| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
22 Mar 2007 : Column 1138W—continued
Maternity Services: Manpower
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent (a) midwives and (b) obstetricians were employed in the NHS in each year since 1995. [126169]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent medical staff in the obstetrics and gynaecology specialities and registered midwives in each year since 1995.
| NHS hospital and community health services: Medical staff in the obstetrics and gynaecology specialties and midwifery staff in England as at 30 September each specified year | |||||||||||
| Full-time equivalent | |||||||||||
| 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
| Source: The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census The Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census | |||||||||||
Medicine: Training
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for which NHS positions applicants who are unsuccessful in the ST1-4 application process are subsequently eligible to apply for. [124720]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Applicants who are unsuccessful in securing a place on a specialty training programme may apply for a fixed-term specialty training appointment which may also count towards the completion of training. Doctors are also free to apply for non-training posts as career grade or service doctors which are advertised by individual national health service trusts. Those who do not obtain places in specialty training programmes will be able to re-apply for such programmes as vacancies arise in future.
Mental Health Services: Surveys
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will publish the findings of the Count Me In Census 2006. [129124]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Healthcare Commission is responsible for publication of the Count Me In Census.
Mid-Essex Hospital Trust: Hospital Beds
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many delayed discharges there were in the Mid-Essex hospital trust area in each month since January 2005. [127984]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 19 March 2007]: The following table shows the number of delayed transfers of care from acute beds at Mid-Essex Hospital Services National Health Service Trust in each month since January 2005.
| Month | Delayed transfers of care |
| Note: The number of delayed transfers of care are collected as a snapshot at midnight Thursday each week. These data are snapshots taken in the final week of each month. Source: Department of Health Sitreps | |
Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust: Redundancy
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many compulsory redundancies there have been in financial year 2006-07 in the Mid Essex hospital trust. [127532]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 19 March 2007]: There have been 32 compulsory redundancies in the Mid Essex hospital trust up to December 2006; 25 of these posts were non-clinical.
Midwives
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average case load was of full-time equivalent registered community midwives in each of the last 12 years for which figures are available; [127282]
(2) what assessment she has made of the appropriateness of the size of the caseload of community midwives; and whether her Department has issued advice on the appropriate (a) average, (b) minimum and (c) maximum caseload for community midwives; [127283]
(3) how many (a) full-time equivalent and (b) headcount-registered midwife posts carried the
requirement of working in both acute and community settings in each of the last 12 years for which records are available; [127284]
(4) in how many (a) acute trusts, (b) primary care trusts and (c) other NHS trusts have (i) acute and (ii) community midwives been required to work in both acute and community settings. [127285]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally and we have not carried out an assessment of, or provided advice about, the size of case loads. It is for primary care trusts in partnership with local stakeholders to commission midwifery services in order to meet local needs.
Motor Neurone Disease: Research
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations she has received on funding for motor neurone disease (MND) research; whether her Department has conducted an assessment into the effectiveness of MND research; and if she will make a statement. [127517]
Caroline Flint: The Department has received a number of representations on this subject, mostly from or prompted by the Motor Neurone Disease Association. The response to them has described the nature and level of Government investment in research into the disease, and the fact that the Dementias and Neurodegenerative Disease Network will give patients from every motor neurone disease clinic in England the opportunity to take part in national clinical trials.
The reliability and validity of outputs from research funded by the Department, including research designed to support policy development, implementation and evaluation, are subject to independent peer review. The national service framework for long-term neurological conditions was informed by specially commissioned research, and its impact is being assessed via a £1 million research initiative.
Note:
Dementias and Neurodegenerative Disease Network was launched in September 2005 as part of the United Kingdom clinical research network.
NHS: Public Participation
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish the Race Equality Impact Assessment for local involvement networks. [129127]
Ms Rosie Winterton: An assessment of the impact of local involvement networks on race equality was published as part of the regulatory impact assessment that accompanied the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill. Copies are available in the Library and on the Department of Communities and Local Government website.
NHS: Working Hours
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to defer the final implementation date of the 48-hour working week to 2012 as referred to in the answer of 21 May 2003 to the hon. Member
for Epsom and Ewell, Official Report, column 861W, on the working time directive. [125027]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The vast majority of national health service staff have been covered by the European Working Time Directive since 1998. The Government negotiated a staged implementation timetable for doctors in training and is funding pilot projects across the NHS to help trusts implement the 48-hour week from August 2009. Approximately 40 per cent. of doctors in training already work a 48-hour week.
We are monitoring evidence of NHS readiness for fully implementing the 48-hour week for doctors in training. This will inform our assessment of whether to approach the European Commission to use the 2012 derogation to support particular services or specialties.
Nurses: Gender
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of those working as nurses in England are (a) female and (b) male. [125863]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The September 2005 national health service workforce census showed 89 per cent. of qualified nurses, midwives and health visiting staff in England were female and 11 per cent. were male.
Nurses: Pay
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses she expects to receive a pay increase of 1.9 per cent. in the next 12 months. [126906]
Ms Rosie Winterton: All nurses employed by the national health service will receive a staged pay award for 2007-08. This will consist of an uplift of 1.5 per cent. from 1 April 2007 and a further 1 per cent. from 1 November 2007. In addition, many nurses will also receive an increase typically between 3 and 4 per cent. during the year as they progress up their pay scales, and others will receive a pay increase on promotion. The 2005 NHS workforce census, published in April 2006, shows that at September 2005 there were 404,161 nursing, midwifery and healthcare visiting staff employed by the NHS in England. The results of the 2006 NHS workforce census will be published shortly.
Nurses: Vacancies
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the numbers of nursing vacancies there are expected to be in the NHS at the end of August 2007. [125861]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has not made an estimate of the number of nursing vacancies expected in the national health service at the end of August 2007.
The March 2007 vacancy survey due to be carried out at the end of this month will provide us with a snapshot of the current nursing three-month vacancy situation.
Nutrition
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people are employed by her Department to work on strategies designed to encourage underweight people to eat more; [127843]
(2) how many people are employed by her Department to work on strategies designed to encourage obese people to eat less. [127844]
Caroline Flint: Government advice for maintaining a healthy weight is for people to consume a healthy balanced diet and be physically active. The Department’s nutrition and obesity teams, working with the Food Standards Agency and other Government Departments, has a series of initiatives to encourage and support people to eat a diet that is high in fruit and vegetables and lower in saturated fat, salt and sugar.
Obesity is a complex, multi-factorial problem that cannot be attributed to any single factor; it is the imbalance between calories in and calories out. The obesity public service agreement target is jointly owned by three Government Departments covering health, education and sport in recognition that delivery will depend on a concerted, joined-up effort across Government and other key stakeholders.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |