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15 Oct 2004 : Column 400W—continued

Malaria (Malavane)

Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make Malavane available on the NHS as an anti-malaria treatment; and if he will make a statement. [191351]

Mr. Hutton: There is no drug called Malavane. The anti-malarial drug Malarone is not available on the national health service. Regulation 24, Schedule 5(I) of the national health services (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations 2004, states that general practitioners can charge patients for

"prescribing or providing drugs or medicines for malaria chemoprophylaxis".

National Service Framework for Older People

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding has been allocated to (a) primary care trusts and (b) strategic health authorities for the implementation of Standard Five of the National Service Framework for Older People; and if he will make a statement. [190575]

Dr. Ladyman: We do not allocate resources specifically for implementing the national service framework for older people or the development of particular services, such as stroke services. This allows local national health service commissioners and providers to plan and deliver services according to the needs of the local population.

For the period 2003–04 to 2007–08, expenditure on the NHS in England will increase on average by 7.2 per cent., a year over and above inflation. Older people, the biggest users of the NHS, will be among the principal beneficiaries.
 
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NHS Bureaucracy

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost to the NHS of all central returns of information and statistics to (a) the Department of Health and (b) the Department's arm's length bodies in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [187858]

Miss Melanie Johnson: To discharge public accountability for the about £69.4 billion spent on the national health service in 2004–05, the Department will require certain information and statistics. By the end of the year, it will take the equivalent of about 400 NHS administrative and clerical staff, out of a total 1.3 million NHS staff, to provide this information to the Department. This represents a significant reduction in the burden as a result of improving the systems for collecting information.

Similar information is not available in respect of the Department's arm's length bodies but, as was announced in July, the number of these bodies is being reduced and arrangements are being put in place to reduce their capacity to impose demands on the NHS frontline.

NHS Cleaning

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS spent on cleaning its (a) premises and (b) equipment in the latest year for which figures are available. [189255]

Mr. Hutton: In 2002–03, the national health service spent a total of £460 million on domestic cleaning services. The figure includes pay and non-pay costs, for example, the cost of contract staff, fees, materials, equipment provision and uniform costs. Information on the amount spent on cleaning premises and equipment is not collected separately.

NHS Contracts (Auctions)

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what percentage of auctions for contracting work in the NHS have been cancelled owing to lack of significant bidders; [190038R]

(2) what assessment he has made of the use of auctions for contracting work in the NHS; [190039]

(3) how many eAuctions have been undertaken in the NHS in each of the last two years. [R] [190040]

Mr. Hutton: No eAuctions undertaken by the National Health Service Purchasing and Supply Agency (NHS PASA) have been cancelled due to lack of supplier participation.

NHS PASA undertook a pilot study of eAuctions during 2003–04, in which 13 eAuction events were completed. A report on our assessment of this pilot is available on the NHS PASA website.

There is no central record of eAuction events undertaken by NHS organisations. NHS PASA itself undertook one eAuction event during 2002–03 and 13 eAuction events during 2003–04.
 
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NHS Nurses

Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses left the NHS in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [190032]

Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Department's non-medical workforce census collects information on the number of nurses employed in the national health service each year; consecutive years' data therefore show the net change in the workforce, taking account of leavers and joiners.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) publishes an annual statistical report which includes information about the number of nurses and midwives leaving the register. This data can be found on the NMC website at www.nmc-uk.org.uk.

Between September 1997 and March 2004, there has been a net increase in the number of nurses employed in the NHS of 77,500. The Government have met and exceeded the NHS Plan and Manifesto targets for increasing the nursing workforce and has also exceeded the expectation for 35,000 more nurses by 2008. 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.

Primary Care Trusts

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to reduce the number of primary care trusts. [191754]

Mr. Hutton: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, presently has no plans to reduce the number of primary care trusts.

