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22 Feb 2005 : Column 497W—continued

Midwives (Lancashire)

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwives work at (a) Chorley and (b) Preston hospital. [216238]

Miss Melanie Johnson: This information is not available in the format requested. At 30 September 2003, there were 149 midwives working at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals National Health Service Trust.

Source:

Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census

Minor Injuries Units

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on minor injuries unit hours of opening. [216982]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Opening hours for minor injury units are a matter for local determination. It is up to primary care trusts to assess local need and demand for urgent care services and ensure that services respond to patient need.

MRSA

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) advice has been given and (b) precautions are taken against the spread of MRSA in ambulances; and if he will make a statement. [216396]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Advice on appropriate precautions to reduce the spread of infection has been published by the Department in the health service circular 2000–02 and in Winning Ways—Working together to reduce hospital acquired infection in
 
22 Feb 2005 : Column 498W
 
England (December 2003). All healthcare organisations, including ambulance trusts, should have systems in place to minimise the risk to patients from healthcare associated infections as required by Standards for Better Health (July 2004). Infection control policies and any particular precautions for reducing the spread of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a matter for individual trusts.

The Ambulance Service Association published guidelines on infection prevention and control in June 2004. Additionally, the training and common core syllabus for ambulance personnel covers infection control, including reference to MRSA.

Multiple Myeloma

Mr. Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is his policy that patients suffering from rare cancers, with particular reference to multiple myeloma, should receive equal priority within the NHS as those suffering from more common forms of the disease. [215826]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government are committed to providing high quality cancer services across the country, irrespective of cancer type. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been commissioned to continue the improving outcomes series to ensure there is a comprehensive package of cancer services guidance covering all cancers.

The NICE improving outcomes in haematological cancers guidance was published in October 2003 and addresses multiple myeloma.
 
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NHS Bank

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2005, Official Report, columns 556–7W, on the NHS Bank, how the budget of £732 million will be spent. [215992]

Mr. Hutton: The overall budget managed by the NHS Bank on behalf of the Department in 2004–05 has now increased to £746 million.

A breakdown of planned expenditure is shown in the table.
NHS Bank planned expenditure 2004–05

Area of expenditure	Amount (£ million)
Special assistance	70
Strategic health authority managed allocation	120
Impairments/accelerated depreciation funding	258
Private finance initiative revenue costs	15
General and personal medical services quality and outcomes framework achievement	283
Total	746

NHS Recruitment

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses have been recruited to work in the NHS from (i) Sub-Saharan Africa and (ii) India. [215507]

Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally. Healthcare professionals who work in the United Kingdom have to be registered with the relevant professional body. In this case, the professional bodies are the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the General Medical Council (CMC). Both professional bodies produce a statistical breakdown of their register, which can be found on their respective websites at www.nmc-uk.org and www.gmc-uk.org.
 
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It is important to note that healthcare professionals registered with the CMC and the NMC may not come to work in the UK and those that do may not work within the national health service.

NHS Staff

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost to the NHS of paying the salary of (a) a radiographer and (b) a radiologist was in the last year for which figures are available. [213927]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 3 February 2005]: The average cost of a radiographer in England is shown in the table. We cannot provide information regarding the earnings of radiologists as we do not hold medical and dental earnings data by specialty.
Average cost of a radiographer in 2002 in England

Mean cost of radiographer to national health service	(25)£30,000

⁽²⁵⁾Figure rounded to nearest £100.
Note:
Average cost is the average earnings of a Radiographer grossed up by 12 per cent., to represent on-costs". The NHS earnings information is based on payroll data taken from a sample of approximately 50 per cent. of trusts during August 2002.
Source:
Department of Health NHS Earnings Survey

NHS University Courses

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2005 to the hon. Member for Aberavon (Dr. Francis), Official Report, columns 183–184W, on the NHS university, which of the NHS university courses are accredited; by which bodies they have been accredited; and what the length was of each course. [216372]

Mr. Hutton: The NHS university (NHSU) was set up to provide a range of learning opportunities for all levels of staff across the national health service. Its courses run to meet specific learning and skills needs.

The following table shows are the NHSU courses which are currently accredited, by which body and the length of each course.

Name of course	Accredited by	Length of course
1. First Contact Care	Sheffield Hallam university	i) Postgraduate Diploma—one year ii) M.Sc.—two years
2. Managing Patient Complaints	Middlesex university	180 hours of study
3. Managing Health and Social Care Certificate Programme	Programmes based on four modules of open learning, currently used and accredited locally by 12 higher education institutes (HEIs) and nationally by the Institute of Health Care Management	600 hours of study in 12–14 months
4. Managing Health and Social Care Diploma Programme	Programmes based on six modules of open learning currently used and accredited locally by 12 HEIs and nationally by the Institute of Health Care Management	1,200 hours of study over 18–24 months

Source:
NHSU February 2005.





 
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Obesity

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1)how many obesity clinics there are in England; [217267]

(2) what the waiting time to attend an obesity clinic in England is. [217268]

Miss Melanie Johnson: There are seven adult and seven child national health service obesity clinics in England. Information on the waiting list to attend these clinics is not collected centrally.

Patient and Public Involvement Forums

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Patient and Public Involvement Forums since their inception; and if he will make a statement. [216454]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 21 February 2005]: It is the responsibility of the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health rather than the Department to review the effectiveness of patients' forums and to report to the Secretary of State on that effectiveness.

The Commission recently published a report, entitled PPI Forum Activity Summary", which highlighted the valuable contributions made by patients' forums in their first year's activities.

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