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24 July 2006 : Column 1123W—continued
Strategic Health Authorities (Amalgamation)
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the number of staff who have been (a) made redundant, (b) redeployed and (c) prematurely retired as a result of the amalgamation of strategic health authorities; and what the financial cost of these redundancies and early retirements has been. [86589]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 20 July 2006]: There will be a number of redundancies in strategic health authorities following the restructuring brought about by “Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS”. However until the detail of the new arrangements is agreed, it is difficult to make accurate forecasts.
A human resource framework, jointly agreed between the service and trade unions has been produced to support staff through the transition. It contains key information for dealing with staff affected by this change process including measures for minimising redundancies, that is, restrictions on recruitment and maximising opportunities for redeployment.
Syphilis
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of syphilis have been reported in each London borough in each of the last five years. [84223]
Caroline Flint: Data on the number of sexually transmitted infections for 2005 for each region were published in ‘Diagnoses of selected 577s by region, sex and age group United Kingdom: 1996-2005’, by the Health Protection Agency on 4 July. A copy of the document is available in the Library. The report is freely available from their website at:
www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/hiv_and_sti/epidemiology/datatables2005.htm.
Telephones (Hospitals)
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines her Department provides to hospital trusts on the use of mobile telephones by patients in hospitals. [82270]
Andy Burnham: The use of mobile telephones and other communication equipment in close proximity to certain electrically sensitive medical equipment is not advised, as the consequences of disrupting such equipment may cause direct harm to patients.
However, it is the responsibility of individual trusts to assess the areas within hospitals where a total ban on the use of mobile telephones is appropriate on safety grounds. Restrictions in other areas of the hospital premises may be introduced for reasons other than their impact on the safety of medical equipment, such as the desire to reduce the disruption caused by the uncontrolled use of mobile telephones and the possible invasion of patients’ privacy from telephones with built in cameras, for example.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has recently published “Frequently asked questions on the use of mobile telephones in hospitals” on its website at www.mhra.gov.uk. This has links to other MHRA publications on the effects of mobile telephones on medical equipment.
UK Emergency Care Research
David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will make detailed guidance available to NHS research and development departments on the implementation of the regulations in relation to UK Emergency Care Research and the introduction of the Medicine for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004; and if she will make a statement. [87344]
Andy Burnham: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Dr. Taylor), on 10 July 2006, Official Report, columns 1619-20W. An amendment is under consideration which would allow researchers to enter incapacitated adults into trials of medicines for emergency treatments which have to be administered before there is time to obtain the consent of a legal representative. A further announcement will be made in the autumn.
Vocational General Practice Training Scheme
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people had their posts on the Vocational General Practice Training Scheme suspended due to the Deanery’s financial situation in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [84363]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In 2004-05, seven trainee general practitioners had their training deferred for six months, from August 2004 to February 2005, to help with the financial situation at London Deanery. This is the only time that this has happened in the last five years. In 2006-07, 29 trainees are having their training deferred until February 2007 but this is because fewer doctors have left their training posts than expected. All 29 have now been offered or have found alternative employment until February 2007.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures have been put in place to safeguard places on the Vocational General Practice Training Scheme in the event of a budget overspend by the Deanery. [84364]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The priorities for investment of education and training funding are a matter for local strategic health authorities (SHAs), working with their deaneries in respect of medical education. This is therefore essentially a local matter for the SHA and their deanery to determine. We have been assured however that there is no intention to cut the number of funded training places on the London Deanery vocational general practice training scheme.
Weight Management Services
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what strategy the Department is using to extend weight management services to all who wish to access them; and what incentives are available to GPs to offer these services. [85876]
Caroline Flint: The White Papers “Choosing Health” and “Our Health, Our Care, Our Say”, set out a range of action to improve health and tackle obesity. The Department has published tools to support frontline health professionals in managing obesity locally and extend weight loss services. These include: “Guidance to Primary Care Trusts on Weighing and Measuring Children; an Obesity Care Pathway; a Weight Loss Guide; and a Patient Activity Questionnaire for over 16’s”. These tools were released in April and May this year and copies are available in the Library.
Regarding incentives available to general practitioners (GPs) offering weight management services, the quality and outcomes framework for 2006-07 rewards GP practices for maintaining an obesity register. The recording of body mass index for the register is intended to be part of a practice’s routine care.
York Hospital
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) medical, (b) nursing and (c) other professional staff were employed by York NHS Trust and NHS primary care services in Selby and York in 1996-97; and how many in each category are employed by York Hospital and Selby and York primary care trust (PCT), including the mental health services staff transferred from the hospital to the PCT. [86523]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is shown in the following tables.
Home Department
Alcohol-related Crime (Humberside)
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many alcohol related crimes have (a) been reported and (b) resulted in convictions in Humberside Police Authority area in each of the last nine years; and if he will make a statement. [86908]
Mr. McNulty: From the information collected centrally, it is not possible to identify those offences which are alcohol-related. Such offences are not specifically defined by statute and details of the individual circumstances of offences do not feature in either the recorded crime or court proceedings data series.
Antisocial Behaviour
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has conducted on the level of anti-social behaviour in local authority areas (a) in England and (b) in Wales. [77788]
John Reid: The following research covers some rather than all local authorities:
A survey of perceptions of antisocial behaviour in 10 trailblazer areas (Birmingham, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Camden, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Sunderland and Westminster);
A survey of the use of powers to tackle antisocial behaviour among Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership areas; and
The Anti-Social behaviour Unit (ASBU) One Day Count of antisocial behaviour which collected data on all reports of antisocial behaviour made to a range of agencies in September 2003.
Statistical data are also collected on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) by local authority area, published at:
www.crimereduction.gov.uk
At police force level, there are two main sources of statistical data which are routinely collected and published by the Home Office. The British Crime Survey which measures experiences of criminal victimisation, perceptions of various types of disorder and experiences of antisocial behaviour in the last 12 months, and, the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey which measures levels of involvement in antisocial behaviour among 10 to 25-year-olds.
Results from both the British Crime Survey and Offending, Crime and Justice Survey are available in the Home Office Online Report 49/04 (2004) “Perceptions and Experience of Antisocial Behaviour: Findings from the British Crime Survey”, by Martin Wood and Home Office Statistical Bulletin 20/05 (2005) “Young People and Crime: Findings from the 2004 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey” by Budd et al. These reports are available on:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment is made of the effectiveness of measures taken to tackle antisocial behaviour in the Vale of Clwyd; [86985]
(2) what assessment he has made of the take-up of provisions of anti-social behaviour legislation introduced since 1997 in each local authority area. [86986]
Mr. McNulty: Although the data are not available in the form requested, we know that there has been a huge response both from practitioners (such as local authorities and the police) and from local communities in taking a stand to tackle antisocial behaviour. The tools and powers we have provided since 1997 are being used widely and wisely.
For the last two years, we have carried out a survey of Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in England, and Community Safety Partnerships in Wales, asking about their actions taken to tackle antisocial behaviour. From those who responded to the surveys, the results are shown in the table.
A Home Office data collection exercise carried out in July 2005 estimated that between January 2004 and June 2005, 809 areas were designated as dispersal areas.
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