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26 Oct 2006 : Column 2090W—continued
Cancer Consultants
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancer consultants were employed in the NHS in each of the last 20 years. [93936]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of cancer consultants employed in the national health service between 1987 and 2005 is shown in the table.
Information prior to 1987 was not collected centrally.
Community Hospitals
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department has made any assessment of the number of community hospital beds likely to be needed in the Wantage constituency over the next 10 years. [91849]
Andy Burnham: It is the responsibility of primary care trusts (PCTs) and practice based commissioners to assess their needs for community hospitals and services. The Department has therefore made no assessment of the need for community hospitals and community services across England.
The Department is committed to allocating £750 million to PCTs for new community hospitals and services over the next five years. Any PCT can bid for this funding if it has the support of its strategic health authority.
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community hospital beds there were in Oxfordshire primary care trusts in each year since 1997. [91851]
Andy Burnham: The information requested is not held centrally.
Contingency Fund
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the contingency fund described on page 2 of her Department’s report on NHS financial performance in quarter 1 2006-07 was created. [92028]
Andy Burnham: The contingency has not been created from new funding provided by the Department of Health. As part of their management of the £5.5 billion central budget bundle distributed to them for the NHS, the 10 strategic health authorities (SHAs) have established a level of contingency which currently stands at £350 million. This contingency is a prudent approach by SHAs to manage financial risk in the NHS while ensuring that services to patients are delivered.
Critical Care Hospital
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was to public funds of defending the application for judicial review of her decision to overrule the recommendation of the Better Healthcare Closer to Home review on the site of the new critical care hospital in the South West London and North East Surrey area. [95311]
Andy Burnham: It is not possible to answer the question asked without incurring disproportionate cost.
Dentistry
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices in (a) England and (b) Shropshire primary care trust area have removed NHS patients from their lists following the introduction of new dental contracts. [95538]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
Under the new system, dentists contract with their local primary care trust (PCT) to provide an agreed annual amount of national health service dental services over the course of each year. Information on the number of patients who have accessed NHS dental services within a given period will be available from later this year, but registration levels at each individual practice no longer form part of the system of remuneration.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time is for NHS dental patients referred for orthodontic treatment in (a) England and (b) Shropshire primary care trust area. [95553]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not collected centrally on waiting times for orthodontic treatment in primary care. Where patients are referred for hospital orthodontic treatment, information is collected on waiting times for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant and—in the relatively few cases where a patient is treated on an in-patient basis—waiting times for admission. The most recent waiting times statistics can be found at www.performance.doh.gov.uk/waitingtimes/index.htm
DHL Contract
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the proposed supply contract with DHL includes a requirement for sustainable procurement; and if she will make a statement. [95648]
Andy Burnham:
Arrangements are in place to ensure that sustainable procurement issues are addressed in
the delivery of the contract. Under the terms of the contract DHL, in meeting its general service obligations, must:
comply with good industry practice and all statutory requirements; and
contract with suppliers on the NHS business services authority’s behalf in a manner that complies with all statutory requirements relating to procurement.
Further, DHL will only supply in accordance with the requirements of its customers, and therefore DHL is incentivised to provide products that comply with those policies to which the national health service is required to adhere. The effective date of the contract was 1 October 2006
Efficiency Review
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department has delivered the £2,500 million efficiency review savings expected by 2005-06; and if she will break down by workstream the savings which have been made. [92380]
Andy Burnham: By the end of March 2006 the Department had delivered £2,799 million of efficiency savings, around £300 million more than the expected figure at this time. The breakdown of efficiency gain is as follows:
| £ million | |
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