Previous Section Index Home Page

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.


26 Oct 2006 : Column 2091W

26 Oct 2006 : Column 2092W
Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): All consultants within the six main cancer specialties by specialty and year
Number (headcount)
of which:
England at 30 September each year All six main cancer Specialties Clinical oncology Clinical radiology Haematology Histopathology Medical oncology Palliative medicine

1987

2,300

210

1,034

406

616

34

(1)

1988

2,347

217

1,073

400

625

32

(1)

1989

2,462

215

1,130

418

651

34

14

1990

2,461

207

1,138

410

654

36

15

1991

2,525

219

1,185

402

657

46

17

1992

2,578

220

1,204

422

662

47

23

1993

2,629

226

1,229

424

663

59

28

1994

2,713

248

1,265

412

664

81

43

1995

2,877

252

1,349

444

693

89

50

1996

3,001

265

1,389

457

747

86

57

1997

3,155

287

1,442

488

769

89

80

1998

3,273

299

1,481

478

828

102

85

1999

3,362

305

1,507

510

836

110

94

2000

3,528

307

1,585

527

865

133

111

2001

3,721

333

1,645

556

915

147

125

2002

3,913

315

1,702

588

968

185

155

2003

4,169

347

1,810

609

1,021

202

180

2004

4,381

392

1,876

637

1,083

201

192

2005

4,593

438

2,014

648

1,094

215

184

(1 )denotes zero
Source:
The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census

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
26 Oct 2006 : Column 2093W
the delivery of the contract. Under the terms of the contract DHL, in meeting its general service obligations, must:

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

Procurement

l,297

Productive Time

l,210

Social Care

179

Corporate Services

38

Public Funding and Regulation

75

Total

2,799


Next Section Index Home Page