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15 May 2007 : Column 740Wcontinued
Mr. Anthony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the likely impact of the ban on smoking in public places on cancer rates. [135199]
Caroline Flint: No estimate has been made specifically on the likely impact of smokefree legislation on cancer rates.
The Governments independent Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health has concluded on the basis of an extensive review of medical and scientific evidence that there is an overall 24 per cent. increased risk of lung cancer in non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke. In March 2005, the British Medical Journal published a research paper by Professor K. Jamrozik suggesting that across the United Kingdom, exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace is to be responsible for the deaths of more than two employed people per working day, 617 deaths a year. Of this number, the research attributed 160 deaths from exposure to secondhand smoke to lung cancer (a copy of this article is available in the Library).
While the primary aim of smokefree legislation is to protect employees and members of the public from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke in enclosed workplaces and public places, the Department also anticipates that many smokers will be motivated by the implementation of the new law to quit smoking. The Department estimates that the new smokefree law might reduce smoking prevalence among the general population in England by around 1.7 percentage points, or an estimated 600,000 people.
While smoking is closely related to lung cancer with 87 per cent. of all deaths from lung cancer being attributable to smoking, smoking is also a cause of other types of cancer including cancers of the oesophagus, bladder, kidney, stomach and pancreas. The expected reduction in smoking prevalence from the implementation of smokefree legislation will help to reduce rates of smoking-related cancer.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress her Department has made in reaching its target of 58 per cent. more speech and language therapists in posts by 2010. [131605]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No target has been set for speech and language therapy posts.
The headcount number of speech and language therapists has increased by 1,888 (39 per cent.) since 1997.
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with serious spinal injuries were treated in (a) district general hospitals and (b) specialist spinal injury units in each of the last 10 years. [136763]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of people treated with a serious spinal injury, broken down by place of treatment, is not collected centrally.
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the life expectancy of the victims of serious spinal injuries; and what provision her Department has made for treatment of such injuries in the next 10 years. [136838]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have made no assessment of the life expectancy for victims of serious spinal injuries.
It is the responsibility of local health bodies to ensure the provision of health and social care for those living with such injuries.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what population she expects the specialist surgical centres referred to on page four of her Departments report Saws and Scalpels to Lasers and Robots, published 17th April 2007, to serve. [135820]
Andy Burnham: In his report, Professor Darzi set out his vision for surgery in the future. The population to be served by a specialist centre will vary by speciality and needs to take account of local circumstances.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations were cancelled at (a) the Hemel Hempstead Acute NHS Trust Hospital and (b) the Watford Acute Trust Hospital (i) for medical reasons and (ii) because of a lack of beds in each month in each year since 2000. [135329]
Andy Burnham: Information on the number of cancelled operations for medical reasons is not held centrally. Information is collected by acute trust, the following table shows the number of last minute cancelled operations for non clinical reasons.
West Hertfordshire Hospitals National Health Service Trust, quarter 1 2001-02 to quarter 3 2006-07( 1) | ||
Quarter | Number of last minute cancelled operations for non clinical reasons | |
(1) Latest data available. Notes: 1. A last minute cancellation is one that occurs on the day the patient was due to arrive, after they have arrived in hospital or on the day of their operation. 2. Data were collected at health authority-level only prior to 2001-02. 3. Trust-level data were collected from 2001-02 onwards. Source: Department of Health dataset QMCO |
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps she is taking in relation to the return of statistics on cancelled operations at St. Georges hospital, Tooting in September and October 2001; and if she will make a statement; [135454]
(2) what steps have been taken in response to the inquiry by David Sissing into the actions of Ian Perkin while employed by St. Georges hospital, Tooting; and if she will make a statement. [135455]
Andy Burnham: This is a local matter. However, NHS London advises that the former South West London strategic health authority and St. Georges Healthcare national health service trust reviewed all the recommendations relating to their respective organisations, and has been assured that all necessary actions have been carried out.
Mike Penning:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent (a) medical consultants, (b) other medical staff, (c) nurses, (d) other professional staff, (e) administrative and clerical staff and (f) auxiliary staff were employed by West Hertfordshire Acute Hospital Trust in all areas
excluding those transferred to Dacorum Primary Care Trust in each year since 2000. [135347]
Andy Burnham: The table shows the number of national health service staff in West Hertfordshire Hospitals National Health Service Trust by main staff group as at 30 September 2006, for each year since 2000. It is not possible to exclude staff transferring from Dacorum Primary Care Trust.
Full-time equivalent | |||||||
2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006( 1) | |
n/a = not available (1) More accurate validation processes in 2006 have resulted in the identification and removal of 9858 duplicate non-medical staff records out of the total workforce figure of 1.3 million in 2006. Earlier years figures could not be accurately validated in this way and so will be slightly inflated. The level of inflation in earlier years figures is estimated to be less than 1 per cent. of total across all non-medical staff groups for headcount figures (and negligible for full-time equivalents). This should be taken into consideration when analysing trends over time. Source: The Information Centre |
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