| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
15 Jan 2007 : Column 915W—continued
Gershon Review
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by her Department and its associated public bodies in order to achieve Gershon efficiency savings; whether these costs have been included in reporting headline efficiency savings; and if she will make a statement. [108348]
Andy Burnham: The Gershon report required Departments to calculate operating efficiencies recurrent beyond March 2008. We were not required to calculate non-recurrent investment costs incurred up to this date. Any recurrent additional operating costs that may offset specific efficiency gains are however included.
Both our initial target and subsequent reported progress are calculated on this basis. We do not therefore hold a comprehensive central record of non- recurrent costs. Deducted recurrent costs at September 2006, relating to community nursing to enable reduced hospital emergency bed days, amount to £60 million.
Full details of how gains have been calculated are set out in the efficiency technical note published in December 2005 and available on the Department's website.
Health Protection Agency
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes in practice have resulted following publication of the Health Protection Agency’s port health and medical inspection review. [104379]
Caroline Flint: The joint Health Protection Agency (HPA) and Home Office review of port health and medical inspection under the Immigration Act 1971 identified an action plan, which is currently being implemented. The HPA has initiated work to ensure that arrangements at each port of entry are robust, understood and fit for purpose, which allow the HPA to assume full responsibility for the medical input to these services from April 2007. The Home Office has also set up standing arrangements for the healthcare of immigration detainees at ports of entry.
Hospital Beds
Mrs. Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds were available in NHS hospitals in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many were (a) intensive care, (b) high dependency and (c) high observation beds. [107000]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Table 1 shows the average daily number of available intensive care beds, England, 2001-02 to 2005-06.
| Table 1 | |
| Intensive care beds | |
Table 2 shows the number of available adult high dependency beds on the census dates, England, 2001 to 2006.
| Table 2 | |
| Census date | Adult high dependency beds |
Data on the number of high observation beds are not held centrally.
Hospital Parking
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost per hour is for parking at hospitals in (a) England, (b) the Midlands and (c) Staffordshire. [114262]
Andy Burnham: The average (median) hourly cost of hospital parking for staff and visitors in 2005-06 is in the table.
In-patient Waiting Times
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been removed from the official NHS in-patient waiting list in each year since 1990. [114982]
Andy Burnham: The figures are shown in the table
| Number of removals from an inpatient waiting list, England 1990 to 2006 | |
| Number | |
| Note: Removals can be made for the following reasons: —patient no longer requires treatment; —patient has removed themselves from the list; —patient admitted as an emergency; and —patient transferred to another trust. Source: KH06 NHS Trust-based figures. | |
Institute for Innovation and Improvement
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement plans to spend on its new initiative, the Productive Community Hospital; how many staff will be working on the initiative; and if she will make a statement. [110448]
Andy Burnham: The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement will be carrying out a tender exercise for some elements of the project and therefore data relating to costings for the project are commercially sensitive. Staffing levels for the project have not yet been fixed.
Lesbian and Gay History
Mr. Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what sponsorship was provided to Lesbian and Gay History Month by her Department in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006; and what sponsorship is planned for 2007. [106940]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department of Health has not previously sponsored Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) History Month. We did not provide funding in 2005 or 2006 and there are currently no plans to fund LGBT history month in 2007.
We are working with LGBT History Month to develop a resource detailing the implications for healthcare organisations of the forthcoming regulations on prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services.
Local Involvement Networks
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she has taken to ensure that moneys provided to local authorities for local involvement networks will be passed on. [113112]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Following discussions between the Department of Health and the Department for Communities and Local Government, it has been agreed that the resources to provide support to local involvement networks (LINks) will be allocated as a targeted specific grant. The specific grant for LINks will be separately identified and paid to local authorities.
The authorities will be under a statutory duty to establish LINks to specified standards, with guidance to ensure consistency between authorities. We will encourage overview and scrutiny committees to scrutinise this duty to assess whether the local authority made use of all of its allocation effectively in the support of LINks. The use of the grant will also come under the scrutiny of the Audit Commission.
Long-term Care
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on her Department’s policy on the treatment and care of patients with long-term conditions. [113906]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
The Government’s framework document for supporting people with long term conditions is set out in “Supporting People with Long Term Conditions—An NHS and Social Care Model to support local innovation and integration”. This has been supplemented by “Supporting People with Long Term
Conditions to Self Care—a guide to developing local strategies and good practice” and chapter 5 of “Our Health Our Care Our Say—a new direction for community services” support for people with longer-term needs. Copies of all three documents have been placed in the Library.
Mental Health
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to advise Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee of her decision on the referral of service delivery in Gloucestershire with regard to mental health; and if she will make a statement. [114792]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Gloucestershire Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) wrote to the Secretary of State on 20 November referring the decision by Gloucestershire Partnership National Health Service Trust to centralise older people’s mental health in-patient services at Charlton Lane, Cheltenham.
The Department is currently considering the information relevant to the case and a reply will be sent to the OSC in due course.
Milton Keynes Primary Care Trust
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what population figures were used to calculate the NHS funding for the Milton Keynes primary care trust for 2006-07 and 2007-08; and how many prisoners at HMP Woodhill were included in the population figures for each year. [113301]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The population figure used to calculate funding for the Milton Keynes primary care trust (PCT) was 228,793 in 2006-07 and 231,410 in 2007-08. For both years the number of prisoners used was 218, but this figure is subtracted from the population totals. Prisoners are regarded as usually resident in a prison if they have served six months or more of a custodial sentence. This data is provided to the Department by the Office for National Statistics, which receives it from the Home Office.
Funding for health care within prisons is currently calculated and provided separately from general PCT allocations. The phased transfer of funding from HM Prison Service to PCTs was accompanied by a growth in revenue—meaning that whereas £118 million was transferred in 2002-03, by 2006-07 investment reached nearly £200 million.
Throughout this period of staged budget increases, allocations to those PCTs which have a prison in their area were calculated using a fair shares formula, constructed independently to tackle funding anomalies and take into account the type of prison, its size, the
number of receptions, market forces factors and baseline budget. From 2006-07, simple percentage increases to these allocations will apply. For 2007-08, Milton Keynes will receive £3.264 million to fund prison health services, in addition to its general allocation of £277.9 million.
Myasthenia Gravis
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer by the Under-Secretary of State of 30 November 2006 to the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell), Official Report, column 919W, on myasthenia gravis, what proportion of the 25 per cent. of her Department’s expenditure on health research that is not devolved to and managed by NHS organisations was spent on research into myasthenia gravis in the latest period for which figures are available. [113433]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: None in the financial year 2005-06.
National Partnership for Obesity
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in establishing the national partnership for obesity; which organisations she expects to participate in the national partnership; what (a) role and (b) terms of reference the partnership will have; and when she expects the partnership to begin its work. [113175]
Caroline Flint: The obesity stakeholder engagement work, being undertaken by the Department, represents a national partnership for obesity by engaging representatives from across central and local government, together with non-Government organisations and industry, to develop a social marketing approach in the prevention of obesity. In addition, the governance arrangements for the cross-Government obesity programme account for partnership working between the national health service and other Departments, agencies, primary care trusts, NHS organisations, health professionals, local authorities, schools, early years settings and industry. All of this work is under way.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |