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7 Nov 2006 : Column 1292W—continued
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate she has made of the cost to the NHS of allowing the use of Alimta across England for the treatment of mesothelioma; [98860]
(2) which primary care trusts in England provide Alimta for the treatment of people with mesothelioma. [98861]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We have made no estimateof the cost to the national health service of the use of Alimta on a nationwide basis in the treatment of mesothelioma.
Draft guidance being produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) estimates that the average cost of treatment with Alimta for mesothelioma is around £8,000 per patient. NICE also estimated that around 1,700 people in the United Kingdom are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year although not all of these would be suitable for treatment and/or choose to be treated with chemotherapy.
The Department does not collect data on which primary care trusts in England provide particular treatments for particular conditions.
Milk Tokens
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average length of time taken was for the token distribution unit to issue milk tokens to a claimant once information of a claimant’s eligibility was received from HM Revenue and Customs in the last period for which figures are available. [97343]
Caroline Flint: The average length of time taken for the token distribution unit to issue milk tokens to a claimant once information of their eligibility is received from HM Revenue and Customs is 10 working days.
Information is provided by HM Revenue and Customs to the token distribution unit every four weeks and subsequently milk tokens are issued in the week prior to the start of their validity period.
Minimum Wage
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many employees in (a) her Department and (b) related agencies and non-departmental public bodies were affected by the increase in the minimum wage on 1 October 2006. [96445]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department and its related agencies and non-departmental public bodies pay above the minimum wage, therefore, no employees were affected by the rise on 1 October 2006.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what meetings the Labour party chairman and Minister without portfolio has attended in her Department in relation to the closure or reduction of NHS services in the last 12 months. [95825]
Ms Hewitt: The Labour Party chairman has not attended any meetings relating to the closure or reduction of national health service services with me, or any other Ministers or officials from the Department for Health in the last 12 months. The Labour party chairman often meets with Cabinet colleagues to discuss various issues.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS establishments in Wantage constituency Ministers in her Department have visited in the last12 months. [91850]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department's Ministers have not visited or received an invitation to visit any national health service establishments in Wantage the last 12 months.
Modernising Medical Careers
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many junior doctor training posts are planned under the Modernising Medical Careers scheme, broken down by specialty; whether trainee doctors will be able to obtain a specialty of his or her choice; what arrangements have been made for the selection and interview programme; and whether a new IT system has been developed for this selection process. [96479]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The provisional number of training places in England projected by the postgraduate deans to be available next year is slightly in excess of 30,000. This includes about 11,500 places in foundation programmes, 15,500 places in specialty training programmes and a further 3,300 places in fixed-term specialty training appointments.
These figures are indicative and are still subject to further discussions with postgraduate deans, medical Royal colleges and the national health service and will be refined later in the year. Work on the distribution across individual specialties is now under way and the outcome will be published when the figures are confirmed. Foundation programmes are not specialty specific.
The number of training places in each training programme is planned over time to provide the number of specialists and general practitioners necessary to deliver patient care. Entry to training programmes will be by competition. Each applicant will be able to make up to four applications and can therefore choose to compete for both specialties and locations.
Selection and recruitment will be managed by postgraduate deans according to person specifications developed for each specialty. Short-listed candidates will be interviewed by expert panels comprising specialists in the field and service representatives. This process will be supported by the medical training appointment service, a United Kingdom wide web-based system designed to support the efficienthandling of applications. This new system goes live on 25 October this year for the handling of foundation programme applications and January 2007 for the start of specialty recruitment.
Monitor
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to extend the financial role of the foundation trusts regulator, Monitor, in agreeing NHS trust hospitals’ capital and revenue budgets for 2007 to 2010. [99192]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The powers of Monitor, the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of National Health Service Foundation Trusts, are set out in the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003. There are no plans to extend Monitor’s powers.
MRI Scanner (Bedford)
Alistair Burt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Eastern Region strategic health
authority will approve funding for the installation of the replacement MRI scanner at Bedford hospital. [96481]
Andy Burnham: Departmental officials have advised that national health service East of England is currently awaiting a business case from the trust for a replacement MRI scanner; on approval of the business case the strategic health authority, will release capital funds for the installation of the scanner. It is the responsibility of the trust to fund the staffing and running of the service.
Multiple Sclerosis Nurses
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many multiple sclerosis specialist nurses there are in (a) Hull and East Yorkshire hospitals and (b) England; and if she will make a statement. [98383]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
The annual work force census does not separately record multiple sclerosis nurses from the rest of the nursing work force.
Multi-professional Education Levy Budget
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the multi-professional education levy budget was in each strategic health authority in each of the last three years. [94598]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The multi-professional education levy budget allocation to each strategic health authority (SHA) for each of the last three years is shown in the table.
Muslim Council of Britain
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much (a) financial support and (b) support in kind her Department and its agencies have given to the Muslim Council of Britain each year since 1997. [96285]
Ms Rosie Winterton: To date no financial support has been given to the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).
Since 1997, the Department has on occasion met with MCB to discuss the health of Muslim communities. This has not involved direct funding of MCB or the provision of any support in kind.
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