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12 Jan 2006 : Column 867W—continued
Hospital Facilities
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of NHS in-patients shared a mixed sex sleeping area at some point during their hospital stay in the last year for which figures are available. [35194]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The proportion of national health service in-patients reporting sharing a room or bay with members of the opposite sex was measured through the 2004 acute adult in-patient survey, administered by the Healthcare Commission. This was conducted in 169 acute and specialist NHS trusts in England that care for adult patients. The response rate to this survey was 63 per cent.
The results of this survey showed that on average, 22 per cent. of patients shared a room or bay while in hospital. This is a fall of 4 percentage points from the previous survey conducted in 2002, and reflects the progress made by the NHS in eliminating mixed-sex accommodation. Results at national and individual trust level are published on the Healthcare Commission website at www.healthcarecommission.org.uk.
The Department has set clear standards for the provision of single-sex accommodation in the NHS. in 2005, 97 per cent. of NHS trusts met these standards, which cover a broader range of issues than the Healthcare Commission's survey, including the provision of separate sanitary facilities for men and women, issues of privacy, dignity and respect and criteria to ensure the safety of patients in mental health settings.
Hospital Hygiene
Ms Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the merits of (a) compulsory wearing of facemasks by staff dealing directly with patients, (b) compulsory routine testing of all hospital staff for infections and (c) prohibition of hospital uniforms being worn offsite. [35447]
Jane Kennedy: National evidence based guidelines1,2 do not identify any clinical benefit from wearing facemasks to protect patients during routine ward procedures such as wound dressing or invasive medical procedures.
Screening for healthcare associated infections is not routinely recommended for staff.
It is for individual trusts to determine their own policies on the wearing of uniforms in and around the workplace.
Many trusts have uniform policies in place for all staff stating that staff should not wear uniforms outside of the work place, unless working in the community or on official hospital business. Many also state that uniforms worn outside of the workplace should be covered with a full-length coat.
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1 The epic project: developing national evidence-based guidelines for preventing healthcare association infections phase 1: guidelines for preventing hospital-acquired infections J Hosp Infect; 2001, 47(suppl) S3-S82 2 The epic project. Updating the evidence-base for national evidence-based guidelines for preventing healthcare associated infections in NHS hospitals in England: a report with recommendations". British Journal of Infection Control December 2004 Vol. 5 No. 6 Pellowe CM, Pratt RJ, Loveday HP, Harper P, Robinson M, Hones SRLJ
Hospital-acquired Infection
Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) incidents of hospital-acquired infection (HAI) and (b) deaths due to HAI there have been in the national health service in each year since 1996. [8713]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 5 July 2005]: Information on the number of cases of all hospital acquired infection is not available.
The best available information is on meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) blood stream infections from mandatory surveillance system at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/40/15/04114015.pdf which was introduced in April 2001. National totals for the first four years are shown in the table.
Source:
Health Protection Agency
It is not possible to give reliable figures on the number of deaths involving hospital-acquired infections from routinely collected mortality data, as information on whether the infection was acquired in hospital or elsewhere may not be available to the doctor certifying the death.
Influenza
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 November 2005, Official Report, column 666W, on influenza, whether she has plans to vaccinate poultry handlers against influenza of subtype A/H5N1 should a vaccine become available; and what plans she has to vaccinate poultry handlers against other forms of highly pathogenic avian influenza. [39312]
Caroline Flint: The Government have already announced their plans to purchase a small stockpile of new A/H5N1 vaccine that is currently being developed. Though it is intended that this will initially be used for research purposes, its use for poultry workers and others at serious risk of exposure to infection will be considered in the event of an outbreak of H5N1 in poultry flocks.
There are no plans to vaccinate poultry handlers against other forms of avian influenza as there are no suitable vaccines available.
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In the event of an outbreak of avian influenza in poultry, seasonal human influenza vaccine will be offered to all those considered to be at risk of exposure to infection in addition to antiviral therapy.
Isolation Units
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1)how many isolation units there are in each region; and where each is located; [35790]
(2) how many positive-negative pressure isolation rooms exist within the NHS; and where they are located. [36703]
Jane Kennedy: The Department does not collect information on isolation facilities but has issued guidance that trusts should ensure adequate provision.
Health Service Circular 2000/2002 on the Management and control of hospital infection required trusts to undertake a risk assessment to determine appropriate provision of isolation facilities within each trust. Winning Ways (December 2003) states that national health service trust chief executives will ensure over time that there is appropriate provision of isolation facilities within their healthcare facilities.
Medical Equipment (Supply Contracts)
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with which companies based in the UK her Department has contracts for the supply of medical equipment. [39692]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Medical Staff (Attacks)
Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases were recorded of attacks on (a) ambulance crews and (b) nurses in each year since 2003–04; how many there were in 2005–06; how many prosecutions were pursued in each case; and what sentences were imposed on those found guilty in each case where all proceedings are complete. [36012]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally in the format requested. The national health service security management service (NHS SMS) is currently in the process of compiling and validating the first ever accurate figures for the levels of physical assault on NHS staff in 2004–05 for the acute, primary care and ambulance services; these will be released in the near future.
Information relating to the number of physical assaults on staff working in NHS mental health and learning disability environments was released on 19 October 2005; these totalled 43,301 for the period 2004–05. In 2002–03 there were 59,992 violent incidents in these settings.
The number of successful prosecutions involving physical assaults on NHS staff for 2004–05 was 759; a 15fold rise over the 51 such prosecutions identified in 2002–03. In 2004–05 there were 100 successful prosecutions involving assaults on ambulance staff.
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No information on sentences imposed on offenders was collated for this period.
Mental Health
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which 50 areas have the highest proportion of registered mentally ill people per 10,000 head of population. [39291]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The 50 primary care trusts (PCTs) with the highest number of admissions of patients with a mental illness per 10,000 of population in England in 2003–04 is shown in table 1.
Table 2 shows the number of formal admissions of patients detained under the 1983 Mental Health Act among all national health service care providers in England. There is a direct relationship between the number of admissions and the size of a trust's work force and the capacity of a unit.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre
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Source:
KP90
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