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12 Jun 2006 : Column 1015W—continued
The Fermoy Unit, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kings Lynn, Norfolk (31 May 2005)
Holmhurst Day Centre, Southwark Community Health Team, London (21 July 2005)
Barking and Dagenham Primary Care Trust (PCT) and North East London Mental Health Trust (5 September 2005)
Fairlawns Mental Health Team, Sheffield PCT (27 October 2005)
City and Hackney PCT Mental Health Unit (10 October 2005)
Highgate Mental Health Trust, London (18 October 2005)
Broadmoor Hospital (13 December 2005)
South Essex Mental Health Partnership Trust, including Basildon Mental Health Trust and Churchview Rehabilitation Unit (2 March 2006)
Hollins Park Hospital, Mental Health Advocacy Service, Warrington (30 March 2006)
East London and City Mental Health Trust (1 March 2006)
Humber Mental Health NHS Teaching Trust (4 April 2006).
Merton and Sutton Better Healthcare Closer to Home Programme
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she plans to respond to the Merton and Sutton Better Healthcare Closer to Home Programme steering group's review of her instructions to build the critical care hospital on the St. Helier site. [76310]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department has received the response from the local national health service and is currently considering the situation.
Ministerial Cars (Fuel Costs)
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the fuel costs were for ministerial cars used by her Department in each of the last five years. [67123]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for South Thanet (Dr. Ladyman) on 27 April 2006, Official Report, column 1226W.
NHS Direct
Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if NHS Direct will give priority to employing disabled nurses when deciding who should be made redundant; [76354]
(2) what external efficiency targets have not been met by NHS Direct in (a) Scunthorpe and (b) Chester; [76355]
(3) pursuant to the consultation document on the future of NHS Direct, how the NHS Direct site in (a) York and (b) Southport was assessed as being expensive to maintain from an information and communications technology infrastructure perspective; [76356]
(4) against which Department of Trade and Industry contact centres NHS Direct contact centres have been compared; and what the most recent user satisfaction rating of each was; [76357]
(5) what complaints NHS Direct has received from staff about the quality of accommodation. [76358]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not centrally held. It may be available from the Chairman of NHS Direct Special Health Authority.
NHS Strategic Tracing Service
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress her Department is making on the replacement of the NHS Strategic Tracing Service; when replacement will be completed; and if she will make a statement. [76739]
Caroline Flint: The contract to provide the NHS strategic tracing service (NSTS) runs to the end of June 2007, with an option to extend further for periods of six months up to the end of December 2008. Migration from NSTS to the personal demographics service (PDS) is scheduled to have been completed within this timescale.
The PDS is part of the national programme for information technology spine, and went live, on time, in June 2004. In addition to stand-alone patient tracing services the PDS provides an essential element of the integrated national health service care record service which underpins the creation of an electronic care record for every NHS patient in England. The PDS enables a patient to be readily identified by NHS staff and associated, seamlessly and accurately, with their care record. The PDS also supports other key initiatives such as choose and book and the electronic prescription service.
The PDS currently contains demographic information on most NHS patients and is currently processing over 136 million searches a year from over 14,500 locations.
Use of the PDS will continue to develop over the life of the NHS information technology programme to deliver the full set of planned patient benefits and clinical improvements to the NHS.
NHS Structure
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions she has been requested to involve the Independent Review Panel on questions arising from a proposed change in NHS structure or pattern of service provision since 1997; and on how many occasions she acceded to such a request. [76308]
Andy Burnham: To date, there have been 13 referrals from Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSCs) to the Secretary of State for Health. Two have been referred to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel for advice—East Kent (2002) and Calderdale and Kirklees (2006). Following a referral from Surrey OSC in October 2005, the panel was also asked to assist with the local process to ensure agreement is reached locally between the stakeholders.
Nuchal Fold Scans
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether it is her policy that nuchal fold scans should be available in all NHS trusts; [76290]
(2) how many NHS trusts carry out nuchal fold scans. [76291]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Guidance for the national health service on more accurate tests for Down’s syndrome screening was published by the Department on 11 November 2003. The guidance provides a suggested time frame for progress. Nuchal translucency combined with serum tests are performed around 11 to 14 weeks and is one of the recommended tests for Down’s syndrome screening. The national Down’s syndrome screening programme advise that currently almost 25 per cent. of NHS trusts implement this form of screening. The nuchal fold scan performed between 18 to 20 weeks of pregnancy is not currently recommended by the United Kingdom National Screening Committee as an acceptable marker to detect Down’s syndrome.
