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16 Sept 2004 : Column 1757W—continued
Health Forums
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to reform the procedures for the selection and appointment of members to health forums. [188390]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We intend that responsibility for making appointments to patients' forums will be transferred to the NHS Appointments Commission (NHS AC). We will be working with the NHS AC, patients' forums, the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health and other interested parties to consider the detail of future selection and appointment procedures.
Health Services (Teesside)
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the University hospital of Hartlepool is compliant with the European Working Time Directive; and what steps are being taken to ensure it is compliant. [188815]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 14 September 2004]: The Working Time Directive (WTD) is a legal requirement on which implementation is being taken forward locally.
Validated information relating to individual trusts is not collected centrally. The WTD is a legal requirement and strategic health authorities are working with their trusts to support delivery.
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether he has (a) received and (b) reconsidered the draft consultation document on the future of North Tees and Hartlepool Hospital Services produced by the Tees Services Review; [188816]
(2) whether the University Hospital of Hartlepool at Holdforth Road will continue to provide (a) in-patient paediatrics, (b) consultant-led obstetric deliveries, (c) emergency surgery and (d) accident and emergency services for trauma and major injuries after the implementation of the Tees Services Review; [188817]
(3) what terms of reference he has issued to Professor Dargi regarding the planned review of hospital services by the Tees Health Services Review. [188818]
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Mr. Hutton [holding answer 14 September 2004]: I am aware of the thinking emerging from the Tees Services Review. The Department has asked Professor Ara Darzi to carry out a further review, working with the County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority. Professor Darzi's terms of reference are:
To consider how the fullest possible range of services can be maintained at Hartlepool Hospital, taking into account work already undertaken in the course of the Tees Services Review and the wider context of proposed provision of primary and secondary care services, both north and south of the Tees; to report by the end of October 2004.
Proposals for the future of health services in the Tees Valley will be developed further in the light of Professor Darzi's work. This will include detailed proposals for services to be provided at Hartlepool Hospital. Consultation of the public and patients will then follow.
As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has already confirmed—8 June 2004, Official Report, column 132—Hartlepool will still have a full and proper hospital service after the review has taken place.
Health Services (Torbay)
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients were registered with GPs in the Torbay Primary Care Trust area in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [188135]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of national health service patients registered with general practitioners in the Torbay Primary Care Trust area for the last five years is shown in the table.
| Number | ||
|---|---|---|
| Torbay PCT | Torbay PCG | |
| 5CW | 4FC69 | |
| 1999 | n/a | 137,830 |
| 2000 | n/a | 137,613 |
| 2001 | 140,471 | n/a |
| 2002 | 140,790 | n/a |
| 2003 | 142,209 | n/a |
n/a = not available.
(17) UPEs include general medical service unrestricted principals, personal medical service (PMS) contracted GPs and PMS salaried GPs.
Notes:
Data as at 1 October 1999 and 30 September 2000–03.
2003 patient data has been revised from previously published figures.
Source:
Department of Health general and personal medical services statistics.
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Healthy Living Centres
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Exchequer funding has been received by healthy living centres since 1999, broken down by region; and if he will make a statement. [188744]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Healthy living centres (HLCs) are funded by the Big Lottery Fund programme and do not receive funding from the Department. Many HLC plans included funds from statutory bodies, including the national health service and local authorities. The amounts actually provided and the regional distribution are not held centrally.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many healthy living centres have (a) opened, (b) closed and (c) have discussed the possibility of closure with his Department since 1999; and if he will make a statement. [188745]
Miss Melanie Johnson: 257 Big Lottery Fund healthy living centres have opened in England. One has closed and two have discussed the possibility of closure with their regional director of public health.
Hospices
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much financial support (a) adult and (b) children's hospices have received in the past three financial years from social services departments. [188572]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department does not centrally collate information on about how much financial support hospices received from social services departments.
The latest estimate we have available (from 2000) is that, on average, the national health service funds 28 per cent. of adult and 5 per cent. of children's hospice costs. However, this predates the allocation of an additional £50 million per annum for adult palliative care, which began in 2003–04, representing an increase of about 40 per cent. Funding the services provided by hospices is a matter for negotiation between the hospice concerned and the NHS primary care trusts to which the hospice provides a service. There are no limits to the amount of funding which may be provided; this is for local decision.
Knowledge Management System
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to maintain the knowledge management system when the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health is wound up. [188389]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: We are working with the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) to identify ways of utilising the knowledge management system once the CPPIH has been abolished.
Lymphoedema Clinics
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what access there is to lymphoedema clinics in each primary care trust in the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire strategic health authority area. [188393]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally.
It is the responsibility of primary care trusts to commission services to meet the health needs of their local communities.
Military Low Flying
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of military low flying on (a) hearing and (b) other long-term health issues. [188582]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department has not funded any research or assessment of the effects of military low flying on hearing and other long-term health issues.
Myasthenia Gravis
Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans his Department has to increase the numbers of consultants and doctors qualified to diagnose myasthenia gravis; [188630]
(2) what plans his Department has to increase the number of nurses qualified to care for patients diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. [188631]
Mr. Hutton: Information on the number of consultants, doctors and nurses specifically qualified to diagnose and treat myasthenia gravis is not collected centrally.
As at March 2004, there were 427 consultants in neurology. Since September 1997, numbers have increased by 149, or 54 per cent., and we are working towards increasing their numbers further.
We are encouraging more doctors to practise neurology by expanding the number of specialist registrar (SpR) opportunities in the specialty.
In 2003–04, central funding was distributed to support the implementation of 10 additional SpR posts in neurology. All the posts have now been implemented. Trusts also have the opportunity to create up to 20 locally funded SpR training opportunities. Trusts were surveyed in February 2004, when six locally funded opportunities had been implemented, with the remaining 14 planned to have been implemented by August 2004.
In 2004–05, neurology has been allocated a further two centrally funded posts and strategic health authorities have been given freedom to agree as many
16 Sept 2004 : Column 1761W
additional SpR training opportunities as are necessary to achieve Working Time Directive compliance, subject to obtaining educational approval.
The number of nurses overall employed in the national health service has increased by 77,500 since 1997 and we are increasing the number of training places for nurses and midwives. Between 1996–97 and 2003–04, the number of students entering training to become a nurse or midwife has increased by 9,300, or 62 per cent.
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