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11 July 2006 : Column 1812W—continued
National School Fruit Scheme
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many schools are participating in the national school fruit scheme; and how many deliveries are made per week to these schools. [83658]
Caroline Flint: There are now 16,413 schools (98.9 per cent. of eligible schools) participating in the school fruit and vegetable scheme, and nearly 2,000,000 children are receiving a free portion of fruit or vegetable every school day.
The variety of storage facilities available in schools means we have to deliver frequently to ensure the produce supplied does not deteriorate. When the scheme was introduced schools received three deliveries per week. As the scheme has developed we have managed to reduce the frequency of deliveries to five per fortnight for the vast majority of schools.
NHS Work Force
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which jobs have been moved from non-clinical to clinical staff groups in the NHS work force since 1997; [79642]
(2) which job codes have been moved from non-clinical to clinical staff groups in the NHS work force since 1997. [79670]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The annual work force census uses occupation codes to record the number of people in job roles. The census has not recorded any occupational codes which have moved from non-clinical to clinical staff groups in the national health service work force since 1997.
Nurses
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate she has made of the number of qualified nurses residing in England who are unemployed; [79635]
(2) how many foreign nationals were employed as nurses within the NHS in 2005-06. [79636]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether nurses trained and qualified within the UK are recruited ahead of foreign nationals. [79640]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Recruitment is a local matter for national health service trusts. Trusts will normally recruit to vacancies from within the local labour market. Where trusts are unable to find appropriately qualified and experienced staff, for example in certain clinical specialisms, they may decide to undertake international recruitment.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses entered full-time employment within the NHS within one year of being qualified in each year since 1997. [79654]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
Nurses/Midwives (Redundancies)
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many redundancies of (a) nurses and (b) midwives there have been in the NHS in each of the last nine years. [79795]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
Obesity
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of (a) children and (b) adults were (i) obese and (ii) overweight when measured by body mass index according to the Government’s most recent health surveys in each (A) London borough and (B) constituency; and if she will make a statement. [82971]
Caroline Flint: The main source of data on the prevalence of obesity and overweight among children and adults is the Health Survey for England (HSE). Data are not available in the format requested. Tables one to three show the most recent data on the prevalence of obesity and overweight in children and adults. In all the tables overweight excludes obese and data are only available for males/females. The sample size of the HSE does not allow data to be produced at the level of boroughs or individual constituencies.
Table 1 presents data on overweight and obesity among adults in each of the strategic health authorities (SHA) within the London Government Office Region (GOR) as a three-year average over the period 2000-02.
| Table 1: prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults( 1) in each London SHA, by gender (three-year average) 2000-02 | |||||
| England | |||||
| Percentage | |||||
| North East London | North West London | North Central London | South East London | South West London | |
| (1) All aged 16 and over. Source: Health and lifestyle indicators for SHAs, 1994 to 2002 | |||||
Table 2 shows the prevalence of overweight and obese adults in England in 2004.
| Table 2: prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults( 1) in England, 2004( 2) | ||
| England | ||
| Men | Women | |
| (1) All aged 16 and over. (2) Figures are weighted for non-response. Source: Health and lifestyle indicators for SHAs, 1994 to 2002 | ||
Table 3 shows the proportion of children aged two to 15 estimated to be overweight and obese in England in 2004.
| Table 3: prevalence of overweight and obesity among children( 1) in England, 2004( 2) | ||
| England | ||
| Boys | Girls | |
| (1) Aged two to 15. (2) Figures are weighted for non-response. Source: Health Survey for England 2004—updating of trend tables to include 2004 data | ||
Papilloma Virus Vaccine
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information she has received on the progress of human papilloma virus vaccines; and if she will make a statement; [81594]
(2) what meetings (a) she and (b) her Department’s officials have had to plan for the introduction of the human papilloma virus vaccination programme. [81595]
Caroline Flint: Research has suggested that human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines may provide real benefit. The Department is currently seeking expert advice on the efficacy, safety and benefits that these new vaccines may offer.
Officials have met with manufacturers of the HPV vaccines to discuss research results and timescales for the development and likely licensure of the vaccines. A joint committee on vaccination and immunisation subgroup met in May 2006 to review all the available information on HPV vaccines and will hold further meetings during 2006.
Patient Transport
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the (a) availability and (b) suitability of (i) the Patient Transport Service, (ii) ambulance cars and (iii) public transport for cancer patients attending hospital regularly for chemotherapy and radiotherapy. [80500]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has not made a specific assessment of the availability or suitability of the patient transport service, ambulance cars or public transport for cancer patients regularly attending hospital for chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for ensuring that there is provision of ambulance services, which could include patient transport services, to such extent as they consider necessary to meet all reasonable requirements. It is, therefore, for the local national health service to decide who provides patient transport services for eligible patients in their area, and what transport is provided.
The White Paper “Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services” sets out that in future, local authorities and PCTs will need to work together to influence providers of local transport in planning transport networks.
Guidance on commissioning ambulance services, “Driving change: Good practice guidelines for PCTs on commissioning arrangements for emergency ambulance services and non-emergency patient transport services”, was issued by the Modernisation Agency in 2004. A copy of this document is available in the Library for reference.
Pensioners Abroad
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with the Czech Republic on the provision of health care for UK pensioners resident in that country; [83141]
(2) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Denmark on the provision of health care for UK pensioners resident in that country; [83144]
(3) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Cyprus on the provision of health care for UK pensioners resident in that country; [83145]
(4) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Belgium on the provision of health care for UK pensioners resident in that country; [83151]
(5) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Austria on the provision of health care for UK pensioners resident in that country. [83154]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There are arrangements co-ordinating the social security and healthcare systems of all the member states of the European Union. This is covered by Regulation (EEC) 1408/71 which is a multilateral instrument.
It provides that pensioners living in another EU member state who are receiving a United Kingdom state retirement, long-term incapacity or bereavement pension, are entitled to healthcare on the same basis as that country's own insured persons.
Post-operative Mortality Rate
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the post-operative mortality rate has been in NHS
hospitals in each year since 1997; what assessment she has made of the post-operative mortality rate in other developed countries; what steps she is taking to reduce the post-operative mortality rate; and if she will make a statement. [74049]
Andy Burnham: The specific information as requested in not collected centrally.
The National Centre of Health Outcomes Development (NCHOD) publishes data on post-operative death rates for emergency procedures. This is available for primary care trusts and strategic health authorities for the last six years up to 2003-04. This is shown in the table.
| Deaths within 30 days of a hospital procedure: surgery (non-elective admissions) | ||||||
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | |
| (1) Precisely: the indirectly age, sex and OPCS4 chapter/selected sub-chapter standardised rate per 100,000 people. Source: Hospital Episodes Statistics, NCHOD financial year—February 2005 and National Statistics Indirectly age and sex standardised rates per 100,000 people Standardised to persons 2001-02 | ||||||
Post-operative death rates by trust are also published by the Healthcare Commission as part of trusts’ star ratings. The latest information is available for the calendar year 2004 at:
ratings2005.healthcarecommission.org.uk/Trust/Indicator/indicators.asp?trustType=l
There are no comprehensive reviews available on international comparisons of post-operative mortality rates.
The level of risk is dependent upon the type of operation. There are many different operations carried out with different risks. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence through its guidance, National Patient Safety Agency through its national reporting and learning system and patient safety solutions and the national confidential enquiry into patient outcome and death, work to improve standards of healthcare for the benefit of the public.
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