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18 Sep 2006 : Column 2506W—continued
6. EDS—Web and application hosting services
| Value (£000) | |
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which IT contracts awarded by her Department in each of the last five years have been abandoned; and what the value was in each case. [88989]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department has not abandoned any IT contracts in the last five years.
Maternity Services
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many hospitals had more than 4,000 births in the last year for which figures are available; [91198]
(2) whether it is her policy that maternity hospitals should plan for over 4,000 births a year. [91199]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The national health service maternity statistics for the year 2004-05 indicate that there were 51 hospitals with over 4,000 deliveries registered.
It is for local NHS trusts to decide on the best pattern of maternity service provision, taking into account their local population needs, evidence of effectiveness and available resources, and having followed appropriate procedures including consultation locally.
Mental Health
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by her Department on providing information and literature to patients suffering from mental illness about the linked dangers of drugs in the last period for which figures are available. [88013]
Caroline Flint: The cross-government drugs information campaign, FRANK, funded by the Department, Home Office and Department for Education and Skills communicates, primarily to young people aged 11-24, all the known harmful effects of illegal drugs including potential effects on mental health.
The FRANK helpline, website www.talktofrank.com, television and radio advertising and information literature all include reference to substances for which there is evidence that mental health could be adversely affected, although the campaign does not specifically target people suffering from mental health problems. We are therefore
unable to isolate and provide specific costings for delivery of mental health messages within the totality of FRANK messaging.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she last met her Scottish counterpart; and what subjects were discussed. [88766]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Ministers have regular dialogues with ministerial colleagues in the Scottish Executive, discussing a wide range of issues of mutual interest. It is not our practice to disclose details of such meetings, however, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State last met the Scottish Health Minister on 11 October 2005.
New Hospitals
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her Department’s press release of 18 August 2006, “Go-ahead for billion pound-plus wave of new NHS Hospitals”, when she expects each of the schemes mentioned in the press release to reach financial close. [90990]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 13 September 2006]: It is currently anticipated that the schemes announced on 18 August will reach financial close by the following time periods:
University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust, spring 2007
South Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, autumn 2008
Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust, spring 2007
Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust, spring 2007
Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust, autumn 2007
University Hospital Leicester NHS Trust, spring 2008
Dates for financial close cannot be predicted with absolute certainty and the estimates given here may change as the projects develop.
NHS Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department received earlier estimates from each strategic health authority (SHA) regarding the forecast year-end financial position of each SHA’s health community in 2006-07 as at month three of 2006-07, which were different from those which were published in the quarter one financial data for 2006-07 on 11 August 2006. [91186]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The 2006-07 quarter one report published the estimated forecast year-end position for the national health service, as at the end of June 2006.
Reflecting both good financial practice and our performance management regime, NHS financial data are subject to review and quality assurance as part of the normal data collection process.
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total budgeted spend of each NHS trust was for (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) the latest proposed budgeted spend for 2007-08. [91239]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not collect budget information from national health service trusts. On the basis of information that is available, we have provided the following tables which have been placed in the Library:
Table 1: NHS trusts’ final accounts surplus/deficit position for 2004-05;
Table 2: NHS trusts’ provisional outturn for 2005-06; and,
Table 3: NHS trusts’ forecast outturn for 2006-07 as at quarter 1 (end of June 2006).
No data are available for 2007-08.
NHS Outsourcing
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS organisations outsource administrative services to overseas providers; from where such services are provided; what their total cost was in 2005-06; what steps her Department has taken to promote quality controls in respect of those that involve the inputting of patient data and the drafting of letters to patients; and if she will review the operation of such contracts. [91266]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not collected centrally in the form requested. However, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Derek Wyatt) on 29 June 2006, Official Report, column 620W.
NHS Service Provision (Changes)
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations she has received regarding proposed service provision changes at (a) Queen Mary's hospital, Sidcup, (b) Queen Elizabeth hospital, Woolwich and (c) Bexley Care Trust. [87767]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In the last six months, two letters have been received by the Department about the future of paediatric diabetes services at Queen Mary's hospital, Sidcup. No other representations have been received about proposed service provision changes at Queen Elizabeth hospital or Bexley Care Trust.
Nurses
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses completed their training in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006; and how many have not been able to find jobs. [91249]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
Parliamentary Papers
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to make copies of deposited papers available in the (a) Vote Office and (b) Printed Paper Office at the same time as copies are deposited in the Library; and if she will make a statement. [81178]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House on 3 July 2006, Official Report, column 729W.
PCT (Leeds)
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will ensure that savings released by the amalgamation of primary care trusts (PCT) in Leeds are reinvested in services in the new Leeds PCT area. [91265]
Ms Rosie Winterton: After completion, the reconfiguration is expected to deliver savings of £250 million every year for reinvestment in frontline services. Primary care trusts are likely to prioritise investments in the manifesto commitments such as additional palliative care services, improving access to cancer services and developments in mental health services.
The savings are expected to be realised by the end of 2007 and then every year for reinvestment beginning in 2008-09. Strategic health authorities (SHAs) have been asked to oversee the generation of the savings locally. Each SHA has a cost envelope that it should realise but it is for local determination to work out the best way of achieving these savings.
Pharmacies
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Department is taking in conjunction with the medicines and health regulatory authority to introduce risk-based regulation for (a) wholesale and (b) dispensing pharmacies. [90987]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 13 September 2006]: The European Commission in conjunction with the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union regulate the production and distribution of medicinal products within the European Economic Area with measures contained in Directive 2001/83/EC as amended relating to medicinal products for human use and their guidelines on good practices.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Government body responsible for the safety and licensing of medicines in the United Kingdom has transposed the regulatory measures contained in Directive 2001/83/EC as amended in respect of the wholesale distribution of medicinal products for human use into the United Kingdom’s national legislation for medicines for human use.
The MHRA inspects the facilities of licensed wholesale dealers of medicines to confirm compliance with the European Commission’s guideline on good
distribution practice and the United Kingdom’s medicines regulations. As the risks associated with the distribution of some categories of medicines are significantly higher than others, different inspection frequencies are applied.
The approach taken to the regulation and inspection of pharmacies and the dispensing of medicines under the Medicines Act 1968 as amended, including the extent to which it is risk based, is the responsibility of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
Prescription Charges
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the cost of extending the list of medical conditions which are exempt from prescription charges to include mental illness. [91277]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No such assessment has been made. Many people suffering from mental illness will already be entitled to free prescriptions through the extensive exemption arrangements. Patients who are not exempt may purchase a prescription pre-payment certificate.
The charging arrangements have recently been examined by the Health Select Committee which has made a number of recommendations. We are considering these and will respond formally in due course.
Residential Rehabilitation (Drug Treatment)
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was provided to each London borough for the purpose of funding drug residential rehabilitation places in each of the last five years. [91164]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Residential drug rehabilitation is one of a number of different structured drug treatment interventions provided to meet the range of needs of drug users, with the remainder being: community-based general practitioner prescribing, community-based specialist prescribing; structured psychosocial interventions; structured day programmes; in-patient drug treatment; and other structured treatment. Drug Action Teams (DATs), have responsibility for commissioning drug treatment services based on assessment of local need. Drug treatment funding available to local DATs, including funding provided via the pooled drug treatment budget (PTB), is not divided between treatment types. Therefore, we are not able to provide the information requested.
Details of PTB allocations to all London boroughs between 2002-03 and 2006-07 are in the table.
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