| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 Jan 2005 : Column 184W—continued
Nursing
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what incentives are in place to discourage people from leaving the nursing profession. [209419]
Mr. Hutton: There are more qualified nurses working in the national health service than ever before, as at March 2004 there were 396,359 NHS nurses, an increase of 77,500 since 1997.
There are a wide range of programmes in place to support nurses in the NHS to fulfil their aspirations, to drive forward new ways of working, and to value and respect their contribution to improving patient care. These include a new pay system; the knowledge and skills framework; the NHS child care strategy and "Improving Working Lives".
"Agenda for Change", the new pay system for non-medical staff in the NHS, provides a unique opportunity for improved career opportunities for NHS staff working across the range of clinical and managerial roles, which in turn will support service redesign and a modernised work force able to deliver a 21st century service for patients. An integral part of "Agenda for Change" is the NHS knowledge and skills framework, which defines and describes the knowledge and skills which individuals need to apply in their work in order to deliver quality services. It provides a single, consistent, comprehensive and explicit framework on which to base the review and career development of all staff.
24 Jan 2005 : Column 185W
The NHS child care strategy is part of the wider "Improving Working Lives" programme, which supports staff, provides a healthy and safe working environment and helps them through a range of flexible working and flexing retirement opportunities manage a healthy work/life balance.
Orthodontists (North-east)
Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects vacancies for orthodontists at Sunderland Royal Hospital to be filled; and how long the positions have remained vacant. [210141]
Mr. Hutton: This is a matter for the chair of City Hospitals Sunderland National Health Service Foundation Trust. I have written to Mr. David Graham, chair, informing him of my hon. Friend's inquiry.
Ovarian Cancer
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial resources have been made available for research into ovarian cancer in the last five years. [207088]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The NHS Plan announced that the Department would provide an additional £20 million per year to establish a national cancer research network. The National Cancer Research Network (NCRN) and the National Translational Cancer Research Network were established as a result. The NCRN is currently providing NHS infrastructural support for 11 trials in ovarian cancer.
The research costs of these trials are being met by public, private and charity sector funders. The Medical Research Council (MRC) is meeting some or all of the costs of five, including the £8.7 million United Kingdom collaborative trial of ovarian cancer screening.
The Department funds research to support policy and to provide the evidence needed to underpin quality, improvement, and service development in the NHS. Research on identifying potentially significant diagnostic factors for ovarian cancer in primary care was commissioned in 2001 and £130,000 has been spent on it.
Over 75 per cent, of the Department's total expenditure on health research is devolved to and managed by NHS organisations. Details of individual projects, including more than sixty ovarian cancer research studies, can be found on the national research register at www.dh.gov.uk/research.
Paddington Basin Health Campus
Mr. Wilkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to announce the selection of a private finance initiative partner for the Paddington Basin Health Campus project; and which companies are under consideration by his Department for this role. [209357]
Mr. Hutton:
The outline business case submitted to the Department in December 2004 assumes the appointment of a private finance initiative partner (PFI) to develop the Paddington Health Campus in April 2008 following financial close in a PFI procurement. No companies are being considered by the trusts.
24 Jan 2005 : Column 186W
Parking Spaces
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many car parking spaces are provided for those (a) working in and (b) visiting his Department. [208936]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has a total of 381 car parking spaces available on its administrative estate for which it is responsible, over half of which are in Leeds.
Patient to Nurse Ratios
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the (a) minimum and (b) maximum patient to nurse ratios are; and in which health authorities they apply; [209416]
(2) what the recommended minimum nurse to patient ratio is in the NHS; [209417]
(3) what the average patient to nurse ratio was in (a) the London borough of Havering, (b) Greater London and (c) England for each of the last seven years. [209418]
Mr. Hutton: Information is not collected on nurse to patient ratios. The table shows the nurse to population ratios for London and England, and the minimum and maximum ratios by strategic health authority.
There is no recommended minimum nurse to patient ratio, it is for national health service organisations to determine their own work force mix.
Source:
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census
24 Jan 2005 : Column 187W
Note:
Population numbers are Office for National Statistics estimates.
Source:
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |