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10 May 2007 : Column 422W—continued
Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of pharmacists collecting prescription fees. [131773]
Caroline Flint: No formal assessment of the collection of prescription charges has been made. However, this is a simple arrangement in that it gives the patient the opportunity to sign a declaration of entitlement to exemption, or pay a charge, at the time dispensing takes place.
Primary Health Care
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the (a) capability and (b) capacity of primary care trusts to deliver a shift of patient care from the secondary sector into primary care; and if she will make a statement. [122813]
Andy Burnham:
All primary care trusts (PCTs) have, within the last year, gone through the Fitness for Purpose assessment, which assessed the short-term risks of PCTs failing to meet their objectives in finance, strategy and other areas. PCTs also underwent a commissioning diagnostic, designed to identify gaps in
their capabilities and enable them to create a focused improvement programme. Although Fitness for Purpose did not include a specific question on the shift of patient care from secondary to primary care, achieving such a shift is critical to good commissioning. The assessment exercise revealed that most PCTs were at or above minimum standards for commissioning.
As well as individual PCT development plans, there are a number of mechanisms in place to facilitate a shift of services to settings that are more convenient for patients, including:
a 750 million capital investment fund to support the development of more community hospitals and facilities to deliver care closer to home;
the opportunity through practice based commissioning for primary care practitioners to decide what services should be commissioned locally and to provide more services for themselves; and
new advice about commissioning services from accredited practitioners with special interests.
Queen’s Hospital, Romford
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) student nurses are employed at the Queen’s hospital in Romford. [135023]
Andy Burnham: This information is not held in the format requested. However, the table shows the number of doctors within Barking, Havering and Redbridge hospitals national health service trust by grade. We are unable to provide student nurse figures as we do not hold these at trust level.
| Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): Medical and dental staff within in Barking, Havering And Redbridge hospitals national health service trust by grade as at 30 September 2006 | |
| Number (headcount) | |
| Source: The Information Centre for health and social care medical and dental workforce census | |
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many surgical operations have been performed at the Queen’s hospital in Romford since its opening. [135027]
Andy Burnham: This information is not collected centrally at hospital level.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many (a) nurses and (b) doctors there are per patient at the Queen’s hospital in Romford; [135028]
(2) how many wards there are in Romford’s Queen’s hospital; and how many are in use. [135029]
Andy Burnham: This information is not held centrally.
Sharon Payne
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will apply for rescindment of the court order relating to the provision of the medical files held by Sharon Payne to the Attorney General. [128322]
Caroline Flint: It would not be appropriate for the Secretary of State to seek a rescindment of this court order as this remains the responsibility of the Attorney-General.
Speech Therapy
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the change in numbers of allied health professional posts on speech and language therapy services. [132399]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The recently published September 2006 national health service workforce census showed there were a headcount of 6,623 speech and language therapists, an increase of 1,752 or 36 per cent. since 1997.
There was also a full-time equivalent increase in the number of speech and language therapists of 87 or 1.7 per cent. in 2006 from the previous year.
Patients requiring NHS speech and language therapy services will benefit from these work force increases.
Surgery
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 23 March 2007, Official Report, column 1204W, on surgery, for what reasons there are differences between the data provided in the answer and the data provided in the answer of 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 1117W, on operations. [131883]
Andy Burnham: The two questions asked for different information. The question answered on 23 March 2007, Official Report, column 1204W, used the term procedures and was answered using a count of all procedures for admitted patients. The question answered on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 1117W, used the term operations and was answered using a count of finished consultant episodes that include a main operation. The data provided in response to each question was set out in the title of the table given in each reply.
More procedures are carried out than finished consultant episodes that include a main operation. For example, patients under going a cataract operation would tend to have at least two procedures—removal of the faulty lens and the fitting of a new one—counted in a single finished consultant episode.
Further information can be found at www.hesonline.org.uk.
Surgery: Death
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the post-operative death rate for emergency procedures was in the NHS in each year between 1998-99 and 2005-06. [131920]
Andy Burnham: The Department does not collate the specified information required.
The data are available from the National Centre for Health Outcomes Development via their website at www.nchod.nhs.uk. They have produced the following data for 1998-99 to 2003-04 linking data from the information available from the Hospital Episode Statistics data and the Office for National Statistics mortality data to get the nearest information available. These data include deaths in hospital and after discharge. Data are not yet available for 2004-05 onwards.
| Deaths within 30 days of a hospital procedure: surgery (non-elective admissions) , data for national health service hospitals England, data years 1998-99 to 2003-04 | |||
| Data year | Number of completed in-patient spells ( denominator ) | Number of deaths ( numerator ) | Post operative death rate (numerator/denominator) |
| Notes: 1. Unstandardised data The data presented here are unstandardised. This means that changes between years in the mix of patients’ ages, gender or procedures are not taken into account in presenting these figures. In addition, no statistical analysis is included to determine whether changes in rates are significant. 2. Data definitions Spells examined: spells where there was at least one mention of an eligible procedure code in any of the 12 procedure fields (excluding spells where there was a diagnosis code of cancer or chemotherapy for cancer). Nature of admissions: All non-elective admission methods were used. Cause of Death: All causes of death are used. The period for which deaths are included: 0-29 inclusive days after first procedure. | |||
Home Department
Approved Premises: Greater London
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many approved premises there are in the Greater London probation area; how many places are available at each establishment; how many assistant managers are employed at each of the approved premises in the Greater London probation area; and how many posts are vacant; [135170]
(2) how many relief staff are employed at each approved premises in the Greater London probation area; [135171]
(3) whether staff from private security firms are used to supervise residents in approved premises in the Greater London probation area during the night shift; [135172]
(4) what the establishment staffing figure is for each approved premise in the Greater London probation area; and how many of those staff posts were vacant on 30 March. [135265]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
There are 13 approved premises in London, nine managed by the London Probation Board and four by voluntary sector providers. Collectively they provide a total of 311 bed spaces. The number of beds at each approved premises varies. The largest (Westbourne House) has 41 bed spaces, the smallest (Haling) has 18. In the board-managed sector, there are five assistant managers employed at each approved premises, making a total of 45 in all; seven of those posts are currently vacant. Across the four voluntary-managed premises there are 18 assistant manager posts, of which one is currently vacant.
London Probation Board has, over the course of many years, built a significant pool of relief staff, who are used across the estate to provide cover for annual leave, sickness and training. All relief staff are CRB checked, required to undertake a ‘shadow’ shift before commencing their duties, and expected to complete the area’s core approved premises training programme. A full list of relief staff is held by the London Probation HR Department, and only staff on the list are offered work. The number employed at each approved premises will vary over time as dictated by the need for cover. Similarly, each of the voluntary sector providers has a pool of relief staff on which they can draw to cover short-term gaps in staffing.
The London Probation Board has engaged the services of a private security firm to provide one member of staff at each approved premises between the hours of 9pm and 9am. The security staff work alongside board-employed staff. The board employees act in effect as shift leaders, and are responsible for managing the residents, including enforcement action. They are responsible also for liaison with the standby manager, or the on-call assistant chief officer, in the case of an emergency. The role of the security staff is to provide additional waking cover during the night. Their tasks include CCTV monitoring, undertaking routine patrols of the building, and supporting the board employees in carrying out their duties. None of the voluntary sector providers currently use private security staff.
The staff establishment at each approved premises managed by the London Probation Board (with the exception of Westbourne House) is as follows:
one manager
one deputy manager
five assistant managers
two night hostel assistants
one office manager
At Westbourne House the establishment is:
one manager
two deputy managers
five assistant managers
two probation service officers
four night hostel assistants
one office manager
one admin officer
As at 30 March 2007 there were a total of 14 vacancies, broken down as follows:
one office manager
seven assistant managers
five night hostel assistants
Across the four voluntary managed premises the staff establishment is:
four managers
four deputy managers
18 assistant managers
12 night hostel assistants
three admin officers
10 domestic staff
As at 30 March 2007 there are two vacancies:
assistant manager
domestic worker
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