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14 Mar 2007 : Column 433Wcontinued
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what target her Department has set for the length of time a patient should wait for a digital hearing aid to be fitted. [124648]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The national audiology framework Improving Access to Audiology Services in England, was published on 6 March 2007 and is available in the Library. It sets out clear guidance to the national health service on how to reduce waiting times and how to provide the additional 300,000 pathways that are needed in the run-up to December 2008 to make a maximum wait of 18 weeks from referral to treatment possible for all audiology referrals. It aims to mitigate the risk to 18-week delivery and create a sustainable service model for audiology for the long term.
The most complex audiology cases will be covered by the target of treatment within 18 weeks of referral by December 2008. And the remaining routine adult hearing loss cases should be assessed within six weeks by March 2008, in line with the diagnostic waiting time milestone on which local commissioning plans are based. It is also good practice for the subsequent hearing aid fitting to be carried out soon after or at the same time as assessment.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what targets the Government have set for home deliveries in (a) rural and (b) urban settings over the next five years; [126163]
(2) what plans she has to provide further support for those mothers who wish their babies to be delivered at home. [126164]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We cannot set targets for home births. It is for local primary care trusts and national health service trusts to determine the appropriate pattern of service provision locally, taking into account the choice and needs of local people.
The Government are committed to offering, by 2009, all women the choice of how and where they give birth, for example a birth at home, a birth supported by a midwife or a birth supported by a team of clinicians including a midwife and an obstetrician. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is preparing guidelines on intrapartum care, due to be published in June 2007, which will include guidance on home births.
We will shortly be publishing a document on the delivery of the maternity commitments made in the manifesto and in Our Health, Our Care, Our Say, which, when published, will focus on providing continuing support and safe maternity services for all women.
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the maximum period of time is for which her Department permits primary care trusts to close beds on a temporary basis. [122537]
Andy Burnham: Decisions on whether to close beds permanently or otherwise are made locally.
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health after what period of time her Department deems the temporary closure and removal of beds a permanent closure. [122558]
Andy Burnham: Decisions on whether to close beds permanently or otherwise are made locally.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many acute hospitals there are in England; how many beds there are in each; and which are (a) tertiary care centres, (b) specialist units and (c) district general hospitals. [125581]
Andy Burnham: The Department maintains no official definition of acute hospital and is aware of no body with the responsibility to define it.
Data on hospital beds are collected at trust, rather than hospital level. Further, the Department does not centrally collect whether beds are located in tertiary care centres, specialist units or district general hospitals.
A table which shows the average daily number of available hospital beds in 2005-06 (the latest years data) for national health service organisations that provided acute beds has been placed in the Library.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts carried out public and patient consultation in accordance with section 11 of the Health and Social Care Act prior to introducing referral management schemes. [121924]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally. The use of referral management schemes is for local determination.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what major hospital building projects were approved in each of the last five years, broken down by parliamentary constituency; and if she will make a statement. [124187]
Andy Burnham: The tables give details of hospital building projects with a capital value of over £58.7 million (the threshold conventionally used to denote a major scheme at 2006-07 prices) which have had full business case approval or have been approved to proceed to the next stage following the private finance review.
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