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16 Jun 2006 : Column 1568W—continued
We announced on 26 January that all trusts with PFI schemes with an expected capital value of greater than £75 million would need to reconfirm their plans. This an additional check put in place to ensure that all schemes properly take account of the current reforms to the NHS such as choice, a movement of services into primary and community settings, the new financial regime as well long-term affordability, assumptions on efficiency gains and income growth.
Primary Care Trusts
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts are operating panels to review GP referrals to consultants; and if she will make a statement. [68238]
Caroline Flint: The information about which primary care trusts are operating referral panels is not held centrally.
The Department is clear that referrals to community-based clinical assessment services, and other such centres, should happen only where it adds genuine clinical value for patients.
Sexual Health
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated to the sexual health sector in each of the last five years. [77150]
Caroline Flint: In February 2005, individual primary care trusts (PCTs), including those covering the London area were notified of their choosing health revenue allocation. In 2006-07, £91.5 million has been allocated to PCTs for sexual health modernisation which includes funding for Chlamydia screening, contraception and abortion services and a further £111.5 million will be allocated in 2007-08. In addition, a further £15 million genito-urinary medicine capital was allocated in 2005-06 and a further £25 million in 2006-07.
Data on spend on sexual health services in each PCT is not collected centrally.
Sheppey Community Hospital
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the new x-ray scanner will be (a) installed and (b) operational at Sheppey Community Hospital. [77614]
Caroline Flint: This is a local matter. However, the Kent and Medway Strategic Health Authority has advised that the new x-ray scanner at Sheppey Community Hospital is due to be installed during the week commencing 19 June 2006. Following installation, it is anticipated that the x-ray scanner will be operational within three weeks.
Sickle Cell Anaemia
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia there are in (a) England and (b) London. [72319]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not collect this information.
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) received information on which aims to develop a cure for sickle cell anaemia; and if she will make a statement. [72320]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The main agency through which the Government supports medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC is an independent body which receives its grant-in-aid from the Office of Science and Innovation, part of the Department of Trade and Industry.
The MRCs current portfolio in this area includes a £1.25 million programme on inherited blood disorders; this includes sickle cell anaemia.
Over 75 per cent. of the Department's total expenditure on health research is devolved to and managed by national health service organisations. Details of individual projects, including a number concerned with sickle cell anaemia, are available on the national research register at www.dh.gov.uk/research.
St. Mary's Hospital, Stannington
Mr. Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when St. Mary's Hospital, Stannington, Northumberland, closed; what the cost of maintaining and securing the buildings and grounds of the hospital was in each of the last five years; and what steps she plans to take to expedite the disposal of the hospital estate. [76202]
Ms Rosie Winterton: St. Mary's Hospital, Stannington, which forms part of the Secretary of State for Health's residual estate, closed in 1996.
The cost of security and maintenance, to ensure that the intrinsic value of the buildings on the site is maintained, in each of the last five years is:
| Cost (£) | |
| (1) Estimated. | |
The site has been sold, subject to planning consent being granted. The prospective purchaser's planning application was refused on appeal in May 2006. Options that will achieve an early sale are currently being considered.
Stroke/Heart Attacks
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) stroke and (b) heart attack patients have died on the way to hospital in an ambulance in each of the last five years; and how long the journey was in (i) miles and (ii) minutes on each occasion. [77609]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Tobacco Purchasing
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will publish the consultation on raising the age limit for the purchase of tobacco products. [74121]
Caroline Flint: The consultation on raising the age of sale for tobacco products will be published shortly.
Treatment Costs
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the cost to the NHS of comparable procedures undertaken in (a) NHS hospitals and (b) independent sector treatment centres. [72762]
Andy Burnham: Value for money of the independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) procurement has been ensured by running a robust and competitive procurement process, and by benchmarking procedure prices between contracts and comparing them to the national health service equivalent cost and the prices paid by the NHS to the independent sector under spot purchase arrangements.
Across the full period of the wave 1 ISTC contracts, the average percentage cost compares favourably with the historical cost to the NHS of spot purchasing from the independent sector.
Tuberculosis
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the average cost to the NHS of a case of active tuberculosis disease in each of the five years. [75367]
Caroline Flint: The exact costs of treating people with tuberculosis are not routinely collected, and treatment costs can vary widely from patient to patient.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the cost benefits of early and accurate diagnosis of (a) latent tuberculosis and (b) active tuberculosis disease. [75366]
Caroline Flint: The Department has not undertaken a formal cost benefit analysis on the benefits of early and accurate diagnosis of latent or active tuberculosis (TB) disease.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published a clinical guideline on the diagnosis and management of TB, and measures for its prevention and control in March 2006. NICE made recommendations about the effectiveness, including cost effectiveness, of diagnostic tools for early and accurate diagnosis of latent TB and active TB. The clinical guideline and associated reports are available on NICE'S website at:
www.nice.org.uk.
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