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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 is 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 is 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.
Rheumatology Consultants
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many rheumatology consultants there are per head of population in England. [79178]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The following table shows the number of rheumatology consultants there are per head of population in England.
| Hospital and community health services (HCHS): medical and dental consultants working in the rheumatology specialty, England as at 30 September 2005 | ||
| Number (headcount) | ||
| Number | Consultants per 100,000 head of population( 1) | |
| (1)
Population figures are taken from the 2001 ONS resident estimates. 2005
population data at SHA level is not yet available, therefore, 2004
population data has been used in 2005 calculations. Due to this,
calculations for 2005 are subject to
change. Sources: The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census 2001 Office of National Statistics Population Census | ||
Road Accidents (Seat Belts)
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the cost to the national health service during the last 12 months of attending to people not wearing seat belts who were injured in road accidents; and if she will make a statement. [83202]
Caroline Flint: The Government do not have an estimate of the cost to the national health service of attending to people involved in road accidents, who were not wearing seat belts. However, the wearing of seat belts is estimated to prevent over 2,000 road fatalities each year.
Short Break Services
Mr.
Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for
Health (1) how much was spent on short break provision in
Oxfordshire in the last year for which figures are available; and how
many hours break that expenditure provided;
[82197]
(2) how many hours short break service, on average, were provided on behalf of people with a learning disability in Oxfordshire who receive the care component of disability living allowance at the (a) highest rate, (b) middle rate and (c) lowest rate in the last period for which figures are available; [82198]
(3) how many (a) carers of people with a learning disability, (b) children with a learning disability and (c) adults with a learning disability in Oxfordshire received a short break service in the last period for which figures are available. [82200]
Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much was spent on short break provision in Somerset in the last period for which figures are available; and how many hours’ break that expenditure provided in total; [82279]
(2) how many hours’ short break service, on average were provided on behalf of people with a learning disability in Somerset who received the care component of disability living allowance at the (a) highest, (b) middle and (c) lowest rate in the last period for which figures are available; [82280]
(3) how many (a) carers of people with a learning disability, (b) children with a learning disability and (c) adults with a learning disability in Somerset receive a short break service. [82281]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: This information is not held centrally. It is the responsibility of local commissioners to ensure appropriate provision of services to meet their community’s needs.
Smoking
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding the Government plan to provide to local authorities to implement the proposed smoking ban. [83026]
Caroline Flint: Under the regulation making powers in clause 10 of the Health Bill the Government intends to designate local authorities as the enforcement authorities for smoke-free legislation.
As set out in the “Choosing Health White Paper”, the Government have always committed to provide adequate funding for local authorities to undertake this work, in line with the “New Burdens Doctrine”. Discussions are currently taking place with stakeholders, including the Local Government Association, on the detail of arrangements for enforcement.
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