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8 Nov 2006 : Column 1870W—continued
Product Distribution
Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 October 2006, Official Report, column 1839W, on product distribution, what form the assurances from Pfizer take; and when and by whom they were made. [100115]
Andy Burnham: The assurances were provided by means of a letter received on 9 October 2006 addressed to the Secretary of State from Mr. Olivier Brandicourt, Managing Director, Pfizer Ltd. This stated:
“Under our new arrangements we will guarantee appropriate and continued supply of Pfizer prescription medicines to pharmacists, hospitals and dispensing doctors”.
Recruitment Campaigns
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost was of NHS recruitment campaigns in each financial year since 1997-98; and how much she expects to be spent on campaigns in 2006-07. [97907]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The following table sets out the total cost of national health service recruitment campaigns in each financial year since 1997-98.
| NHS including nurse recruitment | |
At present, we have no plans for a major NHS recruitment advertising campaign in 2006-07 but there may be recruitment for specific advertising for shortage posts, for example radiographers.
Recycling
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to encourage the use of reused and recycled materials in capital procurement projects for which her Department is responsible. [98005]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: It is the Department's policy to encourage the use of reused or recycled materials in any capital procurement project, where it is appropriate and provides value for money.
Redundancies
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many redundancies there were in her Department in each year since 1997; what the cost of such redundancies was in each year; how many temporary staff were employed in each year; and how many staff were seconded by outside organisations to posts within the Department in each year. [95256]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information is as follows.
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
| (1) Figures have been taken from the civil service website, which can be found at: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/archive/staff/index.asp | ||
The redundancy figures need to be seen in the context of the Department’s change programme, which began in 2003, and through which it committed to reduce its staffing significantly, from 3,645 full-time equivalents to 2,245 full-time equivalents (a reduction of 38 per cent.).
Any redundancy data and expenditure in earlier years could be established only at disproportionate cost.
The Department has not historically kept central records of secondees into the organisation.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial contingencies have been made for chief executive and director redundancies at (a) departmental, (b) strategic and (c) primary care trust level. [92212]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department each year sets a budget from within the overall administration cash limit to meet the costs of all anticipated staff exits across all grades. No particular money is set aside for chief executive or directors.
There is no central fund to finance the cost of redundancy at strategic and primary care trust (PCT) levels. National health service organisations have been asked to minimise the cost of severance.
Guidance has been developed for remuneration committees of NHS organisations to provide advice on good governance and to help ensure value for money:
“Strategic health authority (SHA) reorganisation: chief executive transitions, ensuring good human resource practice and value for money” is specifically aimed at SHA chief executives affected by CPLNHS changes and was circulated by the Department of Health to SHAs on 8 May 2006.
“Standards for implementing good human resource practice and value for money when staff are affected by organisational change” covers all other staff including PCT chief executives and directors and SHA directors. This guidance was published on the NHS Employers website on 15 June 2006.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health of how many projected redundancies in NHS organisations her Department has been notified in each NHS organisation since January 2006; and on what date her Department was notified in each case. [97906]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Strategic health authorities have provided an assessment of how many redundancies there have been in the six months to 30 September 2006. Returns for each region were submitted to the Department by 23 October 2006. These figures were provided in a letter to hon. Members and a copy has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the compulsory redundancies referred to in her Department’s report, NHS redundancy figures, cost in total. [99809]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The data collection exercise undertaken to identify the number of redundancies published on 30 October 2006 did not include data on cost.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many (a) compulsory and (b) voluntary redundancies there were in (i) the first six months of each year and (ii) each year since 1997-98, broken down by NHS organisation; and how many redundancies in each category she expects in the last six months of 2006-07; [99810]
(2) when and by whom the decision was taken to publish NHS redundancy figures for January to June 2006; what the cost of collecting such figures was; and whether the Department plans to publish such data on a six-monthly basis. [99812]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on notified redundancies prior to 1 April 2006 is not collected centrally.
