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Health Trainers

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS-accredited health trainers have been employed since September 2004; and if she will make a statement. [47936]

 
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Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Health White Paper

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will postpone any proposals to merge ambulance trusts arising from the current consultation until the urgent care service strategy described in paragraph 4.51 of the White Paper, Our Health, Our Care, Our Say", is developed. [49551]

Mr. Byrne: Organisational reconfiguration does not preclude ambulance trusts being involved in the development and provision of integrated urgent care services nor does it prejudge their role in providing urgent care services.

Primary care trusts will continue to commission urgent care services, including ambulance services, and we expect ambulance trusts to continue to provide services tailored to particular localities within their area, whether or not ambulance trusts are merged. Larger ambulance trusts, if established, would have the strategic capacity and flexibility of resources to help them play an even greater part in working in partnership with other health and social care agencies to develop urgent care services that meet the needs of local people.

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the national approach to risk management described in paragraph 4.42 of the White Paper, Our Health, Our Care, Our Say", is expected to be placed on a statutory basis. [49552]

Mr. Byrne: This decision has not yet been taken.

Healthcare Commission

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what complaints procedure is in operation for complaints against the Healthcare Commission; [48183]

(2) how many complaints against the Healthcare Commission were received in 2005. [48184]

Jane Kennedy: The Chairman of the Healthcare Commission has confirmed that current advice, which is published on its website, is that anyone wishing to complain about the Commission should contact a named member of staff. When complaints are received in this way they are referred to the section of the Healthcare Commission concerned to respond to. The Health Commission's chief executive responds to complaints addressed directly to her. Central guidance for its staff on dealing with complaints made against it is being currently developed.

The Chairman has also confirmed that information on the number of complaints made is not held centrally.

Healthy Lifestyle Schemes

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on schemes the Department is funding to promote healthy lifestyles in people aged 50 years and over. [39422]

Caroline Flint: A number of initiatives are under way to promote healthy lifestyles in people aged 50 and over. As part of the partnerships for older peoples project
 
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(POPP) initiative the Department has awarded funding of over £39 million to 19 local authority-led partnerships across England to improve health and well being outcomes for older people. Each pilot site, which will be operational by 1 May 2006 will develop, test and evaluate, a range of different ways of providing more support and care for local older people, which will enable them to have a better quality of life and remain in control of their own lives for as long as possible. Several of the pilot sites include health promotion activities as part of their wide-ranging projects. For example:

The cross-Government leaflet, Are you over 50?", is being revised and will be available April 2006. The emphasis is very much on active ageing.

Nine local exercise action pilots (LEAP) are under way across England, jointly funded by the Department, the Countryside Agency and Sport England. The pilots are testing different community approaches to increasing physical activity in deprived areas. Three of the pilots based at Ashton, Leigh and Wigan, Nottingham city and West of Cornwall Primary Care Trust have a specific focus on older people.

Health Professions Council

Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what complaints she has received about the registration process of the Health Professions Council; and if she will make a statement. [47640]

Mr. Byrne: I am only aware of one complaint involving the registration process of the Health Professions Council since July 2005.

HIV/AIDS

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in (a) England, (b) the Tees Valley and (c) Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland were diagnosed as having HIV/AIDS in each year since 1997. [45104]

Caroline Flint: These data are only routinely published at strategic health authority level. These are shown in tables 1 and 2. Full HIV data are not yet available for 2005. The HIV diagnoses are from reports received from laboratories and clinicians by the end of December 2005.
Table 1: Numbers of HIV diagnoses made in County Durham and Tees Valley since 1997

	Number
1997	7
1998	3
1999	5
2000	9
2001	16
2002	25
2003	35
2004	34

Table 2: Numbers of HIV diagnoses for England since 1997

	Number
1997	2,532
1998	2,638
1999	2,916
2000	3,649
2001	4,807
2002	5,888
2003	6,831
2004	6,819

Source:
HPA—Reports of HIV Diagnoses



 
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Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to increase access to HIV (a) testing and (b) treatment among African communities living in England; and if she will make a statement. [48479]

Caroline Flint: Through the African HIV Policy Network (AHPN) and partner organizations, the Department has funded the campaign It's Better to Know" aimed specifically at increasing awareness of HIV testing among people from African communities living in England. We are working with the AHPN to develop a further HIV awareness raising campaign to be taken forward during 2006. We fund the African AIDS helpline, which provides information in a variety of languages. We have also funded a pilot project exploring the feasibility of providing additional HIV testing facilities outside of the genito-urinary medicine setting. This pilot is currently being evaluated.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to increase awareness of HIV among (a) heterosexual and (b) homosexual males. [48480]

Caroline Flint: Awareness of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, will be addressed through a new sexual health media campaign, announced as part of the Choosing Health" White Paper, to modernise and transform sexual health in England. The campaign will focus on the risks of unprotected sex and the benefits of using condoms to avoid the risk of sexually transmitted infections including HIV.

A major aim for the campaign is normalising condom use and implicitly this will contribute to reducing the risk of HIV. The campaign is additional and complementary to, existing HIV Awareness campaigns for those most at risk, in partnership with key voluntary sector organisations.

HIV awareness for men who have sex with men is delivered by the Terrence Higgins Trust in an ongoing targeted programme of information and selected media campaigns.

Independent Sector Providers

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the contracts being negotiated with independent sector providers of elective treatment will provide for payments exceeding the NHS equivalent cost by a (a) greater and (b) smaller percentage than the average excess in 2004–05. [46086]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 30 January 2006]: All contracts negotiated with independent sector providers have to demonstrate value for money. Value for money is based upon a combination of price and quality. It is not possible to predict the outcome of current negotiations but we do not expect to pay more than the average excess paid in 2004–05. From 2008, any new
 
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provider and existing independent sector treatment centre providers, once their contracts have expired, will be expected to provide services at the agreed national health service price.

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) under what terms NHS (a) trusts, (b) primary care trusts and (c) health authorities procure independent sector elective treatment; [46088]

(2) what guidance her Department offers to NHS (a) trusts, (b) primary care trusts and (c) health authorities about the procurement of independent sector elective treatment. [46089]

Jane Kennedy [holding answers 30 January 2006]: The Department has not issued guidance nor has it provided standard terms with regard to the procurement of independent sector elective treatment.

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the NHS can withhold payment under contracts with independent sector providers where the number of procedures stipulated in the contract is not fulfilled; and if she will make a statement. [45975]

Mr. Byrne: National health service commissioners can withhold payments where the provider of an independent sector treatment centre does not complete procedures in accordance with the terms of the contract. If the referral of patients to the treatment centre is less than that stipulated in the contract, agreed between the provider and the commissioner, the provider will be paid the difference between the value of referrals and the minimum contract value to cover their costs of providing sufficient resources to honour their contractual obligations.

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