Reconfiguration Service Reviews

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reconfiguration service reviews have been undertaken by Sir Ara Darzi, broken down by (a) date and (b) services covered. [189263]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 16 September 2004]: Professor Sir Ara Darzi has undertaken or is undertaking the following service reviews:

Review	Date	Services covered
Kidderminster hospital	June-July 2001	Elective surgery
Worcestershire, County Durham and Darlington	December 2001– February 2002	All acute services
Hartlepool hospital	Under way	All acute services

Residential Care

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has paid towards nursing costs for those in residential care in the past 12 months; and what proportion this represents of the total amount spent on residential care from all sources. [189002]

Dr. Ladyman: The total amount spent in 2002–03, the latest year for which figures are available, by councils and primary care trusts (PCTs) in providing nursing care for adults was £1.95 billion. In that year, PCTs were allocated £220 million to meet the assessed nursing
 
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needs of people in care homes providing nursing care. This was to cover the nursing care costs of people who met the full cost of their care. The corresponding costs for people financially supported by councils is not separately identifiable. Thus, a valid comparison cannot be made.

In 2003–04, PCTs became responsible for the nursing care costs of all residents in homes providing nursing care. PCTs were allocated £584 million for this purpose. The total amount spent by councils and PCTs in that year is not yet available to make a comparison.
 
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We would expect this to be about 25 to 30 per cent. of the amount spent on residential care. The balance comprises principally the costs of personal care provided to residents and their board and lodging costs.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of diagnosed sexually transmitted diseases there were in each primary care trust in London in each year since 1997. [190478]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The numbers of cases of diagnosed sexually transmitted diseases for each primary care trust in London for each year since 1997 are shown in the table.
Diagnoses of sexually transmitted diseases by primary care trust (PCT). London: 1997–2003 1

Primary care trust	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Barking and Dagenham PCT	2,454	2,797	3,020	2,764	2,457	3,461	3,292
Barnet PCT(5)	1,542	1,591	1,546	1,993	2,001	1,899	923
Brent PCT	8,753	8,851	8,724	9,258	9,479	10,156	10,113
Bromley PCT	1,386	1,899	2,287	2,468	3,296	3,683	3,575
Camden PCT	15,714	17,117	17,478	18,750	20,962	22,257	26,987
City and Hackney PCT(5)	14,998	16,595	16,601	16,169	19,171	22,673	21,072
Croydon PCT	4,089	5,546	5,707	6,968	7,805	7,995	7,587
Ealing PCT	1,514	585	1,518	1,687	2,062	2,751	1,832
Enfield PCT	581	1,513	1,168	1,481	1,957	2,129	1,659
Greenwich PCT	4,361	4,314	4,901	6,012	5,170	5,385	6,607
Hammersmith and Fulham PCT	7,838	7,889	8,281	9,556	9,992	4,996	5,723
Haringey PCT	5,029	5,229	5,568	6,344	7,183	6,617	6,379
Hillingdon PCT	1,931	2,387	3,038	3,096	4,131	4,000	3,110
Hounslow PCT	3,270	3,185	3,029	4,101	4,637	5,861	6,473
Islington PCT	5,339	5,552	6,259	5,781	5,309	4,988	6,186
Kensington and Chelsea PCT	11,995	11,636	11,040	13,149	13,301	11,739	12,243
Kingston PCT	1,926	2,443	2,646	3,129	3,474	3,872	4,481
Lambeth PCT	17,865	19,998	21,327	19,971	19,754	22,003	22,209
Lewisham PCT(6)	412	353	346	482	21	—	—
Newham PCT	8,948	9,033	11,214	11,023	12,769	13,200	15,236
Southwark PCT	16,481	17,073	15,232	13,836	16,699	19,618	19,249
Sutton and Merton PCT	10,870	9,110	11,569	13,464	14,229	16,589	17,784
Walthamstow, Leyton and Leytonstone PCT	1,157	1,355	1,726	1,713	2,311	2,433	2,988
Wandsworth PCT	2,629	2,712	3,072	3,004	3,519	4,151	4,199
Westminster PCT	18,639	21,490	21,359	20,503	20,870	18,462	19,657

⁽⁴⁾ Overall figures may be lower than stated for the London region in the annual report because the data presented here have not been imputed.
2 One clinic in each of these PCTs did not submit all the KC60 returns for 2003.
3 The Alexis Clinic closed in June 2001. No GUM clinics currently open in this PCT.

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