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Hepatitis C

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent estimate is of the number of people infected by hepatitis C. [173190]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) on Monday 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 192W.

ICT Training

Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his budget is for staff training in information and communication technology in this financial year. [173718]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not hold a corporate budget for training in information and communications technology (ICT). Individual business units will assign funds to ICT training according to business need. Programmes to implement Department-wide applications or upgrades to desktop software packages will have a funding allocation for training. In the financial year 2004–05, although there is no formal corporate budget, the Department expects to spend in the region of £250,000 on training in information and communication technology.

Intermediate Care

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many intermediate care places there were (a) in March 2004 and (b) at the 1999–2000 baseline; and if he will make a statement; [170976]
 
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(2) how many extra intermediate care beds have been provided since the 1999–2000 baseline. [175536]

Dr. Ladyman: The data are currently being validated. The information requested will be placed in the Library as soon as the validation process is completed.

Iraq

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) allied health professionals and (d) others employed in the NHS are providing assistance in Iraq. [175217]

Mr. Hutton: The Department does not collect details centrally of the number of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and other national health service staff providing assistance in Iraq.

In support of military commitments in Iraq, however, according to the Ministry of Defence, currently about 200 military medical reservists (a term covering doctors, nurses and allied health professionals) are deployed with the defence medical services. Many of these are likely to work in the NHS.

Lymphoedema

Ann Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to raise awareness amongst medical professions about methods of treating lymphoedema. [176098]

Dr. Ladyman: The content and standard of postgraduate medical training for specialist medicine is the responsibility of the United Kingdom competent authority, the Specialist Training Authority (STA). The STA takes advice from the appropriate Royal College, which appreciates the requirements presented by different conditions and develop their training curricula as appropriate. Doctors increasingly recognise that lymphoedema requires skilled management to maximise the quality of life for people with this condition.

In 2002, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence updated the Improving Outcomes in Breast Cancer guidance. The guidance makes various recommendations about lymphoedema. These include that cancer networks should agree guidelines for identifying and managing lymphoedema and that a lymphoedema service should be available for all patients who require it.

Maternity Services

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the costs to the NHS of (a) a Caesarean section and (b) a normal vaginal delivery was in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [173583]

Dr. Ladyman: The costs to the national health service of caesarean sections and normal vaginal delivery are shown in the table.
 
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£

HRG code	HRG label	National average unit cost per day case finished consultant episode (FCE)	National average unit cost per non-elective inpatient FCE	National average unit cost per elective inpatient FCE
N06	Normal delivery with complications and comorbidities	432	1,496	1,598
N07	Normal delivery without complications and comorbidities	386	817	956
N08	Assisted delivery with complications and comorbidities	307	1,768	1,664
N09	Assisted delivery without complications and comorbidities	360	1,254	1,323
N10	Caesarean section with complications and comorbidities	536	2,865	2,803
N11	Caesarean section without complications and comorbidities	439	2,062	2,113

Source:
National schedule of reference costs 2003: Appendix 1—NHS trusts own data.

The reference costs 2003 are collected from each NHS provider in England and are used to provide national average costs related to specific treatments and procedures. They have been available from 1998, although the range of services that has been included each year is iterative.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) normal vaginal, (b) Caesarean section and (c) other deliveries there were in each of the last 10 years. [173828]

Dr. Ladyman: The numbers and percentages of national health service hospital deliveries that were normal vaginal, by caesarean section and by other methods for each of the last 10 years are shown in the tables.
1. Vaginal deliveries without use of instruments⁽³⁵⁾, NHS hospitals, England, 1993–94 to 2002–03

	Estimated number of vaginal deliveries	Percentage of deliveries that were vaginal
2002–03	368,300	67.2
2001–02	361,900	66.8
2000–01	368,600	67.1
1999–2000	383,200	67.8
1998–99	400,700	69.4
1997–98	413,600	70.7
1996–97	430,400	72.4
1995–96	432,600	73.0
1994–95	444,200	73.5
1993–94	462,000	74.5

⁽³⁵⁾ Includes deliveries that were spontaneous vertex, spontaneous other, breech deliveries without instrument.

These figures can also be found in table 3 of NHS Maternity Statistics, England: 2002–03, which can be found at www.publications.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0410.htm. A copy of the bulletin is available in the Library.
2. Caesarean deliveries, NHS hospitals, England, 1993–94 to 2002–03

	Estimated numbers of caesarean deliveries	Percentage of deliveries that were by caesarean
2002–03	120,600	22.0
2001–02	119,100	22.0
2000–01	118,100	21.5
1999–2000	116,200	20.6
1998–99	110,300	19.1
1997–98	106,500	18.2
1996–97	101,100	17.0
1995–96	96,600	16.3
1994–95	93,700	15.5
1993–94	93,000	15.0

 
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3. Instrumental deliveries⁽³⁶⁾, NHS hospitals, England, 1993–94 to 2002–03

	Estimated number of instrumental deliveries	Percentage of deliveries that were instrumental
2002–03	59,100	10.8
2001–02	60,700	11.2
2000–01	62,900	11.4
1999–2000	65,900	11.7
1998–99	66,500	11.5
1997–98	64,400	11.0
1996–97	64,200	10.8
1995–96	64,000	10.8
1994–95	66,500	11.0
1993–94	65,700	10.6

⁽³⁶⁾ Includes deliveries by forceps and ventouse, breech deliveries with instrument and other methods of delivery.

Medical Instruments

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was spent on medical instruments for use in national health service hospitals in each year since 1994; and if he will make a statement. [173578]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 19 May 2004]: Information is only held for the years 2000–01 onwards. This is shown in the table. The figures are based on instrument sales via the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency's national contracts and reflect the increasing use of disposable single use instruments. Some National Health Service trusts buy instruments from other sources so these figures do not cover total NHS spend on medical instruments.
£

	Expenditure
2000–01	500,000
2001–02	6.1 million
2002–03	27 million
2003–04	33.3 million

Note:
All figures include Value Added Tax




 
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