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21 May 2007 : Column 1128W—continued
Doctors: Training
Mr. Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) estimate she has made of the impact on the number of doctors being trained and (b) assessment she has made of the impact on the training given to those who secure places on the Modernising Medical Careers programme. [136478]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We believe there will be more doctors in training in 2007 than previously. Training will be enhanced under Modernising Medical Careers as it will provide structured programmes of training to reflect the needs of patients and the national health service.
Drugs: Counterfeit Manufacturing
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have (a) been admitted to hospital and (b) died as a result of taking counterfeit medicines in each of the last 10 years. [134100]
Caroline Flint:
The Department holds no statistics which record hospital admissions or deaths from taking counterfeit medicines. However, the Medicines and
Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which has responsibility for investigating reports of counterfeit medicines, has found no evidence of any deaths in the United Kingdom caused by counterfeit medicines.
Drugs: Rehabilitation
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the £54.5 million spending announced for capacity building purposes in the field of drug treatment has been allocated to buildings used for the treatment of young people. [121176]
Caroline Flint: The national panel received 76 bids for the additional capital funding agreed by the Department to improve the capacity and outcomes of inpatient and residential rehabilitation services. There were comparatively few bids submitted that were specifically for young people and, of these, none were scored highly enough to be awarded funding against the published criteria.
Gastroenteritis
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of rotavirus gastroenteritis were recorded in each primary care trust in England in each year since 2001; and if she will make a statement. [138132]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We do not hold this information centrally.
Health Services: Asylum
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account was taken of the denial of secondary healthcare to refused asylum seekers in the Department's report “Human Rights in Healthcare—A Framework for Local Action”; and if she will make a statement. [136398]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The recent Department publication “Human Rights in Healthcare—A Framework for Local Action” is intended to assist national health service trusts to develop and apply human rights based approaches in their organisations in order to provide better services for everyone. It is not a source of legal advice or guidance on specific issues.
Health Services: Wandsworth Prison
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what tender process was used to award the contract to provide healthcare services at HM Prison Wandsworth to Secure Healthcare; what the cost of the contract is expected to be; what (a) outcome measures and (b) performance indicators the contract provides; and if she will make a statement. [136747]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is for local primary care trusts (PCTs) in conjunction with other stakeholders, to make assessments of current and future health needs, including prison health care, and to commission services accordingly. Therefore the tendering process is a matter for Wandsworth PCT.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she plans to take to monitor the accuracy of data provided by Secure Healthcare under the contract to provide healthcare services at HM Prison Wandsworth; and if she will make a statement. [136748]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is for local primary care trusts (PCTs) in conjunction with other stakeholders to monitor data provided under contract to provide health care services at HMP Wandsworth. Therefore the monitoring of data for health care services at HMP Wandsworth will be a matter for Wandsworth PCT.
Heart Diseases: Screening
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress the United Kingdom National Screening Committee made at its meeting in March 2007 on screening for men aged 65 for abdominal aortic aneurysms. [137017]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The UK National Screening Committee (NSC) has advised that screening for men aged 65 for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) can be recommended in principle subject to further work, particularly on the appropriate configuration of treatment services and the provision for men to make an informed choice about whether to undergo screening. At its meeting in March 2007 the NSC considered further work undertaken by the AAA Screening Working Group. More detailed work will now be undertaken on the practical issues that would be involved in implementation.
Incontinence: Medical Equipment
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to publish plans on the provision of incontinence and stoma appliances; and if she will make a statement. [136713]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We will consider whether to publish plans on the provision of incontinence and stoma appliances after we have evaluated responses to the consultation relating to Part IX of the Drug Tariff, which closed on 2 April.
Mental Health Services
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what incentives exist in the Quality Outcomes framework of the new General Medical Services contract to offer physical health checks and physical health promotion activities to patients with a mental health problem; and if she will make a statement. [136873]
Andy Burnham: Under the Quality and Outcomes Framework, there are 23 points available in the mental health indicator set for a health review. This review should include evidence that the patient has been offered routine health promotion and prevention advice appropriate to their age, gender and health status.
Mental Health Services: Essex
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding the North Essex Mental Health Partnership Trust received from (a) her Department and (b) local primary care trusts in each of the last five financial years. [136603]
Andy Burnham: National health service trusts do not normally receive funding from the Department, but receive income for the provision of services from commissioners, principally from primary care trusts (PCTS).
In 2001-02, the trust received most of its income from health authorities and primary care groups but did not receive income from PCTs.
The following table shows data for the years 2001-02 to 2005-06, which is the latest year for which information is available.