Strategic health authorities were asked by the Department of Health to provide an assessment of the number of redundancies in the six months to 30 September 2006. Returns for each region were submitted to the Department by 23 October 2006. These figures were provided in a letter to hon. Members. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library.
No estimate has been made of the cost of this exercise. The collection and publication of further data on redundancies is under consideration.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) for what reason redundancies in special health authorities are not available; [99813]
(2) how many redundancies occurred in NHS Direct between January and June 2006. [99815]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In the recent collection exercise the Department did not request information on redundancies from special health authorities including NHS Direct because they were expected to make few redundancies in the period of the collection. The Department is putting plans in place to collect this information from special health authorities in the future.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) nurses, (b) doctors, (c) dentists and (d) other clinicians were made compulsorily redundant in the first six months of 2006-07; and if she will make a statement. [99814]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the letter my noble Friend the Minister for NHS Reform, (Lord Warner) issued to hon. Members on 30 October, a copy of which is available in the Library. Information on compulsory redundancies was returned for the following staff groups.
| Number | |
| Source: Information was collected from strategic health authorities. | |
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) compulsory redundancies, (b) voluntary redundancies and (c) vacant posts left unfilled there were in each (i) NHS trust and (ii) primary care trust in the last six months; and what the numbers in each category are expected to be by 31 December 2006. [100041]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Strategic health authorities provided an assessment of how many redundancies there had been in the six months to 30 September 2006.
Information on the number of redundancies, both voluntary and compulsory, broken down by trust and primary care trust has been placed in the Library.
Information on the number of vacant posts left unfilled in each trust in the last six months and the requested information on projections is not collected centrally.
Regional Commissioner (West Midlands)
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects a Regional Commissioner for the West Midlands to be appointed. [99024]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The new Appointments Commission was established on 1 October 2006 as a non-departmental public body of the Department. It is the intention that all the health and social care commissioners, required by the constitution of the new body, will be appointed through open competition by 31 March 2007.
Royal Sussex County Hospital
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision has been made for the increase in admissions to Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton consequent upon the reconfiguration of Worthing hospital. [97745]
Caroline Flint: The provision of hospital services in Brighton and Worthing is a matter for the local national health service.
School Nurses
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of school nurses employed by (a) primary care trusts, (b) public sector organisations and (c) the independent sector in England in each year since 1997. [97924]
Ms Rosie Winterton: School nurses were separately identified for the first time in the September 2003 national health service work force census but these data were incomplete and inaccurate. A table has been placed in the Library which shows the number of school nurses employed by primary care trusts and trusts from 2004 to 2005.
The Department does not collect information on the number of school nurses employed outside the NHS.
Sexual Health
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sexual health family planning clinics there were in each primary care trust in England in each year since their inception; and if she will make a statement. [96901]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is not held centrally. The Department of Health currently collects data only at primary care trust (PCT) or national health service trust level, not data from individual clinics.
It is a matter for local PCTs to determine what level of contraceptive service it provides, and whom it commissions the services from, in order to meet the needs of its local population and we will be publishing best practice guidance for contraception and abortion services later this year to assist them in this.
A copy of the latest bulletin “NHS Contraceptive Services, England 2005-06” has been placed in the Library. The information is also available at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/nhscontraceptiveservseng2005to06
Single General Practitioner Practices
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which wards in the London Borough of Bexley have single GP practices. [99741]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not held in the format requested. However, the latest available General Practitioner (GP) census information, September 2005, shows that of the 37 GP practices in Bexley Care Trust, 11 of these are single practices.
Skipton Fund
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will assess the merits of extending eligibility to payments from the Skipton Fund to relatives or dependants of those infected by NHS contaminated blood products who died before 29 August 2003; and if she will make a statement. [94442]
Caroline Flint: The Department has no plans to change the terms of reference of the Skipton Fund.
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