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2 Dec 2004 : Column 240W—continued

NHS Walk-in Centres

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new NHS walk-in centres his Department plans to establish; where the new centres will be sited; and which groups will be permitted to bid to run them. [201528]

Mr. Hutton: National health service walk-in centres are now an established service. There are 61 centres open and a further 21 in development by primary care trusts, with more to follow in future years. Alongside this, the Department has invited proposals from potential providers to establish NHS walk-in centres whose services will focus on the working population. The initial seven centres will be located in London, Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester.

Nosocomial Viruses

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nosocomial cases of small round structured viruses there were in (a) England and (b) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997. [199921]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has a voluntary reporting system for outbreaks of gastroenteritis, including those caused by norovirus, formerly known as small round structured virus, norwalk or norwalk-like virus.

Since January 1997 to 25 November 2004, there have been 874 outbreaks of gastroenteritis in hospitals caused by norovirus, affecting 24,076 people. The information, broken down by region and year, is shown in the table. Data broken down by strategic health authority or month are not available. Studies of outbreaks of norovirus in hospitals suggest about 40 per cent. of cases occur in staff.
Table 1: Number of outbreaks of gastroenteritis due to norovirus in hospitals in England by region 1997–2004

Region	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004(7)	Total
East Midlands	0	2	1	2	0	4	2	2	13
East of England	3	1	3	14	13	52	12	6	104
London	1	0	0	1	10	33	4	2	51
North East	5	15	11	10	19	30	3	9	102
North West	5	3	0	12	26	72	25	16	159
South East	11	15	12	4	2	57	2	5	108
South West	16	34	59	53	1	41	1	2	207
West Midlands	10	7	0	0	0	24	1	1	43
Yorkshire and Humberside	1	0	5	14	5	61	1	0	87
Total	52	77	91	110	76	374	51	43	874

⁽⁷⁾ Provisional



 
2 Dec 2004 : Column 241W
 

Table 2: Number of people affected in outbreaks of gastroenteritis due to norovirus in hospitals in England by region 1997–2004

Region	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004(8)	Total
East Midlands	0	18	12	48	0	300	21	15	414
East of England	62	234	272	258	439	1,470	184	118	3,037
London	23	0	0	17	256	932	276	108	1,612
North East	98	629	304	146	343	833	61	216	2,630
North West	196	23	0	470	472	1,655	236	416	3,468
South East	229	433	153	45	80	1,439	44	302	2,725
South West	272	696	1,312	957	100	1,853	126	425	5,741
West Midlands	284	152	0	0	0	1,635	18	21	2,110
Yorkshire and Humberside	25	0	148	544	57	1,524	41	0	2,339
Total	1,189	2,185	2,201	2,485	1,747	11,641	1,007	1,621	24,076

⁽⁸⁾ Provisional

Out-patients (Travel Costs)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what help is available towards reimbursing travel costs for the transportation of children to hospital clinics for out-patient treatment following a serious operation, when the care and treatment required is not available locally. [200565]

Dr. Ladyman: The same help is available for both child and adult patients requiring help with transport to an out-patient clinic following a serious operation.

This is determined firstly by the patient's medical need for the use of the patient transport service, as assessed by a doctor, dentist or midwife. If the patient does not have a medical need for patient transport but is eligible for help under the hospital travel costs scheme, they should claim via the national health service trust, within three months of travel, for a reimbursement.
 
2 Dec 2004 : Column 242W
 

Paediatric Services

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many paediatric allergy specialists there are in England; and what the ratio is of paediatric allergy specialists per child in England. [199758]

Mr. Hutton: Paediatric allergy is a sub-specialty of paediatrics. Sub-specialty level data are not collected by the Department.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) headcount and (b) whole-time equivalent medical staff there were in the NHS in England working within the paediatrics group of specialties in each year since 1992, broken down by region; and how many there were per head of population. [199922]

Mr. Hutton: The standard ratio used by the Department is per 100,000 population. The information requested is shown in the tables.
Hospital Public Health Medicine and Community Health Services (HCHS): Medical staff within the paediatrics group by Government office region and per 100,000 population: England as at 30 September

Number (headcount)
	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
England	2,819	3,106	3,350	3,892	4,011	4,344
of which:
East Midlands	139	165	248	294	325	333
East of England	163	206	237	293	324	350
London	393	504	713	848	852	937
North East	116	149	191	221	251	272
North West	337	380	442	515	589	610
South East	283	355	421	510	601	655
South West	203	223	266	327	330	354
West Midlands	175	220	291	339	367	417
Yorkshire and the Humber	218	267	316	353	369	413
Other	792	637	225	192	3	3

Number (headcount)

