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15 Jun 2005 : Column 518W—continued
Overseas Doctors
Mr. Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions her Department has had with the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin concerning the process by which overseas doctors obtain visas following Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board qualification; and what the outcome was of those discussions. [3386]
Mr. Byrne: The British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin have had discussions with the Department about the immigration rules relating to doctors who are seeking employment in the United Kingdom. The Department is discussing their views with the Home Office.
Pennine Acute NHS Trust
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the recent vote of no confidence received by the Pennine Acute NHS trust board. [4170]
Mr. Byrne
[holding answer 14 June 2005]: I am aware that a vote of no confidence has been called at the Pennine Acute hospitals national health service trust. The postal ballot is due to close on 21 June. However, in line with the Department's Shifting the Balance of Power initiative, this matter needs to be resolved by the local NHS trust.
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Primary Care (Hornsey and Wood Green)
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds have been committed to improving access to primary care in Hornsey and Wood Green since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [2886]
Jane Kennedy: The Department has supported Haringey Primary Care Trust (PCT) with a total of £1.3 million towards the cost of the North Middlesex national health service walk-in centre. However, under Shifting the Balance of Power" principles, it is for Haringey PCT to decide how much of its overall funding is committed to improving primary care access and how much to other priorities. Haringey PCT's investment decisions have enabled it to be able to report that, from December 2004, it has successfully delivered the primary care access target without denying local patients the opportunity to book appointments ahead.
Radiographers
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her estimate is of the number of radiographers that will be employed in the NHS in each year until 2010. [3442]
Mr. Byrne: Since 1999, the number of radiographers employed in the NHS has increased by 1,570 (13 per cent.) to 13,900 in 2004. The Government have substantially increased training places for radiographers and expect that there will be further increases in the radiography workforce, but no forecast numbers are available to 2010.
Rheumatology
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence she has received from the British Society for Rheumatology relating to the prevalence of postcode prescribing in the treatment of (a) rheumatoid arthritis, (b) ankylosing spondylitis and (c) psoriatic arthritis. [3437]
Mr. Byrne:
I have received a copy of a report entitled Access to anti-TNF Therapies for Adults with Inflammatory Arthritis", published jointly by the British Society for Rheumatology and the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance.
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Self-harming
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were treated for self-harming in 2004. [4645]
Mr. Byrne: Data for estimated finished consultant episodes with a primary diagnosis of self-inflicted injury and/or poisoning by cause: children and adolescents in 2003–04 is shown in the table.
Source:
Hospital episode statistics, NHS health and social care information centre
Trent Strategic Health Authority
Mr. Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many (a) intensive care and (b) high dependency beds there were in the area administered by Trent Strategic Health Authority in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what the daily cost per bed was for each kind of bed in that area in that year; [3249]
(2) what the total cost of patients in (a) intensive and (b) high dependency care in Trent Strategic Health Authority's area of administration was in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what percentage of the total budget for NHS beds in that area in that year that figure represents. [3250]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There were 62 intensive care beds and 65 high dependency care beds on 13 January 2005 within Trent Strategic Health Authority. This is the latest data available.
On 15 January 2004 there were 60 intensive care beds and 58 high dependency beds.
The following table shows the total cost and the average daily cost per bed in 2003–04 in Trent and nationally.
Notes:
Average cost is calculated by dividing total cost by occupied bed days to give an average cost per occupied bed day.
Source data: Reference costs 2004 for financial year 2003–04.
National average unit costs source data: national schedule of reference costs 2004 for financial year 2003–04, Appendix 1: National Health Service Trusts' own data.
Source:
Department of Health statistical return form KHO3a.
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The percentage that this represents, of the total budget for NHS beds in that area, is not held centrally.
Smoking-related Deaths
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her estimate is of the total number of deaths from smoking-related illnesses in people who are not smokers for the most recent period for which figures are available; and what proportion of these deaths were in people whose partners were smokers. [3435]
Caroline Flint:
The scientific committee on tobacco and health (SCOTH) has reviewed the evidence on harm from second hand smoke, most recently in its report published alongside the White Paper Choosing Health", on 16 November 2004. SCOTH did not produce an estimate of the total number of deaths other
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than stating that there are several hundred extra lung cancer deaths a year" due to exposure to second hand smoke. SCOTH did not produce figures which estimated what proportion of deaths were in people whose partners were smokers. A copy of the SCOTH report is available in the Library.
In March 2005, the British Medical Journal published a study by Professor K. Jamrozik, entitled, Estimate of deaths attributable to passive smoking among UK adults: database analysis". This concluded that:
Across the United Kingdom as a whole, passive smoking at work is likely to be responsible for the deaths of more than two employed people per working day (617 deaths per year), including 54 deaths in the hospitality industry each year. Each year passive smoking at home might account for another 2700 deaths in persons aged 20–64 years and 8000 deaths among people aged 65 and over."
A copy of the study is available in the Library.