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13 Sep 2006 : Column 2300W—continued
Primary care trusts are working with dentists to resolve as many disputes as possible locally.
NHS Finance
Andrew George:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which of the acute hospital trusts which experienced a budget deficit in 2005-06 have plans (a)
to recover the whole of the deficit, (b) to recover more than 50 per cent. of the deficit, (c) to recover less than 50 per cent. of the deficit and (d) to recover little or none of the deficit but achieve a balanced budget within the 2006-07 financial year; and what the amount of deficit incurred in 2005-06 was in each case; [88271]
(2) what sanctions are available to her Department to ensure that trusts which have a substantial deficit outturn for 2005-06 are required to take action to recover balance within an agreed timetable; and which trusts have not yet satisfied her Department that they have plans in place to achieve balance. [88274]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 24 July 2006]: The aim is for the national health service as a whole to achieve financial balance by the end of 2006-07.
It is the responsibility of strategic health authorities (SHAs) to deliver overall financial balance by developing and implementing a service and financial strategy for managing the financial position within their locality. All NHS organisations that overspend are required to develop recovery plans to return to financial balance. Recovery plans are agreed and managed by SHAs, not the Department. There is a degree of flexibility, however, in how this is managed at a local level. SHAs can agree a recovery plan which phases the recovery of deficits over a number of years. NHS trusts have a three-year period to recover their deficit. This period can be extended to five years in exceptional circumstances.
SHAs are accountable to the Department for the financial performance of the organisations within their own health economy. The Department will work with the SHAs, through enhanced performance management procedures, to ensure that overall net financial balance is returned to the NHS, and improvements are made to the financial position of all individual organisations in deficit.
The 2005-06 provisional outturn financial figures of all NHS organisations were announced on 7 June 2006 and are available in the Library.
NHS Logistics Authority
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what system of redress will be put in place for NHS trusts, hospitals and clinicians in the event of a fall in the standards of service maintained by the NHS Logistics Authority after its functions are outsourced to DHL; and what financial penalties will be available; [90841]
(2) how she will ensure that the current level of quality controls are maintained in the contract between the Department of Health and DHL in relation to the functions of the NHS Logistics Authority. [90843]
Andy Burnham: The contract with DHL is to be managed by the NHS Business Services Authority. DHL will be penalised if service standards fall below current levels. The details of the financial penalties are confidential for commercial reasons.
As there is no mandate for the national health service to use DHL’s services, DHL has to prove to the NHS that it is providing good value for money in terms of best product range and best prices underpinned by
good service. If DHL does not demonstrate this to the NHS, the NHS is free to purchase elsewhere.
Ultimately in the clinical arena the end users, the clinicians, are responsible for choosing the products they need for patient care. DHL will work with clinicians through the clinical councils to ensure the right products are purchased for the NHS.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she has taken to ensure that the contract between the Department of Health and DHL in relation to the functions of the NHS Logistics Authority will ensure that hospitals and clinicians using the service are offered a choice of products. [90842]
Andy Burnham: DHL will establish clinical councils to ensure that there is clinical input into the choice of products included in the catalogue range. DHL will work closely with the new collaborative procurement hubs to make sure that each region is getting the range its clinicians need and, at competitive prices.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what market testing exercise was used as the basis for the decision to outsource the functions of the NHS Logistics Authority to the independent sector; and if she will make a statement. [90844]
Andy Burnham: The contract has been signed at the end of a three year process to determine whether partnering with the private sector was the best option. After carrying out a feasibility study in 2003 a notice was published in the Official Journal of the European Union in August 2004. An invitation to submit outline proposals was sent to six pre-qualified organisations in November 2004. After a rigorous evaluation process of the responses, in July 2005 the Department sent three selected bidders an invitation to negotiate. After a further rigorous evaluation two bidders were taken forward and a preferred bidder was selected in February 2006. Final negotiations and a final decision to outsource was taken in September 2006.
The overall basis for the decision to outsource was better value for money for the national health services. The outsourcing offers three times more savings to the NHS than keeping the operations in-house.
Non-medical Professional Regulation
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she has received a copy of the draft report by the chief medical officer into medical regulation; and when she expects the final report to be published. [85785]
Andy Burnham: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 24 July 2006, Official Report, column 1117W.
Nursing Education
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice has been given to education authorities on the level of grants they should provide to private sector providers of nursing education; and if she will make a statement. [90559]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Neither the Department or the Department for Education and Skills directly commission or grant fund private sector providers of nursing education via education authorities. Therefore, neither Department provides formal advice on this issue to them.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of nursing schools is (a) state-funded, (b) voluntary and (c) private; and if she will make a statement. [90560]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department provides funding to strategic health authorities to commission nursing education places, usually from universities. The state funding of universities is a matter for Higher Education Funding Council for England. The Department and the Department for Education and Skills do not collect information on voluntary and private funding which is a matter for each university.
Paediatric Units
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many paediatric units in England are (a) being downgraded and (b) having in-patient facilities reduced. [90628]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally. Decisions on local health care provision, including paediatric services, are a matter for primary care trusts and strategic health authorities in consultation with the local population.
Patient Advocacy
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) membership, (b) terms of reference and (c) timetable are of the working group of voluntary sector representatives established to scope the issues relating to a national voice for patients; and what progress has been made to date in the work of this group. [90846]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The work on national voices is being developed by a group of voluntary sector organisations under the chairmanship of Baroness Morgan. The Department is supporting this work by providing a part-time project manager who is based within the sector. The Department is not responsible for either the membership of the group or its terms of reference. The Department is keen that the proposals developed are independent and the responsibility of the voluntary sector organisations involved. We await with interest the projects findings which should report in December 2006.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what timetable there is for strengthening the involvement of the public in the work of the health overview and scrutiny committees in local authorities. [90847]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
As set out in “A Stronger Local Voice”, we plan to establish new local involvement networks (LINks) to provide flexible ways for
communities to engage with health and social care organisations in ways that best suit the communities and the people in them.
