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27 Mar 2006 : Column 794W—continued
Histopathology
Mr. Kenneth Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many histopathology posts in the NHS are unfilled. [58697]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 15 March 2006]: At 31 March 2005, 54 cytopathology and histopathology posts had been vacant for at least three months. This represented 2.1 per cent. of those posts.
Hospital Bed Capacity
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what projections she has made of future hospital bed capacity in each strategic health authority area in England for the next 20 years. [47435]
Mr. Byrne: No projections of future hospital bed capacity by strategic health authority for the next 20 years have been made. Detailed planning of physical capacity is for the National Health Service locally based on local delivery planning exercises.
Hospital-acquired Infection
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of (a) hospital-acquired infection and (b) MRSA have been recorded in hospitals in each London constituency in each of the last five years, broken down by age of patient. [60546]
Jane Kennedy: The Department does not hold this information in the format requested.
Available data indicate that health care associated infections (HCAIs) affect an estimated 9 per cent. of hospital patients each year.
Information on all infections is not collected centrally. However, the mandatory surveillance system
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in operation for certain infections provides data by acute trusts and these results are available on the Department's websites as follows:
Data is available on MRSA bloodstream infections from 2001, for Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea and orthopaedic surgical site infections from 2004 and for GRE bloodstream infections from 2003.
London Health Services (Financing)
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the latest financial position is of each (a) London health authority and (b) London primary care trust; and if she will make a statement. [60562]
Jane Kennedy: The forecast outturn position for 2005–06, as submitted by national health service organisations (strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and NHS trusts) at the mid-year point (monthsix), is available in the Library and is available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/FreedomOfInformation/ClassesOf/Information/fs/en.
Management Consultants
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how often management consultants have been contracted by the Department; and at what cost in each of the last five years. [45747]
Mr. Byrne: The total cost of consultants engaged directly by the Department, where in house resources were not available, is shown in the table.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 6.852 |
| 2001–02 | 7.056 |
| 2002–03 | 7.266 |
| 2003–04 | 10.031 |
| 2004–05 | 12.8 |
The Department does not collect information that would allow for an analysis of how often 'management' consultants have been engaged in the last five years and could not obtain this information without incurring disproportionate costs.
Meat Hygiene Service
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable is for the consultation on the future of the official veterinary surgeons within the meat hygiene service of the Food Standards Agency; and if she will make a statement. [59903]
Caroline Flint:
I am advised that the meat hygiene service aims to start a 12-week consultation of stakeholders during the first week of April 2006 on the
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options for improving the veterinary supervision arrangements within the meat hygiene service. These take account of the recommendations in the published report by Patrick Wall into the failure by the meat hygiene service to test all relevant 24 to 30-month-old casualty animals for bovine spongiform encephalopathy and subsequent reports commissioned by the Food Standards Agency and undertaken by DNV Consulting.
Mental Health
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time was from general practitioner referral to first appointment for (a) child and adolescent, (b) adult and (c) elderly mental health services, in the last period for which figures are available in each mental health trust. [60291]
Mr. Byrne: Information is not collected in the format requested. Information on child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) waiting times is collected in the annual CAMHS Mapping Exercise and is shown in the following table. The latest data relates to 2004.
| Length of wait to be seen by CAMHS cases (weeks) | Percentage of new CAMHS team |
|---|---|
| Under 4 | 51 |
| 4 to 13 | 31 |
| 13 to 26 | 11 |
| Over 26 | 8 |
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which mental health trusts she expects to be in deficit at the end of the 2005–06 financial year; and what she expects the deficit to be in each case. [60503]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is provided in the following table.
Source:
2005–06 monthly financial monitoring returns
The forecast outturn position for 2005–06, as submitted by national health service organisations (strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and NHS trusts) at the mid-year point (month six), is available in the Library and is available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/FreedomOfInformation/ClassesOf Information/fs/en
Ministerial Activities
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) public speeches and (b) official visits she has made since 5 May 2005; and how many letters she sent in that period. [55717]
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Mr. Byrne: Since 5 May 2005, the Secretary of State for Health has made 28 speeches, and 32 visits.
The Department are unable to provide details on the number of letters sent as there are disproportionate costs in obtaining this information.
The Cabinet Office publishes an annual report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. I refer the hon. Member to the reply my hon. Friend (Mr. Miliband) gave in written ministerial statement, Official Report, columns 137–40WS, which gives the report for 2004. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library. The report for 2005 will be published in due course.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many requests for funding of biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis have been received by the Medical Research Council in each of the last five years; and how many of these requests were (a) granted and (b) refused; [59865]
(2) how many requests for funding of psychiatric paradigms for coping with myalgic encephalomyelitis were received in each of the last five years; and how many of these requests were (a) granted and (b) refused. [59866]
Barry Gardiner: I have been asked to reply.
The number of requests received by MRC for research on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)/ Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and the number of grants awarded in each of the last five years is as follows:
| Applications | Awarded | Declined | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 2 | 1, 21 | 0 |
| 2002 | 2 | (61)2 | 0 |
| 2003 | 4 | (62)1 | 3 |
| 2004 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 2005 | (63)14 | 2 | 9 |
(59)Awarded in 2002
2Proceed to full proposal which was later funded
3Both awarded in 2003
4Awarded in 2004
5Three still under consideration
MRC does not use the term psychiatric paradigms in identifying research applications.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she plans to fund research into the possible biological causes of myalgic encephalomyelitis in the next financial years; and what recent representations she has received on the funding of such research. [60724]
Mr. Byrne: The main agency through which the Government supports medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC is an independent body funded by the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Technology.
The MRC does not normally allocate funds to particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. When appropriate, high quality research in particular areas of strategic importance may be given priority in competition for
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funds, but research excellence and importance to health continues to be the primary considerations in funding decisions. The MRC always welcomes high quality applications for support into any aspect of human health and these are judged in open competition with other demands on funding.
I have received several representations from hon. and right hon. Members about research funding for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). I have also received many representations from members of the public and stakeholders with an interest in CFS/ME.
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