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8 Nov 2006 : Column 1805W—continued
Cheese
Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will ask the Food Standards Agency to review its decision to classify cheese as a food with a high fat, sugar or salt content. [97331]
Caroline Flint: The Food Standards Agency has developed a number of tools which can be used to help consumers assess the relative nutritional profiles of foods, and which could result in some cheeses being described as high in fat or salt.
The FSA has made a commitment to review its front of pack signpost labelling approach in 2008, this will include review of the criteria for assessing the levels of
nutrients. The agency has also made a commitment to review the impact of nutrient profiling in relation to broadcast controls, if used, within one year.
Choice Survey
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost reclaimed by each acute trust in England in respect of her Department’s choice survey was in each month since April 2006. [97125]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Chorley and South Ribble General Hospital
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses are employed in Chorley and South Ribble General Hospital; and how many there were in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2001. [96347]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information is not available in the requested format. Data relating to the national health service organisations which Chorley and South Ribble General Hospital has been part of are set out in the following table.
| NHS hospital and community health services: Medical and dental staff and qualified nursing staff by specified organisation as at 30 September each specified year | ||||
| Number (headcount) | ||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
| Source: The Information Centre for health and social care medical and dental workforce census; the information centre for health and social care non-medical workforce census | ||||
Community Matrons
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community matrons are in post, broken down by region; and if she will make a statement. [92268]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of community matrons was recorded in the non-medical workforce census for the first time at 30 September 2005 but based on the Department’s monitoring the figures may well understate the true picture. The 2006 census data will be available in the new year.
We are committed to increasing the number of community matrons and local development plans strongly suggest this is happening.
| Strategic health authority | Headcount |
| Note: The Information Centre for health and social care, non-medical workforce census | |
Community Pharmacies
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how her Department plans to monitor the performance of the contractual framework for community pharmacies in maintaining pharmacists' dispensing margins. [99880]
Andy Burnham: The Department conducts periodic assessments of the margins earned by pharmacists. This is done by means of a sample survey of pharmacy invoices to compare prices paid with reimbursement prices. Two such surveys have been conducted to date, one in October 2005, and one in February 2006.
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions officials in her Department have had with pharmacists on the (a) contractual framework for community pharmacies and (b) purchase of NHS medicines. [99881]
Andy Burnham: Negotiations on the contractual framework are undertaken with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), which represents the interests of community pharmacies. The contractual framework was put to ballot in November 2004 and accepted by an overwhelming majority.
Where potential changes to policies regarding the purchase of NHS medicines have implications for pharmacies, these are also discussed with the PSNC.
Databases (Security Breaches)
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many confirmed security breaches of databases controlled by her Department occurred in each of the last five years; whether the breach resulted from internal or external sources in each case; how many records were compromised on each occasion; and what estimate was made of the total number of records accessible to the individuals concerned. [92841]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: There have been no confirmed cases of security breaches of any databases controlled by the Department in the last five years.
Dental Appointments
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact of recent trends in the number of patients failing to attend dental appointments; and if she will make a statement. [100028]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
Information on numbers of missed national health service dental appointments is not collected centrally. The Department has received
no evidence to indicate there has been a widespread increase in the number of missed appointments.
NHS primary care contracting has publicised a variety of ways in which dental practices can apply good practice in managing appointments so as to minimise the number of patients failing to attend without recourse to cancellation fees.
Dental Budgets
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the gross dental budget is in each primary care trust in 2006-07; how much has been budgeted for in charges in each trust; what the expected outturn against budget is; and if she will make a statement. [99236]
Ms Rosie Winterton: A table listing the primary dental service resource allocations for 2006-07 for all primary care trusts (PCTs) in England as at 31 July 2006 is available in the Library. This sets out gross budgets for each PCT, the level of patient charge income that it was reasonable to expect for the level of gross expenditure for each PCT, and the net allocations awarded to PCTs. The actual level of charge income will depend on a range of variables including the service levels, ie the annual units of dental activity, agreed for each local contract with dentists and the relative proportions of chargeable and non-chargeable treatments carried out during the year. The in-year management and monitoring of those allocations is the responsibility of the individual PCTs.
Dentistry
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dental surgeries there are in the Stockport primary care trust area; and how many of these are not accepting new NHS patients. [94105]
Caroline Flint: Of the 59 dental practices in the Stockport primary care trust (PCT), 53 signed the new national health service dental contract. Seven of these 53 are currently accepting NHS patients.
The PCT is using funds associated with six practices who rejected the new contract to commission additional services from other dentists.
Mr. Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists on NHS contracts have been registered in Derbyshire in each year since 2003. [95178]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of national health service dentists in the specified Derbyshire primary care trusts as at 31 March 2003-06 and 30 June 2006 are shown in the following table.
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