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13 Mar 2007 : Column 316W—continued
Standard prices for products are set based on the product cost and a margin applied to these products to cover the operating costs of NHS supply chain. There are restrictions as to how margin can be applied and also restrictions to increases in sell price changes.
NHS: Reform
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to publish further reports on the clinical case for change in the NHS along the lines of those published by (a) the National Directors for Heart Disease and Emergency Case on 5 December 2006, (b) the National Director for Primary Care on 5 February 2007 and (c) the National Director for Maternity and Children’s Services on 6 February 2007. [124934]
Andy Burnham: These are personal reports from the national clinical directors. The remaining clinical directors may wish to present their own accounts of the clinical case for change to the Secretary of State in due course.
Obesity: Children
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to tackle childhood obesity. [126730]
Caroline Flint: We are committed to tackling obesity, working in partnership nationally and locally. We have set ourselves a public service agreement target to halt the year-on-year rise in obesity among children aged under 11 by 2010 in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole.
We have improved the co-ordinated delivery of initiatives that contribute to tackling childhood obesity, including working with Ofcom who have recently announced limits on broadcast advertising and promotion of high fat, salt, sugar foods to children, healthy schools, and the national school sport strategy, influencing the curriculum and standards for early years settings. We have also published care pathways for national health service primary care professionals and a self-help guide for patients to help with weight loss.
Our investments have already delivered improvements, for example, free fruit to nearly 2 million four to six-year-olds at English schools; a reformed scheme for families on benefits that will give them access to free vitamins and a choice of fruit, vegetables or milk; 80 per cent. of schoolchildren now doing at least two hours of school sport a week, beating our own target of 75 per cent. for this year; and three quarters of schools are on the healthy schools programme.
Organs: Donors
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to promote organ donation; and if she will make a statement. [127358]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Over 14 million people have registered on the Organ Donor Register (ODR), which represents approximately 23 per cent. of the United Kingdom population. The Department gives around £1 million yearly to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to run the ODR and to promote transplantation. The Department also provides section 64 grants to a number of charities.
Over the last five years, the Department has provided dedicated funding—over £4 million in 2006-07—through NHSBT to support a number of specific hospital based initiatives to increase organ donor rates and support transplantation
An organ donation task force is currently identifying barriers to organ donation and will report later this year on what further steps could be taken to increase organ donation rates.
Patient Choice Schemes
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how the (a) budgets and (b) tariffs of the choose and book initiative were set; and what mechanisms are in place (i) to monitor, (ii) audit and (iii) and assess by (A) primary care trusts and (B) the Department; [123571]
(2) what (a) budgets have been set and (b) costs have been incurred for the choice and choose and book systems by each (i) primary care trust, (ii) acute trust and (iii) strategic health authority since its implementation. [123746]
Andy Burnham: The setting of local budgets and the monitoring of local costs for the implementation of choice and choose and book is a matter for local determination.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what mechanisms are in place to assess the value for money achieved by (a) Choose and Book, (b) Choice and (c) whole direct enhanced service system; [123615]
(2) what assessment she has made of (a) whether the significant benefits referred to in the answer of 13 June 2006, Official Report, columns 1153-54W, on the choose and book system, have been delivered and (b) the value for money provided by the choose and book system. [123759]
Andy Burnham: Work is under way in response to the recommendation in the National Audit Office’s June 2006 report “Department of Health: The National Programme for IT in the NHS” that an annual statement be published, quantifying the benefits delivered by all aspects of the programme, set against the costs incurred. The first statement is intended for publication in summer 2007.
A new independent research programme will be established this year to evaluate the impact of health reform, including choice, and feed into future policy development. In addition, regulatory and equality impact assessments are being carried out on choice policy in elective care.
There are no plans for a value for money study in respect of directed enhanced services.
Sunbeds: Licensing
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which local authorities have licensing policies covering sunbed use in salons. [124649]
Caroline Flint: There are no central governmental records held on the local authorities that have licensing policies covering sunbed use in salons.
Water
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will commission research into the optimum proportion of the daily recommended intake of fluids which should be taken as water; [124148]
(2) what assessment she has made of the extent to which the public follow the Government’s guidelines on how much water to drink; and if she will make a statement. [124149]
Caroline Flint: The Government advise that six to eight glasses (approximately 1.2 litres) of water, or other fluids, should be consumed every day to prevent dehydration. This is based on physiological studies.
The 2000-01 National Diet and Nutrition Survey of adults aged 19-64 years showed that mean consumption of fluid in this age group was around 1.8 litres per day. This includes milk, fruit juice, soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, tea, coffee and water (tap and bottled).
Welfare Milk
John Penrose:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what (a) representations and (b) other information she has received on the financial impact on
nurseries and playgroups suffering from delayed payments for reimbursement of the cost of milk from the Welfare Food Reimbursement Unit; [124267]
(2) what value of claims by nurseries or playgroups for reimbursement of the cost of milk from the Welfare Food Reimbursement Unit are awaiting payment; and what the average value was of claims outstanding at any one time in 2006; [124268]
(3) how many claims by nurseries and playgroups for reimbursement of the cost of milk from the Welfare Food Reimbursement Unit are awaiting payment; and how many were awaiting payment at any one time on average in 2006. [124269]
Caroline Flint: On 27 February 2007 there were 5,018 outstanding claims for payment from nurseries and other day care providers relating to milk supplied through the Welfare Food Scheme. The total value of the claims was £1,310,105. Of these, 3,712 (£780,374) were claims for payments to be made by cheque, and the remainder were for payments directly made to bank accounts.
Because of a change in contractor on 1 December 2006, it has taken longer than we would have wished for claims from nurseries and other day care providers to be processed. Those wishing to be paid by cheque
have experienced longer delays because the new contractor had to wait for secure cheque stationery to be printed. That stationery has now been printed and the backlog of cheque payments was cleared by 1 March 2007.
Currently, payments in respect of new claims are being made within 15 days of receipt. From 9 March 2007, we expect this to reduce to eight days. Claims that are complicated—usually because not all required information has been provided—take longer to resolve.
Details of the number and value of claims awaiting payment at any one time during 2006 is not available due to the change in contractor.
I have received one representation on behalf of a nursery, concerned about the way with which its outstanding claims were being dealt.
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust: Acute Beds
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received from West Hertfordshire NHS Trust on the relocation of acute services. [125253]
Andy Burnham: No such representations have been received.
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