 2004 : Column 1391W—continued
Radiography Services (Berkshire)
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many qualified radiographers have been employed at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in each of the last five years. [173730]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Requested information on number of qualified radiographers is provided in the table.
NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified radiography staff in the Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospitals NHS Trust by area as at 30 September each specified year.
24 May 2004 : Column 1392W
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total qualified radiographers | 94 | 74 | 90 | 91 | 90 | 95 |
| of which: | ||||||
| Diagnostic radiographers | 75 | 58 | 70 | 73 | 74 | 76 |
| Therapeutic radiographers | 19 | 16 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 19 |
Source:
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census
Rubber Ferrules
Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the expenditure was on the acquisition of rubber ferrules in each year since 1997. [174158]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 20 May 2004]: Ferrules are supplied to the national health service as part of the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency's national agreement for the supply of walking aids. The Department holds information on ferrules bought since 1998–99. The contract is not mandatory, and therefore some NHS bodies may buy ferrules from other sources.
The expenditure on the contract was as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 96,670.37 |
| 1999–2000 | 103,094.37 |
| 2000–01 | 87,739.36 |
| 2001–02 | 96,896.97 |
| 2002–03 | 101,855.81 |
| 2003–04 | 106,347.92 |
Note:
All figures include Value Added Tax.
Radiology
Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many interventional radiologists practise in the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [174967]
Mr. Hutton: Interventional radiology is the use of imaging guidance for the purpose of treating patients.
There is no certificate of completion of specialist training in interventional radiology. Therefore, the Department does not collect data on the numbers of interventional radiologists practising in the national
24 May 2004 : Column 1393W
health service. Many clinical radiologists undertake interventional radiological procedures and most of them combine diagnosis and intervention in their practice.
Sick Leave
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the staff of his Department were absent from work due to sickness as a proportion of the staff time available in each year since 2000. [173838]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on sickness absence in the Department is available in the publication, "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service". Copies of "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service" are available in the Library and at www. cabinet-office.gov.uk/civilservice/publications/sickness/index.htm. The website also contains reports for the previous three years.
Information on the number of staff employed by the Department can be found in the publication, "Civil Service Statistics".
Copies of "Civil Service Statistics" are available in the Library and at www.civil-service.gov.uk/Statistics/css/htm. The website contains publications since the financial year 1970.
Skin Cancer
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of the two week wait rule on the management of suspected skin cancers. [174124]
Miss Melanie Johnson: A two-week outpatient waiting time standard was introduced for urgently referred cases of suspected skin cancer from October 2000. In the last quarter (October to December 2003), 99.5 per cent., of urgently referred patients with suspected skin cancer were seen within two weeks of urgent referral. We have issued general practitioner cancer referral guidelines to assist GPs in determining those patients who need to be referred urgently to see a specialist within two weeks, those patients that can be referred for a routine appointment and those who can be safely watched at a primary care level. The referral guidelines are currently being reviewed by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.
Smoking
Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultation he has undertaken on a possible ban on the smoking of tobacco in public places. [174383]
Miss Melanie Johnson: On 3 March, the Government launched "Choosing Health?", a consultation on action to improve people's health. This sets out a range of questions on which the Government are seeking views.
Questions regarding smoking of tobacco in public places are:
Should the Government pass a law to make all enclosed workplaces/public places smoke-free?
What about restaurants?
What about pubs and bars?
Would local authorities be better placed than central Government to introduce laws?
Apart from bans how else could local towns and cities respond to calls for more smoke-free public places?
The consultation continues until 28 May.
Social Care
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the recent TV advertising campaign in respect of social care careers. [173952]
Dr. Ladyman: During the five weeks of the campaign, the social care careers helpline received more than 66,000 calls against a forecast of 23,000, with the majority of the calls generated by television. This is a very high response and indicates that for many people, social care is a viable career option.
The website, www.socialcarecareers.co.uk, attracted more than 23,000 unique visitors and to support those interested in jobs, links were established to local authority job pages and to Jobcentre Plus.
St. George's Hospital
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many assaults there were on members of staff during the last 12 months at St. George's Hospital, Tooting. [174495]
Mr. Hutton: During 2002–03, there were 60 violent incidents 1 on directly employed staff at the St. George's Healthcare National Health Service Trust.
1 Violent incidents are counted as any incident where staff are abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances related to their work, involving an explicit or implicit challenge to their safety, well being or health.
Notes:
1. Data at individual hospitals are not available centrally as information is collected at NHS trust or primary care trust level. 2. Data are collected on a financial year basis.
Source:
Department of Health Violence, Accidents and Harassment Survey 2002–2003.
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses are employed at St. George's Hospital, Tooting; and how many are (a) agency nurses and (b) recruited from overseas countries. [174498]
Mr. Hutton: Information on the number of nurses at St George's Healthcare National Health Service Trust is shown in the table. Information is not available centrally on the number agency nurses or the number of nurses recruited from overseas countries by the trust.
| Headcount | ||
|---|---|---|
| RJ7 | St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust | 2,375 |
Source:
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census
Supporting People Scheme
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines he is putting in place for health agencies
24 May 2004 : Column 1395W
on the effects on the provision of (a) learning disability and (b) mental health services of changes in the Supporting People budgets. [167857]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No guidelines are being issued with regard to any changes in the Supporting People budgets.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |