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5 Feb 2007 : Column 721W—continued

Gershon Review

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the other NHS bodies to which staff have been transferred as part of the Gershon Review, referred to in 7.75 of her Department’s 2006 annual report; and what the net change in staff numbers was as a result. [115730]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The main national health service bodies to which Department staff have been transferred as part of the Department change programme are:

The total number of actual transfers recorded up to December 2005—the date for which figures in the annual report are stated—was 617. These transfers have been excluded from our calculation of headcount savings. The net change at December 2005 was 633 as stated in the report in paragraph 7.76.

GP Records

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the legal data controller is for electronic and paper records held in GP surgeries. [115753]


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Caroline Flint: The term data controller is defined in the Data Protection Act 1998, and can relate to either individuals or organisations. Each general practitioner (GP) practice, or single-handed GP, is a data controller for health records containing personal data where the practice or GP determines the purposes for which, and the manner in which, the personal data are, or will be, processed. This is the case whether the records are held electronically or on paper, and whether the records are held within the GP surgery or hosted elsewhere. The legal responsibilities of a data controller relate to the act of processing personal data, not the physical location of that data.

Where personal data for which the practice or GP is a data controller are processed by individuals working for or on behalf of a different data controller, for example another national health service body, both the practice and the other data controller may be jointly responsible as data controllers in common for those records.

Gulf War Syndrome

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were treated for Gulf War syndrome in each of the last 10 years. [118921]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of people treated for Gulf War syndrome is not collected.

Health and Safety

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents were reported to her Department’s health and safety incident centre in 2005-06. [117104]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department had 43 incidents reported to its health and safety incident centre in 2005-06.

Health Visitors

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment she has made of the (a) value for money provided by and (b) effectiveness of (i) health visitors and (ii) community nurses; [115477]

(2) which primary care trusts have made arrangements for community service nursing in their area to be provided by a (a) private company and (b) social enterprise. [115537]

Ms Rosie Winterton: No assessment has been carried out centrally of the value for money or effectiveness of health visitors or community nurses. It is the business of national health service trusts to make these assessments, to inform themselves that they are using their resources effectively to meet local needs and priorities.

We are aware that Central Surrey Health, a social enterprise, has been contracted by Surrey Primary Care Trust to provide community nursing services.


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Healthcare-related Infections

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of (a) MRSA and (b) Clostridium difficile were reported in each quarter of each of the last five years, broken down by NHS trust; and if she will make a statement. [116236]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The requested information is not available but information for six and 12-month periods for the last five years for methcillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is available on the Health Protection Agency (HPA) website at:

Since April 2001, all acute national health service trusts in England are obliged to report all cases of MRSA bloodstream infections. Data for each trust for each six-month and for each 12 month period from April 2001 to March 2006 have been published.

Mandatory surveillance for Clostridium difficile ( C. difficile) associated infection was introduced in January 2004. All acute NHS trusts in England are obliged to report all cases of C. difficile associated infection in patients 65 years and over. Data for each trust for each of the two calendar years 2004 and 2005 are available on the HPA website at:

Voluntary reporting of C. difficile positive stool samples was introduced in 1990, and data are available at:

Quarterly reporting for the mandatory surveillance of both of these infections will be introduced this year.

Hospital Beds: Edenbridge War Memorial Hospital

Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that the closed beds at Edenbridge War Memorial Hospital are reopened; and if she will make a statement. [118905]

Caroline Flint: This is a matter for West Kent Primary Care Trust (PCT). NHS South East Coast has advised that the West Kent PCT is currently undertaking a review of all its community hospitals to ensure that they offer high clinical care as well as value for money. Until the review is completed, which is likely to be in the spring, all beds that are temporarily closed will remain closed. If there are any proposed changes to services in this area there will be a formal consultation with the public.

Hospital Beds: Tonbridge Hospital

Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that the closed beds at Tonbridge hospital are reopened; and if she will make a statement. [118906]

Caroline Flint: This is a matter for West Kent primary care trust (PCT). NHS South East Coast has advised that the West Kent PCT is currently undertaking a review of all its community hospitals to ensure that they
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offer high clinical care as well as value for money. Until the review is completed, which is likely to be in the spring, all beds that are temporarily closed will remain closed. If there are any proposed changes to services in this area there will be a formal consultation with the public.

Hospitals: Pembury

Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether there is a firm Government commitment to have a new private finance initiative-funded hospital at Pembury; and if she will make a statement; [118903]

(2) by what date she expects the main construction contract for the planned new private financial initiative-funded hospital at Pembury to be let; and by what date she expects the hospital to be fully functioning. [118904]

Andy Burnham: The Department has reviewed the proposed private finance initiative scheme for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells National Health Service Trust on value for money and affordability grounds. An announcement is expected shortly.

Medicine Supplies

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many supplies of medicines were provided by homecare companies in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by drug; and what the cost was of each supply; [115767]

(2) what criteria are applied to decide whether a drug will be prescribed by a homecare company; and if she will make a statement. [115932]

Caroline Flint: Information on medicines supplied by homecare companies is not collected centrally.

Individual health professionals employed by homecare companies are able to prescribe medicines according to the relevant regulatory frameworks.

