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2 Nov 2005 : Column 1141W—continued
GP Practices
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP practices have started to use the Choose and Book" system since its inception, broken down by (a) strategic health authority and (b) primary care trust. [19506]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested, as in late October, has been placed in the Library, but this information changes daily as more and more general practitioner practices 'go live' with Choose and Book".
Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what meetings she has had to review the operation of section 27 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003. [20738]
Mr. Byrne: Ministers have had no meetings to review the operation of section 27 of the Health and Social Care Act 2003. Monitor, the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts, is currently consulting on how it carries out its responsibilities under section 27 of the Act.
Health Services (Rural Areas)
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions she has had with the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation on the costs incurred in delivering health services to sparsely populated rural areas, with particular reference to (a) the Morecambe Bay NHS hospitals trust and (b) the Morecambe Bay primary care trust; and if she will make a statement. [20485]
Mr. Byrne:
The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) makes recommendations to Ministers in advance of every round of revenue allocations to primary care trusts. ACRA is an independent body, made up of national health service managers, academics and general practitioners. ACRA does not advise on the effects of the weighted capitation formula for individual NHS organisations.
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The role of ACRA is to oversee the development of the weighted capitation formula to ensure equity in the allocation of resources to the NHS. Rurality has been looked at by ACRA on a number of occasions. As a result of work commissioned by ACRA to look at the effect of rurality on the cost of providing certain services, an adjustment was made to the weighted capitation formula in respect of the unavoidable geographical cost differences in the provision of emergency ambulance services. The emergency ambulance cost adjustment was introduced from the 1998–99 health authority allocations.
HIV Tests
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many HIV tests in each genito-urinary medicine clinic in each London strategic health authority were (a) offered and (b) taken in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [18654]
Jane Kennedy: The numbers of HIV tests offered and taken in the genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics within the London strategic health authorities (SHAs) are shown in the table. The dataset used to compile this data was taken from the KC60 return, which is made by all GUM clinics to the health protection agency. Only those tests offered and taken in GUM clinics are recorded in the KC60 return, testing undertaken in other clinical settings, such as general practice, are not recorded in the dataset. Data was only shown for 2003 and 2004, as the KC60 code that records sexual health screen with a HIV test (S2) was only introduced in 2003.
The data do not represent the number of HIV tests offered and taken up by the population resident within each SHA, as many patients cross health boundaries to access GUM clinics. In addition, the gender and sexual orientation mix varies between clinics. Some clinics are attended by a high number of men who have sex with men and consequently this influences the number of HIV tests offered and taken.
(48) Offered defined as KC60 codes S2 (HIV antibody test and sexual health screen) plus P1A (HIV antibody test no sexual health screen) plus P1B (HIV antibody test offered and refused).
(49) Test taken defined as S2+P1A.
(50) King's College Hospital does not collect information for code S2.
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Hospital Admissions (Tariffs)
Steve Webb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure that the structure of tariffs does not provide an incentive to NHS trusts to structure a patient's course of treatment to
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involve multiple admissions to hospital, except where this is clinically appropriate; and if she will make a statement. [19705]
Mr. Byrne: Under payment by results (PbR), providers of national health service services will be paid at the appropriate national tariff rate for each spell. A spell is the care provided by a single trust between the admission and discharge, or death, of a patient.
The Department is currently consulting on a code of conduct for all organisations involved with PbR which makes clear that the interests of patients are paramount. The code will be supported by the introduction of an assurance regime, currently being developed with the Audit Commission, which will enable commissioners of treatment to monitor, among other things, the appropriateness of admissions.
Influenza
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deliveries of Tamiflu she expects to receive in each month until the planned number of courses have been stockpiled. [20877]
Caroline Flint: The delivery schedule indicates that we will receive 800,000 adult treatment courses per month. We are due to have an additional 900,000 courses (1,700,000 in total) delivered in March 2006, an additional 800,000 courses (1,600,000 in total) in July and August 2006, and an additional 462,000 (1,262,000 in total) in September to complete the order. The difference between 14,162,000 and the 14.6 million courses quoted is represented by powder to make up suspension for children.
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