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7 Nov 2006 : Column 1262W—continued
The first cohort of BSc audiology students entered training in 2003-04 and are expected to graduate in
2006. Part of commissioning training would involve providing clinical placements on accredited BSc audiology courses.
Provision of training is a contractual requirement in phase two contracts, and will be provided in close consultation with the deaneries and higher education institutes. There is a commitment to make available35 per cent. of activity for local training organisations to call off.
The Department’s commercial directorate is currently scoping a procurement of audiology services from the independent sector (as part of the independent sector treatment centre programme) which will add significant capacity and resource to audiology services in order to help tackle waiting lists. The procurement is expected to be advertised during November, with service commencement estimated during the latter part of 2007.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average waiting time is for a (a) hearing test and (b) fitting for a digital hearing aid; [97605]
(2) how much was spent on delivering digital hearing aids to patients in 2005-06; and what the expected cost is in each of the next five years; [97606]
(3) how many people are now on a waiting list for a digital hearing aid, broken down by primary care trust. [97607]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Waiting time data for fitting and treatment in audiology services is not collected centrally. Waiting time data have been collected since January 2006 for pure tone audiometry diagnostic tests. This data for August 2006, broken down by primary care trust, were published on 18 October and have been placed in the Library.
Information about how much was spent on delivering digital hearing aids to patients in 2005-06, and about the anticipated cost of doing so for each of the next five years, is not held centrally.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust’s ratio of (a) nurses and (b) doctors per 100 beds is increased to the national average level. [95092]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is a local matter. Staffing within national health service organisations are the responsibility of the local NHS. Information is not collected on nurse to patient ratios. There is no recommended minimum nurse to patient ratio, it is for NHS organisations to determine their own work force mix.
I understand that the position with the numbers of nurses and doctors is being systematically addressed locally.
Bedford Hospital
Alistair Burt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the financial situation of Bedford hospital NHS trust following her
visit on 3 October 2006; and if she will allow the trust extra time to reduce its deficit. [98650]
Andy Burnham: The 2006-07 forecast outturn position at quarter one shows that Bedford Hospital National Health Service trust is £4 million in surplus.
The trust has a turnaround team and is currently working on a four-year financial recovery plan with its primary care trusts and the NHS East of England strategic health authority (SHA). Departmental officials have been advised that the trust is now close to achieving a monthly run-rate balance for this year.
The aim is for the NHS as a whole to achieve financial balance by the end of 2006-07 and for all overspending organisations to have reached monthly balance of income and expenditure within the same period. The new SHAs have been given the responsibility to develop and implement a service and financial strategy for managing the overall financial position within their health economy.
Breast Cancer
Dr. Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) the average waiting time for breast cancer genetic test results was in (a) England and (b) Cannock Chase in the last period for which figures are available; [98652]
(2) what progress has been made on (a) reducing waiting times for breast cancer genetic test results and (b) strategy for the future of genetic services. [98653]
Andy Burnham: The Department does not collect data centrally on waiting times for genetic tests for inherited forms of breast cancer.
However, the Government recognise that some patients have experienced long waits for genetic tests in the past and this will have caused stress and anxiety. This is unacceptable.
So, to improve access and cut waiting times, the genetics White Paper “Our Inheritance, Our Future—realising the potential of genetics in the NHS”, published in June 2003, committed up to £18 million for NHS genetics laboratories in England. This major investment is boosting capacity and supporting modernisation in genetics laboratories, thus helping them meet the rising demand for genetic tests.
To ensure that this investment resulted in real patient benefit, the White Paper set out new standards for genetic test turn around times, to be achieved by the end of 2006. These are:
within three days where the result is needed urgently, for example, for prenatal diagnosis
within two weeks where the potential genetic mutation is already known, for example, because another family member has already been tested; and
within eight weeks for unknown mutations in a large gene.
This money was allocated during the last two financial years (2004-06), and laboratories are working hard to get their new facilities up to speed to meet these standards.
We are monitoring molecular genetics laboratories’ progress through the commissioners of genetic services. The laboratories in two of the eight specialised commissioning group areas are already meeting these
standards for genetic tests for breast cancer. Five of the rest are on track to achieve them by the end of 2006 and the remaining one by early 2007.
We are currently reviewing progress since the publication of the genetics White Paper to see what more needs to be done to equip the NHS to deal with future demand for genetics services. In addition, I will be attending a summit on 23 November, organised by Breakthrough Breast Cancer, to discuss progress on these issues.
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in the time taken to produce genetic testing results for breast cancer (a) in England and (b) in Northumberland since 2004; and whether the plan to clear the backlog of results from 2004 by February 2007 includes cases tested in 2005 and 2006. [100050]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not collect data centrally on waiting times for genetic tests for inherited forms of breast cancer.
However, the Government recognise that some patients have experienced long waits for genetic tests in the past and this will have caused stress and anxiety. This is unacceptable.
To improve access and cut waiting times, the genetics White Paper “Our Inheritance, Our Future—realising the potential of genetics in the national health service”, published in June 2003, committed up to £18 million for NHS genetics laboratories in England. This major investment is boosting capacity and supporting modernisation in genetics laboratories, thus helping them meet the rising demand for genetic tests.
To ensure that this investment resulted in real patient benefit, the White Paper set out new standards for genetic test turn around times, to be achieved by the end of 2006. These are:
Within three days where the result is needed urgently, for example, for prenatal diagnosis;
within two weeks where the potential genetic mutation is already known, for example, because another family member has already been tested; and within eight weeks for unknown mutations in a large gene.
This money was allocated during the last two financial years (2004-06), and laboratories are working hard to get their new facilities up to speed to meet these standards.
We are monitoring molecular genetics laboratories’ progress through the commissioners of genetic services. The laboratories in two of the eight specialised commissioning group areas are already meeting these standards for new referrals of genetic tests for breast cancer. Five of the rest are on track to achieve them by the end of 2006 and the remaining one by early 2007.
Genetic services have drawn up plans locally to deal with backlogs, which for a number of reasons vary in size and nature between centres. Their rate of progress has also depended on the timescale for getting new equipment and processes operational. All areas are working to clear backlogs as quickly as possible.
The plans to clear backlogs for the laboratory providing the service for Northumberland include samples referred for testing in 2005, and in 2006 prior to the additional capacity becoming available. The
laboratory originally anticipated clearing all backlogs by February 2007. However current staff shortages and a greater than anticipated rise in demand for genetic testing services mean that the date for clearing all of the backlog is likely to slip to later in 2007.
Campylobacter Infections
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the incidence of campylobacter infections was in the most recent 24 months for which figures are available. [90236]
Caroline Flint: The following data are laboratory reports of human isolates of campylobacter for the period July 2004 to June 2006 in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland and week 21 of 2004 to week 28 of 2006 in Scotland. It has not been possible to produce a combined United Kingdom monthly figure due to differences in the way that the data is recorded.
| Laboratory reports( 1) of Campylobacter: England and Wales | |||
| Month | 2004 | 2005 | ( 2) 2006 |
| (1 )Figures presented are for faeces and lower gastrointestinal tract isolates by earliest specimen month (2 )Provisional Source: Centre for infections, environmental and enteric diseases, Health Protection Agency | |||
| Laboratory reports of Campylobacter: Northern Ireland | |||
| Month | 2004 | 2005 | ( 1) 2006 |
| (1) Provisional Source: Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, Northern Ireland | |||
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