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8 Feb 2006 : Column 1320W—continued
NHS Financial Deficits
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the year-end financial deficits of (a) Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Trust, (b) East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, (c) Medway NHS Trust, (d) Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust, (e) Royal West Sussex NHS Trust and (f) Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust were in (i) 2002–03, (ii) 2003–04 and (iii) 2004–05; whether trusts which have failed to achieve breakeven or a surplus in three consecutive financial years are considered by her Department to have failed in their duty laid out in section 10 of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990; what measures are put in place when a trust fails to achieve the duty laid out in section 10 of the 1990 Act; and if she will make a statement. [46397]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 30 January 2006]: The year-end surplus/deficit position for the years 2002–03 through 2004–05 for the trusts is shown in the table.
The NHS and Community Care Act 1990 sets out the breakeven duty for national health service trusts as a requirement to breakeven taking one financial year with another".
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In agreement with the Audit Commission and other audit bodies, this has been clarified by the NHS Finance Manual as a requirement to breakeven over a three-year period, starting from first year of deficit. This period can be extended by agreement with the local strategic health authority (SHA) for up to five years.
Furthermore, the accumulated deficit at the end of the financial year must be material for the trust to be deemed to have failed to breakeven in that year. Material has been clarified as meaning greater than 0.5 per cent. of turnover.
Using these criteria, Medway NHS Trust has achieved its breakeven duty in 2003–04 and 2004–05. Similarly, Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust achieved its breakeven duty in 2002–03 and 2003–04; its three-year breakeven duty period therefore commenced in 2004–05.
The remaining four trusts have all agreed extended five-year recovery terms with their SHAs, and therefore none are in breach of their statutory duty to break-even taking one year with another".
Compliance with the statutory duty to breakeven is inextricably linked to improving financial performance. Various measures are taken to improve this, the most recent being the announcement of the turnaround teams. Details of the turnaround team process, and the organisations covered is available on the Department' website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot?04/12/71/88/04127188.pdf.
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the likely impact of financial deficits in primary care trusts on the achievement of Government targets. [46662]
Mr. Byrne:
All national health service organisations have minimum standards of quality they must deliver, including meeting targets for maximum waiting times. These are dramatically better than the standards of the NHS in the past and there can be no trade-off between these quality standards and removing deficits.
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NHS Staff (Attacks)
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many attacks on NHS staff have been recorded in (a) England, (b) the Tees Valley and (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, in each year since 1997. [43287]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested has not been collated centrally for the period 1997–99. Data outlining the estimated number of reported violent incidents collected by the Department for 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03 for each strategic health authority (SHA), national health service trust and primary care trust (PCT) in England has been placed in the Library.
In April 2003, the NHS security management service (NHS SMS) was created and assumed responsibility for the issue of tackling violence against NHS staff. The NHS SMS has collected data on the number of physical assaults on NHS staff in England for the period 2004–05. The figure for assaults on staff who work in mental health or learning disabilities was 43,301. For the acute sector the figure was 11,482 and for the ambulance service the figure was 1,329. Figures on physical assaults in the primary care sector are currently being validated and will be released shortly.
A breakdown of figures for each SHA, NHS trust and PCT in England for the year 2004–05 will be released shortly.
NHS Tariff Uplift
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2006, Official Report, column 1304W, on NHS tariff uplift, what the NHS tariff uplift (a) will be between 2005–06 and 2006–07 and (b) was between 2004–05 and 2005–06; and if she will provide a breakdown of the major components contributing to uplift between (i) 2005–06 and 2006–07 and (ii) 2004–05 and 2005–06. [45421]
Mr. Byrne: The national health service tariff uplift will be 4 per cent. between 2005–06 and 2006–07. It was 5.3 per cent. between 2004–05 and 2005–06.
A breakdown of the major components contributing to the uplift for these two periods is shown in the following table.
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NHS Trusts (Invoices)
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS trusts (a) paid and (b) did not pay 95 per cent. of undisputed invoices within contract terms or 30 days where no terms have been agreed in the last period for which figures are available; and what the total value is of those invoices. [44928]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
The most recent period for which figures are available is as reported in the individual final accounts of national health service trusts for 2004–05.
Parkinson's Disease
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to ensure that general practitioners are adequately trained in the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of Parkinson's disease; and if she will make a statement. [47347]
Mr. Byrne: Government do not specify the content of the general practitioner (GP) training curriculum. This is the job of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB), which is the competent authority for postgraduate medical training in the United Kingdom. PMETB is an independent professional body.
Regulations specify seven competencies which must be tested, and which the curriculum must therefore teach:
factual medical knowledge sufficient to enable the doctor to perform the duties of a GP; the ability to apply factual medical knowledge to the management of problems presented by patients in general practice;
the ability to review and critically analyze the practitioner's own working practices and to manage any necessary changes appropriately;
the ability to synthesize all of the above competencies and apply them appropriately in a general practice setting.
GPs are expected therefore to learn in trailing the skills needed to deal with all their patients.
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