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13 Sept 2004 : Column 1470W—continued

Private Sector Capital Grants

Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) budget and (b) spending outcome on private sector capital grants was in each of the last 10 years in (i) England, (ii) Somerset and (iii) Dorset. [188006]

Mr. Hutton: Information on capital grants solely to the private sector is not available centrally.

Vulnerable Adults

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what problems have been identified with implementing the Protection of Vulnerable Adults list in healthcare settings. [187064]

Dr. Ladyman: Unless changes are made to the Care Standards Act 2000, a protection of vulnerable adults check would be required each time a junior doctor or healthcare trainee moved to a new training post. In view of the numbers involved, this would cause difficulties for the national health service and potentially jeopardise the supply of trained staff to the NHS workforce.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to cross refer between the Protection of Children Act list and the Protection of Vulnerable Adults list. [187111]

Dr. Ladyman: Section 92 of the Care Standards Act 2000 allows the Secretary of State for Health to consider any referral to the Protection of Children Act list for possible inclusion on the protection of vulnerable adults list. This would be in circumstances where it appears that the nature of the misconduct against a child is such that the individual would also be unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults.

Waiting Lists

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were waiting for an operation in an NHS hospital in the London borough of Havering in (a) July 1997 and (b) July 2004; and what the figures are for all other London boroughs. [187729]

 
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Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not collected by borough. However, the table shows the number of people waiting by strategic health authority (SHA) area.
In-patient waiting list in June 1997–98 and 2004–05

SHA code	Name	1997–98	2004–05
Q04	North West London	44,199	27,516
Q05	North Central London	43,523	30,483
Q06	North East London	41,538	26,913
Q07	South East London	41,632	27,088
Q08	South West London	31,892	20,523

Source:
Department of Health form KH07.

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the changes have been to waiting lists at Warrington hospital in each of the last seven years for which information is available. [183658]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the tables.
 
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Outpatient commissioner waiting list information for the primary care trusts (PCT) and health authority (HA) covering the Warrington area all specialties

			General practitioner written referrals not yet seen, who have been waiting (weeks)
Quarter ending March	Code	Name	13 to <26	26 plus
1998	QCV	North Cheshire HA	1,176	217
1999	QCV	North Cheshire HA	1,871	339
2000	QCV	North Cheshire HA	1,267	538
2001	QCV	North Cheshire HA	789	379
2002	QCV	North Cheshire HA	592	19

			General practitioner written referrals not yet seen, who have been waiting (weeks)
Quarter ending March	Code	Name	13 to <17	17 to <21	21 to <26	26 plus
2003	5J2	Warrington PCT	232	91	0	0
2004	5J2	Warrington PCT	80	0	0	0

Note:
Data for North Cheshire HA and Warrington PCT is not directly comparable. PCTs only came into existence in April 2002.
Source:
Department of Health QM08R.





Inpatient commissioner waiting list information for the primary care trust (PCT) and health authority (HA)covering the Warrington area

						Patients waiting for admission by month waiting
Month ending March	Year	Quarter	Name	Specialty name	Total waiting	0–2	3–5	6–8	9–11
Health authority
1997	1996–97	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	8,923	4,858	2,082	1,109	798
1998	1997–98	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	10,484	4,889	2,371	1,447	1,140
1999	1998–99	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	9,426	4,281	2,119	1,377	993
2000	1999–2000	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	8,602	3,574	1,857	1,383	936
2001	2000–01	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	8,911	3,907	1,928	1,395	902
2002	2001–02	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	8,546	3,831	1,991	1,366	965
Primary care trust
2003	2002–03	4	Warrington PCT	All specialties	4,803	2,098	1,348	902	455
2004	2003–04	4	Warrington PCT	All specialties	4,221	2,509	1,277	435	0

					Patients waiting for admission by month waiting
Month ending March	Year	Quarter	Name	Specialty name	12–14	15–17	18–20	21–23
Health authority
1997	1996–97	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	75	0	0	1
1998	1997–98	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	484	153	0	0
1999	1998–99	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	512	144	0	0
2000	1999–2000	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	639	213	0	0
2001	2000–01	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	573	206	0	0
2002	2001–02	4	North Cheshire HA	All specialties	393	0	0	0
Primary care trust
2003	2002–03	4	Warrington PCT	All specialties	0	0	0	0
2004	2003–04	4	Warrington PCT	All specialties	0	0	0	0

Note:
PCT's were not formed until April 2002
Source:
Department of Health QF01

NORTHERN IRELAND

Acute Hospitals

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the population level required to maintain an acute hospital in the Province as viable. [187804]

Angela Smith: "Developing Better Services" concluded that a minimum population of between 100,000 and 150,000 is needed to provide the volume of patients necessary to sustain a modern acute hospital and to support advances in treatment, medical technology and specialist skills.

The establishment of managed clinical networks is essential to the delivery of safe, effective and sustainable services at smaller acute hospitals. A number of
 
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networks are already in place in Northern Ireland; there are plans for existing networks to be further developed and others introduced as part of the implementation of "Developing Better Services".

Autism

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether there are specific targets regarding early diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders in the Province. [187773]

Angela Smith: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety's Priorities for Action 2004–05 includes the following action:

"By 31 March 2005, Boards and Trusts should establish multidisciplinary diagnostic, assessment and early intervention teams to provide for improved life outcomes for around 200 children and young people with autism per year."

This target is in addition to the numbers of children already being referred for diagnosis where an autistic spectrum disorder is suspected.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding has been allocated to improving awareness and education about autistic spectrum disorders in the Province in each of the last five years. [187775]

Angela Smith: The funding allocated by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS), health and social services boards and trusts and the Department of Education (DE) for improving awareness and education about autistic spectrum disorders for healthcare staff, education staff and parents is outlined in the following table:
£

	DHSSPS	HSS boards and trusts	DE	Total
1999–2000	24,800	24,600	—	49,400
2000–01	25,400	30,800	—	56,200
2001–02	26,000	62,800	—	88,800
2002–03	50,000	141,700	49,000	240,700
2003–04	50,000	251,300	842,000	1,143,300

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