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Healthcare Workforce
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to reform the regulation of the (a) medical and (b) non-medical healthcare workforce in England. [83695]
Andy Burnham: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 15 May 2006, Official Report, column 694W to the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Dr. Taylor).
Healthcare-acquired Infections
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many MRSA bloodstream infections were recorded at (a) the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and (b) Worthing Hospital in each of the last three years. [83413]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 10 July 2006]: The information is not available in the format requested. However, the table shows the number of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) reports for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals National Health Service Trust and Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust for the periods shown.
| Number of reported blood stream infections (bacteraemia) | ||
| Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust | Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust | |
| Source:
Health Protection
Agency | ||
Hearing Aid Services
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to collect waiting time data for hearing aid services. [84140]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not collect waiting time data for audiology services. However, since January 2006 we have been collecting waiting time and activity data for 15 diagnostic tests or procedures, including pure tone audiometry. This data has been shared with the national health service, for performance management purposes since 2 June 2006. This data will be published on 12 July 2006.
Hospital Closures
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date it was announced that the Severalls hospital at Colchester would close; and on what date it ceased to be occupied by patients. [83219]
Andy Burnham: The decision to close Severalls hospitals was made in approximately 1994, with the physical closure at the end of March 1997.
However, it should be noted that there was not a full closure of the hospital site, merely the core ayslum buildings. At the point of closure, clients were moved to newly developed mental health facilities in Colchester, Clacton and Chelmsford. The hospital building also housed a number of acute wards and those patients were transferred to other accommodation in Essex Rivers Healthcare National Health Service Trust.
Since 1997 services have continued to be provided from the periphery of the Severalls site, namely:
Low secure unit;
Psychiatric intensive care unit;
Long-stay rehabilitation;
Office and community bases;
Pathology laboratory; and
Anglia Ruskin university—nurse education unit.
A learning disabilities day unit has also been developed more recently on the site.
Import Licence Applications
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many parallel import licence (a) applications and (b) variations were received by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency in each of the last 12 months; how many outstanding licence applications and variations were waiting to be processed by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency in each month; and if she will make a statement. [82350]
Andy Burnham: Parallel import licence applications and variations received by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the 12 months July 2005 to June 2006 are shown in the following table:
| Received | Applications | Variations |
Figures for the monthly outstanding licence applications and variations waiting to be processed for the previous 12 months are not available. Pending applications are all applications that have been received by the MHRA but have not completed the licensing process. These applications are at various stages of the licensing process with the responsibility for the next step either with the MHRA or the applicant. For the pending applications the MHRA has responsibility for approximately 48 per cent. of the licence applications and 33 per cent. of the variations. The remaining applications require an action from the applicants.
The pending application figures for July 2005 and June 2006 are:
| Pending | Applications | Variations |
The current MHRA performance in the processing of parallel import applications is not satisfactory. The large number of pending applications has been a result of increased volume of applications being received on a year on year basis as well as some severe operational problems developed with the new information management system introduced August 2005.
Many system improvements affecting both the function and the speed of new information system have now been implemented and staff are more familiar with the use and new ways of working with the system. Since January 2006 the electronic portal has been available to companies for electronic submission of applications. This has major benefits as electronic submission via this system cuts down on initial administrative processing at the MHRA and facilitates more immediate and reliable exchange of correspondence on applications.
Further implemented measures such as increasing number of assessors and out-of-hours bonus exercise for assessors are resulting in increased throughput of work. The MHRA is paying very close attention to the MHRA’s performance and they are monitoring weekly so as to evaluate the effect of strategies that are in place to improve the level of service.
Independent Sector Treatment
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations she has received on services provided by independent sector treatment centres in the last 12 months. [70109]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Influenza Vaccine
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many production facilities in the UK are capable of producing influenza vaccine; and what their capacity is. [83369]
Caroline Flint: Novartis Vaccines is the only commercial manufacturer of flu vaccine in the United Kingdom. Capacity depends on growth of vaccine strain. This information is commercially confidential.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what level of supply of influenza vaccine doses has been secured for the winter of 2006-07; from which manufacturers this supply has been secured; and if she will make a statement. [83977]
Caroline Flint: General practitioners purchase their own supply of flu vaccine from the supplier of their choice. For 2006-07, the Department has advised manufacturers that total orders of flu vaccine to the United Kingdom are likely to be about 15 million doses. Manufacturers will know after the end of July how much vaccine will be available.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she plans to add people with severe mental illness to the list of people automatically offered seasonal influenza vaccines. [81977]
Caroline Flint: Vaccination and immunisation (JCVI) flu sub-group reviewed all available evidence on whether patients with schizophrenia and bi-polar affective disorder are at an increased risk from influenza and should be offered vaccination.
At the last meeting, the sub-group concluded that there is no evidence at present to support a role for influenza vaccination.
Intermediate Care Beds
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many intermediate care beds there have been in the NHS in each year since 2000; and what plans she has to monitor the number of intermediate care beds situated in community or cottage hospitals. [84460]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Data on the number of intermediate care beds, the number of places in non-residential intermediate care schemes and the number of people using intermediate care is collected and is shown in the table. There are no plans to expand the data collection.
Independent Sector Treatment Programme
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many procedures each independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) was contracted to provide in wave one of the ISTC programme; and how many procedures were delivered, (a) broken down by ISTC and (b) in total. [80792]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is shown in the following table.
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