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19 Mar 2007 : Column 721W—continued
Information on the number of attendances at A&E departments is a separate collection.
| Strategic health authority (SHA) name | Admissions via type 1 (major) A & E | Admissions via type 2 (single specialty) A & E departments | Admissions via type 3 (minor injury and illness services) A & E departments | Total admissions via A & E | Population( 1) | Admissions as percentage of population |
| (1) Population data for mid-year 2006 are not yet available. Population data used are therefore 2003-based resident population projections for mid-year 2005 (based on 2001 census). Note: Data are for period January to December 2006 (quarter 4 2005-06 plus quarter 1 to quarter 3 2006-07). Source: Department of Health QMAE dataset and Office for National Statistics. | ||||||
Bedford Primary Care Trust: Health Visitors
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health visitors are employed by Bedfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT); and how many were employed by (a) Bedford PCT and (b) Heartlands PCT in (i) 2005, (ii 2004 and (iii) 2003. [118523]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information as to the number of health visitors employed by the newly formed Bedfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) is not yet available. However, the following table shows the number of qualified health visiting staff in the old Bedford PCT and the old Bedfordshire Heartlands PCT as at 30 September for each year specified.
| Headcount | |||
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
| Source: The Information Centre for health and social care non-medical workforce census. | |||
Caesarean Sections
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) emergency and (b) planned caesarean births there were in each year since 1995. [126168]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The last year for which this information is available is 2004-05. Figures are shown in the table.
| Elective | Emergency | |
| Source: NHS Maternity Statistics, England 2004-05 (Table 3). | ||
Care Homes: Finance
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her assessment is of the policy implications of the judgment in the 2004 case of Goldsmith v. the London Borough of Wandsworth on the funding of care in nursing homes. [124191]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department has examined the Court of Appeal Judgment of 27 August 2004 and does not consider that it has implications for the policy on the funding of care in nursing homes.
Care Homes: Greater London
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) average and (b) longest waiting times were for care assessments by each London borough council in each of the last five years. [125627]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information has been placed in the Library. Table 1 shows the cumulative percentage of new clients aged 18 and over whose assessments were completed during the year by length of time from first contact to completed assessment for the years 2003-04 to 2005-06 for each London borough.
Table 2 shows the number of new clients whose assessments were completed during the year by the waiting time between first contact and completed assessment for the years 2003-04 to 2005-06 for each London borough.
Data for earlier years are not available on a comparable basis.
The information needed to calculate the average and longest waiting time for a care assessment is not collected centrally.
Childbirth
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of births were classed as normal in each year since 1995. [126167]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: For the years 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 the numbers of normal deliveries (defined as those without surgical intervention, use of instruments, induction, epidural or general anaesthetic before or during the birth) are set out in the table. Information for years before 2002 is not available centrally.
| Number of deliveries | Number of normal deliveries | Percentage normal | |
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what international comparators she uses when assessing perinatal statistics. [127278]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 March 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking what international comparators are used when assessing perinatal statistics. (127278)
It is difficult to make international comparisons on perinatal mortality because of different definitions used for compiling perinatal mortality statistics. These are due to differences in the legal criteria used for birth registration and inclusion criteria used for recording birth information on other data collection systems. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the perinatal period commences at 22 completed weeks (154 days) of gestation (when birthweight is normally 500 grams) and ends 7 completed days afterbirth(1).
In England and Wales, perinatal mortality statistics (since 1992) are based on the legal definition of stillbirths registered at 24 or more weeks gestation, which are collected by the vital registration system, and includes deaths at ages up to 6 completed days of life (whatever the gestational age at live birth). Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland use the same stillbirth definition as England and Wales, hence perinatal mortality statistics are comparable between these countries.
Countries such as Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal collect information on births using the WHO criteria and hence perinatal mortality statistics for these countries are comparable(2). But in countries such as Denmark, Spain and Sweden, only fetal deaths after 28 or more completed weeks of gestation are registered as stillbirths, and in countries which use no such criteria, regulations about stillbirth registration can affect decisions about whether an event is a late miscarriage or
should be registered as a birth. Furthermore, under-reporting can be a problem, particularly where data collection systems are not statutory.
Therefore, the PERISTAT project funded by the European Union was charged with developing a set of indicators for monitoring and describing perinatal health in Europe.
With the PERISTAT indicator set, the aim is to facilitate the surveillance of perinatal health in the EU by harmonizing indicator definitions and encouraging the collection of comparable data for the following purposes:
To assess maternal and infant mortality and morbidity associated with events in the perinatal period.
To describe the evolution of risk factors for perinatal health outcomes in the population of childbearing women, including demographic, socio-economic and behavioural characteristics.
To monitor the use and consequences of medical technology in the care of women and infants during pregnancy, delivery and the postpartum period.
ONS has been providing data for England and Wales for the PERISTAT indicators, where possible.
Further details on this project can be viewed using this link:
(1) International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Volume 1, page 1237.
(2) European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology, volume 111, supplement 1, 2003, page SI7.
Childbirth: Death
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of births resulted in (a) maternal and (b) perinatal death in each year since 1995. [126170]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH)'s report on maternal death for the three-year period 2000-02 showed that there were 106 direct maternal deaths in that period, representing 5.3 deaths per thousand of the two million births. The next CEMACH report is expected at the end of the year.
Office for National Statistics data shows that in 2002, the most recent year for which figures are available, there were 4,977 perinatal deaths in 596,122 maternities, or 8.3 deaths per 1,000 pregnancies.
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