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Mixed-sex Wards

11. Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD): How many NHS trusts in England have hospitals with mixed-sex wards. [56301]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Caroline Flint): Some 97 per cent. of NHS trusts now provide single-sex accommodation. The Department does not collect information at the level of individual wards. The position of each NHS trust on this matter was published on 26 May 2005 and is available on the Department of Health website and in the Libraries.

Tom Brake: I thank the Minister for her response. Can she say exactly how many trusts are still affected? Can she say also how many patients have been through mixed-sex wards in the past 12 months? Can she comment further on why at Sutton hospital, nine years after the Government made their pledge, the work has still not been completed?

Caroline Flint: I will seek some detailed information, if it is available, on the hon. Gentleman's question. I understand that there are about three places in which there is still some work to be done to do with building. I understand from the strategic health authority that covers his area that work is being completed at the Epsom general hospital and elsewhere. It is hoped that there will be 100 per cent. compliance by the end of this year.

Readmission Rates

12. Mr. Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con): What the readmission rate was for in-patients at acute general hospitals in England in the latest period for which information is available. [56302]
 
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Liam Byrne): Information is collected only on the number of emergency readmissions, and on a PCT basis. The latest available data for the fourth quarter last year indicates a readmission rate of 6.7 per cent.

Mr. Hollobone: I have been contacted by a constituent who writes to say that in order to meet Government targets his daughter, who is a hospital ward manager, has been ordered to discharge patients against her recommendations when they are not ready. Many of these patients have had to be readmitted. Does the Minister share my concern over this news?

Mr. Byrne: If that is the case, I would share the hon. Gentleman's concern. I would be pleased if he were to write to me with the specifics so that I could investigate the matter further.

PCT Mergers

13. Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con): What steps are being taken to maximise public involvement in the merged primary care trusts. [56303]

The Secretary of State for Health (Ms Patricia Hewitt): It is important that public and patient involvement is not only retained but strengthened in the new PCTs. That is why I have been clear that strategic health authorities, when preparing their reports on the local consultations now under way, need to set out how the excellent work of many of the patient and public involvement forums will be safeguarded and developed in the new organisations.

Philip Davies: I thank the Secretary of State for that reply. The merger of PCTs in Bradford will clearly mean a reduction in the number of members of the public directly involved in decision making on health care provision throughout the district. Will the right hon. lady perhaps encourage the new PCT to adopt the excellent example set by the North Bradford PCT in having its own consumer council, which will enable the consumers' voice—the patients' voice—to be heard strongly?

Ms Hewitt: The hon. Gentleman is right. Where PCTs merge there will be fewer PPI forums in future, but that does not necessarily mean that there will be fewer people involved in them. The work of the consumer council, to which the hon. Gentleman referred, is a good example of the different ways in which it is possible to involve patients and users of services in decisions about how those services are improved in future. Harry Cayton, from within the Department, is leading an expert panel to examine the different ways in which we can promote exactly this sort of user involvement.

Mr. Bob Blizzard (Waveney) (Lab): Is my right hon. Friend aware that at the public meeting on the reconfiguration of PCTs in my constituency about 300 people were packed into a room, and that there were about 100 or 150 people outside who could not get in? When she comes to evaluate the proposals put to her by the strategic health authority, will she bear in mind the
 
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overwhelming volume of public opinion in my area that favours a merger between the Waveney PCT and the Great Yarmouth PCT, which is backed by every strand of medical opinion locally?

Ms Hewitt: I compliment my hon. Friend, who has made a strong case on behalf of his constituents and the two local PCTs. Of course, the strategic health authority, in evaluating the consultation, will take account of all representations. I will consider the matter extremely carefully when the time comes to make a decision.

Telephone Charges (Hospitals)

15. Helen Jones (Warrington, North) (Lab): If she will make a statement on charges made to hospital patients for telephone calls. [56307]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Liam Byrne): Bedside telephones represent an enhanced service, providing additional choice for patients. Outgoing calls cost 10p per minute. Patients not wishing to use those services, which are made available at no cost to the NHS, remain free to use hospital payphones, as they have always been able to do in the past.

Helen Jones: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that reply, but what would he say to a constituent of mine, a pensioner, who found that she was being charged 49p per minute to ring to her husband in hospital via Patientline and was forced to listen to a minute of blurb from Patientline before she even got through? It was also costing her husband 20p before he got through to her. Does that not represent an exploitation of vulnerable people? Will the Minister issue some guidance to trusts on negotiating those contracts to ensure that patients are not exploited in this way?

Mr. Byrne: My hon. Friend raises an important point, which was highlighted by Ofcom recently. Partly as a result of that report, the Department of Health has set up a review group to explore the issue of costs to users of those systems, including the price of incoming calls. The first meeting of that group is today.

Mr. Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con): The hon. Member for Warrington, North (Helen Jones) has raised an important matter, but what she failed to say is that if someone rings Patientline and listens to the two minutes of blurb but the patient is not there, they are still charged 49p a minute. It is outrageous. We do not need a review; we need that stopped.

Mr. Byrne: The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. However, market research shows that 72 per cent. of patients thought that the system offered good value for money—[Interruption.] As my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington, North (Helen Jones) has pointed out, there are concerns, but it provides a service worth £150 million at no cost to the NHS. However, this is an issue that needs further consideration. That is why the review group has been set up.
 
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Smoking

16. Meg Hillier (Hackney, South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op): What steps the Government are taking to tackle smoking; and if she will make a statement. [56308]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Caroline Flint): A comprehensive tobacco control programme is in place to reduce smoking in England and I am pleased to say that we are making good progress. The current smoking rate—25 per cent. of adults—is the lowest on record, and indicates that the Government are on track to meet the target of 21 per cent. smoking prevalence by 2010.

Meg Hillier: In my constituency good work is going on and the primary care trust is trying to reduce smoking, the incidence of which is unfortunately above the national average with 31 per cent. of men and 25 per cent. of women lighting up. Can my hon. Friend give assurances to people in my constituency who suffer from heart disease and cancer—the two biggest killers in our borough—about the future of cancer and heart services at Barts hospital?

Caroline Flint: Of course we want to show the progress that we have made with cancer and heart treatment, and we want it to continue. However, prevention has an important role, rather than relying on treatment. We know that smoking is a killer. The more we can do to discuss services outside hospitals, and legislation to ban smoking in all enclosed public places, the more we will help with prevention. I hope that my hon. Friend will join me in campaigning in her constituency and elsewhere for prevention as well as treatment.

Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York) (Con): Will the Minister join my campaign to ban smoking in prisons?

Caroline Flint: As the hon. Lady will be aware—I am sure she has followed the debate closely—some prisons, particularly young offenders institutions, already have a smoke-free policy. As I said during the debate on the Bill, we are in discussion with the Home Office on how we can balance the rights of individuals in their private space with a much more comprehensive smoke-free atmosphere in our prisons, for prisoners and staff. I shall be happy to discuss the issue with the hon. Lady at a later date.

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