Prior to 2004-05, amounts shown may not be all of the income from the Department or from PCTs because not all income was analysed in this way.
| North Essex Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust | ||
| £000 | ||
| Income from Department of Health | Income from PCTs | |
Mental Health Services: Prisons
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS trusts have received funding for dealing with prisoners with psychiatric and mental health problems; how much they have received; how they have spent the money; how many prisoner patients have received treatment as a consequence; and if she will make a statement. [136369]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Mental health services have been a key part of the Government’s recent reforms of health services in prisons, and the Department is now investing over £20 million a year in national health service mental health in-reach services for prisoners.
All primary care trusts with prisons in their locality receive a proportion of this funding as part of their allocation for providing healthcare services to prisoners.
There are now 102 community mental health teams working within prisons, with some 360 extra staff employed. Since 2006, every prison in England and Wales has had access to these services. Information on how many prisoners receive these services is not collected centrally.
This year, the Department will make an additional £4 million available to aid further improvements to mental health in-reach and child and adolescent mental health services, based on a national needs assessment.
Midwives
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many newly-trained midwives (a) obtained and (b) did not obtain a job in midwifery within six months of graduating in each year since 1995. [136505]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department started collecting data from each strategic health authority (SHA) on the employment prospects of health care graduates in their area, for the first time in 2006.
The most recent SHA returns indicate that 20.1 per cent. of midwifery graduates who graduated between May and September 2006 are estimated not to have found work nationally. This ranges from 44.2 per cent. in Yorks and Humber to 0 per cent. in the north-east.
NHS Spine Project
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether a privacy impact assessment (a) has been produced and (b) is planned for the NHS spine project. [112572]
Caroline Flint: No. We do not believe that such an assessment would serve any useful purpose at this stage of the project.
The aim of a privacy impact assessment is to ensure that privacy is considered at every stage of a project involving the handling of information, and that action is taken to mitigate against identified risks to the privacy of individuals. While this is clearly a useful tool for many projects where these matters might otherwise be neglected, the need to safeguard privacy and confidentiality is a necessary deliverable of any health record system, and the management of risk in this area has been a core deliverable of the national health service care records service (the spine project).
The security safeguards around access to patient data held within the new care records will provide an unprecedented level of assurance compared with existing electronic and paper systems. The Department has also produced what we believe is the most comprehensive privacy statement of any public service in the form of the NHS care record guarantee for England, setting out 12 commitments the NHS makes to patients in order to protect their confidentiality.
The Information Commissioner has confirmed that, properly deployed, the new systems have the potential to allow the NHS to better meet the various informational and privacy challenges which it faces than the systems currently in existence, and that he is content with the general approach being taken with the care records service.
NHS: Drugs
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated cost of unused medications was in (a) England and (b) each region in the last 12 months. [135670]
Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Wirral South the (Ben Chapman) on 14 May 2007, Official Report, column 606W.
NHS: Natural Gas
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency has held discussions with Gazprom on the supply of gas to parts of the NHS. [134412]
Andy Burnham: The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency’s energy team has met with Gazprom Marketing and Trading Limited to discuss the requirements of the framework agreement for the supply of gas to large NHS hospital sites.
NHS: Public Appointments
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many members of the National Director for Health and Work’s team have been appointed. [136378]
Ms Rosie Winterton: As the National Director for Health and Work, Dame Carol Black has two staff members who provide direct support to her.
In this role, Dame Carol also works closely with policy staff from the Department, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Health and Safety Executive involved in the Government’s Health, Work and Well-being Strategy.
Nurses
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 22 March 2007, Official Report, column 1140W, on nurses, whether she has taken steps to encourage more men to work as nurses, midwives and health visiting staff; how much has been spent advertising jobs in publications likely to reach a predominantly male audience; whether targets are in place for the recruitment of male employees; whether specific training courses are offered only to male employees; whether any jobs have been advertised under section 47(1a) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975; and if she will make a statement on the number of male nursing staff working in the national health service. [135533]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Careers in the national health service are promoted by NHS Careers. The service consists of a telephone and email helpline, website, literature and supporting services for NHS employers, schools, colleges and careers advisors. Case studies of real life stories featured by NHS Careers show both men and women and reflect the diversity of the NHS workforce.
Advertising jobs is a matter for local employers. However, employers are encouraged to use NHS jobs, an on-line system for advertising vacancies in the NHS, which is both cost effective and accessible. NHS jobs has 7,129 new vacancies from NHS employers across England and Wales.
There are no targets for the recruitment of male employees; local organisations are responsible for planning and recruiting their workforce to meet the health service needs of their local population. However, workforce census figures in the following table show a growing trend in the number of qualified male nurses, health visitors and midwives between 2004 and 2006.
The Department does not collect information on specific training courses.
| Qualified Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff - broken down by gender 2004-06 | |||||
| Percentage | |||||
| 2006 | Male | Female | Unknown | ( 1) Male | ( 1) Female |
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