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4 Mar 2005 : Column 1462W—continued
Food Labelling
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards achieving a clear and simple contents labelling system for all prepared foods that includes essential nutritional information and an indicator of high, medium or low value in respect of fat sugar and salt content; and if he will make a statement. [218605]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The recently published White Paper, "Choosing Health", contains a commitment to introduce a straightforward system of front of pack "signpost" food labelling that will help consumers to make healthier choices more easily.
In November, the Food Standards Agency published the results of the qualitative phase of research to identify the preferred format for a signposting system. It is now planning quantitative research on the preferred formats, and will be consulting stakeholders on the study design shortly. The research is expected to include at least one format that rates the fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt contents of the food as "high", "medium" or "low".
Health Services (North Durham)
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses there were in North Durham (a) in 2001 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available. [214457]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table. Data are supplied at strategic health authority (SHA) level as practice nurse data are not available by trust for 2001. 1
n/a = Not applicable.
Sources:
Department of Health non-medical workforce census.
Department of Health general and personal medical services statistics.
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Hospital Debt
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals in England are in debt; by how much in each case; and if he will make a statement. [217527]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
We have taken debt to mean the cumulative break-even position as reported in the final accounts of national health service trusts. We do not collect information at individual hospital level.
Imported Medicine
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much medicine the Government imported in the last year for which figures are available. [219368]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In 2003, the United Kingdom world trade in pharmaceuticals was valued at £11.941 million for exports and £8.378 million for imports, which created a crude trade balance surplus of £3.563 million.
This information is collected and published by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.
Ministerial Visits
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to visit Leicester general hospital. [220095]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There are no current plans in my official diary to undertake a visit to Leicester general hospital. Should a request to do so be received in the Department, it will be given full consideration.
Mobile Phones
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's advice is on mobile phone use by under-16s. [217699]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) on 18 January 2005, Official Report, column 876W.
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Independent Sector Treatment Centres
Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many contracts the NHS has entered into with private diagnostic and treatment centres. [213756]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 3 February 2005]: A capacity planning exercise was undertaken to identify the capacity needed by the national health service to continue to drive down waiting times for patients and to meet waiting time targets. The need for procurement from the independent sector arose following that exercise. Ten contracts for independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) have been signed to date with seven remaining. Full business cases, confirming the activity to be commissioned from the independent sector have been signed off by primary care trust boards, as have final agreements. The local NHS is expected to manage referrals to ensure that extra capacity available from ISTCs is used.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will provide a substantive reply to question reference 215855, tabled for answer on 10 February. [220083]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I answered the hon. Member on 2 March 2005, Official Report, column 1226W.
Prosecutions (Non-entitlement to Treatment)
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of civil action have been brought forward by the Counter Fraud and Security Management Service and its predecessors against those suspected of getting free treatment from the NHS to which they are not entitled since 1997; and how many of those cases have resulted in successful prosecution. [217438]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 24 February 2005]: The penalty charge was introduced in August 2001 as a civil fine for patients who wrongly obtain help with national health service charges for themselves or someone else. The penalty is five times the amount owed, up to a maximum of £100, plus the original unpaid NHS charge. If the penalty charge is not settled within 28 days from the date of posting, a surcharge will be applied. The surcharge is calculated as 50 per cent, of the penalty charge.
Since the penalty charge was introduced, 164,133 penalty notices have been issued. Up to 9,000 cases are currently going through the debt recovery process. 9,954 cases have already been dealt with by judgments in county court. The rest have been paid or concluded without recourse to court proceedings. Repeat offenders are subject to criminal prosecution where that is appropriate.
Five patients have been prosecuted under section 29 of the Health Act 1999 for obtaining free NHS treatment to which they were not entitled.
The number of prosecutions is low as the penalty charge is found to be the most cost-effective way of dealing with high-volume but low-value fraud.
4 Mar 2005 : Column 1465W
Renal Services
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans his Department has to audit the implementation of the Renal National Service Framework; [212331]
(2) whether the measurable benchmarks set out in the Kidney Alliance/British Renal Society's Criteria for Success document will be utilised by the Healthcare Commission to audit the Renal National Service Framework. [212333]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is the role of the independent Healthcare Commission to assess whether health organisations' plans include programmes to deliver national service frameworks. The development of a national audit around the national service framework for renal services fits within that programme of work. The use of particular tools for assessments is a matter for the Commission.
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to increase the number of haemodialysis patients with permanent vascular access as opposed to catheters to 80 per cent. [212334]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We launched part one of the national service framework (NSF) for renal services in 2004. It sets standards and identifies markers of good practice for kidney dialysis and transplantation. Standard 3 of the NSF identifies arteriovenous fistulas as the best form of long-term vascular access. It is for primary care trusts commissioning renal services to set priorities for local action based on the standards, quality requirements and markers of good practice set out in the NSF for renal services. We are supporting delivery through various programmes and national health service pilots, including two work force pilots focused on the organisation of vascular access surgery. When this work is complete, the results will be shared with the NHS.
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