| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
28 Nov 2006 : Column 553W—continued
Nuclear Waste
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the cost of disposing of nuclear waste resulting from nuclear power stations in Scotland. [100931]
Malcolm Wicks: The UK's civil radioactive waste legacy has been created over a period of decades as part of a UK programme, and no cost estimates are separately available on the costs associated with disposal of radioactive waste associated with Scottish power stations.
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the cost of disposing of nuclear waste resulting from (a) the UK's nuclear power stations and (b) the Ministry of Defence's nuclear weapons system and nuclear submarines. [100932]
Malcolm Wicks: The NDA estimates the total (undiscounted cost) of delivering its remit to decommission the UK's 20 civil public sector nuclear sites is £64.8 billion (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) accounts for 2005-06).
Government recently announced its intention to pursue a policy of geological disposal for radioactive waste, which will be undertaken on a staged basis with clear decision points. This will allow the Government to review progress and to assess costs, value for money and environmental impact before decisions are taken to move to the next stage. At this stage final disposal costs are not available as much work remains to be done on this.
The information above relates solely to civil radioactive waste. Questions relating to defence issues should be referred to the MOD.
Post Office Card Accounts
Clive Efford:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much is paid to the owners of sub-post offices for each post office card account
transaction they carry out; and if he will make a statement. [100615]
Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for Post Office Limited (POL) and I understand Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, has replied direct to my hon. Friend as of 7 November 2006.
Wind Farms
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the typical planning application period is for an onshore wind farm. [101731]
Malcolm Wicks: Under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry makes decisions on proposals in England and Wales for onshore wind farms greater than 50MW. The five such applications determined between March 2001 and March 2006 took an average of three years.
Applications for onshore wind farms of 50MW or less are decided in England and Wales by local planning authorities under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Figures from the British Wind Energy Association show that decisions made between January 2005 and September 2006 have taken an average of 15 months in England and 23 months in Wales.
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consideration is given to the effect on carbon emissions resulting from the proposed investment when conducting an environmental site assessment of a prospective wind farm area. [101732]
Malcolm Wicks: This is dependent on the size of the wind farm. Wind farms are typically designed to operate for more than 20 years. A recent life cycle assessment provided in support of a 60 megawatt wind farm proposal indicates that it would pay back the carbon dioxide emissions due to the development, construction, operation and decommissioning in approximately seven months.
Health
Fair Funding
12. Ms Diana R. Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health What assessment she has made of the effect of fair funding on (a) the health service and (b) health inequalities since its introduction. [103778]
Caroline Flint: Revenue allocations are made on a fair formula that directs funding towards those areas of greatest need. For 2006-08 revenue allocations, PCTs will receive an average increase of 19.5 per cent. In addition, PCTs have been moved more quickly to their fair share of funding. This has led to funding of £1,388 per head in England in 2007-08 and, for health inequalities, £1,552 per head in Spearhead areas in 2007-08.
Local Care Hospitals
13. Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health What criteria are used to assess proposals for local care hospitals. [103779]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: When developing proposals for community hospitals and services, local NHS authorities are expected to show a clear strategy for the development of primary and community care, including ambitious goals for the shift of resources rooted in the vision and agenda of the White Paper, ‘Our health, our care, our say’.
There are 10 design principles which must be satisfied by any successful bid for this capital. These are outlined in detail in ‘Our health, our care, our community: investing in community hospitals and services’, published by the Department in July.
The principles will ensure that the investment made will be in high quality services, which patients and the public want and which are sustainable within the local health economy.
East Anglia Trusts
14. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she next expects to meet heads of primary care trusts in East Anglia to discuss levels of deficits. [103780]
Andy Burnham: The Secretary of State has no immediate plans to meet with the heads of Primary Care Trusts in East Anglia to discuss their financial positions but did meet them in September together with all PCTs to discuss a range of issues. My right hon. Friend has visited the region regularly over the last year.
Officials from the Department of Health meet regularly with Chief Executives from strategic health authorities to discuss their performance and progress on financial recovery plans where necessary.
Primary Care Trusts (Funding)
15. Mr. Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether moneys top-sliced from high-performing primary care trusts will be returned in 2007-08. [103781]
Ms Hewitt: Primary care trusts (PCTs) which make a contribution to their strategic health authority (SHA) reserve will be repaid, normally within the three-year allocation cycle, when organisations currently in deficit start producing surpluses. SHAs have been asked to ensure PCTs with the greatest health need are the first to be repaid.
Speech Therapy (Norfolk)
16. Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the effects have been of recent changes to funding of speech therapy in Norfolk; and if she will make a statement. [103782]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Primary care trusts and other local stakeholders are responsible for monitoring the impact of any changes they have made to the funding of speech therapy.
Maternity/Paediatric Services (Teesside)
17. Mr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on her decision to refer maternity and paediatric services in Teesside to the independent reconfiguration panel. [103783]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Secretary of State for Health requested the advice of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel on 22 September 2006 in relation to referrals from local Overview and Scrutiny Committees.
The Independent Reconfiguration Panel will report to the Secretary of State for Health no later than 18 December 2006.
Substance Misusers
18. John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the costs of drug treatment by GPs for substance misusers. [103785]
Caroline Flint: The full costs of drug treatment by GPs have not been estimated.
