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29 Jun 2006 : Column 621W—continued
Prescription Charges (Exemption)
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance is issued to doctors on the verification of physical disabilities that trigger exemption from prescription charges; and if she will make a statement; [79258]
(2) what criteria are used to determine eligibility for prescription charges physical disability exemption in the case of people who cannot go out unaided; [79259]
(3) how many individuals receive exemption from prescription charges due to a continuing physical disability preventing them from going out of the home unaided; what monitoring of such claims is undertaken; and if she will make a statement. [79266]
Andy Burnham: No guidance has been issued to the national health service specifically concerning the eligibility or verification of patients who apply for a prescription charge exemption on the grounds of a continuing physical disability that prevents them from going outside their home without the help of another person. When applying for a prescription charge exemption, patients are required to declare that they suffer from such a condition and this has to be signed by a doctor or a member of their general practitioner practice with access to the patient's records to confirm the patient's declaration.
The prescription pricing division of the NHS Business Services Authority became responsible for the issuing of medical exemption certificates on 1 October 2002. Since then 70,887 medical exemption certificates have been issued to those declaring a continuing physical disability which prevents them from going outside their home without the help of another person. The certificates are valid for five years from the date of issue.
Primary Care Trusts
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether primary care trusts will be required to pay acute trusts full tariff for all the activity their patients access. [79678]
Andy Burnham: Primary care trusts (PCTs) pay for activity, within the scope of payment by results, commissioned from national health service trusts and foundation trusts at prices determined by the national tariff. National rules on applying the tariff in 2006-07 are set out in “Payment by Results—Implementation Support Guide (Technical Guidance)” (published January 2006). There are different rules for out-patients/elective admissions; accident and emergency (A and E); and non-elective admissions.
For out-patients/elective admissions, payments are determined by the number and complexity of cases treated using national tariff prices. This may be expressed as a formula (activity x tariff).
For A and E, payments are determined by the planned number and complexity of cases, with additional funding for over performance at tariff, and withdrawal of funding for underperformance at 20 per cent. of tariff.
For non-elective admissions, a full tariff is paid for activity up to a threshold, which is set nationally. Activity above and below this threshold is paid for using a reduced tariff, that is 50 per cent. tariff in 2006-07.
The national tariff for 2006-07 is published on the Department’s website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/13/66/04/04136604.pdf
Prisons
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prisoners at HMP Full Sutton her Department counted as resident in the prison for the purposes of calculating allocations to Yorkshire Wolds and Coast Primary Care Trust for 2006-07. [80716]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: 588 prisoners were estimated as resident at HMP Full Sutton and included in the population of Yorkshire Wolds and Coast Primary Care Trust when revenue allocations were made for 2006-07.
Severe Head Trauma
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many specialist care centres for the rehabilitation of patients with severe head trauma there were in (a) the South West and (b) England in each year since 1997; [80378]
(2) how much her Department has spent on the provision of specialist rehabilitation services for patients with severe head trauma in each year since 1997; [80379]
(3) how many hospitals in the South West region offer specialist services for the rehabilitation of patients with severe head injuries; [80380]
(4) how many patients have received treatment for severe head trauma in a specialist centre in (a) Taunton constituency, (b) the South West and (c) England in each year since 2001. [80381]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of specialist care centres for the rehabilitation of patients with severe head trauma, and the number of hospitals offering such services is not collected centrally.
Information on the number of patients receiving treatment for severe head trauma in England and the South West, and the cost of that provision, is not collected centrally. Data on the number of admissions to the specialist neurological rehabilitation unit Alfred Morris House, Taunton and Somerset national health service trust are shown in the following table.
| April—March | |||||
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
| Note: The above data exclude day cases and out-patient activity. | |||||
Social Workers
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Safer Place initiative target of reducing violence and abuse against social workers by 25 per cent. by March 2005 was met; and if she will make a statement. [76224]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Data to track this recommendation of the national taskforce on violence against social care staff are not collected centrally.
