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10 May 2006 : Column 400W—continued
Mixed-sex Wards
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mixed-sex wards there are in each hospital in England. [62501]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is not available in the format requested.
Between 1998 and 2005, the provision of single-sex accommodation was measured as compliance at national health service trust-level with three objectives set by the Department. These objectives have been superseded by the core national standards presented in “Standards for Better Health”.
The core standards require that:
“Staff treat patients, their relatives and carers with dignity and respect" (C13) and "Health care services are provided in environments which promote effective care and optimize health outcomes by being ... Supportive of patient privacy and confidentiality” (C20b).
The Healthcare Commission will measure compliance with these standards. Previously compliance was measured annually at trust level. The results of the most recent compliance survey (December 2004) show that:
99 per cent. of NHS trusts provided single-sex sleeping accommodation for planned admissions and had robust operational policies in place to protect patients' privacy and dignity;
99 per cent. of NHS trusts met the additional criteria set to ensure the safety of patients who are mentally ill; and
97 per cent. of NHS trusts provided properly segregated bathroom and toilet facilities for men and women.
The small number of hospitals who did not achieve these objectives are building new hospitals.
The 2004 position of each NHS trust was published on 26 May 2005 and is available on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk and is available in the Library.
National Service Framework for Children and Young People and Maternity Services Framework
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on Standard One of the National Service Framework for Children and Young People and Maternity Services in England. [68840]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The national service framework for children, young people and maternity services sets out a 10-year strategy to stimulate long-term and sustained improvement in children's health and well-being by setting standards for the care of children, young people and maternity services.
Standard one of the framework is concerned with the promotion of health and well-being, identifying needs and intervening early. It recognises the vital role that parents and professionals play in creating the circumstances in which children and young people can grow up to be healthy.
Neonatal Care
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) on how many occasions babies needing admission to a neonatal intensive care unit were unable to be placed in the nearest neonatal intensive care unit because the unit was full in the last month for which figures are available; what assessment she has made of the implications of the level of provision of beds in special care baby units on the ability of trusts to move babies out of neonatal intensive care units; and if she will make a statement; [67864]
(2) how many (a) neo-natal intensive care beds and (b) special care baby unit beds there were in the NHS in (i) 1995 and (ii) 2005; and in which hospitals those beds were provided in each year. [67865]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested on the number of occasions babies needing admission to a neonatal intensive care unit were unable to be placed in the nearest unit because it was full is not collected centrally. It is for local neonatal networks and hospital trusts to determine the appropriate number of special care baby cots to ensure there is provision to enable those babies no longer requiring neonatal intensive care to be moved down. Strategic health authority areas will increase or decrease cots to reflect demand. Information on the number of neonatal intensive care cots in 2004-05 by national health service trust has been placed in the Library. Information on the number of neonatal intensive care cots in 1995 and the number of special care baby cots is not collected centrally.
Obesity
Dr. Desmond Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent research her Department has examined on the management of obesity in adolescents through the use of beverages containing calorie-free sweeteners; and if she will make a statement; [67827]
(2) if she will make it her policy to encourage drink manufacturers further to promote the use of calorie-free sweeteners in soft drinks marketed to children. [67831]
Caroline Flint: The Department has not examined any specific research on the impact on obesity of using beverages containing calorie-free sweeteners. Research has been carried out in the United States of America, and published in the Official Journal of American Academy of Paediatrics, on the effects of decreasing consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks on body weight in adolescents. The available evidence on the relationship between sugar and body weight is not clear and more evidence of an association is required before definitive conclusions can be drawn.
Calorie-free soft drinks contribute to consumer choice and current consumption levels of artificial sweeteners are within safe limits. The Government's healthy eating advice remains that consumers should drink plenty of water, or other fluids, daily, and to drink fewer sugary soft and fizzy drinks.
The Food Standards Agency and Department have published guidance for schools on practical ways of developing approaches that provide healthy drinks and snacks. This encourages schools to provide, in addition to drinking and bottled water, other drinks which provide a nutritional benefit to pupils, such as fruit juices and milk-based drinks.
Osteoporosis
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to extend the availability of osteoporosis bone density scanning; and if she will make a statement. [67426]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In 2005-06, £3 million was allocated to the national health service for increasing capacity for bone density scanning. A further £17 million will be made available over two years to build on this capacity.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has for the management of osteoporosis services after the amalgamation of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities in the Portsmouth area. [68432]
Caroline Flint: It is for primary care trusts in partnership with strategic health authorities, local authorities and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has for a fully integrated falls and osteoporosis service in the Portsmouth area. [68433]
Caroline Flint: It is for primary care trusts (PCT) in partnership with strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services
I understand that Portsmouth City PCT, in partnership with social services, the ambulance service and other key stakeholders has been developing an integrated falls prevention and bone health (osteoporosis) service since the publication of the national service framework for older people in 2001 and it has achieved all of the milestones.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) men and (b) women in the primary care trust areas covering Portsmouth are estimated to have osteoporosis. [68437]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is not held centrally.