Nurses
Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses were working in the NHS in (a) 1979, (b) 1990, (c) 1991, (d) 1997 and (e) 2006; how many nursing redundancies there were in the period (i) 1979 to 1990, (ii) 1991 to 1997 and (iii) 1997 to 2006; and what the total change was in the number of nurses working in the NHS in the period (A) 1979 to 1990, (B) 1991 to 1997 and (C) 1997 to 2006. [73812]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The following table shows the number of qualified nurses in 1979, 1990, 1991, 1997 and 2005. Information on the number of qualified nurses in 2006 will be collected in September.
| England | |||||
| 1979( 1,2,3) | 1990 | 1991( 4) | 1997 | 2005 | |
| (1) Figures taken from 1985 HPSSS. (2) Figures for 1979 are hospital staff only and are therefore not directly comparable with later years. (3) Practice nurse figures for 1979 are estimated. (4) Practice nurse figures for 1991 may not be fully comparable with other data due to under-reporting of fund holding practice staff by FHSAs. | |||||
The following table shows the increase in the number of qualified nurses 1979-90, 1991-97 and 1997-2005.
| Headcount | |||
| Change | |||
| 1979-90 | 1991-97 | 1997-2005 | |
Information on the number of nurse redundancies during these periods is not collected centrally.
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses working within the NHS (a) retired and (b) left the NHS for other reasons in each year since 2001-02; how many are forecast to retire and leave in 2006-07; and if she will make a statement. [75149]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The NHS Business Services Authority (BSA) pension division is unable to provide data on retirements for nurses alone. I have asked the BSA to write to the hon. Member to let her know what data can be provided that might be of assistance.
Information on the number of nurses leaving the national health service is not collected centrally.
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much has been spent on (a) voluntary exit schemes and (b) mandatory redundancy schemes for nurses working in the NHS in each year since 2001-02; what the forecast expenditure is for 2006-07; and if she will make a statement; [75154]
(2) how many nurses left the NHS on (a) voluntary exit schemes and (b) mandatory redundancy schemes in each year since 2001-02; how many are forecast to leave in 2006-07; and if she will make a statement. [75155]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Obesity
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) children and (b) adults are (i) obese and (ii) overweight when measured by body mass index, according to the Government's most recent health survey figures. [72052]
Caroline Flint: The main source of data on the prevalence of obesity and overweight among children and adults is the Health Survey for England. The most recent data (2004) on the prevalence of obesity and overweight in children and adults are presented in tables 1 and 2. Table 1 refers to obesity and overweight prevalence among children aged two to 15. Table 2 reports the obesity and overweight prevalence among adults aged 16 and over.
| Table 1. Prevalence of obesity and overweight among children( 1) , by gender, England, 2004 | |
| Percentages | |
| Body mass index (BMI) status | 2004 (weighted( 2) ) |
| (1) Children aged 2 to 15. (2) Data are weighted for non-response. Source: Health Survey for England 2004. Updating of trend tables to include 2004 data, The Information Centre for Health and Social Care. | |
| Table 2: Prevalence of obesity and overweight among adults( 1) , by gender, England, 2004 | |
| Percentages | |
| Body mass index (BMI) status | 2004 (weighted( 2) ) |
| (1) Adults aged 16 and over. (2) Data are weighted for non-response. Source: Health Survey for England 2004, The Information Centre for Health and Social Care. | |
Oesophageal Doppler Monitoring
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the total number of patients treated by the NHS in the last year for which figures are available who would benefit from oesophageal Doppler monitoring; what assessment she has made of the proportion of these patients who do not benefit from this technology; what plans she has to increase the uptake of this technology in NHS trusts; and if she will make a statement. [74047]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has not made any assessment of the total number of patients treated by the national health service in the last year who would benefit from oesophageal Doppler monitoring.
Following the Government’s decision to shift the balance of power, most central funding has been devolved to local primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities. This means that PCTs are now responsible for selecting and funding services that they feel are required in their region. Each PCT takes into account the needs and demands in their own area, and have a local plan on how best to spend their money on the services they need.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions she has had with Medway NHS Trust regarding the effects of oesophageal Doppler monitoring; what estimate she has made of the savings made by Medway NHS trust through the use of this technology; and whether she has made any assessment of the total savings to the NHS of encouraging the use of oesophageal Doppler monitoring. [74048]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has not had any discussions with Medway national health service trust regarding oesophageal Doppler monitoring and has not made an assessment of the costs of this treatment.
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