The responsibility to protect staff from violence and abuse falls to the employers of the staff, and the final report of the taskforce, ‘A Safer Place’, recommended a number of targets for employers to set themselves, against which to measure progress, and to act where standards were not good enough. One of the recommendations to employers was that they should reduce the incidence of violence to workers by 25 per cent. by March 2005 from a baseline of March 2002.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS beds within specialist facilities are available for spinal cord injured patients; and how many were available in (a) 1990, (b) 1995, (c) 2000 and (d) 2005. [80346]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department has conducted censuses of available adult intensive care and high dependency provision since 1999. Details of such provision in spinal units (SUs) on census days in 2000 and 2005, and on the date of the most recent census, are shown in the table.
| Date of census | SU intensive care beds | SU high dependency care beds |
| Source: Department of Health, hospital activity statistics, form KHOSa | ||
The table shows the number of available (open and staffed) adult intensive care and high dependency beds in national health service hospitals in England. A census provides a snapshot of provision on one particular day and it should be noted that the number of beds may vary from day to day according to clinical demands and staff availability, with flexibility between general and specialist beds and between intensive care and high dependency.
Streptococcus Testing
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for South Derbyshire (Mr. Todd) of 6 June 2005, Official Report, columns 439-41W, on streptococcus testing, what the findings were of the studies undertaken by the health technology assessment programme on prenatal screening for group B streptococcus. [80395]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The United Kingdom national screening committee has asked the health technology assessment (HTA) programme to undertake two studies on prenatal screening for group B streptococcal disease. These studies are still in progress.
The first study is on prenatal screening and treatment strategies to prevent group B streptococcal and other bacterial infections in early infancy: cost effectiveness and expected value of information analyses.
The second study is on prenatal screening for group B streptococcal disease: protocol development for a possible clinical trial.
Details of all ongoing reports and research outputs can be found on the HTA’s website at www.hta.nhsweb. nhs.uk.
Trans Fats
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 April 2006, Official Report, column 124W, on trans fats, which national diet and nutrition surveys were referred to in that answer; which of these surveys yielded data on dietary fatty acid profiles according to socio-economic status; and what conclusions she has drawn from these data regarding dietary fatty acid profiles according to socio-economic status. [78949]
Caroline Flint: My previous reply referred to results from the national diet and nutrition survey (NDNS) of adults aged 19 to 64(1). This survey did not collect detailed information on socio-economic status, but did identify participants living in households in which someone was in receipt of benefits (benefit households).
When intakes are expressed as a percentage of food energy, there were no significant differences in the fat and fatty acid composition of the diets of men and women from benefit and non-benefit households.
Earlier surveys in the NDNS series covering young people aged four to 18(2) and older adults aged 65 and over(3) also found no differences in the fat and fatty acid composition of diets according to socio-economic status.
Notes:
(1) Henderson L, Gregory J, Irving K and Swan G. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: adults aged 19 to 64 years. Volume 2: Energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat and alcohol intake. TSO (London: 2003).
(2) Gregory J, Lowe S, Bates CJ, Prentice A, Jackson LV, Smithers G, Wenlock R and Farron M. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: young people aged four to 18 years. Volume 1: Report of the diet and nutrition survey (2000). TSO (London: 2000).
(3) Finch S, Doyle W, Lowe C, Bates CJ, Prentice A, Smithers G and Clarke PC. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: people aged 65 years or over. Volume 1: Report of the diet and nutrition survey. TSO (London: 1998).
Home Department
Abortion
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is issued by his Department for officials adjudicating asylum cases involving alleged coercive or enforced abortion; and if he will make a statement. [80180]
Mr. Byrne: The Asylum Policy Instructions are published on the IND website at http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/lawandpolicy/policyinstructions/api
Arms Imports
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) which UK-based companies have been authorised to import and store (a) AK-47 rifles and (b) other small arms from Bosnia since June 2003; [79959]
(2) how many UK-based companies are authorised (a) to import and (b) to store AK-47 style weapons. [79960]
Mr. Coaker: Information in the form requested is not available from either the Department of Trade and Industry’s database of import licences or from the Home Office records of authorities granted under section five of the Firearms Act 1968 (as amended).
Asylum/Immigration
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) households and (b) children he is supporting under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (i) in each region and country of the UK and (ii) in each local social services authority area in the north east of England. [75259]
Mr. Byrne: I am advised that the following table provides management information on the number of main applicants who were supported under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 as at 31 March 2006. Information on the number of children supported under section 4 is not currently available.
A breakdown of those supported by social services authority area in the north east of England is not currently available.
| Area | Number on support |
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of failed asylum seekers returning to their home country did so voluntarily in each month of 2006. [79514]
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