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8 Nov 2004 : Column 542W—continued
South Dorset
Jim Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to the South Dorset constituency, the effects of changes to departmental policy since 1997 on the South Dorset constituency. [194968]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government have put in place a programme of national health service investment and reform since 1997 to improve service delivery in all parts of the United Kingdom. There is significant evidence that these policies have yielded considerable benefits for the South Dorset constituency.
At the end of August 2004, the number of people more than nine months for in-patient treatment within South West Dorset Primary Care Trust (PCT) has fallen to zero from 22 in June 2002.
At the end of June 2004, the number of patients waiting over 13 weeks for out-patient treatment within the South West Dorset PCT has fallen to four from 182 in June 2002.
In 2002, at the West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust, 80.4 per cent. of patients spent less than four hours in accident and emergency from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. Figures for June 2004 show an improvement to 93.2 per cent.
Between September 1997 and June 2004, the number of consultants at West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust has increased from 58 to 85. The number of nurses increased from 690 in September 1997 to 803 in September 2003.
General practitioner figures are stable, with an increase from 112 to 115 from September 2002 to June 2004.
Figures for September 2004 show that 100 per cent. of patients within South West Dorset PCT are able to be offered an appointment with a primary care professional within two working days.
South West Dorset Primary Care Trust allocation has risen to £134.3 million for 2004–05, a cash increase of 9.5 per cent.
A new catheter laboratory at West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust at a cost of £1.4 million, which opened on 1 October 2004.
A redevelopment of Portland Hospital at a cost of £2 million, which will include the building of a new ward and complete renovation of existing facilities.
Upgrade of services currently provided in Portland at a cost of approximately £2 million, including 16 general medical practitioner beds, out-patient department, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, x-ray facilities and the minor injuries unit.
Westhaven Hospital site development, where South West Dorset has invested £800,000 as part of a £10 million development to build an innovative new complex to meet the needs of older people living in and around Weymouth. The development has been designed to meet a range of housing and care needs.
Transport
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the provision of transport for individuals needing to access hospitals some distance away, with specific reference to rural areas. [196820]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Primary care trusts are responsible for providing or securing the provision of ambulance services, which could include patient transport services, to such extent as they consider necessary to meet all reasonable requirements. It is, therefore, for the local national health service to decide who provides transport services for patients in its area.
Guidance has been issued to the NHS, which states that:
" . . . patient transport service should be seen as part of an integrated programme of care. A non-emergency patient is one who, whilst requiring treatment, which may or may not be of a specialist nature, does not require an immediate or urgent response. A clinical need for treatment does not imply a medical need for transport. Medical need for non-emergency patient transport must be determined by a doctor, dentist or midwife and will depend upon the medical condition of the individual
- patient, the availability of private or public transport and distance to be travelled. The principle which should apply is that each patient should be able to reach hospital in a reasonable time and in reasonable comfort, without detriment to their medical condition".
A copy of the guidance, "Ambulance and other patient transport services: Operation, use and performance standards", has been placed in the Library.
Waiting Times
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004 in Hull and the East Riding waited longer than eight weeks after being referred to a cancer specialist. [194975]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Information on the number of patients waiting longer than eight weeks after being referred to a cancer specialist is not collected by the Department. Statistics are collected on the number of patients who wait more than 28 days for a first out-patient appointment following general practitioner urgent referral with suspected cancer. For Hull and East Yorkshire hospitals national health service trust, when the referral was received within 24 hours, three patients waited more than 28 days to see a cancer specialist in 2002–03 and no patients waited longer than 28 days in 2003–04.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average change in the total in-patient/day case waiting list has been in (a) England and (b) Crosby since July 2003. [195493]
Mr. Hutton: The table shows the average change in the total in-patient/day case waiting list since July 2003 both for England and for the two national health service trusts in the Crosby area.
Source:
Department of Health monthly monitoring.
Whiplash
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have required hospital treatment for whiplash arising from a car accident in each year since 2000. [195214]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The number of people admitted to hospital where the primary diagnosis has been sprain and strain of cervical spine and where the cause has been a transport accident since 2000 is shown in the table.
| Number of admissions | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 534 |
| 2001–02 | 474 |
| 2002–03 | 454 |
Winter Plans
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether all NHS organisations in Cheshire and Merseyside have updated their winter plans. [195491]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The emergency services action team (ESAT) was commissioned by the Cheshire and Merseyside strategic health authority to manage winter planning across the Cheshire and Merseyside area. The ESAT has collated winter plans from local health communities and assessed them against set criteria to ensure the plans are robust. Each local health community has a plan in place that aims to minimise the risk of predicted increases in demand on national health service organisations.
8 Nov 2004 : Column 545W
Working Time Directive
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of funding charges necessary to support the medical training requirements of the European working time directive. [195079]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 1 November 2004]: The requirement to comply with the working time directive (WTD) does not directly affect investment in medical education and training. Achieving compliance for doctors in training from August 2004 has been taken forward as part of a wider modernisation programme designed to improve both the quality of services and working patterns for doctors. We have supported this through central investment in pilot work across a number of national health service trusts over recent years. We have disseminated the lessons we learned across the NHS. We have also made more postgraduate medical training places available to help the recruitment of extra doctors.
We assess regularly the number of training places we need for doctors and consequently the level of funding required to support them. Continuing compliance with the WTD is one of the factors that influence decisions on the future number of doctors.
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