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10 Jun 2004 : Column 549W—continued
Medical Staff
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) nurses, (b) midwives and (c) health visitors (i) were in post in 1997 and (ii) are in post; what plans there are for the future numbers of each in the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [176119]
Mr. Hutton: Information on the numbers of nurses, midwives and health visitors employed in the national health service in September 1997 and 2003 is shown in the table.
There are 67,500 more qualified nurses, midwives and health visitors employed in the NHS than in 1997. The Government have already met the NHS Plan, manifesto and delivering the NHS Plan targets for increasing the nursing workforce and is on course to meet the NHS Plan target for increasing the number of students entering training to become a nurse or midwife. The Government acknowledge that there are still more staff needed in these areas and we shall focus on increasing training places, retaining nursing staff and filling existing vacancies, it is for local NHS organisations to determine the number of nurses needed locally.
| 1997 | 2003 | |
|---|---|---|
| Qualified nursing, midwifery and HV staff | 318,856 | 386,359 |
| Of which: | ||
| Registered midwife | 22,385 | 23,941 |
| Health visitor | 12,410 | 12,984 |
Source:
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census.
Mersey Regional Ambulance Service
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to reduce sickness absence in the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of these policies. [176926]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 7 June 2004]: The information is not collected centrally. The measures used to address sickness absence rates within an organisation are matters for individual national health service organisations.
Ministerial Visits
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the travel costs incurred by (a) his Department and (b) each Minister within his Department, for each of the last 10 years. [175652]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: Expenditure details are available for the Department from the financial year 1994–95 and are shown in the table. The Department's finance systems do not maintain information by individual Ministers for each year.
| Expenditure | |
|---|---|
| 1994–95 | 4,437,078 |
| 1995–96 | 4,307,684 |
| 1996–97 | 5,847,922 |
| 1997–98 | 6,592,081 |
| 1998–99 | 5,814,365 |
| 1999–2000 | 7,080,034 |
| 2000–01 | 7,295,706 |
| 2001–02 | 7,972,843 |
| 2002–03 | 7,607,890 |
| 2003–04 | (29)8,211,382 |
(29) Provisional
MMR Vaccine
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what scientific assessment he has made of the paper published in The Lancet in 1998 by Dr. Andrew Wakefield on the possible links between the MMR vaccine and autism; what research has been commissioned by his Department on the subject since the publication of Dr. Wakefield's paper; and if he will place in the Library copies of scientific critiques of Dr. Wakefield's paper commissioned or endorsed by his Department. [156637]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government's independent scientific advisory body, the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM), has reviewed the work of Dr. Wakefield on the postulated association between measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines and the development of autism and inflammatory bowel disease. This has included the study published in The Lancet in 1998. CSM has kept this issue under continual review and has consistently concluded that the available evidence does not support a causal association. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has also kept this issue under close review and is in full agreement with the CSM.
A study, subsequently published in The Lancet in 1999, was commissioned by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (then the Medicines Control Agency) to look at the occurrence of autism in children born within the North Thames region before and after the introduction of MMR vaccination. The results of this study do not support the suggested causal association between MMR vaccine and autism.
At the Chief Medical Officer's request, the Medical Research Council (MRC) held an independent scientific seminar on 23 March 1998 to review the work of Dr. Wakefield's group. At this seminar, Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues were given time fully to present their work including the data from the 1998 Lancet study. The meeting concluded that there was no evidence to indicate any link between MMR vaccination and bowel
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disease or autism and no reason for a change in the MMR vaccination policy. The Chief Medical Officer endorsed the conclusions of the MRC panel.
Nurses
Mr. Wareing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses were employed in hospitals in Liverpool in (a) 1997 and (b) 2003. [173662]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table.
| 1997 | 2003 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total specified organisations | 4,544 | 7,626 |
| North Liverpool Primary Care Trust (PCT) | n/a | 246 |
| Central Liverpool PCT | n/a | 554 |
| South Liverpool PCT | n/a | 152 |
| Liverpool Cardiothoracic NHS Trust | 336 | 528 |
| Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital NHS Trust | 684 | 788 |
| Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Trust | 98 | 142 |
| Walton Centre for Neurology/Neurosurgery NHS Trust | 187 | 271 |
| Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital NHS Trust | 1,567 | 1,948 |
| Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust | 1,185 | 1,120 |
| Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Trust | 487 | 699 |
| Mersey Care NHS Trust | n/a | 1,178 |
n/a = not applicable.
Note:
UPEs include general medical services unrestricted principals, personal medical services contracted general practitioners (GPs) and personal medical services salaried GPs.
Sources:
1. Department of Health non-medical workforce census.
2. Department of Health general and personal medical services statistics.
Overseas Medical Treatment
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been sent abroad for medical treatment during the last 12 months. [174499]
Mr. Hutton: A total of 353 people were sent abroad for medical treatment commissioned by the national health service in the last 12 months.
Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines govern the use of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy on patients with (a) cerebral palsy, (b) multiple sclerosis, (c) spina bifida, (d) cystic fibrosis, (e) Huntingdon's disease and (f) acquired brain injury (i) generally and (ii) for patients who are in receipt of residential care and support services provided by public, private or voluntary organisations. [178097]
Dr. Ladyman: We have not issued guidelines for this technique. The aim of percutaneuous endoscopic gastrostomy is to feed those who cannot swallow.
The National Institute of Clinical Excellence issued guidelines in 2003 on the prevention of healthcare associated infections in primary and community care.
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The recommendations provide guidance on infection prevention and control precautions that should be applied by all healthcare personnel and carers.
Peripheral Vascular Disease
Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the last year suffered from peripheral vascular disease in (a) Rugby and Kenilworth and (b) England. [174963]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The table shows the number of finished admission episodes relating to peripheral vascular disease broken down by relevant primary care trusts (PCTs) in Rugby and Kenilworth, and the overall count for England in 2002–03.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| North Warwickshire PCT | 248 |
| Rugby PCT | 71 |
| England | 60,023 |
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.
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