Ovarian Cancer
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will ask the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence to issue guidance on the use of intraperitoneal chemotherapy for patients with stage three ovarian cancer; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact on survival rates in England of such treatment. [64842]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has no plans to ask the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to issue guidance on the use of intraperitoneal chemotherapy for patients with stage three ovarian cancer or assess the potential impact on survival rates in England of such treatment. However, in March 2005, NICE issued interventional procedures guidance on complete cytoreduction and heated intraperitoneal intraoperative chemotherapy (Sugarbaker technique) for peritoneal carcinomatosis.
Peritoneal metastases commonly result from the regional spread of gastrointestinal, gynaecological and other cancers. NICE recommended that current evidence on the safety and efficacy of this technique for peritoneal carcinomatosis
"does not appear adequate for it to be used without special arrangements for consent and for audit or research".
More details on this guidance can be found on NICE's website at: www.nice.org.uk
Members of the public and professionals are free to make suggestions on possible topics for interventional procedure guidance via NICE's website.
Personal Health Guides
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many personal health guides have been produced in each primary care trust area in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and at what cost. [67419]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is not held centrally.
Psychiatric Secure Accommodation
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women found guilty under the Mental Health and Criminal Justice Acts have been assessed to need psychiatric secure accommodation but have been placed in prison instead because of lack of such accommodation in each of the last 10 years. [54837]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Sentencing is a matter for the courts and account should be taken of a woman's mental health needs at the time sentencing occurs.
Information is not collected on how many women have been convicted of a criminal offence, assessed to need psychiatric secure accommodation, but sent to prison instead because there was no secure hospital bed available for them.
It would not be possible to identify whether the reason was absence of a suitable bed or the judge rejected the recommendation and chose imprisonment instead, if information was collected on these cases.
Under the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, people who are not fit to plead for reasons of severe mental ill health are never sent to prison.
Pulmonary Hypertension
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that all those diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension receive adequate treatment without waiting for the treatment to be approved by the local primary care trust. [65531]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently appraising treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension and is expecting to issue guidance to the national health service in May 2008. The Department has made it clear that funding for licensed treatments should not be withheld because guidance from NICE is unavailable. In these circumstances, we expect primary care trusts to take full account of available evidence when reaching funding decisions.
Lead clinicians from pulmonary hypertension centres will be meeting to develop a national protocol on pulmonary hypertension therapy.
Queen Mary's Hospital Trust, Sidcup
Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the operational impact of the budget adjustments levied by her Department on Queen Mary's Hospital Trust, Sidcup, in respect of budgetary overspend. [67380]
Caroline Flint: The Department has not made any budget adjustments to Queen Mary's Hospital National Health Service Trust in respect of any overspend the trust is experiencing.
Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been paid by her Department to Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup (a) in each of the last
three financial years and (b) for 2006-07; and what that sum would be if the hospital had foundation hospital status. [67384]
Caroline Flint: National health service trusts do not normally receive funding from the Department, but receive income for the provision of services from commissioners, principally from primary care trusts (PCTs).
Figures shown in the table are for the Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust and are total income including all income from activities and all other operating income for each year 2002-03 to 2004-05. 2004-05 is the latest year for which data is available. The Department has no figures relating to estimates for 2005-06 or 2006-07.
| Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust - total income | |
| £000 | |
| Source: Audited summarisation schedules of the Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust. |
NHS foundation trust status does not in itself change how much PCTs wish to allocate trusts for specific services.
Residential Care Funding (Stoke-on-Trent)
Mr. Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Stoke-on-Trent Social Services department received from Government for the provision of residential care for (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07. [66872]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not hold this information nationally or for individual local authorities. Council funding for adult social services is derived from a number of sources: a share of overall formula grant allocated by the Department for Communities and Local Government, specific grants distributed by the Department, revenue from council tax, income from fees and charges and local decision making.
As most of the Government funding for adult social care is allocated without conditions, it is not possible to identify the proportion of that funding that may be attributable to residential care. Local authorities have a significant degree of flexibility to manage and direct their resources in accordance with local priorities and the needs of the communities to which they are accountable.
Sandwell and West Birmingham Acute Trust
Mr. Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the job titles and the salaries of employees of Sandwell and West Birmingham Acute Trust earning more than £90,000 per annum. [66501]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Title | Salary (£) |
| Notes: The figures shown are based on basic salary and do not include allowances. Data includes all employees of the trust paid more than £90,000 per annum including consultant staff and senior managers of other organisations hosted by the trust on behalf of the wider health economy and therefore not part of the trust's management structure. |
Mr. Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the estimated costs are of the Sandwell and West Birmingham Acute NHS Trust's 2010 Project for financial years (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08 and (c) 2008-09, broken down by staffing and other costs; [66502]
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