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Leighton Hospital

Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on the future of the mother and baby unit in the mental health unit at Leighton hospital; [194367]

(2) what representations he has received about the proposed closure of the mother and baby unit in the mental health unit at Leighton hospital; [194368]

(3) for what reasons the mother and baby unit in the mental health unit at Leighton hospital will be closed; [194369]

(4) what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) patients and (b) patients' families of the closure of the mother and baby unit in the mental health unit at Leighton hospital; [194371]

(5) what provisions there is for mentally ill mothers with babies in the (a) Cheshire, (b) Wirral, (c) Merseyside, (d) North Wales, (e) Shropshire and (f) North Staffordshire areas; and if he will make a statement. [194372]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The provision of services for people locally is the responsibility of primary care trusts (PCTs), in partnership with their local communities to ensure that adequate arrangements are in place which will meet the needs of client groups. Strategic health authorities are responsible for performance managing their local PCTs to ensure that appropriate services are commissioned for the communities they serve.

The future of the mother and baby unit at Leighton hospital is a matter for the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust, in partnership with its local PCTs. The trust has put forward proposals regarding the mother and baby unit, which are considered to be consistent with current developments in perinatal mental health.

According to departmental records, one letter and six questions from hon. and right hon. Members have been received on this issue.

Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will calculate the cost of running the mother and baby unit in the mental health unit at Leighton hospital in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [194370]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected centrally.

MRI/CT Scanners

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) MRI and (b) CT scanners each NHS trust has; and what the age of each machine is. [194266]

 
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Miss Melanie Johnson: There are currently 230 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners and 335 computed tomography (CT) scanners installed in the national health service in England. The complete list, detailing the location and age of each scanner, has been placed in the Library.

To date, new and replacement equipment provided through central programmes includes: 66 new MRI scanners, 83 linear accelerators, 166 CT scanners and over 700 items of breast screening equipment; all delivered since April 2000.

This means that, in total, approximately 50 per cent. of MRI scanners, 67 per cent. of CT scanners and 56 per cent. of linear accelerators now in use in the NHS are new since January 2000.

NHS Consultants/Doctors

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time NHS (a) consultants and (b) other hospital doctors there were in each speciality in hospitals in (i) Scunthorpe and (ii) Grimsby in each year since 1994. [194186]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

NHS Live 2004

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget is for NHS Live 2004 in the area covered by Kent and Medway Strategic Health Authority. [193910]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The NHS Live budget is not broken down by specific strategic health authority area.

NHS Logistics Authority

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent discussions he has had with trade unions in relation to the proposed abolition of the NHS Logistics Authority; [195027]

(2) if he will make a statement on the future of the NHS Logistics Authority. [195028]

Ms Rosie Winterton: "Reconfiguring the Department of Health's Arm's Length Bodies" (July 2004) included the proposal that the work of the National Health Service Logistics Authority would be market-tested. This involved the publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), which notified potential bidders in member states of the European Union of the Department's intention to market test the proposed outsourcing of the supply chain and procurement services for the NHS. This was published on 19 August 2004.

Organisations interested in bidding for the contract had to apply to the Department in order to participate in the competition. These interested parties have had to complete and submit a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). This will ensure that only suitably qualified candidates will be short-listed to submit bids. The PQQ closed on 8 October and the Department is currently in the process of evaluating the responses.
 
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At this stage, no decision has been taken about contracting out. Only when the market testing has been completed will a final decision be made. However, consultation with the unions has begun. Representatives from the NHS Logistics Authority, NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) and the commercial directorate were invited to Unison's initiative day on 13 September. A representative from the Public and Commercial Services union was also present. This was the start of the formal consultation process.

For the purposes of consultation, Unison has established a group comprising a representative from each distribution centre within the NHS Logistics Authority. This team meets monthly with the NHS Logistics Authority, NHS PASA and the commercial directorate.

Ritalin

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children aged (a) up to five, (b) five to 10 and (c) 10 to 14 years are currently being treated with ritalin within (a) North East Bedfordshire, (b) Bedford Primary Care Trust area and (c) Bedfordshire Heartlands Primary Care Trust; what percentage of children within each cohort these figures represent; and if he will make a statement. [195766]

 
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Dr. Ladyman: Information is not available in the form requested. The Department does not hold data on the number of people who receive a particular medication. However, the figures in the table show the total number of prescription items of methylphenidate hydrochloride dispensed in the community for a 12 month period up to June 2004. Ritalin is one brand of the drug methylphenidate.
Total items dispensed

	(Thousand)
England	263.7
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic Health Authority	8.5
Bedford Primary Care Trust (PCT)	0.6
Bedfordshire Heartlands PCT	1.9

Source:
Prescription cost analysis data from the Prescription Pricing Authority.

In 2003, it is estimated that around 90 per cent., of all prescription items of methylphenidate were dispensed in the community to children.

Smear Tests

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in Hull and the East Riding had smear tests in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004. [195136]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information is shown in the table.
Cervical screening programme: number of tests and coverage of target age group (25–64) by primary care organisation,2002–03 and 2003–04

	Number of women screened (Thousand)		Coverage (less than 5 years since last adequate test) (Percentage)
	2002–03	2003–04	2002–03	2003–04
North and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Strategic Health Authority	108.4	106.6	85.2	84.5
East Yorkshire Primary Care Trust	10.9	10.6	87.9	87.4
Eastern Hull Primary Care Trust	7.7	7.4	84.7	83.6
West Hull Primary Care Trust	9.5	9.3	82.2	81.3
Yorkshire Wolds and Coast Primary Care Trust	10.1	10.0	86.2	85.6

Source:
Department of Health Statistical Bulletin: Cervical Screening Programme, England: 2003–04

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