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Pharmacies
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of parishes in (a) rural and (b) urban areas have a pharmacy. [85133]
Andy Burnham: This information is not held centrally.
Physiotherapists
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which NHS trusts are recruiting new junior physiotherapists in 2006-07; [87409]
(2) how many people have qualified as physiotherapists in each of the past five years; and what proportion of those are employed in the NHS. [87410]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
Preventative Health Spending
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she has established an expert group on preventative health spending. [84465]
Caroline Flint: The White Paper “Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for Community Services” sets out a vision to provide people with good quality social care and national health service services in the communities where they live.
It sets out proposals for “an expert group to develop robust definitions and measures of preventative health spending, to report later in 2006;...”(Paragraph 6.34).
The national reference group for health and wellbeing is being established which will take forward this and other related White Paper commitments. Membership and remit of the group will be published when discussions with stakeholders are complete.
Primary Care Trusts
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2006, Official Report, column 1792W, on primary care trusts, what the overall level of investment in enhanced services by primary care trusts (PCTs) was in 2005-06; what the originally planned level of national investment in enhanced services by PCTs was; and if she will make a statement. [85828]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The overall level of national investment in enhanced services by primary care trusts (PCTs) in 2005-06 is forecast to be £649 million. The planned level of national investment (known as the enhanced service floor) was £676 million.
Any issues raised by either PCTs or their local medical committee regarding enhanced service investment can, if all local routes have been exhausted, be referred to the jointly chaired NHS Employers/General Practitioners Committee Implementation Coordination Group for advice.
Road Accidents (Compensation)
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was recovered by hospitals from insurers towards the cost of treatment of persons injured in road accidents in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [83767]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Hospitals have for more than70 years been able to recover the costs of providing treatment to the victims of road traffic accidents where the injured person successfully claims personal injury compensation from the person responsible for causing the injury, through their insurer. However, the Road Traffic (NHS Charges) Act 1999 introduced a streamlined, centralised recovery scheme, operated by the compensation recovery unit, part of the Department for Work and Pensions, on behalf of the Secretary of State. Recoveries since that scheme was introduced in April 1999 are as shown in the table.
| Amount recovered (£) | |
Skin Cancer
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of skin cancer there have been in each constituency in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) age and (b) sex. [86530]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 24 July 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many cases of skin cancer there have been in each constituency in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) age and (b) sex. [86530]
The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2003. A table which shows the number of cases of melanoma skin cancer by age and sex for each parliamentary constituency in England, for the years 1999 to 2003, has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Speech Therapy (Children)
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the effects of treating children with speech and language difficulties in (a) inclusive settings and (b) on a one-to-one basis; and if she will make a statement. [87150]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: No assessment has been carried out centrally. It is for primary care trusts in partnership with strategic health authorities, local authorities and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services. This process provides the means for addressing local needs within the health community including the provision of speech and language therapy.
Local healthcare professionals are best placed to decide whether speech and language therapy services should be provided in inclusive or one-to-one settings based on the assessed need of each child. Both methods can have positive outcomes.
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.
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