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22 Feb 2005 : Column 501W—continued
Premature Babies
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the merits of introducing a respiratory syncytial virus preventative treatment programme for premature babies who are most vulnerable to that virus. [215765]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Such a programme already exists. Recommendations on the use of paluvizumab were made by the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation at its November 2002 meeting. Details can be found at http://www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/jcvi/mins01nov02.htm.
Primary Care Trusts
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the 88 spearhead primary care trusts referred to in his statement of 9 February. [216767]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 21 February 2005]: The list of spearhead local authorities and primary care trusts was placed in the Library as part of the launch in November 2004. The list is also available to the public at: www.dh.gov.uk/healthinequalities.
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what he deems to be (a) an appropriate and (b) a maximum period for a primary care trust to respond to correspondence from an hon. Member concerning problems which a constituent might have with healthcare or with a primary care trust. [215854]
Mr. Hutton
[holding answer 10 February 2005]: The Department does not set correspondence standards for primary care trusts or any other national health service organisation. We would expect them to have similar standards to those used in other public sector
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organisations. The Department's own standard for replying to correspondence is 90 per cent., of replies within 20 working days.
Research
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on research by his Department in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003 and (e) 2004. [215886]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The total departmental expenditure on research and development is shown in the table.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 510 |
| 2001–02 | 538 |
| 2002–03 | 574 |
| 2003–04 | Not available |
Respiratory Syncytial Virus
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will ask the Rapid Review Panel to look into preventative treatments for respiratory syncytial virus as part of its programme to reduce hospital acquired infections; [217133]
(2) if he will invite the Rapid Review Panel to examine preventative treatments for respiratory syncytial virus as part of its programme to reduce hospital acquired infections. [217134]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The rapid review panel considers all applications that it receives provided the product falls within the panel's remit, that is, it should be a new or novel product which could help reduce healthcare associated infection. Any application submitted regarding a product specifically aimed at reducing respiratory syncytial virus would be considered as part of this process.
Applications for a marketing authorisation of any medicinal product for the treatment of this and other infections would be considered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency rather than the panel.
Staff Training
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the costs of departmental (a) staff training days and (b) staff development days held away from the Department were in each year since 1997. [213793]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Temporary Nurses
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action has been taken by his Department to implement the recommendations on temporary nurses in the Audit Commission report Brief Encounters. [216389]
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Mr. Hutton: The Department has issued guidance setting standards for the use of temporary staffing in the national health service. Agency framework agreements have been negotiated with external agencies providing temporary staff to NHS employers, to drive up standards and improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness. NHS Professionals has been established as a special health authority to bring greater co-ordination and consistency to the use of temporary staff within the NHS and in turn, offer better quality patient care and better value for money.
The provisional spend on temporary nursing staff has reduced by £65 million in 2003–04. This represents a reduction of more than 10 per cent.
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Transplants
Mr. Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been assessed and accepted for (a) heart, (b) lung and (c) heart and lung transplant waiting lists in each of the last three years; how many have received transplants; and how many have died while waiting for transplantation. [216667]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of people assessed and accepted for heart, lung and heart and lung transplant waiting lists in each of the last three years; the number who have received transplants; and the number who have died while waiting for transplantation is shown in the tables.
(26)As at 10 January 2005.
Travel Costs Scheme
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which part of his Department has the power to change the rules of the Hospital Travel Costs scheme. [216443]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Changes to the provisions of the hospital travel cost scheme are delivered through amendments to the statutory instruments for NHS (Travel Expenses and Remission of Charges) Regulations 2003, SI 2003/2382, which are approved by Parliament. The chief nursing officer's user experience and professional leadership directorate has the policy lead for the scheme.
Triage
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which NHS trusts have introduced orthopaedic triage systems using (a) general practitioners with a special interest, (b) physiotherapists and (c) multi-professional teams; and if he will make a statement; [213473]
(2) what assessment his Department has made of the impact on orthopaedic waiting times of triage systems using (a) physiotherapists, (b) general practitioners with a special interest and (c) multi-professional teams. [213474]
Mr. Hutton:
This information is not collected centrally. The Department is working with a range of external stakeholders to develop a framework for musculoskeletal services. This will include drawing on a number of existing examples of good practice in using triage services to reduce waiting times, improve co-ordination of care and promote quality, convenience and choice for NHS patients.
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