---

16 Nov 2004 : Column 1380W—continued

General Practitioners

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners there are per head of population in England. [197609]

Mr. Hutton: There are 63.8 general practitioners, excluding GP retainers, GP Registrars and locums, per 100,000 weighted population in England.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average list size is of a general practitioner in England. [197610]

Mr. Hutton: The average general practitioner list size in England, as at 30 September 2003, was 1,845.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner surgeries have closed in (a) England, (b) each strategic health authority and (c) each primary care trust in each year since 1997. [196194]

Mr. Hutton: This information is not collected centrally.

In 2003, there were more than 8,800 general practitioner practices, some of which had one main surgery, while others may have one or more branch surgeries.

Between July 2000 and September 2004, 734 GP premises have been replaced and 1,737 premises refurbished. The Government have embarked on one of the most sustained programmes of primary care modernisation in the history of the national health service and that work is on-going to ensure a primary care infrastructure that is fit for purpose and suitable for the twenty-first century.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding has been made available under the local investment finance trust scheme for improvements to general practitioner surgeries in West Sussex. [198000]

 
16 Nov 2004 : Column 1381W
 

Ms Rosie Winterton: No funding has been made available through the local improvement finance trust for improvements to general practitioner surgeries in West Sussex.

Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners there were per head of
 
16 Nov 2004 : Column 1382W
 
population in (a) Leicester South, (b) Leicester West Primary Care Trust area, (c) Leicester East Primary Care Trust area and (d) England on the latest date for which figures are available. [198661]

Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table.
General medical practitioners (GMPs) excluding retainers, registrars and locums⁽³¹⁾ for Leicester primary care trusts (PCTs)per 100,000 weighted population

As at June 2004	Numbers (headcount)
	GMPs (excluding retainers registrars and locums)	Weighted population	GMPs (excluding retainers, registrars and locums) per 100,000 weighted population
South Leicestershire PCT	96	132,282	72.6
Leicester City West PCT	89	133,156	66.8
Eastern Leicester PCT	99	165,639	59.8
England	31,215	48,962,969	63.8

⁽³¹⁾ All practitioners (excluding retainers, registrars and locums) include general medical service (QMS) unrestricted principals, personal medical service (PMS) contracted GPs, PMS salaried GPs, restricted principals, assistants, salaried doctors, PMS other and flexible career scheme GPs and GP returners.
Sources:
Department of Health CMS and PMS statistics.
Department of Health populations adjusted for age and need using the GMS non-cash-limited component of the weighted capitation formula.

Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner surgeries there are in the Leicester South constituency. [198664]

Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the following table.
Partnerships of unrestricted principals and equivalents (UPEs);⁽³²⁾ for Eastern Leicester and South Leicestershire primary care trusts (PCTs) as at 30 June 2004

	Partnerships of UPEs
Eastern Leicester PCT	33
South Leicestershire PCT	20

⁽³²⁾ UPEs include general medical service (GMS) unrestricted principals, personal medical service (PMS) contracted general practitioners and PMS salaried GPs.
Source:
Department of Health GMS and PMS statistics.

Green Ministers

Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many departmental Green Ministers there have been since 1997. [197835]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Four.

Health Access Card

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of how the proposed EU health access card might be integrated with other proposed UK entitlement and identity cards. [197568]

Mr. Hutton: The United Kingdom is required under European law to introduce the European health insurance card by 31 December 2005. Meeting our treaty obligations so as to ensure that UK citizens continue to receive the health care to which they are entitled when travelling in other European Economic Area countries is a top priority. At the same time, the Department is contributing to the Home Office-led identity cards programme, as well as considering the development of a national health service card, which could, 'support smart access to personal data and speed confirmation of access to appropriate care', as promised in the NHS Improvement Plan. The Department is considering how in the medium term this work programme can best be integrated, so as to maximise the benefits for patients and frontline services.

Health Centre (Birmingham)

Mr. Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department will direct Birmingham and Solihull Solutions to accelerate its acquisition of the Leyland Club on Alum Rock Road for the development of a new health centre. [198179]

Mr. Hutton: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, does not have the statutory power to intervene directly in this matter. Birmingham and Solihull Solutions (BASS) is a limited company and it is a matter for their shareholders, which include East Birmingham Primary Care Trust (PCT).

East Birmingham PCT is a shareholder in BASS and has been working closely with Birmingham city council to establish ownership of the site in question, in order to facilitate its acquisition at the earliest possible opportunity.

Hospital Budgets

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget of (a) the University Hospital of North Staffordshire (formerly the North Staffordshire Hospital), (b) North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare and (c) the Staffordshire Ambulance service has been in each year since 1997. [198573]

Dr. Ladyman: National health service trusts receive income for service provision from health authorities and primary care trusts. The figures shown in the table are the total income, including all income from activities and all other operating income, of each of the trusts.
 
16 Nov 2004 : Column 1383W
 

	University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust(33)	North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust	Staffordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust
1997–98	152,393	79,839	14,179
1998–99	165,535	82,860	14,541
1999–2000	186,236	89,042	15,545
2000–01	193,823	93,214	16,561
2001–02	212,576	101,827	18,093
2002–03	235,801	77,976	19,535
2003–04	257,641	80,119	20,945

⁽³³⁾ Formerly North Staffordshire Hospital NHS Trust.
Note:
Data for 2003–2004 remains provisional.
Source:
Audited summarisation schedules of the NHS Trusts.

Hospital Funding

Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much additional funding was given to the Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust to enable them to implement their 2002 franchise plan. [196522]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 8 November 2004]: The Department has not provided additional funding to Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals National Health Service Trust to implement its 2002 franchise plan. Information about the local budget identified to support the implementation of the trust franchise plan can be obtained from the trust.

---