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8 Nov 2004 : Column 532W—continued
Complementary Medicine
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the amount spent on complementary and alternative medicine in England in each of the last five years. [194236]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department does not collect such data.
Consultant Surgeons
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultant surgeons working in hospitals in the Greater London area have been suspended from duty in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [195930]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department routinely collected information on the number of consultants suspended for more than six months until June 2004. This information was not broken down by speciality. The number of consultants suspended for more than six months within the five London strategic health authority areas for the last three years is shown in the table.
| Period | Suspensions |
|---|---|
| Quarter 2, 2001 to quarter 2, 2002 | 1 |
| Quarter 3, 2002 to quarter 2, 2003 | 2 |
| Quarter 3, 2003 to quarter 2, 2004 | 2 |
Delayed Discharges
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he is taking to tackle delayed discharges from hospitals within the Greater London area. [195903]
Dr. Ladyman: The Community Care (Delayed Discharges, etc.) Act 2003 places new duties on councils and the national health service relating to joint working between health and social care systems and with patients and carers around hospital discharge. From January 2004, the Act introduced a financial incentive to avoid delayed discharges. That is supported by the delayed discharges grant.
Latest figures show the total number of patients delayed in an acute hospital bed on any one day, within the five London strategic health authority areas, is now 318—a reduction of 67 per cent., since September 2001.
Dentistry
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage recruitment of NHS dentists within the Greater London area. [195931]
Dr. Ladyman:
We have undertaken a review of the dental primary care workforce in consultation with representatives of the dental profession—professional bodies, dental academics, as well as the British Dental Association (BDA). We have worked closely with the BDA to draw up proposals for a new contract from April 2005, which will remove the treadmill of item of service.
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This links with the new duties primary care trusts (PCTs) will have from April 2005 to secure the provision of primary dental care services, either through contracts with individual practices, or by providing services themselves. PCTs, including those within London, have been drawing up local dentistry action plans, setting out how they are using their proportion of the £59 million additional funding we have allocated to improve access to NHS dentistry this year and their priorities for commissioning in 2005–06.
The NHS workforce will be increased by the equivalent of 1,000 dentists by October 2005, allowing up to an extra two million people to be treated nationally.
Departmental IT
Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the Department's (a) implemented and (b) planned computer systems use open source software; and what plans are in place to raise this level. [195655]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not use open source software (OSS) on any of its implemented or planned computer systems.
Software procurement by the Department follows the 'level playing field' Government OSS Policy, which does not require the raising of levels of OSS usage in Government; rather that Government considers OSS solutions alongside proprietary ones in information technology procurements and that contracts should be awarded on a value for money, case by case basis. This policy can be viewed at www.govtalk.gov.uk.
Departmental Offices
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of (a) decoration and (b) refurbishment of the London offices of the Department was in each of the last four years. [196137]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Decoration works | Refurbishments | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 85,542.20 | 652,456 |
| 2001–02 | 171,202.51 | 1,029,000 |
| 2002–03 | 116,738.31 | 1,978,000 |
| 2003–04 | 178,968.54 | 2,841,000 |
Dermatology
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many days training an undergraduate medical student receives in dermatology; and if he will make a statement. [196237]
Mr. Hutton:
Individual university medical schools determine their own undergraduate medical curriculum in the light of recommendations from the General Medical Council's education committee, which has the statutory responsibility to determine the extent and knowledge and skill required for the granting of primary medical qualifications in the United Kingdom.
8 Nov 2004 : Column 534W
The education committee's most recent recommendations on undergraduate medical education are contained in "Tomorrow's Doctors," which was published in July 2002. It recommends curricular themes and is not a complete guide.
Gunshot Wounds
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many victims have been treated for gunshot wounds in UK hospitals in each of the last five years. [196005]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of patients admitted to hospital in England as a result of gunshot injuries in the last five years is shown in the table. Information is not collected centrally on the number of patients treated in accident and emergency but not admitted. The information covers England only.
Notes:
1. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within a year.
2. The cause code is a supplementary code that indicates the nature of any external cause of injury, poisoning or other adverse affects.
3. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
Health Spending (Leeds)
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent in each year since 1990 by Leeds Primary Care Trust and its predecessor health care commissioning bodies. [195379]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Expenditure by the Leeds Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and their predecessor commissioning bodies from 1991–92 to 2003–04 is shown in the table.
Sources:
Audited Leeds Family Health Services Authority accounts 1991–92 to 1995–96.
Audited Leeds Healthcare District Health Authority accounts 1991–92 to 1995–96.
Audited Leeds Health Authority (HA) accounts 1996–97 to 1998–99.
Audited Leeds HA summarisation forms 1999–2000 to 2001–02.
Audited Leeds PCTs summarisation schedules 2002–03 and 2003–04.
2003–04 data remain provisional.
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The geographical areas of the organisations are the same for the PCTs/HA. The figures are not directly comparable for the commissioning organisations because expenditure on medicines was switched from HAs to the Prescription Pricing Authority in 1997–98.
Information is not available prior to 1991–92.
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding has been received in each year since 1990 by the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and its predecessor bodies. [195380]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Income for the Leeds Teaching Hospital National Health Service Trust and its predecessor trusts from 1991–92 to 2003–04 is shown in the following table.
Source:
Audited NHS trust summarisation schedules 1991–92 to 2003–04. 2003–04 data remain provisional.
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