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17 Oct 2006 : Column 1165W—continued
Birmingham Women's Hospital
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the procedures for collecting revenue from coroners' referrals to the pathology unit of Birmingham Women’s hospital. [91878]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is for Birmingham Women’s Health Care NHS Trust to make assessments on procedures for collecting revenue from coroners’ referrals to the pathology unit of Birmingham Women’s hospital.
Bowel Cancer Screening
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in rolling out the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. [90220]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Good progress has been made in rolling out the national bowel cancer screening programme.
The programme consists of five programme hubs across England which will invite men and women to participate in the screening programme, send out the faecal occult blood (FOB) testing kits, analyse the returned kits and send out results. Ninety to 100 local screening centres will provide endoscopy services for the 2 per cent. of men and women who have a positive FOB test result.
The five hubs have been confirmed as:
Rugby—West Midlands and the North West—began operations in July 2006;
Guildford—Southern—began operations in September 2006;
St. Mark’s—London—begins operations in October 2006;
Gateshead—North East; and
Nottingham—Eastern.
All five hubs will be operational by March 2007.
In addition to the hubs, the first six local screening centres have now been confirmed. Wolverhampton and Norwich began sending out invitations in July 2006, and South Devon and Liverpool began sending out invitations in September 2006. St. Mark’s London is due to begin sending out invitations in October 2006, with St. George’s London following in November 2006. The other eight sites due to become local screening centres in wave one of the programme, that is 2006-07, will be confirmed as soon as possible, when they have satisfied quality and capacity criteria.
We will be writing to the new strategic health authorities (SHAs) shortly for them to bid for their local endoscopy units to become local screening centres as part of Wave two of the programme in 2007-08. It is up to SHAs to decide where local screening centres should be located for the benefit of their own populations.
The bowel cancer screening programme is an ambitious project, and one of the first of its kind in Europe. When fully implemented, it will detect around 3,000 bowel cancers every year. We are committed to implementing this important programme.
Call Handlers
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of additional call handlers in England required to maintain 24/7 telephone access to local health services, as stated in her Department’s Influenza Pandemic Contingency Planning: “Operational Guidance on the provision of healthcare in a community setting in England”, draft V8 of July; whether she expects to remunerate these call handlers; and if she will make a statement. [91641]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We are currently in the process of updating the “Operational Guidance on the Provision of Healthcare in a Community Setting in England”, including the proposals for telephone operators in light of comments received on the draft.
In view of this further work, we will not be in a position to estimate the number of operators needed until we have defined the model of service and the nature of the telephone system(s) required.
Cancer Referrals
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) general practitioner urgent referrals and (b) other referrals there have been for cancer treatment in each month since June 2005. [91639]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Data are not collected centrally on routine referrals where the patient is subsequently diagnosed with cancer. Data are collected on urgent suspected cancer referrals to monitor performance of the two week out-patient waiting time standard. Data are published quarterly and the number of referrals is shown as follows.
| Quarter | Number of urgent referrals |
Cannabis User Referrals
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the percentage change in the number of cannabis users' referrals to rehabilitation schemes was between 2002 and 2005. [91671]
Caroline Flint: The percentage change in the number of people entering drug treatment between 2003-04, the first year for which data are available, and 2005-06, the latest data, where cannabis has been identified as the primary substance of misuse is an increase of 117 per cent.
As surveys on drug use amongst young people indicate that cannabis use among young people has remained stable over the past few years, the increased numbers in drug treatment as a result of cannabis use are almost certainly as a result of increased availability of treatment.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many under-16 cannabis users entered a rehabilitation programme in each year between 2002 and 2005. [91672]
Caroline Flint: The numbers of under-16s who have entered drug treatment, where cannabis has been identified as the primary substance of misuse for years since 2003-04, the first year for which data are available are as follows:
| Number | |
Child Obesity
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards meeting the public services agreement target of July 2004 that by 2010 the increase in obesity among children aged under 11 years will be halted. [91635]
Caroline Flint: The Department will track progress against the public service agreement (PSA) target on childhood obesity by using the body mass index trend data from the Health Survey for England. The baseline figure is 14.9 per cent. which is the weighted average for the three year period 2002-04. Progress against the target will be formally assessed once data from 2005-07 are aggregated.
The Government have a range of ongoing initiatives to address the rising levels of childhood obesity. This includes raising awareness through the social marketing campaign aimed at families, targeting of existing universal programmes, such as the school sports strategy, healthy schools, and healthy start. In addition, we will shortly publish the national data from 2005-06 exercise to weigh and measure primary school children. These data will enable us to better performance manage and target local areas as part of our PSA delivery strategy.
