| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
8 Jan 2007 : Column 30W—continued
Information for earlier years is archived and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Diabetes
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will ensure that blood glucose testing strips are made available on NHS prescription for insulin-dependent diabetics in all areas. [108977]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Blood glucose testing strips are available on the national health service and we have no plans to remove them from NHS prescriptions. Blood glucose testing strips are available free of charge to those people with insulin-dependent diabetes.
Digital Hearing Aids
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will take steps to shorten the waiting times for patients to receive digital hearing aids from the NHS; [108324]
(2) what recent assessment she has made of the waiting times for patients to receive new digital hearing aids from the NHS. [108655]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not collect information centrally on the fitting of digital hearing aids. However, we recognise that waits for audiology services in some parts of the country are unacceptable.
In order to improve access and reduce waiting times for audiology services, a national action plan is being developed for publication in early 2007.
In addition to the development of the action plan, the Department has also announced the procurement of up to 300,000 audiology pathways to provide assessment, fitting and follow up.
Both of these measures will assist in significantly reducing waiting times and will greatly benefit those who receive hearing aids.
Doctors and Nurses
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses were employed in Wantage constituency in each year since 1997. [104920]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of doctors and nurses employed in the Wantage constituency is not held centrally.
Data on the numbers of staff working in the national health service are collected direct from the trusts. These trusts can be comprised of a number of hospital sites in different locations.
Doncaster Royal Infirmary
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for how many babies born at Doncaster Royal Infirmary compensation was paid for brain damage in each year between 1980 and 1989. [109054]
Andy Burnham: This information was not collected centrally.
Drug Misuse
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents of drug misuse-related illness have been treated by the NHS in (a) Greater London and (b) England in each year since 2000. [104161]
Caroline Flint: It is not possible to identify all illnesses treated by the national health service which are due to drug misuse. Illnesses can be caused by or can be affected by drug misuse but we are not able to indicate this with all cases. Drug misuse related illnesses are not defined within one specific hospital diagnosis code.
National data from codes of primary diagnosis, which indicate the main reason for a patient's admission to hospital related to misuse of alcohol and/or drugs (both legal and illegal), or the results of that abuse and those that relate to maternal and fetal problems due to the use of alcohol and drugs have been placed in Library.
The following table provides details on the numbers of problematical drug users in structured treatment for 1998-99 and the subsequent years for which data is available.
| 1998-99 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
| (1 )48 per cent. increase on 1998. (2) 89 per cent. increase on 1998, 27 per cent. increase on 2003-04. (3) 113 per cent. increase on 1998, 13 per cent. increase on 2004-05. Note: The Department introduced a revised and more accurate methodology for counting the numbers in treatment, in October 2004. Figures are not available for the years 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03 although the potential for providing estimates based on data collecting using the earlier methodology is being explored. | ||||
Emergency Treatment
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effect of the likely reconfiguration of services in West Hertfordshire Acute Hospital Trust on thrombolysis targets. [105165]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The national service framework standard states that people suffering from heart attack should receive thrombolytic therapy within 60 minutes of calling for professional help. The Healthcare Commission's target is for each national health service trust to deliver a 10 per cent. increase per year in the proportion of people suffering from a heart attack who receive thrombolysis within 60 minutes of calling for professional help.
The Department has been informed by NHS East of England that the West Hertfordshire Healthcare Trust does not expect reconfiguration to have an adverse effect on achieving these targets.
A joint scheme between the ambulance service and the trust's cardiology clinicians has had successful results to date concerning the way in which patients are treated, and where they are taken if they require treatment for thrombolysis. This involves the initiation of treatment and transferral of patients to the appropriate centre, for example Paddington.
Foster Report
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many responses she received from psychotherapists in relation to the Foster Report. [105637]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The consultation on the regulation of health professionals closed on 10 November, and we received over 2,000 responses. These responses are now being analysed, and we are unable to provide numbers of respondents by profession until the analysis has been completed. A report on the consultation will be published as soon as possible.
Foundation Trusts
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 30 November 2006, Official Report, columns 920-21W, on NHS foundation trusts, whether she plans to have any discussions with Monitor on the number of compulsory redundancies made by NHS foundation trusts in the first six months of 2006-07. [109699]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Foundation trusts are not required to provide information on the number of compulsory redundancies. There are no plans to review these requirements for work force information with Monitor.
Genito-urinary Clinics
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of attenders at genito-urinary medicine clinics was recorded as not having been given
an appointment within two weeks in the August 2006 audit of GUM clinic waiting times by the Health Protection Agency. [106127]
Caroline Flint: The August 2006 audit of waiting times for genito-urinary {GUM) clinics, for which data are available showed that 13 per cent. of attendees were offered an appointment within two weeks (0 to 13 days). The percentage of patients that were not seen within two weeks (0 to 13 days) and not offered an earlier appointment is 12 per cent. This compares to 29 per cent. of attenders not seen within two weeks in May 2004. Good progress is being made to our target of access to GUM clinics within 48 hours: the August audit showed that 57 per cent. of patients were seen within 48 hours and this rose to 65 per cent. in the November audit which has just been published.