For GPs who normally treat less complex clients the cost of the prescribing component of the treatment is currently about £1,000 per patient per episode.
For GPs who have trained to become addiction specialists and treat more complex clients the cost the prescribing component of treatment is currently about £1,800 per patient per episode.
These figures do not represent the full annual cost of treating a patient. Treatment for drug misusers is not just about prescribing, it is a package of care planned treatment including the support of a keyworker, other psycho-social interventions and can include supervised consumption of substitute drags. GP’s may provide one or more components of a comprehensive package, which involves other providers of specialist treatment.
Graduate Unemployment
19. Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of graduate unemployment among (a) nurses, (b) midwives and (c) physiotherapists. [103786]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department is working closely with NHS Employers and published guidance to support local NHS organisations, to help them maximise employment opportunities and to ensure the health and social care services do not lose the skills of displaced staff or new graduates.
Surgery Waiting Times (Leicestershire)
20. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations she has received on waiting times for surgery in Leicestershire. [103787]
Andy Burnham:
The Department of Health has received correspondence from the hon. Member for
Blaby (Mr. Robathan) and the right hon. and learned Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Mr. Hogg) in respect of waiting times for surgery in Leicestershire.
The number of people waiting 26+ weeks for in-patient treatment (including day cases) in Leicestershire has fallen from 1,786 in June 2002, to 0 in September 2006.
NHS (Financial Performance)
21. Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on NHS financial performance in 2006-07. [103788]
Andy Burnham: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the NHS finance report for the second quarter of 2006-07 which we published on 9 November.
This report shows that the NHS as a whole is broadly on course to deliver net financial balance by the end of this financial year, and continues to perform well against key service targets.
Pain Clinics
22. Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the availability of specialised consultant-led pain clinics in the NHS. [103789]
Andy Burnham: The responsibility to commission appropriate pain management services based on the needs of local populations lies with Primary Care Trusts. The Department has made no assessment of the availability of specialised consultant led pain clinics in the NHS.
Accident and Emergency Facilities
23. Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the effect will be of the proposed changes to acute services in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) England on the time taken to travel to accident and emergency facilities. [103790]
Andy Burnham: There is no recommended minimum or maximum patient travelling time to hospitals with accident and emergency departments in England. However, I would expect any public consultations on the proposed reconfiguration of acute health services—including, in Hertfordshire, those that have taken place and those that may be planned—to include discussions about the effect of the proposals on the time taken by patients to accident and emergency departments. Local primary care trusts and NHS trusts talk to their clinical, patient and wider health community when a change to service delivery is necessary.
Alzheimer's Disease
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine will continue to be available for all patient groups with Alzheimer’s disease until the proposed judicial review is completed; [103718]
(2) what plans there are to keep under review the cost effectiveness of prescribing donepezil, rivastigmine and
galantamine to all patient groups with Alzheimer’s disease; [103719]
(3) what assessment she has made of the effect of the recent announcement by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to stop the use of donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine in certain patient groups with Alzheimer’s disease; and if she will make a statement. [103720]
Andy Burnham: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued a technology appraisal on donepezil, galantamine, rivastigimine and memantine for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and a wider clinical guideline on dementia services on 22 November. This guidance has the same status as other technology appraisals and clinical guidelines published by NICE and its original 2001 appraisal guidance on drugs for Alzheimer’s disease has been withdrawn. NICE expects to review the technology appraisal in September 2009 and the clinical guideline in November 2010.
The technology appraisal states that people with mild Alzheimer’s disease who are currently receiving donepezil, galantamine or rivastigmine, may be continued on therapy until they, their carers and/or specialist consider it appropriate to stop.
Cancer Drugs
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of providing drugs for cancer patients in each of the last five years. [104527]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not hold figures on the cost of providing drugs for cancer patients. However, it completed a tracking investment exercise in 2005, which showed that an additional £192 million was spent on cancer drugs in the three years to 2003-04, which equates to over £60 million new investment per year. More generally, £3.4 billion was spent on cancer services in 2003-04 and this increased to around £3.8 billion in 2004-05.
Elderly Patients
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to prevent malnutrition of older people in hospital. [104523]
Andy Burnham: Preventing, and treating, malnutrition is complex and depends on good food, careful assessment and skilled clinical care.
The better hospital food (BHF) programme has improved the quality and availability of hospital food. Patient environment action team (PEAT) scores show that hospital food has continued to improve since 2001.
The BHF programme closed in April 2006. Responsibility for building on the foundations of the BHF programme now rests with the national health service, with support from the National Patient Safety Association (NPSA). Resources such as the menu planner will still be available.
Via the NPSA, we are taking action on two major issues; screening patients on admission to identify those at risk of malnutrition, and extending the use of
protected mealtimes so that patients can concentrate on eating, and staff can give the help they need.
We are also working with a number of organisations at grass-roots level. For instance, recommendations from the Council of Europe are now being implemented by the Hospital Caterers’ Association and the British Dietetic Association, via an alliance of interested parties. This is an example of the Department leading the development of recommendations, with the NHS taking up the challenge of implementation.
“Choosing Health” gave a commitment to establish nutritional standards for the armed forces, the NHS and prisons, and this work is now under way. Experts in the Food Standards Agency and Purchasing and Supply Agency are involved.
We will continue monitoring via PEAT inspections, the Healthcare Commission’s annual healthcheck and patient surveys.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |