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Infant Pain

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list neonatal units in England which regularly use a pain tool to assess chronic pain in infants; and if she will make a statement. [64656]

Mr. Byrne: This information is not collected centrally. It is for individual national health service hospital trusts to consider the use of pain tools to assess chronic pain in infants in their neonatal units.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what research her Department has conducted into experience of pain in premature babies; and if she will make a statement; [64658]

(2) what research her Department has (a) undertaken and (b) assessed on the capability of newborn infants to display (i) behavioural, (ii) physiological and (iii) metabolic signs of pain and distress; and if she will make a statement. [64659]

Jane Kennedy: The main agency through which the Government support 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 Innovation.
 
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The MRC has provided long-term grant support to Professor Maria Fitzgerald of University College, London for her work on infant and paediatric pain. Her current, £1 million award, is for research into infant pain mechanisms that aims to provide the fundamental knowledge required to understand and prevent paediatric pain.

Further details are available on the WellChild Pain Research Centre website at: www.wprc.ucl.ac.uk/

Local Improvement Finance Trusts

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many local improvement finance trust schemes (a) have been completed, (b) have been commissioned and (c) are being constructed and established, broken down by (i) area served, (ii) value and (iii) year of completion; [61752]

(2) what estimate has been made of the number of local improvement finance trust schemes to be built or established in each of the next three financial years, broken down by (a) area served, (b) estimated value and (c) estimated year of completion; and how many are delayed or postponed. [61759]

Mr. Byrne: The information has been placed in the Library.

Up to the end of 2005–06, this information is for buildings that are open to patients.

For the years 2006–07 and 2007–08, this information is estimated on the basis of financial closes achieved to date. There are no schemes beyond the end of 2007–08 that have yet reached financial close. The Department does not centrally hold information on schemes prior to them reaching financial close.

In summary there are 68 new buildings open to patients with another 74 under construction supported by £812 million investment.

The Department does not hold information centrally on how many schemes are delayed or postponed. This is a local issue for the strategic partnering board of each local improvement finance trust company.

Low Birth Weight Babies

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what definition of a low birth-weight baby the Department uses; and if she will make a statement. [64657]

Mr. Byrne: The Department defines low birth-weight as babies weighing less than 2,500 grams. This is in line with the Office for National Statistics definition.

Malnutrition (Older People)

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she plans to take following the living well in later life initiative to identify and implement action to address malnutrition among older people. [64177]

Mr. Byrne: One of the aims in the report "Next Steps in Implementing the National Service Framework for Older People" due to be published shortly is to continue
 
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to improve and upgrade the patient environment in hospitals and care homes, ensuring that the environment of care more closely meets the needs of older people and they receive the assistance they require with eating and drinking.

This will be supplemented by work to improve skills and competencies across the workforce and developing identifiable or named practice based leaders in nursing, who will be accountable for ensuring older people are treated with respect for their dignity.

In March, the Commission for Social Care Inspection published a bulletin, "Highlight of the Day?", designed to assist care staff to improve the delivery of meals to older people, and to improve their experiences of mealtimes.

Newham University Hospital NHS Trust

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Newham University Hospital NHS Trust referred to in her written ministerial statement on NHS deficits of 1 December 2005 is the same as the Newham Healthcare NHS Trust of the answer of 12 July 2005, Official Report, column 989W; and what the projected six months deficit was of the latter as of the end of 2005. [63928]

Jane Kennedy: I can confirm that the trust referred to in both these written answers is one and the same. The trust changed its name by statutory instrument from Newham Healthcare National Health Service Trust to Newham University Hospital NHS Trust in July 2004. The forecast deficit at six months is therefore the figure given for Newham University Hospital NHS Trust in the table published on 1 December 2005.

NHS Practice Schemes

Ann Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many qualified (a) nurses, (b) midwives and (c) health visitors have (i) entered and (ii) completed return to practice schemes in the NHS in England since May 2004. [64328]

Mr. Byrne: Between February 1999 and April 2004, over 18,500 former nurses, midwives and health visitors returned to work in the national health service. The Department has ceased to collect this information since then.

NHS Finance

Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received on NHS trust financial deficits in South East London. [65688]

Jane Kennedy: There has been one letter from a Member of Parliament received by the Department on this issue.

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effect of withdrawing the purchaser's parity adjustment over two years on the finances of NHS trusts with deficits. [60749]

 
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Mr. Byrne: We do not expect the withdrawal of the purchaser parity adjustment for primary care trusts over a two-year period to prevent the great majority of national health service trusts in deficit to return to financial balance in that period.

Non-slip Floors

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients were recorded as (a) being injured and (b) dying as a result of slipping and falling on shiny non-slip floors in each of the last five years. [64087]

Jane Kennedy: The Department does not specifically collect data on the number of patients injured and dying as a result of slipping and falling on shiny non-slip floors.

The National Patient Safety Agency administers the national reporting and learning system (NRLS) which collects reports of patient safety incidents across all care settings. The current NRLS was developed during 2002 and by December 2004, all national health service organisations in England and Wales were able to report into the system.

A search of NRLS data was conducted using the term slips on non-slip surfaces. No incidents involving slips on non-slip surfaces were identified prior to January 2004. During the period 1 January 2004 to 1 January 2006, four such incidents were identified. The degree of harm reported was either low or no harm. No incidents of serious harm or deaths were reported. The figures do not include patient falls where matting or other surfaces were involved.

Total Purchasing Pilots

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the written answer of 16 February 2006, Official Report, column 2323W, on total purchasing pilots, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of total purchasing pilots. [57441]

Mr. Byrne: Total Purchasing: "A Profile of National Pilot Projects", was published in January 1997 and provided a preliminary assessment of how total purchasing was implemented in the 53 first wave projects in England and Scotland. Although the study was funded by the Department and the then Scottish Office, the views expressed in the report were those of the King's Fund who conducted the research and not necessarily those of the Department. A copy has been placed in the Library.

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