Gershon Review
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what efficiency savings the Human Tissue Authority has made as a result of the Gershon Review; and if she will make a statement. [109569]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) is a new executive non-departmental public body. From its inception it has implemented Gershon principles to ensure that costs are kept to a minimum. The following corporate support functions are outsourced:
Facilities management (including accommodation);
IT services;
IT development (including web services);
Financial services;
HR services; and
Legal services
GP Referrals
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether GPs will have a choice whether to send patients to an NHS hospital or through the capture, assess, treat and support system to independent treatment centres when referring them for treatment. [109117]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The clinical assessment and treatment services is a primary care-based referral and assessment service and will be available for patients who do not need the specialist skills of secondary care or an elective procedure as part of an integrated modern clinical pathway. Referring clinicians are not required to refer patients to a particular service provider but should help each patient make the best choice for his or her needs.
Haemophiliacs
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of surviving haemophilia sufferers who have been infected with contaminated blood. [109464]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is provided in the table:
Health and Personal Social Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to table 5 on page Ev 10 of her Department's Memorandum to the Health Committee entitled Public Expenditure on Health and Personal Social Services 2006, HC 1692-i, published on 21 November 2006, if she will publish the table with all figures from the financial years 1997-98 to 2005-06; and if she will provide estimates for the 2006-07 financial year. [106169]
Andy Burnham: The Health Select Committee briefing data (table 5) was constructed using data collected from national health service trusts as part of the in-year financial monitoring system. The data are not audited, and have more limited detail than the information collected from the annual accounts. It is not possible therefore to publish the equivalent table for previous years.
Health Care Professionals (Recruitment)
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many employment agencies have been removed from the list of agencies adhering to the code of practice for the international recruitment of healthcare professionals since the code was first published. [107217]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Since the code of practice for the international recruitment of healthcare professionals was first published 12 recruitment agencies have been removed from the list of agencies adhering to the code of practice.
After the introduction of the strengthened code of practice in December 2004, agencies were given a year to submit applications to be included on a new code of practice list of agencies adhering to the strengthened code. 149 agencies on the existing list failed to submit an application and were not included in the new list which was established in December 2005.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times the code of practice for the international recruitment of healthcare professionals has been breached; how many times (a) alleged breaches have been investigated and (b) the code has been enforced (i) since the code was first published and (ii) since it was revised in 2004; and on how many occasions penalties were enforced by the application of penalties in each case. [107218]
Ms Rosie Winterton: All allegations of breaches of the code of practice for the international recruitment of healthcare professionals are investigated.
Information received from NHS Employers indicates that 10 commercial recruitment agencies have been removed from the list of agencies adhering to the code of practice for breaches of the code. Of these two were removed before the strengthened guidance was published in December 2004.
In addition 12 national health service trusts have also been identified as being involved in breaches of the code of practice. NHS Employers writes to all trusts found in breach of the code of practice. These letters are copied to the strategic health authority responsible for the performance management of the trust.
Health Providers
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the qualifications required to carry out the roles of (a) health visitor, (b) district nurse and (c) child psychologist have changed since 1997. [109062]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The content and standard of training for health visitors and district nurses is a matter for the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and relevant higher education institutions in collaboration with the Royal College of Nursing and other stakeholders. Health visitors and district nurses are obliged to undertake continuing professional development, and are required to declare they have met the NMC continuing professional development standard on a three-yearly basis in order to maintain their registration.
With regard to child psychologists, by its Royal Charter granted in 1965 the British Psychological Society is charged with maintaining standards of professional education and knowledge.
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the roles of (a) health visitors, (b) district nurses and (c) child psychologists working within the NHS have changed since 1997. [109063]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The primary role of the health visitor is the promotion of health and providing preventive healthcare. Since 1997, this has continued to be the focus of their role. Policies such as Liberating the Talents 2002, the Chief Nursing Officer’s review of the nursing contribution to vulnerable children 2004 and the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services 2004 all reinforce the preventive contribution of health visitors, in particular for the most vulnerable children and families. Many primary care trusts are working with the profession to ensure that their role evolves in line with wider changes, such as the expansion of Sure Start Children’s Centres.
The role of the district nurse has changed in line with changing patient need and health policy. They are now caring for more people with long-term conditions, and managing a skill-mixed team of nurses. They are playing a vital role in enabling people with high levels of nursing needs to be cared for in their own homes.
We have no knowledge of any significant change to the role of child psychologists since 1997.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |