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7 Jun 2004 : Column 140W—continued
HEALTH
Accident and Emergency Services
Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of patients were seen within four hours of presenting at accident and emergency departments at (a) St. Helier and (b) St. George's Hospital in 2003–04. [175875]
Mr. Hutton: This information is collected at national health service trust level rather than individual hospital unit. Information for St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust and Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust is available at http://www.performance. doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity.
Copies are available in the Library.
Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients presented in accident and emergency in (a) St George's NHS Trust Hospital and (b) St Helier NHS Trust Hospital in each of the past four years; and if he will make a statement. [175209]
Mr. Hutton: Information on the number of attendances at accident and emergency for each National Health Service trust is published and available at http://www.performance.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity.
Copies of the tables for each quarter from 2001–02 are available in the Library. Prior to this, information was published annually in Outpatient and ward attenders, England, copies of which are available in the Library.
Acupuncturists
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his proposals for statutory regulation of herbal medicine and acupuncture will require health practitioners using the title acupuncturist but registered with existing statutory bodies to be subject to additional regulation if they wish to continue to use the title acupuncturist. [175986]
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Mr. Hutton [holding answer 27 May 2004]: On 2 March the Department published proposals for the statutory regulation of herbal medicine and acupuncture practitioners. The consultation period closes on 7 June. We are aware of the interests of acupuncturists registered with existing statutory bodies and will consider their representations very carefully.
Addenbrooke's Hospital/Papworth NHS Trust
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the members are of the patients' forum for (a) Addenbrooke's Hospital and (b) the Papworth NHS Trust. [176086]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Following a period of consultation to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the names of patients' forum members will be available on the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health website from 1 July 2004. Names will be listed under each forum and contact can be made through the appropriate forum support organisation.
Agency Nurses
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the cost to the NHS of agency nurses was in 2002–03 in (a) each strategic health authority and (b) each NHS trust; [167393]
(2) how much was spent by each NHS trust on agency nurses in the latest year for which figures are available. [172704]
Mr. Hutton: The information in cash terms has been placed in the Library.
Air Ambulance
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of air ambulances in (a) saving lives and (b) reducing morbidity. [175588]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Previous research in the early 1990s did not demonstrate that the benefits of helicopter ambulances in terms of outcomes for patients were sufficient to justify investment in these services by the national health service. Since then, development of the helicopter ambulance service nationally and wider developments in emergency care have created a new environment within which the performance of helicopter ambulances can be assessed. The Department has therefore commissioned primary research to examine the role and effectiveness of air ambulance services in the modern NHS. The first stage, which reviewed the current research evidence, has now been completed. The report can be found at www.shef.ac.uk/scharr/mcru/reports/HEASrev.pdf
In light of the findings of the report, the Department is currently considering further research.
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were transported to NHS hospitals in England by air ambulance in 2003. [175589]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The information requested is not collected centrally.
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Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of air ambulance services to the NHS was in 2003. [175590]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Department informed ambulance services and their commissioners in January 2002 that the cost of clinical staff on air ambulances should, from 1 April 2002, be met by the National Health Service on a continuing basis.
Alzheimer's
Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department will be taking to support Alzheimer's Awareness Week from 13 to 20 June. [176467]
Dr. Ladyman: The Government is a keen supporter of Alzheimer's awareness week. It is essential that awareness of the needs of people with dementia and of their carers is raised, to help ensure that those needs are met.
Ambulance Services
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the distribution of equipment to ambulance trusts to prepare for a major terrorist attack. [166411]
Mr. Hutton: The Department has received a number of parliamentary questions and items of correspondence from hon. and right hon. Members. I refer the hon. Member to the responses I gave to the hon. Member for Newark (Patrick Mercer) on 30 March 2004, Official Report, columns 1374–75W.
Asthma
Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to investigate the impact of particulates in air pollution in causing asthma. [175822]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP) is producing a report on air pollution and asthma. It will include the effect of airborne particle exposure on people with asthma. The report is expected to be published in 2005 and will update COMEAP's last report on this subject, which was published in 1995.
Breastfeeding
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport about restrictions on the advertising of breastmilk substitutes in line with the World Health Organisation code of practice. [174624]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
No discussions have taken place with Ministerial colleagues in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport about the restrictions on the advertising of breastmilk substitutes in line with the World Health Organisation code of practice. Currently we are exploring with the Food Standards Agency ways in which elements of the European Community Directive on infant formula could be better aligned to the international code.
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Bureaucracy Statement (Briefing)
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department's officials provided briefing to journalists on 19 May concerning the content of his written statement to the House on 20 May on reducing bureaucracy in the NHS. [175697]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 5 May 2004]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health announced the review of departmental arm's length bodies to the Health Select Committee on 30 October 2003, and officials have answered media inquiries on the progress of the review on a number of occasions since then.
Care Homes
Mr. McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of general practitioners who (a) own, (b) part own and (c) manage care homes for the elderly in England. [175581]
Dr. Ladyman: I understand from the chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that the CSCI has not made any estimate of the number of general practitioners who own, part own or manage care homes for elderly people in England. However, a report issued by the NCSC in March 2004, "The management of medication in care services 2002–03" stated that 161 care homes for older people were registered to people who called themselves "doctor" in 2002–03.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential and nursing home beds were available in (a) England and (b) each local authority at the end of each year since 1996–97. [172735]
Dr. Ladyman: The table shows the number of residential and nursing care home places for people aged 18 and over in England at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001. Information on residential care home places by council with social services responsibilities (CSSR) and nursing care home places by health authority (HA) has been placed in the Library.
Figures for later years have been collected by the National Care Standards Commission but comparable details broken down by CSSR and HA are not available.
| Residential care home places | Nursing care home places(32) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 338,140 | 196,270 |
| 1998 | 347,910 | 205,590 |
| 1999 | 344,040 | 202,150 |
| 2000 | 345,910 | 193,330 |
| 2001 | 341,180 | 186,830 |
(32) Includes places in general nursing homes, mental nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics.
Source:
Department of Health forms RA, RH(N) and K036.
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