	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
England	4,542	4,750	5,027	5,127	5,608	5,960
of which:
East Midlands	347	355	368	378	402	425
East of England	381	382	403	431	482	498
London	989	1,108	1,204	1,227	1,354	1,407
North East	272	294	324	343	337	355
North West	656	670	736	695	731	801
South East	694	698	730	734	796	827
South West	387	391	407	410	479	485
West Midlands	404	434	433	443	496	554
Yorkshire and the Humber	412	418	422	466	531	608
Other	—	—	—	—	—	—

 
2 Dec 2004 : Column 243W
 

Number per 100,000 population

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
England	5.9	6.5	6.9	8.0	8.3	8.9
of which:
East Midlands	3.4	4.1	6.1	7.2	7.9	8.1
East of England	3.2	4.0	4.6	5.6	6.2	6.6
London	5.8	7.4	10.4	12.3	12.2	13.4
North East	4.5	5.7	7.4	8.6	9.7	10.6
North West	4.9	5.6	6.5	7.5	8.6	9.0
South East	3.7	4.6	5.5	6.6	7.7	8.3
South West	4.3	4.7	5.6	6.8	6.9	7.3
West Midlands	3.3	4.2	5.5	6.4	7.0	7.9
Yorkshire and the Humber	4.4	5.4	6.4	7.1	7.4	8.3
Other	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Number per 100,000 population

	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
England	9.3	9.7	10.2	10.4	11.3	12.0
of which:
East Midlands	8.4	8.5	8.8	9.0	9.5	10.0
East of England	7.2	7.2	7.5	8.0	8.9	9.1
London	14.0	15.5	16.6	16.8	18.4	19.0
North East	10.6	11.5	12.7	13.5	13.3	14.0
North West	9.7	9.9	10.9	10.3	10.8	11.8
South East	8.8	8.8	9.1	9.1	9.9	10.2
South West	8.0	8.0	8.3	8.3	9.6	9.7
West Midlands	7.7	8.2	8.2	8.4	9.4	10.4
Yorkshire and the Humber	8.3	8.4	8.5	9.4	10.6	12.1
Other	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Whole-time equivalents

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
England	2,559	2,833	3,070	3,551	3,680	4,018
of which:
East Midlands	124	149	227	265	296	302
East of England	151	191	219	268	299	327
London	360	462	652	789	790	871
North East	108	140	178	206	235	258
North West	311	351	409	469	539	568
South East	243	314	379	444	526	588
South West	179	202	242	302	308	323
West Midlands	154	203	273	317	347	394
Yorkshire and the Humber	203	249	296	322	337	384
Other	727	572	194	169	3	3

Whole-time equivalents

	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
England	4,196	4,365	4,590	4,645	5,155	5,516
of which:
East Midlands	310	324	335	334	368	389
East of England	353	351	374	397	448	463
London	923	1,015	1,074	1,105	1,235	1,309
North East	259	258	304	321	314	330
North West	609	624	679	646	677	741
South East	625	641	648	639	718	753
South West	355	356	372	370	441	440
West Midlands	378	406	408	409	460	526
Yorkshire and the Humber	384	389	397	423	493	565
Other	—	—	—	—	—	—

 
2 Dec 2004 : Column 245W
 

Whole-time equivalent numbers per 100,000 population

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
England	5.3	5.9	6.4	7.3	7.6	8.3
of which:
East Midlands	3.1	3.7	5.6	6.5	7.2	7.3
East of England	2.9	3.7	4.2	5.2	5.7	6.2
London	5.3	6.8	9.5	11.4	11.3	12.4
North East	4.2	5.4	6.9	8.0	9.1	10.0
North West	4.5	5.1	6.0	6.9	7.9	8.4
South East	3.2	4.1	4.9	5.7	6.7	7.5
South West	3.8	4.3	5.1	6.3	6.4	6.7
West Midlands	2.9	3.9	5.2	6.0	6.6	7.5
Yorkshire and the Humber	4.1	5.0	6.0	6.5	6.8	7.7
Other	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Whole-time equivalent numbers per 100,000 population

	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
England	8.6	8.9	9.3	9.4	10.4	11.1
of which:
East Midlands	7.5	7.8	8.0	8.0	8.7	9.1
East of England	6.7	6.6	7.0	7.4	8.3	8.5
London	13.1	14.2	14.8	15.1	16.8	17.7
North East	10.1	10.1	11.9	12.6	12.4	13.0
North West	9.0	9.2	10.0	9.5	10.0	10.9
South East	7.9	8.1	8.1	8.0	8.9	9.3
South West	7.3	7.3	7.6	7.5	.9	8.8
West Midlands	7.2	7.7	7.7	7.7	8.7	9.9
Yorkshire and the Humber	7.8	7.8	8.0	8.5	9.9	11.3
Other	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Notes:
"—" denotes zero
n/a = not applicable. This is due to 'other' being made up of organisations which cannot be assigned to a government office region, therefore there are no applicable population data.
Source:
Department of Health medical and dental workforce census

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