There will be one LINk for each local authority area with social services responsibilities and, as such, they will be able to develop a close relationship with the overview and scrutiny committee (OSC) with which they will be coterminous, informing the OSC on the public needs and experiences, enabling the OSCs to pursue critical issues based of the evidence of users' experience. LINks will also have the power to refer matters to OSCs and receive an appropriate response.
These plans will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how local involvement networks will be held to account for their use of public funds as set out in her Department's paper “A Stronger Local Voice”. [90849]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We are currently considering the ways in which local involvement networks will be held to account for their use of public funds.
Physiotherapists
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of those who qualified in physiotherapy in 2006 have found employment in the NHS; and what the figures were in each of the last five years. [90958]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
Plastic Water Bottles
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2006, Official Report, column 155W, on plastic water bottles, if she will ensure that information is disseminated to the public on possible contamination of drinking water in plastic bottles from cleaning materials stored nearby. [91029]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published advice on this matter. They have advised consumers not to store food or drink, including plastic bottles of water, next to chemicals. Their advice is available on the FSA website at:
www.eatwell.gov.uk/asksam/keepingfoodsafe/asksamstoring preparing/#A306011
Project 2000
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of Project 2000; and if she will make a statement. [90979]
Ms Rosie Winterton: A major review of Project 2000 was commissioned by the Department and its findings published in 1991. Entitled “fitness to practice”, it resulted in adaptations to the pre-registration programme. In addition to this large-scale evaluation, we have funded studies on various aspects of nurse education and continue to do so.
Public Involvement Forums
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the proposals in the Government's publication “A Stronger Local Voice”, when detailed proposals for the powers of (a) hospital and (b) ambulance patient and public involvement forums are expected to be available. [90954]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We are currently analysing the many responses to “A Stronger Local Voice”, and once this process has been finalised, further details will be made available.
Secure Special Hospitals
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to extend the provision of secure special hospital beds. [88938]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There are no plans to extend the provision of secure special (now high security psychiatric) hospital beds since the three existing high security psychiatric hospitals, Ashworth, Broadmoor and Rampton, have sufficient capacity to meet current and anticipated demand for high security psychiatric placements.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the cost of a new secure special hospital. [88939]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No estimate has been made of the cost of building a new secure special (now high security psychiatric) hospital since there are no plans to build a new high security psychiatric hospital.
Sexual Health
Mr. Bruce George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment she has made of the progress towards implementing the plans outlined in the White Paper, Choosing Health, to treat sexual health services as a priority issue; [90785]
(2) what progress has been made towards implementing changes to the provision of sexual health services, as outlined in the White Paper, Choosing Health; and if she will make a statement. [90788]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Sexual health and improving access to genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics is one of the top six priorities for the national health service in 2006-07. The White Paper “Choosing Health: Making healthy choices easier” published in November 2004, a copy of which is available in the Library, made a number of commitments to improve sexual health including a target that everyone should be offered an appointment within 48 hours of contacting a GUM clinic by 2008. Strategic health authorities have submitted plans to meet this target.
Overall, the number of attendees at GUM clinics seen within 48 hours in England increased from 45 per cent. in May 2005 to 54 per cent. in May 2006 and a further 4 per cent. were offered an appointment but chose not to attend.
The “Choosing Health” White Paper also announced an accelerated timetable to achieve national roll out of the National Chlamydia screening programme. We have rolled out the screening programme successfully to over 25 per cent. of primary care trusts (PCTs) and many other PCTs will begin screening during 2006.
We have also taken forward the commitment that as well as the national programme we will take steps to introduce and evaluate the effectiveness of Chlamydia screening in retail pharmacies starting in London. We have contracted Boots the Chemists to evaluate the potential of retail pharmacies as Chlamydia screening venues. Screening started on 14 November 2005. This two year pilot will be independently evaluated by TNS Healthcare.
We have also undertaken the audit of contraceptive provision. PCTs were recently asked to complete a national baseline questionnaire of contraceptive services. The results will inform the publication of best practice guidance by the Department of Health and will help PCTs determine how best to meet gaps in local services. We have also recently reduced the value added tax rate on condoms and other contraceptives, making the costs of these items more affordable and are working with the industry to increase the supply of free condoms to high risk groups.
Later this year we will be launching a new sexual health campaign. The campaign will target 16 to 34-year-old young adults, highlighting the risks of unprotected sex and the benefits of condom use to avoid sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy.
This increased priority for sexual health and the implementation of “Our health, Our Care, Our Say: a new direction for community services”, a copy of which is available in the Library, should significantly strengthen the incentive for local investment and service modernisation.
Mr. Bruce George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the use by (a) strategic health authorities and (b) primary care trusts of money allocated for sexual health services; and if she will make a statement. [90786]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities will receive funding for implementing the targets in the White Paper “Choosing Health: making healthy choices easier” in their mainstream allocations and we will be monitoring the outcomes from this investment through local delivery plans. PCT revenue allocations separately identify funding to support the implementation of choosing health. It is for PCTs to determine how to use the funding allocated to them to commission services to meet the health care needs of their local populations. A copy of the White Paper is available in the Library.
Mr. Bruce George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions her Department has had with strategic health authorities on spending on sexual health services; and if she will make a statement. [90789]
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