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13 Sep 2006 : Column 2296W—continued
Mental Health
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the results of the Milton Keynes Primary Care Trust consultation on the future of (a) mental health services and (b) The Fraser Day hospital will be published. [90732]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is for primary care trusts in partnership with strategic health 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.
The National Health Service South Central Strategic Health Authority has advised that the results of the Milton Keynes Primary Care Trust consultation on the future of mental health services and the Fraser Day hospital will be published and discussed at the primary care trust’s board meeting on the 21 September 2006.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what factors were taken into account in deciding that the measures outlined in the White Paper, “Our Health, Our Care, Our Say”, should not apply to mental health services. [90754]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to his previous question on 16 June 2006, Official Report, column 1532W. This explained that the Department had written to strategic health authority chief executives and performance managers on 16 February 2006, reminding them of the obligations upon primary care trusts when deciding the future of community hospitals, as outlined in the White Paper “Our health, Our Care, Our Say: a new direction for community services”.
The 16 February letter relates only to consultations about the future of community hospitals, not to mental health trusts. Where applicable, these have carried out separate consultations, and the Gloucestershire Partnership NHS Trust began a five week consultation on the future of mental health services in its area in June.
The White Paper outlines our intention to provide more care in local, convenient settings such as new community hospitals. In many ways, this move is in line with what has been happening in mental health services since the national service framework was published in 1999. The White Paper mentions our plans for mental health services, which are featured prominently throughout. For example, we made a manifesto commitment to improve access to evidence-based psychological therapies, and reinforced this in the White Paper, which includes the following commitments:
“Enabling health, independence and well-being better support for mental health and emotional well-being: promoting good practice; demonstration sites for people of working age, as part of our action to help people with health conditions and disabilities to remain in, or return to, work; access to computerised cognitive behaviour therapy (Page 24, chapter two, Health, independence and well-being).”
Copies of the White Paper are available in the Library and it is available on the Department's website at dh.gov.uk/asstRoot/04/12/74/59/04127459.pdf.
Midwives
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the balance between recently qualified midwives and job opportunities in midwifery; and what steps are being taken to help new midwives into employment within the NHS. [91037]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The national health service will continue to need new midwives to replace those who retire or take career breaks. However, there is now a much closer match between the demand and supply of healthcare workers and there is more competition for posts. It is a joint responsibility between higher education institutions and local NHS organisations to see that midwifery and other healthcare graduates are supported to find employment. Vacancies for graduates continue to be posted on “NHS Jobs” and the “NHS Careers” information service can direct graduates to appropriate sources of information and advice. Graduates are encouraged to be flexible when applying for posts.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS hospitals (a) she and (b) each of her Ministers has visited since 13 June. [90630]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Secretary of State for Health and each of her Ministers have visited the following national health service hospitals since 13 June 2006.
| Hospital | Visited by | |
Mount Vernon Hospital
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to make a final announcement about the future of Mount Vernon hospital. [90953]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The future of Mount Vernon hospital is a matter for the local national health service, who are best placed to decide how to provide services to their local communities.
I understand that Hillingdon hospital NHS trust is committed to developing services for local people at the Mount Vernon hospital site. Current plans include the construction of a £13 million treatment centre which will offer patients more choice about where they are treated for pre-booked surgery and procedures. The treatment centre should open in 2008.
New Mothers
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the health implications of factors affecting the access to skimmed milk of women who have recently given birth. [91035]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No specific assessment has been made of the health implications of factors affecting access to skimmed milk of women who have recently given birth. The Department recommends all adults and children over five years consume lower fat varieties of milk to reduce the intake of saturated fats in the diet. The welfare food scheme, to become the healthy start scheme later in 2006, provides pregnant women and women with young children on qualifying benefits with vouchers for whole, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk.
NHS Bank
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each strategic health authority (a) contributed to and (b) received from the NHS Bank in each year since 2002. [62383]
Andy Burnham: The NHS Bank is funded from a central allocation from the Department of Health. The contributions received by SHAs in each year since 2002 are set out as follows.
| NHS Bank: special assistance funding provided | ||||
| Million | ||||
| Allocation | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
In addition to the distribution of special assistance funding, the NHS Bank also managed the brokerage of cash and capital resources between SHAs. Any cash and capital resources contributed from, or received by, an SHA under these arrangements was returnable in full in the following financial year.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which strategic health authorities have made contributions to the NHS Bank in each year since 2002; and how much contribution each made. [73297]
Andy Burnham: The NHS Bank has made special assistance funding allocations, and certain central budget allocations, on behalf of the Department. Any such allocations are funded from a central departmental allocation.
The NHS Bank also managed the brokerage of cash and capital resources between strategic health authorities (SHAs). Any cash and capital resources contributed from, or received by, an SHA under these arrangements was returnable in full in the following financial year.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which (a) primary care trusts and (b) NHS trusts are repaying loans to the NHS Bank. [73298]
Andy Burnham: The NHS Bank provides funding to strategic health authorities (SHA) only. The Bank does not provide repayable loans to primary care trusts and national health service trusts. The distribution of funding to individual organisations is the responsibility of the relevant SHA.
The NHS Bank managed the brokerage of cash and capital resources between SHAs. Any cash and capital resources contributed from, or received by, an SHA under these arrangements was returnable in full in the following financial year.
NHS Beds
John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds for terminally ill and palliative care are available in (a) Sunderland Royal hospital, (b) Hartlepool university hospital and (c) Durham university hospital. [84224]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is only available at trust level.
NHS Dentistry
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentist surgeries there are in the East Yorkshire Primary Care Trust area; and how many of these are not accepting new NHS patients. [90867]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 11 September 2006]: As at 31 March 2006, there were 29 NHS dental practices in the general dental services (GDS), or personal dental services (PDS) within East Yorkshire Primary Care Trust (PCT).
Data on dentists accepting or not accepting new NHS patients is not centrally available.
Information on the number of dentists or dental practices who have signed the new contract and the number who have not signed is not available centrally.
We do however have some provisional information that covers contracts. A contract may be for more than one dentist so cannot be broken down further to individual dentist level. Provisional management estimates show that in East Yorkshire PCT:
| Number/percentage | |
| Notes: 1. Data include all notifications of dentists joining or leaving the GDS or PDS, received by the NHS Business Services Authority, up to 23 March 2006. Figures for the numbers of dentists at specified dates may vary depending upon the notification period, e.g. data with a later notification period will include more recent notifications of dentists joining or leaving the GDS or PDS. 2. Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded. 3. The postcode of the Dental Practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. Constituency areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics All Fields Postcode Directory. 4. Data on the number of dentists working only in private practice are not held centrally. | |
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