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17 Nov 2004 : Column 1676W—continued
E111 Forms
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of British citizens who may travel after 31 December without a valid E111 form; and if he will make a statement. [195075]
Mr. Hutton:
Experience has shown that only a small number of UK residents travelling to other EEA member states who need treatment do not have valid health entitlement documentation with them. We expect that changes to the E111 arrangements will temporarily increase that number. There is an ongoing publicity campaign to bring these changes to public notice so that problems will be kept to the minimum possible.
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Free NHS Care
Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been allowed free long-term NHS care in North Staffordshire in each year since 1997. [198596]
Dr. Ladyman: The table shows the number of people receiving continuing national health service healthcare in the four North Staffordshire primary care trusts (PCTs) for 2002–03 and 2003–04. This data was not centrally collected before 2002–03.
| 2002–03 | 2003–04 | |
|---|---|---|
| Staffordshire Moorlands PCT | 39 | 32 |
| North Stoke PCT | 54 | 38 |
| South Stoke PCT | 53 | 34 |
| Newcastle-Under-Lyme PCT | 37 | 37 |
Source:
Service and Financial Framework, Local Delivery Plan Return
General Practitioner Service
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on maintaining the General Practitioner Service in England in 2003–04. [197507]
Mr. Hutton: The following table shows total general medical services (QMS) and personal medical services (PMS) expenditure for the financial year 2003–04.
| Total expenditure | |
|---|---|
| QMS discretionary | 780,829 |
| QMS non discretionary | 1,902,895 |
| PMS | 1,939,525 |
| Total | 4,623,249 |
Goodmayes Hospital
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future of the vocational rehabilitation work site and garden site at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford. [198344]
Dr. Ladyman: The configuration of local health services including the provision of vocational rehabilitation services is a matter for the local national health service, working in partnership with its stakeholders and the local community. It is for NHS organisations to plan and develop services based on their specific local knowledge and expertise.
The North East London Mental Health Trust is working with Redbridge primary care trust on a number of initiatives to redesign and modernise the range of vocational rehabilitation services, and a number of options for future management and delivery of the service are under consideration.
General Practitioners
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Department has budgeted for the general practitioners out-of-hours service in England in 2004–05. [197553]
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Mr. Hutton: In 2004–05, the Department is making available to primary care trusts (PCTs) some £316 million for out-of-hours services.
This comprises a doubled development fund of £92 million, additional support for PCTs of £14 million and capital incentives of £30 million. In addition, where a practice transfers its responsibility for out-of-hours to the PCT, it will surrender six per cent, of its global sum, equivalent to around £6000 per average general practitioner. If every practice in the country opted out, this would amount to some £180 million.
We have also massively increased PCT allocations and PCTs should be making the most effective use of their unified budgets to establish integrated unscheduled care, which brings together out-of-hours services with emergency care services to meet patient need.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision has been made to ensure that there is sufficient funding to cover new out-of-hours doctors' services. [197306]
Mr. Hutton: We have greatly increased investment in out-of-hours services in 2004–05. Some £316 million has been made available to primary care trusts in dedicated funding for out-of-hours, including a doubled development fund of £92 million.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) guidance and (b) funding is available to general practitioner surgeries to make them more accessible to deaf-blind patients. [197985]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department and the Disability Rights Commission recently issued joint guidance for the primary care sector aimed at raising awareness of the duties under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and improving disabled people's experience of primary care services. This included a leaflet entitled "You Can Make A Difference—Improving primary care services for disabled people", for front line staff in general practitioner (GPs) surgeries and other primary care settings, which includes a number of practical ideas for improving services for people with sensory impairment. Furthermore, a wide range of information and guidance on disability access is available to GPs, both on the Department and NHS Estates websites and from external sources such as the Disability Rights Commission.
The Department recently announced an additional £108 million over two years for improving GP premises. The use of this money will be subject to local decision-making and prioritisation, which may include improving disability access.
Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been invested in improving general practitioners' surgeries in Newcastle-under-Lyme since 1997. [198594]
Dr. Ladyman:
This information is not held centrally.
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Health Provision (Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the number of (a) general practitioners and (b) dentists in Newcastle-under-Lyme has changed since 1997. [198567]
Dr. Ladyman: In 1997, the number of general practitioners in England was 28,046. There were 31,215 in June 2004. This is an increase of 3,169 or 11.3 per cent.
In 1997, the number of GPs in North Staffordshire health authority (HA) was 236. In June 2004, there was a total of 253 GPs in the four primary care trusts (PCTs) corresponding to the former North Staffordshire HA. This is an increase of 17, or 7.2 per cent. The numbers at June 2004 in the four PCTs are shown in the following table.
| PCT | Number |
|---|---|
| North Stoke PCT | 69 |
| South Stoke PCT | 72 |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme PCT | 55 |
| Staffordshire Moorlands PCT | 57 |
| Total | 253 |
Source:
Department of Health general and personal medical services statistics.
In June 1997, the number of individual general dental service dentists in England was 16,303. There were 19,339 in June 2004, including dentists in the personal dental service. This is an increase of 3,036, 18.6 per cent.
In June 1997, the number of dentists 1 in North Staffordshire HA was 118 2 . In June 2004, there was a total of 158 2 dentists in the four PCTs corresponding to the former North Staffordshire HA. This is an increase of 40, or 33.9 per cent. The numbers at June 2004 in the four PCTs are shown in the following table.
| PCT | Number |
|---|---|
| North Stoke PCT | 55 |
| South Stoke PCT | 37 |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme PCT | 30 |
| Staffordshire Moorlands PCT | 36 |
| Total | 158 |
Source:
Dental Practice Board.
1 The figures include general dental service dentists and personal dental service dentists, and includes principals, assistants and vocational dental practitioners.
Health Spending (South Midlands)
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for health spending of the Government's proposals for housing growth in the South Midlands and Milton Keynes area. [197608]
Keith Hill: I have been asked to reply.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is working closely with the Department of Health to ensure that health funding allocation responds effectively to growth. In March 2004, the Department of Health
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announced additional revenue funding of £20 million for 2004–05 and 2005–06 for Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in the growth areas. £5.611 million of this is for PCTs in the MKSM area, with £2.460 million specifically for the Northamptonshire PCTs. The Department of Health also announced an additional £20 million of capital funding for the NHS in the Growth Areas for 2005–06, decision on the allocation of which will be taken later this year. From 2006–07 onwards, the Department of Health has agreed to include a growth area revenue adjustment in their future allocations.
The impact of the growth areas on Health and Social care in the Milton Keynes and South Midlands growth area is being looked at in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's funded "Planning for future of health and social care needs in the MKSM sub region" study. This study is due to report in summer 2005.
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