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Traffic Officer Service
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Highways Agency Traffic Officer Service; and if he will make a statement. [90893]
Dr. Ladyman: The Traffic Officer Service was first established in the West Midlands (WM) region in April 2004.
Two targets were set for the WM region in the 2005-06 Highways Agency business plan:
1. For the busiest sections of motorway in the West Midlands, HA Traffic Officers will attend 75 per cent. of incidents within 15 minutes of being deployed.
The WM service achieved 92 per cent. in 15 minutes.
2. In the West Midlands, HA Traffic Officers will clear 75 per cent. of incidents within 30 minutes of taking full responsibility for re-opening the road to traffic.
The WM service achieved 84 per cent.
This experience has enabled the Highways Agency to identify a set of key performance indicators for the service. These indicators will be used to measure the activities that will contribute to delivery of the public sector agreement (PSA) target for journey reliability 2007-08 and to the delivery of the financial benefits of the service. The financial benefits derived from the introduction of the Traffic Officer Service are not due to be assessed until 2008 when the service willhave been fully operational across all regions for 12 months. The Highways Agency has analysed data over a 12 month period for the West Midlands and observed a 2 per cent. reduction in incident related congestion.
I would expect the full assessment, which will cover the impacts of introducing the Traffic Officer Service on reducing incident related congestion; improving safety; and freeing up police resources for tackling criminality on the strategic road network to be published at the end of 2008 when the data have been gathered and analysed.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the cost of the Highways Agency Traffic Officer Service since it was introduced. [90894]
Dr. Ladyman: The cost of the Highways Agency Traffic Officer Service since it was introduced is £180,369,505.00.
Health
Accident and Emergency Departments (Sussex)
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) head count staff and (b) whole-time equivalents work in (i) Brighton Royal Sussex county hospital accident and emergency department and (ii) Worthing hospital accident and emergency department; how many of these are agency staff; and what the annual budget was for staff in each of the last five years. [90973]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is not collected centrally.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many accident and emergency admissions were handled by the Royal Sussex county hospital in Brighton in each of the last five years; what increase in admissions is assumed if the Worthing accident and emergency department is downgraded; and what studies have been carried out to ensure the capacity of Brighton Royal Sussex county hospital to handle an increase in admissions. [90974]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is not collected in the requested format. The following table shows the number of admissions to hospital via type one accident and emergency (A&E) for the Brighton and Sussex university hospitals NHS trust and Worthing and Southlands hospitals NHS trust for the last five years.
| Number of admissions via type one A&E | ||
| Brighton and Sussex university hospitals NHS trust | Worthing and Southlands hospitals NHS trust | |
| (1
)Prior to Q1 2002-03, Brighton and Sussex university hospitals NHS
trust did not exist. Data from before this date are from the two
constituent trusts of Brighton Healthcare NHS Trust and Mid Sussex NHS
Trust. (2 )Admissions via A&E were first collected in Q2 2001-02, so that data for 2001-02 are for the last three quarters only. | ||
Anti-psychotic Drug Treatments
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people over the age of 60 years were prescribed anti-psychotic drug treatments on the NHS in (a) England and (b) each strategic health authority in 2005; and if she will make a statement. [90550]
Andy Burnham: Information is not available in the form requested. The Department does not hold data on the number of people who are prescribed medication. However in 2005 the total number of prescriptions dispensed for anti-psychotic drugs in England as a whole was 2,352,000. The number of prescriptions dispensed to those aged 60 and over, by strategic health authority (SHA), is detailed as follows:
Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals have been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders in (a) England and (b) each London borough in each year since 1997. [90549]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested on diagnoses of autistic spectrum disorders, for England and London since 1997 is shown in the following table. Information is only available by strategic health authority area and not by London borough.
| Diagnosis of patients for autistic spectrum disorders national health service hospitals, England 1997-98 to 2004-05 | |||||||||
| Codes | Strategic Health Authority of Residence | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2000-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 |
| Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information
Centre | |||||||||
Better Healthcare Closer to Home
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will (a) provide and (b) authorise funding for the Better Healthcare Closer to Home programme devised by the Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust, Epsom and St. Helier NHS University Trust and other organisations. [90946]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is an issue for the London Strategic Health Authority (SHA).
In August 2006 the Secretary of State wrote to the chief executive of the London SHA asking him to review the proposals for a new critical care hospital and the model of care for the area more generally, including issues of affordability.
Branded Generic Drugs
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when the results of the 2005 consultation on the reimbursement of branded generic drugs is expected to be published; and if she will make a statement; [90700]
(2) what her Department’s policy is on the reimbursement by the NHS of branded generic medicines; [90701]
(3) what assessment her Department has made of the effects on the NHS of reimbursing generic medicines below the drug tariff price. [90702]
Andy Burnham: Standard branded generics are covered by the provisions of the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme, subject to the outcome of public consultations (issued in January and September 2005) on proposals to transfer them to the new arrangements for the reimbursement for generic medicines.
Officials are currently reviewing the responses to proposals which have raised a number of complex issues. These responses require careful consideration. The Department has not determined its final conclusion on this matter and has not set any deadline that may constrain its deliberations.
There is no assessment to be made of the effects on the national health service as prescriptions for generic medicines, if listed, are reimbursed at drug tariff prices.
Breastfeeding
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the proportion of newborn babies exclusively breastfed until six months old. [91024]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland there was a significant increase in the incidence of breastfeeding between 2000 and 2005. However, no estimate of the proportion of newborn babies exclusively breastfed up until six months old has been made up to date.
The National Infant Feeding Survey 2005, is expected to provide information on the levels of exclusive breastfeeding up until six months old.
The results of the survey are expected in late spring 2007.
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