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3 Mar 2005 : Column 1357W—continued
Breast Screening
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what facilities are available for breast screening of women aged 50 to 64 years in (a) North Yorkshire, (b) East Anglia and (c) other parts of England; and if he will make a statement. [217654]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The National Health Service Breast Screening Programme provides free breast screening every three years for all women in England aged 50 and over. Women aged between 50 and 70 are currently invited every three years. Once women reach
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the upper age limit for routine invitations for breast screening, they are encouraged to make their own appointment.
There are 85 breast screening units in the United Kingdom. These are specialised screening units, which can either be mobile, hospital based, or permanently based in another convenient location such as a shopping centre. Approximately 80 per cent. of the units are mobile.
In Northern Yorkshire, the breast screening service is comprised of two static sites, based in York, and three mobile units. For East Anglia, Ipswich, Yarmouth, King's Lynn and Peterborough each have one static site and one mobile unit. Cambridge has one static site and two mobile units, and Norfolk and Norwich have two static sites and two mobile units.
Capital Improvements (Hartlepool)
Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what capital improvements have been made by his Department in the Hartlepool constituency since 1997. [218501]
Miss Melanie Johnson: County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority reports that the total value of capital developments/investments at North Tees and Hartlepool National Health Service Trust in each year since 1997–98 is as shown in the table.
| Amount (£000) | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 658 |
| 1998–99 | 1,294 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,698 |
| 2000–01 | 1,478 |
| 2001–02 | 1,544 |
| 2002–03 | 1,159 |
| 2003–04 | 1,193 |
| 2004–05 | 1,553 |
The improvements that this funding has paid for include:
a new computed tomography (CT) scanner, which was delivered to North Tees General Hospital in February 2002;
a new £1 million pathology laboratory, which opened in December 2002 at the University Hospital of Hartlepool;
a new £65,000 mammogram machine, which became operational in April 2003 at the University Hospital of North Tees;
In addition, Hartlepool PCT purchased the Barlows building in 2003–04 at a cost of around £750,000.
Care Standards
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Healthhow many inspections of care homes were carried out in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004 under the auspices of the Care Standards Commission; how many were unannounced; and how many led to deregistration of care homes. [218727]
Dr. Ladyman
[holding answer 28 February 2005]: Information on the number of inspections of care homes completed by the National Care Standards Commission in 2002–03 and 2003–04 is shown in the table.
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| Care home inspections | 2002–03 | 2003–04 |
|---|---|---|
| Announced | 25,800 | 24,645 |
| Unannounced | 15,634 | 22,160 |
| Total | 41,434 | 46,768 |
As of 24 February, the Commission for Social Care Inspection has completed 39,473 of the 44,674 care home inspections scheduled to be conducted by 31 March 2005. Of the 39,473 inspections, 20,440 were announced and 19,033 were unannounced.
From 1 April 2004 to 24 February 2005, 2000 care homes have de-registered through inspection activity, home closure and change in ownership.
Cataract Operations (Wirral, South)
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on waiting times for cataract operations in Wirral, South. [218500]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table.
Notes:
1.A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. Figures given are for all admission methods.
2.The main operation is the first recorded operation in the hospital episodes statistics (HES) data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, eg time waited, but the figures for all operations count of episodes" give a more complete count of episodes with an operation. OPCS4 codes C71-C72 and C74-C75 have been used for cataract operations.
3.Time waited statistics from HES are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension. Average time waited figures given are for waiting list and booked admissions.
4.Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (ie the data are ungrossed).
Source:
HES, Department of Health.
Civil Servants
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of the enhanced early retirement scheme for civil servants in his Department and its agencies was in each year from 1997–98 to 2003–04 and what the estimated cost will be in each year from 2004–05 to 2007–08; and if he will make a statement. [211653]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: The cost of enhanced exits in the Department of Health for financial years 1997–98 to 2003–04 are shown in the following table.
| Financial year | Total cost(28) (£000) |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 1,762 |
| 1998–99 | 1,129 |
| 1999–2000 | 2,303 |
| 2000–01 | 2,023 |
| 2001–02 | 3,200 |
| 2002–03 | 16,964 |
| 2003–04 | 9,201 |
| Total | 36,582 |
(28)The total includes annual compensation payments, for those aged over 50, until they reach normal retirement age.
The estimated costs for financial years 2004–05 to 2007–08 are shown in the following table.
| Financial year | Estimated costs (£000) |
|---|---|
| 2004–05 | (29)34,076 |
| 2005–06 | 3,000 |
| 2006–07 | 3,000 |
| 2007–08 | 3,000 |
| Total | 43,076 |
(29)This estimate includes £6.67 million for NHS Estates and Inventures.
Dentistry
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of dentists in (a) England and (b) each parliamentary constituency are accepting NHS patients. [217053]
Ms Rosie Winterton: As of 15 February 2005, there were 8,443 dental practices accepting at least one type of national health service treatment. Information is not available centrally number of dentists accepting NHS patients by parliamentary constituency. Information on the number of dental practices that are accepting at least one type of NHS treatment by primary care trust has been placed in the Library. Because dental practices may be accepting more than one type of NHS patient, the data cannot be proportioned.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of dentists in (a) each primary care trust and (b) each parliamentary constituency havestopped taking NHS patients in each year since 1997. [217054]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The great majority of dental practices treat both private and national health service patients. The Office of Fair Trading report The private dentistry market in the UK" published in March 2003 estimated that out of 11,000 dental practices about 210 are totally private, treating no NHS patients. Data on the percentages of complete leavers, by primary care trust and parliamentary constituency has been placed in the Library. The data do not take account of dentists who moved to other areas and continued to work in the general or personal dental services. The dentists could have ceased doing NHS work for a number of different reasons including retirement or leave to take a short-term absence. New contractual arrangements, which we are to introduce by April 2006, are intended to make NHS dentistry more attractive to dentists.
3 Mar 2005 : Column 1361W
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the additional £250 million allocated to NHS dentistry in England in 2005–06 is designated for new services. [217229]
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what impact the decision to delay full implementation of the NHS dentistry reforms until April 2006 will have on the £250 million additional investment in NHS dentistry previously announced for 2005–06. [218597]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 28 February 2005]: The decision to allow primary care trusts and dentists more time to prepare for the full implementation of the national health service dental reforms does not affect the resources available to support NHS dentistry. While primary dental services remain predominantly demand led, the distribution of resources is not susceptible to detailed central control. However, the additional resources underpin not only the higher income levels for existing dental practices recommended by the doctors and dentists review body but also the recruitment of 1,000 NHS dentists in little over a year and the expansion of personal dental service (PDS) schemes to provide new ways of working to the benefit of dentists and patients. We now have over 4,000 dentists in over 1,400 dental practices working under PDS arrangements. By April, we expect 25 per cent. of dental practices to be operating within the PDS.
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time is in a Dental Access Centre for (a) emergency treatment and (b) routine treatment. [217230]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not held centrally on waiting times in dental access centres (DACs). There are 50 DACs, which provided some 375,000 episodes of treatment in 2004.
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists were signed up to the PDS contract by 31 January, broken down by primary care trust area. [217231]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Dentists, who wish to have advanced benefit of the new contractual arrangements that will be introduced to national health services dentistry by April 2006, may move to the personal dental services (PDS). As of 31 January 2005, there were 3,881 dentists with at least one PDS contract in England. There are some further 500 practices with applications under consideration and by April 2005, we expect 25 per cent. of all dental practices to be in the PDS. A breakdown of PDS contracts by primary care trust has been placed in the Library.
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