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23 Mar 2005 : Column 909W—continued

NHS Office Equipment

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines or regulations govern the purchase of office equipment by NHS hospitals. [222136]

Mr. Hutton: As public bodies, national health service trusts must comply with all relevant United Kingdom and European procurement regulations.

The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency has jointly negotiated separate national framework agreements for photocopiers (multi-functional devices) and fax machines with Office of Government Commerce buying solutions. These agreements require that all appointed suppliers comply with all the relevant health and safety legislation and the European waste electronic and electrical equipment Directive. They both also actively encourage support of sustainable development.
 
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NHS Waiting Times

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting times were for patients at (a) West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust and (b) Addenbrookes Hospital NHS Trust for (i) general surgery, (ii) urology, (iii) trauma and orthopaedics, (iv) ear, nose and throat, (v) ophthalmology, (vi) oral surgery and (vii) obstetrics and gynaecology for each year since 2001–02. [222295]

Dr. Ladyman: The average waiting times for patients at West Suffolk Hospital National Health Service Trust and Addenbrookes Hospital NHS Trust for general surgery, urology, trauma and orthopaedics, ear, nose and throat, ophthalmology, oral surgery and obstetrics and gynaecology for each year since 2001–02 are shown in the tables.
Addenbrookes hospital (now known as Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust): average waits in weeks by specialty

	March
Specialty	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04)	2004–05 (December)
General surgery	17.69	16.20	10.83	8.28
Urology	11.74	12.23	9.10	10.93
Trauma and orthopaedics	18.67	15.86	13.03	12.41
Ear, nose and throat	19.77	16.08	12.07	12.44
Ophthalmology	11.87	12.14	8.86	7.05
Oral surgery	6.97	7.29	7.32	6.22
Gynaecology	11.68	10.33	10.02	8.45
All specialties	12.73	12.24	9.89	8.61

Note:
Figures shown are the median wait for each of the specialties requested.
Source:
Department of Health waiting time statistics.





West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust: median waits in weeks by specialty

	March
Specialty	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05 (December)
General surgery	17.69	18.23	11.99	14.26
Urology	11.91	10.79	9.26	11.20
Trauma and orthopaedics	21.52	16.78	15.68	14.52
Ear, nose and throat	17.65	18.83	15.09	18.23
Ophthalmology	24.25	18.24	11.53	6.30
Oral surgery	21.89	16.45	15.73	18.28
Gynaecology	13.06	11.71	9.78	10.05
All specialties	19.34	16.09	12.55	12.32

Note:
Figures shown are the median wait for each of the specialties requested.
Source:
Department of Health waiting time statistics.





 
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NIMHE

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to whom the National Institute for Mental Health, England is accountable. [222015]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) is part of the Modernisation Agency, which is part of the Department, until 31 March 2005. The Secretary of State for Health is ultimately accountable.

From 1 April 2005, the NIMHE will become part of the care services improvement partnership, hosted by the prescription pricing authority, and will be accountable to the care services directorate in the Department.

Each NIMHE regional development centre is hosted by a separate National health service organisation and is accountable, in the first instance, to the boards of their employing organisations, then to the NIMHE and ultimately to the Secretary of State for the central programme work they carry out.

Speech Therapy

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints have been received by the NHS Healthcare Commission in each of the last six months regarding (a) waiting times for speech therapists and (b) access to speech therapists. [221155]

Mr. Hutton: I understand from the Chairman of the Healthcare Commission that information about complaints relating to speech therapists cannot be readily retrieved and separately identified without incurring disproportionate costs.

Nurses

Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average pay of a fully qualified NHS nurse was in real terms (a) in 1997 and (b) the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [222507]

 
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Mr. Hutton: The average pay of a fully qualified national health service nurse is shown in the table. The earliest year for which the Department holds figures is 1999.
Average annualised earnings⁽³⁹⁾ of qualified nurses: 1999 and 2002—England

Average annualised earnings(40) in real terms (£)(41)
	1999	2002
2002–03 as reference year	22,900	24,500

⁽³⁹⁾ The NHS earnings survey is based on the payroll of a sample of approximately 50 per cent. of NHS trusts in August.
⁽⁴⁰⁾ Figures rounded to the nearest 100.
⁽⁴¹⁾ Figures uprated to real terms" values using the gross domestic product (GDP)deflator index
Sources:
1. Department of Health national health service earnings survey.
2. Her Majesty's Treasury GDP deflator index.

Obesity

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the adult population was obese in each of the last five years for which figures are available; how many individuals that percentage represents in actual terms in each of those years; how many obese persons he estimates died in each of those years; and how many individual adults became obese in each of those years. [217667]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Information is not available in exactly the form requested. The figures for the percentage of the adult population that was obese in the five years from 1999 to 2003, taken from the Health Survey for England, are shown in the table. The Health Survey for England provides estimates of the underlying population figures but, because of the small sample size any representation of the figures as a number of the total population should be treated with caution. Although Health Survey data for 2003 are weighted to provide a better match to the general population, un-weighted data for 2003 are shown here for consistency with previous years' data, which have not yet been weighted. Figures for the incidence of obesity are not available.
Adults classed as obese (body mass index greater than 30): 1999–2003

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Obese as a proportion of the total sample (percentage)	20.0	21.2	22.4	22.5	23.2
Sample base(42) (number)	6,903	6,963	13,681	6,478	13,056
Estimated number of obese adults in the total population (million)	7.6	8.1	8.6	8.8	9.0

⁽⁴²⁾ Aged 16 and over with both valid height and weight measurements.
Source:
Health Survey for England.





 
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With regard to how many obese people died in each of those years, the fact that a person was obese is not routinely recorded at death certification. However, data on deaths where the underlying cause was certified as obesity or where this condition contributed to the death
 
23 Mar 2005 : Column 914W
 
are collected. The following table shows the number of deaths in England and Wales where obesity was the underlying cause of death and where obesity contributed to the death, for the calendar years 1999 to 2003.
Number of deaths where obesity—International Classification of Diseases (ICD)—9278.0; ICD-10 E66—was the underlying cause of death or contributed to the death: England and Wales, 1999–2003

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Underlying cause	165	161	183	182	219
Contributed to death	597	626	695	732	885
Total number of deaths from all causes	556,118	535,664	530,373	533,527	538,254

Note:
Data are for occurrences of death per calendar year.
Source:
Office for National Statistics.

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