Clostridium Difficile
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the change since December 2005 in the proportion of NHS hospital trusts that routinely isolate cases of Clostridium difficile infection. [89864]
Andy Burnham: We do not collect this information centrally but national guidance recommends the isolation of patients where feasible. In addition, “The Health Act 2006: Code of Practice for Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections” published in October 2006 requires national health service bodies to have a policy on Clostridium difficile infection that makes provision for isolation of infected patients and cohort nursing.
Dentists
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the figure of 66 per cent. of capital expenditure for dentists wholly or mainly committed to the NHS was arrived at as the proposed maximum subsidy in Gateway 6844. [92365]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The guidance given to the national health service on 12 July 2006 about the £100 million capital funding programme for primary care NHS dentistry did not propose a maximum NHS subsidy for capital investments made by dental practices. Rather, it gave illustrative examples of the contributions that primary care trusts (PCTs) might choose to make to capital investments made by dental practices, expressed as a percentage of the total cost of the investment.
The example given for practices wholly or mainly committed to the NHS was 66 per cent. of expenditure, but PCTs are free to decide for themselves locally what proportion is appropriate in each case. Most practices that provide primary dental services are independent contractors, and their NHS contract payments—which are based on the recommendations of the Doctors and Dentists Pay Review Body—already cover not only the dentists’ net income but also the expenses incurred in providing NHS dental services. Additional grants to practices to improve facilities, and which may enhance the practice assets, are often made on the basis of a shared investment between the PCT and the contractor.
Diagnostic Tests
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2006, Official Report, column 2087W, on diagnostic tests treatment, in which month of next year she expects full services to begin being provided; where she expects the first scheme to begin providing services to be situated; in which seven regions diagnostic schemes will operate; and which local National Health Service needs are better met by delaying the commencement date from October. [91805]
Andy Burnham: The diagnostic schemes across all strategic health authority areas (SHA) will commence on or before 1 April 2007. Currently each SHA and local primary care trusts are confirming the sites at which they require the services to be delivered.
Commencement in April 2007 has allowed local heath communities to further refine their requirements for the new services and target the activity at local service priorities.
Foundation Hospitals
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to increase the number of foundation hospitals; and if she will make a statement. [90290]
Andy Burnham: There are already 49 national health service foundation trusts, the intention is that all acute and mental health trusts will be able to apply for foundation trust status at the earliest opportunity. We are establishing a time frame for when remaining acute and mental health trusts can become foundation trusts and the actions needed to secure a successful application.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on her plans to provide for an insolvency regime in the event of foundation hospital trusts being wound up. [91365]
Andy Burnham: The Government expect to make regulations on an insolvency regime for national health service foundation trusts in 2007.
Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of staff and infrastructure at the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust that will be surplus to requirements following the move of Kingston Hospital NHS Trust patients to the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, broken down by (a) clinical staff, (b) nursing staff, (c) scientific and technical staff, (d) diagnostic equipment, (e) treatment equipment and (f) other. [92301]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is a local matter for the local national health service. The information requested is not held centrally.
Health Charges
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has to implement the recommendations of the Health Select Committee’s report into health charges and in particular prescription charges. [92748]
Andy Burnham: The Department’s response to the Health Committee’s report on national health service charges has been laid before Parliament today.
Heroin Addicts
John Robertson: (1) To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many heroin addicts were registered in the methadone programme in each year between 2002 and 2005; [91668]
(2) how many heroin addicts entered the methadone programme in each year between 2002 and 2005. [91669]
Caroline Flint: There is no formal requirement for heroin users to register their addiction.
Data collected on substitute prescribing do not differentiate between methadone and buprenophine.
From 2003-04 onwards, the first year for which these data are available, the number of clients in England in receipt of substitute prescribing, where heroin has been identified as the primary drug of misuse is as follow:
| Number | |
HIV
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of HIV were diagnosed in Beverley and Holderness in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [91392]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is not available in the format required. The following table gives the figures for the East Riding of Yorkshire.
| New HIV diagnoses for adults aged 15 or above for East Riding of Yorkshire | |
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. Data includes individuals who have an existing infection as well as those who have a newly acquired infection. 2. Data may include duplicates for the same individual where records with different information could not be reconciled. 3. Data is based on reports received by the end of June 2006 and numbers may rise as further reports are received, particularly true for more recent years. Source: Health Protection Agency. | |
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