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8 Mar 2005 : Column 1728W—continued
Health Services (Burnley)
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been made available for frontline health services in Burnley in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [219493]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The tables show the revenue allocations made to East Lancashire Health Authority (HA) between 1996–97 and 2002–03 and Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust (PCT) between 2003–04 and 2007–08.
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| 2003–04(31) | 241,264 |
| 2004–05(31) | 264,963 |
| 2005–06(31) | 289,574 |
| 2006–07(32) | 339,612 |
| 2007–08(32) | 371,238 |
(31) Between 1996–97 and 2002–03, revenue allocations were made to HAs. From 2003–04, revenue allocations were made to PCTs. Therefore, it is not possible to compare the allocations made prior to 2003–04 with those made from 2003–04 as they were made to different organisations. Unified allocations covering hospital and community health services (HCHS), prescribing and general medical services cash limited allocations were first made in 1999–2000. Therefore, the allocation figures from 1999–2000 are not comparable with previous years which cover HCHS only.
(32) Allocations for 2006–07 and 2007–08 are not directly comparable with previous years because there have been significant baseline changes since the last allocations round—for example, devolution of £5 billion funding for general practitioners—which inflate the increases.
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been made available for improving buildings in Burnley for (a) general practitioner practices, (b) East Lancashire Acute Trust, (c) Burnley General Hospital and (d) other health services in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [219494]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the net book value of purchased capital additions
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(buildings, dwellings and transfers from assets under construction) for the East Lancashire hospitals national health service trust and its predecessor trusts.
Notes:
1. The figures in the table do not include private finance initiative (PFI) expenditure where PFI costs are revenue expenditure in the books of NHS bodies.
2. Capital investment will vary between years owing to the investment decisions at individual NHS bodies.
Sources:
Audited summarisation schedules of the East Lancashire hospitals NHS trust 2003–04.
Audited summarisation schedules of the Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley health Care NHS trust and the Burnley health care NHS trust 1997–98.
Heat-related Illnesses
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has made for combating the health effects of increasing levels of UV radiation due to the decline in cloud cover and ozone depletion. [218812]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) has carried out ultra violet (UV) measurements of solar UV in the United Kingdom and these have shown a small upward trend. However, the data are still being analysed and may be within experimental uncertainties. The incidence of skin cancer, due to UV exposure is rising in most middle latitude countries. This is attributed to behavioural factors (sunbathing, holidays in the sun etc.) and not changes in the intensity of incident ultra violet radiation or other meteorological factors.
The SunSmart" campaign is funded by the Department and run by Cancer Research UK and seeks to educate people about the dangers of excessive exposure to UV and gives simple steps to avoid the harm. The messages would be equally valid and useful and possibly even more necessary, should UV levels in the UK rise because of meteorological changes.
HIV/AIDS
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average annual cost of treating an AIDS patient in England was in the last year for which figures are available. [217474]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government do not routinely collect data on the cost of treating AIDS patients.
Hospices
Sir Nicholas Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the oral answer by the Prime Minister on Wednesday 23 February 2005, Official
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Report, column 305, what proportion of the sum of £50 million has to date been allocated to hospices; and if he will list the hospices concerned. [219278]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Reports on the use of the £50 million central budget for specialist palliative care in 2003–04 have been received from 32 of the 34 cancer networks. The remaining two networks received their allocations later than the others and were not included in the 2003–04 data collection exercise. The 32 networks received a total of £45.83 million and £38.38 million of this amount was spent in-year on specialist palliative care. £24.74 million (53.98 per cent. of the allocation) was used to support voluntary sector services, mostly hospices.
Investment plans for the use of the £50 million were developed by cancer networks in consultation with local stakeholders, including those in the voluntary sector. Decisions on which voluntary sector organisations should be allocated funding were made locally and this information is held at cancer network level.
Hospital Infections
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state what powers NHS matrons have to withhold payment to cleaning service providers. [209006]
Mr. Hutton: Guidance issued to the national health service emphasises the importance of involving nurses in setting up cleaning contracts and monitoring standards. Matrons have the power to instigate a process whereby payment can be withheld if cleaning standards are not maintained.
Illegal Cigarettes
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the health implications of trade in illegal cigarettes. [220208]
Miss Melanie Johnson: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has received representations from ASH and other health groups raising concerns that the availability of cheap illegal tobacco is undermining the Government's tobacco control strategy, particularly the use of high duty rates to discourage people from smoking. Smuggled tobacco has meant a continuing supply of cheap tobacco, often targeted on areas of deprivation.
This is why the Government, in Tackling Tobacco Smuggling," published in March 2000, has set challenging targets for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to reverse the growth in tobacco smuggling. As a result, in the first four years of the strategy, the total number of cigarettes smuggled into the United Kingdom each year has been reduced by over five billion, a reduction of over a third.
Infectious Diseases
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reasons are for the delay in publishing guidance based on the recommendations of the Department's working group on healthcare workers and infectious diseases. [218192]
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Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 28 February 2005]: In developing guidance on the health clearance of new health care workers for serious communicable diseases, it has been necessary to take into account the Cabinet Office review of imported infections and immigration, which has been considering the impact of immigration on public health and relevant issues, including health screening.
Guidelines will be published by the summer.
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