| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 Jun 2004 : Column 684W—continued
Hospices (London)
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much financial assistance his Department has provided to hospices in the Greater London area in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [177824]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Hearing Aid Technicians
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies there are for hearing aid technicians in the NHS in England; and how many there were in 2003–04, broken down by region. [178425]
Mr. Hutton:
Specific information is not collected on the number of vacancies for hearing aid technicians; they are included in the physiological measurement staff group. The table shows the number of vacancies lasting three months or more for physiological measurement staff by Government office region as at March 2003.
14 Jun 2004 : Column 685W
| Three month vacancy rate percentage March 2003 | Three month vacancy number | Staff in post (whole-time equivalent) September 2002 | Staff in post (headcount) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | England | 1 9 | 66 | 3,526 | 4,018 |
| A | North East | 1.6 | 3 | 218 | 236 |
| B | North West | 1 4 | 9 | 707 | 806 |
| D | Yorkshire and the Humber | 2.3 | 9 | 385 | 444 |
| E | East Midlands | 0.3 | 1 | 283 | 319 |
| F | West Midlands | 0.3 | 1 | 397 | 445 |
| G | East Of England | 2.2 | 5 | 257 | 289 |
| H | London | 4.7 | 21 | 481 | 548 |
| J | South East | 3.1 | 10 | 349 | 415 |
| K | South West | 1.3 | 6 | 449 | 516 |
Notes:
1. Three month vacancy information is as at 31 March 2003.
2. Three month vacancies are vacancies which Trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (whole-time equivalents).
3. Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post.
4. Three month vacancy rates are calculated using staff in post from the Vacancy Survey, March 2003.
5. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
6. Staff in post data is from the Non-Medical Workforce Census, September 2002
Sources:
Department of Health Vacancies Survey, March 2003.
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census, September 2002.
IT Systems
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the cost of implementing the National Programme for IT in strategic health authorities. [174107]
Mr. Hutton: The contracts let by the national programme for information technology amount to a cost of £6.2 billion over 10 years. The £2.3 billion allocated in the 2002 spending review will implement core services across all trusts and general practitioner practices, including electronic booking, electronic transfer of prescriptions, a basic national health service care records service and the new national network.
Strategic health authorities are the planning and performance monitoring bodies for the NHS and as such will not incur direct implementation costs for the key applications and systems that will be delivered in trusts and general practitioner practices. The local service providers are currently working with NHS trusts to develop local implementation plans. These will help to profile the NHS effort and resource, for example, training costs over the implementation period.
14 Jun 2004 : Column 686W
Lung Cancer Treatment
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what measures he is taking to increase the number of (a) oncologists, (b) respiratory consultants, (c) radiographers, (d) thoracic surgeons and (e) nurses specialising in lung cancer within the NHS; [177878]
(2) how many (a) oncologists, (b) respiratory consultants, (c) radiographers, (d) thoracic surgeons and (e) nurses in the NHS specialise in lung cancer. [177879]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 10 June 2004]: The Department does not collect numbers of oncologists, respiratory consultants, radiographers, thoracic surgeons or nurses in the national health service who specialise in lung cancer.
We are implementing a range of measures to recruit more healthcare professionals into the NHS. These include improving pay and conditions, encouraging the NHS to become a better, more flexible and diverse employer, increasing training, investing in childcare and continuing professional development, attracting back returners and running national, international and local recruitment campaigns.
The table shows the general increase in each specific staff group since September 1997. It is for trusts to determine staffing configurations for the treatment of lung cancer at a local level.
| Increase over the six year period | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff group | September 1997 | September 2003 | Number | Percentage |
| Clinical oncology consultants | 287 | (9)358 | 71 | 25 |
| Respiratory medicine consultants | 309 | (9)570 | 261 | 84 |
| Radiographers (therapeutic and diagnostic) | 11,771 | 13,344 | 1,573 | 13 |
| Cardiothoracic surgeons | 156 | (9)217 | 61 | 39 |
| Nurses | 318,856 | 386,359 | 67,503 | 21 |
(9) December 2003 data.
14 Jun 2004 : Column 687W
Medical Errors (London)
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have died or been injured as a result of errors in medical treatment in NHS hospitals in the Greater London area in each of the last three years. [177825]
Mr. Hutton: Information is not available in the format requested. Information is collected on the number of patients injured or fatally injured as a result of errors in medical treatment and where an initial inquiry has been made or a claim for negligence has been received, in national health service hospitals within the five London strategic health authorities (SHAs) and is shown in the tables.
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers injured and a claim received | 775 | 921 | 625 |
| Numbers injured and initial inquiry made but no claim received | 48 | 99 | 241 |
| Total number of incidents queried and claims received | 823 | 1,020 | 866 |
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number fatally injured and a claim received | 92 | 113 | 75 |
| Number fatally injured and initial inquiry made but no claim received | 5 | 9 | 27 |
| Total number of incidents queried and claims received for fatalities | 97 | 122 | 102 |
Mental Illness
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what audit he has made of the compliance of mental health services trusts with their obligations (a) to produce integrated care plans for service users with severe mental illness, (b) to ensure that service users have a written care plan and (c) to establish assertive outreach for those at risk of losing contact with services. [177010]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The national service framework for mental health states that all service users on the care programme approach should have a copy of their written care plan.
Data collected in 2002–03 to monitor this model of best practice indicated that 77 per cent. of patients on enhanced care programme approach had a copy of their written care plan—104,458 out of 135,699 nationally. Data for 2003–04 has not yet been fully validated.
Mental health trusts are also assessed by the Healthcare Commission using a performance indicator on the implementation of comprehensive care programme approach systems and another one on the numbers of people on enhanced care programme approach with their own care plans.
14 Jun 2004 : Column 688W
The Department monitors trusts' performance with establishing assertive outreach teams through local delivery plan returns which show 273 teams providing assertive outreach services to 12,469 people in the fourth quarter of 2003–04.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |