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25 Jan 2005 : Column 299W—continued
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints were made by departmental civil servants regarding the conduct of special advisers between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004. [203480]
Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided on 8 December 2004, Official Report, column 578W by the former Minister for the Cabinet Office (Ruth Kelly).
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether departmental special advisers have been responsible for authorising instances of departmental spending since May 1997; [203918]
(2) whether departmental special advisers have given instructions to permanent civil servants without the explicit authorisation of Ministers since May 1997. [203958]
Maria Eagle:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 16 December 2004, Official Report, column 1258–59W by Minister of State for Cabinet Office, Mr.David Miliband.
25 Jan 2005 : Column 300W
Winter Fuel Payments
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 21 December 2004, Official Report, column 1746W, on winter fuel payments, how many married (a) women and (b) men in Scotland he estimates will reach the age of 60 years after the qualifying week for winter fuel payments eligibility but before 25 December. [209660]
Malcolm Wicks: It is estimated that around 6,000 married women and 6,000 married men in Scotland will reach the age of 60 after the qualifying week but before 25 December.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Appleby Health Review
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the remit is of the Appleby Health Review. [210025]
Angela Smith: Professor Appleby has agreed to conduct a review of health and social care provision in Northern Ireland, to consider and make recommendations in the following areas:
The demands of the population for heath and social services in NI, taking account of its distinctive characteristics, in terms of long term and sustainable resourcing;
Technological, demographic, medical and other trends over the next two decades that may have implications for the future resource needs of the public sector in NI, consistent, where possible, with the approach adopted in the Wanless Review;
The extent to which resources are being used effectively and efficiently and, if there is evidence of sub-optimal resource utilisation, the issues which are impairing the most efficient and effective use of resources;
The scope for a more effective use of resources (human, revenue and capital) to bring about a significant improvement in access to, and quality of, services in the HPSS and specifically the optimum balance between prevention, community- based care and acute hospital care;
Ways in which the interaction between the health and social care systems can be improved to maximise performance and the use of resources;
The effectiveness of the organisational and incentive structures, decision-making and accountability processes in health and social care in NI;
Further measures to improve health and wellbeing, which can reduce the demand for health and social services.
Child Psychiatry
Mrs. Iris Robinson: : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many consultants in child and adolescent psychiatry in each of the health board areas in the Province are providing a full-time out-of-hours service. [210024]
Angela Smith:
Information requested is provided in the following table.
25 Jan 2005 : Column 301W
| Area | Headcount |
|---|---|
| NHSSB | 2 |
| SHSSB | 0 |
| EHSSB | 5 |
| WHSSB | 0 |
| Total | 7 |
Source:
NI Health and Social Services Trusts
Chlamydia Screening Programme
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress of the working group to consider the introduction of a chlamydia screening programme. [210065]
Angela Smith: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety's Chlamydia Testing Group had its first meeting on 6 December 2004. The group's remit is to develop policy and an approach to introducing an opportunistic testing programme for Chlamydia in Northern Ireland. The group is assessing potential settings for testing, the necessary laboratory arrangements to deal with increased numbers of samples, the impact on existing GUM services and a phased approach or roll out. A prevalence survey is also being considered.
Community Care Packages
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost of community care packages in the Province has been in each of the last 10years. [210068]
Angela Smith: The combined gross Health and Personal Social Services (HPSS) expenditure on domiciliary care, residential homes and nursing homes over the past four years, is as shown in the following table. Information on a comparable basis is not available for earlier years.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 289,700,654 |
| 2001–02 | 314,212,537 |
| 2002–03 | 389,059,551 |
| 2003–04 | 417,428,318 |
This does not represent the cost to the HPSS of providing such services, because client contributions have not been netted off. For example, client contributions defrayed £80 million of the above 2002–03 costs. Client contributions for other years are not available.
Craigavon Maternity Unit
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the operation of the midwife-led maternity unit at Craigavon. [210039]
25 Jan 2005 : Column 302W
Angela Smith: Due to high levels of sick absence among midwifery staff, Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust has recently had to temporarily redeploy some of the midwife-led Unit's staff to cover shifts in the ante-natal/post natal wards, delivery suite and admissions and assessment unit within the Maternity Unit.
While this temporary arrangement and its short-term effect on the Midwife-led Unit are regrettable, it has been necessary in order to ensure that a safe service is provided across all the Trust's maternity services.
Dementia
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the costs that would be incurred by providing free nursing and personal care to those in the Province with dementia. [210067]
Angela Smith: Nursing care is already provided free of charge to patients in hospital and people in their own homes. In addition, in October 2002 the Northern Ireland Executive introduced a £100 per week contribution towards the cost of nursing care in nursing homes. The cost of nursing care for people with dementia has not been calculated.
No estimate is available of the costs that would be incurred by providing free personal care to people with dementia.
Digital Hearing Aids
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new patients received digital hearing aids in the Province in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004; and how many new patients he expects to receive such aids in 2005. [210064]
Angela Smith: (a) Information on the numbers of persons provided with digital hearing aids is not available for the 2003 calendar year. However, during the period from October 2003 to the end of January 2004, a pilot monitoring programme was put in place, it recorded that approximately 2,000 persons were provided with digital hearing aids during this period.
(b) With regard to 2004, the Department's target for 2004–05 states that Boards and Trusts should provide the necessary additional staff and digital hearing aids to provide for an efficient and modern audiology service, supplying 5,000 digital hearing aids per annum by 31 March 2005." Boards and Trusts have indicated that this will be achieved. A similar level of service can be expected in 2005–06.
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