Mental Health

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures she is taking to promote the employment within (a) her Department and (b) public sector bodies for whom she has responsibility of people with mental illnesses in line with the advice and codes of practice produced by the Disability Rights Commission. [117084]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Under the disability equality duty introduced by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, the Department and the public sector bodies for which the Department is responsible are required to publish and implement disability equality schemes. These are plans setting out how we will carry out the disability equality duty, monitor, and report on progress. In particular, this includes our arrangements for gathering information on the effect of our policies and practices on the recruitment, development and retention of our disabled employees, including those with mental health conditions, and making use of that information.


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In consultation with users of mental health services, the Department's disability group, occupational health services, the trade union side and other interested parties, the Department has drawn up mental health guidance for staff, managers and human resource teams. The guidance, in its final draft stages, is due to be promulgated throughout the Department this spring.

In terms of recruitment, the Department operates the guaranteed interview scheme, which guarantees disabled staff an interview if they meet the minimum criteria for a post.

The public sector bodies sponsored by the Department that are subject to these requirements are responsible for publishing and implementing their own disability equality schemes.

NHS Recruitment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies for (a) doctors and (b) nurses there are in the NHS. [115571]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally. Information on vacancies that had lasted for more than three months and that trusts had been actively trying to fill is available since 1999 and can be found on The Information Centre’s website at:

Pensions

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cash equivalent transfer value is of the public sector pensions of the 10 highest paid members of staff in her Department and its executive agencies; and if she will make a statement. [113817]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The pay and pension details of the 10 highest paid staff in the Department and its executive agencies are disclosed in the remuneration report that forms part of the Department’s resource accounts. This can be found on the Department of Health’s website at:

There are two staff members who do not appear on the remuneration report because at the time of publication, on 31 March 2006, they were not members of the senior management team. They therefore had not given permission for their pension information to be disclosed. Copies have been placed in the Library.

Prescriptions

Mr. Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many free prescriptions have been issued to individuals in Derby city since 2005. [117507]

Caroline Flint: The information requested is not available in the format required.

Data for the number of prescription items dispensed by exemption category in the Derby City primary care trust (PCT) area are shown in the table.


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Total number of exempt prescription items

2005(1)

2,800,000

2006(2) (January to October)

2,400,000

(1) The 2005 data are the combined totals from Central Derby PCT and Greater Derby PCT. (2) The data available for 2006 are for January to October only. The totals for January to September for Central Derby PCT and Greater Derby PCT have been combined with the October total for Derby City PCT (5N7) to give the 2006 value. Notes: Derby City PCT was formed in October 2006 from Central Derby PCT and Greater Derby PCT. Due to rounding, the sum of the components may not equal the totals. Children are defined as 0 to 15-year-olds, and as 16 to 18-year-olds in full-time education. PCA Data Prescription information is taken from the Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system, supplied by the Prescription Pricing Division (PPD) of the Business Services Authority (BSA), and is based on a full analysis of all prescriptions dispensed in the community i.e. by community pharmacists and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors, and prescriptions submitted by prescribing doctors for items personally administered in England. Also included are prescriptions written in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man but dispensed in England. The data do not cover drugs dispensed in hospitals, including mental health trusts, or private prescriptions. Prescription Items Prescriptions are written on a prescription form. Each single item written on the form is counted as a prescription item. Exemption Category Estimates The exemption data are identified from the box ticked on the back of the prescription form and rely on the form being completed correctly which may not always be the case. Information for categories that are not required to pay a charge (e.g. children) is based on a one in 20 sample of all exempt prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists, appliance contractors and dispensing doctors. The information we have is therefore an estimate and subject to sampling errors. To reflect this we have rounded the exemption figures appropriately—figures less than 1,000 are shown as " * "; figures between 1,000 and 100,000 have been rounded to the nearest 1,000; figures between 100,000 and one million have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 and figures between one million and 10 million have been rounded to the nearest 100,000. Data for total of all ages have not been rounded since they are not exemption data.

Primary Care Trusts

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what powers the Government have to ensure that strategic health authorities are adequately monitoring the performance of primary care trusts in their implementation of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines. [116980]

Caroline Flint: Strategic health authorities (SHAs) performance manage primary care trusts (PCTs) in the exercise of their functions on behalf of the Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State has the power to give directions to SHAs about their exercise of any functions under section 17 of the National Health Service Act 1977. SHAs are obliged to comply with any such Directions. If one or more SHAs were not carrying out their performance management functions adequately, then it would be open to the Secretary of State to direct those SHAs to act to ensure those functions were carried out adequately.

In exceptional circumstances, the Secretary of State also has a power under section 84A of the National Health Service Act 1977 to make an intervention order in respect of an NHS body (including SHAs) if she is of the opinion that it is not performing one or more of its functions adequately or at all, or that there are
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significant failings in the way the body is being run and she is satisfied that it is appropriate for her to intervene.

Equally, the Secretary of State has powers under section 85 of the National Health Service Act 1977 to make an order declaring an NHS body, such as an SHA, to be in default if, in her opinion, it has failed to carry out any functions conferred on it under the Act or under any regulations or directions.


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