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14 Mar 2005 : Column 127W—continued
Information for Patients
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether under his proposals for patient choice information will be available for patients on (a) cleanliness, (b) infection rates, (c) success of specific treatments, (d) individual consultants' performance and (e) patient satisfaction rates at (i) NHS hospitals and (ii) independent hospitals or treatment centres providing care paid for by the NHS. [219742]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 4 March 2005]: The Department is enhancing the website www.nhs.uk to provide both patients and general practitioners with easily accessible, comparative information about providers on waiting times, accessibility and quality and performance. This information will be drawn from the Healthcare Commission's star ratings on clinical quality and patient experience. In addition, the British Medical Journal's Best Treatments" series of elective surgery guides are available free of charge through NHS Direct Online.
Consultation with patients and clinicians has suggested that a wider range of data, and data relating to clinical effectiveness and outcomes may be helpful to inform choice. The Department is taking forward work in developing additional information sets in consultation with key stakeholders.
Information on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus"(MRSA) bloodstream infections is currently available on the Department's website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/PublicationsStatisticsArticle/fs/en? CONTENTJD=4085951&chk=HBt2QD.
Mandatory national surveillance has been in place since April 2001 and information for the last three years is available for all acute trusts in England.
Comparable information on these indicators will be available for independent sector providers and is likely to draw on the existing arrangements for contract monitoring.
Kent Autistic Trust
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional financial support he plans to give to the Kent Autistic Trust from April. [221124]
Dr. Ladyman: There are no plans to provide financial support to the Kent Autistic Trust from April.
The Department is only able to provide financial support to voluntary organisations through the Section64: General Scheme of Grants to Voluntary Organisations. No Section64 application was received from the Kent Autistic Trust for the 2005–06 round.
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Leicester Royal Infirmary (A and E Admissions)
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many admissions to the Leicester Royal Infirmary Accident and Emergency Department were found to be related to alcohol consumption in each year since 1997. [221205]
Dr. Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 28 February 2005, Official Report, column 977W.
Meat Hygiene
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1)what statistics are collected by the Meat Hygiene Service to monitor the number of carcasses presented for inspection with visible faecal contamination which require subsequent removal by trimming; [219006]
(2) what procedures are in place to ensure that the Meat Hygiene Service accurately records the number of carcasses presented for inspection at UK meat plants which are visibly faecally contaminated and subsequently need to be trimmed to remove that contamination; [219007]
(3) how many carcasses, in each year between 1995 and 2004 were (a) rejected in their entirety as unfit for human consumption at inspection by the Meat Hygiene Service and (b) rejected at inspection by the Meat Hygiene Service as requiring trimming to remove faecal contamination before being passed fit for human consumption. [219008]
Miss Melanie Johnson: I am advised that the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS)—which only operates in Great Britain: separate arrangements apply in Northern Ireland—does not collate statistics relating to visible faecal contamination of meat. It does, however, require its staff, through instructions contained in the MHS operations manual, to record incidences whereby visible contamination of meat—which includes faecal contamination but also other substances such as rust, grease and hair—has led to its rejection. The records for 2001 to 2004 are shown in table 1. Statistics relating to previous years are not readily available.
(36)These figures do not include bovines processed under the over thirty months scheme, as these are not processed for human consumption.
Figures for the total number of carcases rejected in their entirety as being unfit for human consumption at inspection by the MHS in Great Britain in 2001 to 2004 are shown in table 2. Statistics relating to previous years are not available.
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(37)These figures do not include bovines processed under the over thirty months scheme, as these are not processed for human consumption.
Mental Health
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what basis funding for mental health services is calculated; and what assessment is made of local needs when making that calculation. [221172]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department allocates revenue funding to primary care trusts on the basis of the relative needs of their populations.
It is for primary care trusts in partnership with strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use these funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets have been set for trusts regarding mental health provision. [221173]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The national service framework (NSF) for mental health, published in 1999, sets out the national standards for mental health, what they aim to achieve, how they should be developed and delivered and how to measure performance in every part of the country. Following this, the NHS plan, published in 2000, set plans and targets for investment and reforms in the national health service in England. In addition, the priorities and planning framework, published in 2002, sets out detailed targets for the next three years—2003–06. Both these documents include targets for mental health service provision.
Copies of these publications are available in the Library and on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/fs/en.
Ministerial Stationery
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on official ministerial (a) business cards, (b) headed paper and (c) compliment slips in each year since 1997. [214944]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department's accounting system does not provide the level of detail requested.
Multiple Sclerosis
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the impact upon multiple sclerosis therapy centres of the Health and Safety Commission's recent decision to raise the cost of annual inspections. [218246]
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Dr. Ladyman: The Written Ministerial Statement that was made to the House on Tuesday 8 February, Official Report, columns 76–78WS, outlined the increases in registration and inspections fees that will be levied by the Healthcare Commission, from 1 April 2005, as regulator of the independent healthcare sector. It is firm Government policy that we should move to a position where the recurrent costs of providing regulation are fully recovered from all service providers, so that the future care needs of the country can be met. The fee increases for 2005–06 are part of this process.
Nevertheless, the Government are committed to tackling the issue of overall regulation costs, which will ultimately limit what service providers will pay in the future. We are also working with the Commission to ensure that its inspection services are provided as cost-effectively as possible.
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