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9 Mar 2007 : Column 2286W—continued
In addition, there is a widening body of evidence which shows that proximity to death has a larger impact on health care costs than age. On average, around a quarter of all health care someone consumes in their lifetime is consumed in the last year of their life. This is what links the burden of disease to premature mortality.
Macular Degeneration: Drugs
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she plans to refer the drug Avastin for use on age-related macular degeneration for appraisal by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence; and if she will make a statement on the (a) use and (b) funding of Avastin in place of (i) Macugen and (ii) Lucentis within the NHS. [126033]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 8 March 2007]: Avastin is not currently licensed for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). There are no plans at present to refer Avastin for AMD to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence for appraisal.
If a patient is willing to be prescribed a drug off-licence, it is available on the clinician’s judgment and subject to funding by the local primary care trust.
NHS Confederation: Finance
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding the Government provided to the NHS Confederation in each of the last 10 years. [118919]
Andy Burnham [pursuant to the reply, 19 February 2007, Official Report, c. 57-58W]: The information requested for years 2001-02 to date is recorded in the table as follows. Information before 2001-02 could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
| £ | ||||||
| Supplier | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 to 5 February 2007 |
NHS Treatment Centres: North West Region
David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated cost is of converting to clinical assessment, treatment and support centres premises in (a) Whitegate Drive Primary Care Centre, FY3, (b) South Shore hospital, FY4 1HX, (c) Fleetwood Community hospital, FY7 6BE, (d) Queen Victoria Site, Morecambe, LA4 5NN, (e) Preston Healthport, PR2 8DW, (f) Ormskirk District General hospital, L39 2AZ, (g) Beardwood hospital, Blackburn, BB2 7AE, (h) St Peter's Centre, Burnley, BB11 2DL, (i) Hilltop Heights, Carlisle, CA1 2NS, (j) Workington Community Hospital, CA14 2RW and (k) Ulverston Health Centre, LA12 7BT. [124004]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The locations of centres from which clinical assessment, treatment and support (CATS) services will be delivered in the north-west are still to be finalised and is the subject of public consultation by primary care trusts in the north-west.
Commercial terms of the CATS procurement, including costs, are still under negotiation.
Health Services: Northern Region
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the projected (a) capital and (b) revenue costs of the clinical assessment treatment and support services in (i) Cumbria and (ii) Lancashire over the first 12 months of operation. [118035]
Andy Burnham: The provision of the clinical assessment, treatment and support (CATS) services in the South Lancashire area is the subject of ongoing commercial negotiations. Information on costs is commercially sensitive.
The Department’s procurement of health care services from the independent sector actively encourages providers to bid so as to ensure value for money, quality and innovative service delivery. Primary care trusts will pay national health service tariff for CATS services provided by the independent sector.
NHS: Finance
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the amount of public dividend capital is for each (a) acute hospital trust, (b) primary care trust and (c) mental health trust. [126563]
Andy Burnham: This information has been placed in the Library and provides the amounts of public dividend capital (PDC) at the end of March 2006 for acute and mental health national health service trusts. Primary care trusts do not receive PDC.
NHS: Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which private finance initiative health projects have been cancelled in each year since 1997. [118141]
Andy Burnham: The Department does not keep records of private finance initiative (PFI) schemes below £10 million who have advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Schemes above this threshold which have advertised in OJEU and then subsequently stood down their bidders or ended the procurement in each year since 1997 are listed.
| Capital value (£ million) | ||
| (1) These scheme subsequently went ahead using public capital. (2) This was re-tendered as a PFI scheme and opened to patient in January 2007. (3) These schemes were incorporated into larger PFI schemes which subsequently went ahead. (4) These schemes were proposals developed after an initial £340 million scheme which went out to OJEU in 2004 was reviewed. | ||
In the written answer given to the hon. Member on 14 December 2006, Official Report, column 1365W, I regret I did not give the information on costs of preparing business cases for failed PFI schemes for Berkshire and Battle NHS Trust and Guy’s and St. Thomas NHS Trust. These are both foundation trusts and detailed information on abortive costs are
not held centrally; this information can be sought from their respective chief executives.
North London Breast Screening Service
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the problem was which was identified on the routine audit of the North London Breast Screening Service and which resulted in its suspension; how long she expects the temporary suspension to last; what estimate she has made of the number of women affected by the suspension; how many women per month are normally seen by the service; what plans she is putting in place to clear the backlog; how long she expects the backlog to take to clear; what steps are being taken to resolve the issue which caused the suspension; what estimate she has made of the additional financial costs resulting from the suspension of the system and the steps necessary to resolve the problem; and if she will make a statement. [126389]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is a local matter. However, I understand that the temporary suspension was due to system process errors that were discovered during a routine audit by the quality assurance service. The audit flagged up that women were not invited for further assessments following their mammogram. All the women affected received a normal mammogram. However, the women had mentioned other possible symptoms during their appointment and guidelines specify that further assessment should take place. All these women have been offered appointments for further assessment either from the unit or via their general practitioner.
The service was temporarily suspended just before Christmas and the trust, commissioners and staff are working hard to have the new systems and protocols in place so that the breast screening service can starting inviting women back for routine screening in April.
Approximately 3,500 women are normally seen by the service and the trust estimates that approximately 10,000 women would have been affected by the suspension of the service.
The trust with their partner primary care trusts (PCTs) have an action plan in place for the recommencement of screening and to clear the backlog.
The unit is currently developing a full plan for the recommencement of screening services. Once this is complete they will be able to advise on estimates. It will also depend on whether arrangements can be made to screen women at other sites across London and the surrounding area. Women who have been waiting longest will be seen on a priority basis.
Staff in the breast screening service are supporting an external independent audit, reviewing protocols and taking part in staff training to ensure new procedures are embedded into the service. When the unit does re-open all cases will be audited by the quality assurance service to ensure that systems are working properly and that these will continue until the trust is sure that they are.
The suspension of the service was not in any way due to financial reasons. The additional financial costs for resuming the service will depend on the outcome and
recommendations of the quality assurance review. It is therefore not possible to make an estimate of the costs at this time.
Nurses
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies for nurses there are in the NHS, broken down by region. [125867]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 7 March 2007]: The table shows the number of three month vacancies for qualified nurses as at 31 March 2006 broken down by strategic health authority region.
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