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6 Jun 2007 : Column 586W—continued
NHS: Standards
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many separate bodies monitor, inspect or assess the NHS; and what co-operation there is between those bodies to prevent duplication of work. [139801]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not hold such information centrally and it would be disproportionally expensive to gather the information.
Nurses
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she has taken to improve the terms and conditions of nurses working in the NHS; and what plans she has to further improve pay and conditions. [138642]
Ms Rosie Winterton: New terms and conditions of service have been implemented for the majority of directly employed national health service staff including nurses, as part of the Agenda for Change pay reform programme. These include a number of substantial improvements for the majority of staff, including higher maximum pay rates, more scope for career progression and more annual leave. The starting pay of a newly qualified nurse has increased from £13,385 in 1997 to £19,645 from November 2007. This represents an increase of 59 per cent., 25 per cent. in real terms. The Government remain committed to the new pay system, which is continuing to benefit nurses among others alongside annual pay increases recommended by the Nurses and Other Health Professions Pay Review Body.
Nurses: Students
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the availability, subject to a means test, of grants for nursing students studying for (a) a diploma course or (b) a degree; and what comparison she has made of the difference in sums available. [140434]
Ms Rosie Winterton
[holding answer 4 June 2007]: From 1 September 2006, diploma students who are entitled to a non-means tested bursary can receive a basic award up to £7,030 a year. Degree students who are entitled to a means tested bursary can receive a basic award up to £4,378 (based on a 45-week course) and they are also eligible to apply for a Department for Education and Skills student loan. From 1 September 2007, diploma students can receive a basic award of up to £7,443 and degree students (based on a 45-week course) can receive up to £4,715. The total amount of
both the non-means-tested and means-tested bursaries can increase with additional allowances subject to individual circumstances. The provisions of the national health service bursary scheme are under consideration with stakeholders as part of the modernisation process.
Paediatrics: Princess Royal Hospital
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions she has had with the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS hospital trust on the proposed overnight closure of the paediatric unit at the Princess Royal hospital. [139112]
Caroline Flint: The Secretary of State for Health has had no discussion with the Shrewsbury and Telford national health service hospital trust on this subject.
Patient Groups
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice her Department has given to foundation trusts on the involvement of patient groups in trust board meetings; what representations she has had from patient groups on exclusion from trust board meetings; and if she will make a statement. [140349]
Andy Burnham: The Department has issued guidance on developing and implementing governance arrangements in national health service foundation trusts which is available at:
The legislative framework for foundation trusts gives them significant scope to tailor their governance arrangements to reflect their different status, the services they provide and the profile of their communities.
While some representations have been made by organisations, including those representing patient groups, on the operation of board of director meetings in foundation trusts, the National Health Service Act 2006 only allows for foundation trusts to open meetings of the board of governors to the public. There is no equivalent provision for meetings of the board of directors. This would be a matter for each trust. Monitor (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts) has however issued a code of governance for foundation trusts which advises directors to follow a policy of openness and transparency in its proceedings and decision making unless this conflicts with a need to protect the wider interests of the public or the foundation trusts, including commercial-in-confidence matters.
Patients: Transport
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of whether hospitals have acted on her Department's guidance to inform patients of the hospital travel costs scheme. [139806]
Andy Burnham: The recent hospital travel costs scheme consultation included questions on awareness of the scheme. The results are being analysed and will be published in the near future.
Plagiocephaly
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will estimate the cost of providing STARband treatment free of charge to all children with deformational plagiocephaly; [140729]
(2) what her most recent estimate is of the number of children with deformational plagiocephaly; [140730]
(3) what treatments for children suffering with deformational plagiocephaly are available free of charge through the national health service; what the criteria are for the provision of such treatments; and what reasons STARband treatment is not so provided. [140731]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of cases of deformational (more commonly known as positional) plagiocephaly is not collected centrally. It is not, therefore possible to estimate the cost to the national health service of providing STARband treatment to every child who has this usually self-correcting condition. It is for doctors to decide whether to prescribe and for primary care trusts to decide whether to fund treatment with special helmets, such as STARband.
Prescriptions
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received from (a) members of the public and (b) others on the practice of restricting repeat prescriptions to 28 days’ length. [137273]
Caroline Flint: Since the beginning of the current parliamentary session, until 14 May 2007, the Department of Health had received 42 representations in the form of correspondence primarily on the issue of restricting the length of repeat prescriptions. This is not a definitive number as there may be correspondence on other subjects which also touch on this issue. However, the task of looking through all ministerial correspondence would result in disproportionate cost.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescription items were dispensed by the NHS in each year between 1997 and 2006; and what the total net cost of these items was in each year. [138389]
Caroline Flint: Information on the number and the net ingredient cost (NIC) of prescription items dispensed in the community, in England, is shown in the following table.
| Prescription items dispensed (Thousand) | NIC (£000) | |
| Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) data from the Prescription Pricing Division of the NHS Business Services Authority | ||
These figures do not include drugs dispensed in hospitals, including mental health trusts, or private prescriptions. Information on the gross cost of prescription items dispensed is not collected centrally.
Primary Care Trusts
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to the answer of 24 April 2007, Official Report, column 1052W, on primary care trusts, when the first draft of the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) notice was written; and when her Department’s director of commissioning was made aware of the OJEU notice; [138977]
(2) what involvement Simon Stevens had in drafting (a) the original Official Journal of the European Union notice on primary care trust commissioning published on 29June 2006 and (b) subsequent versions. [139001]
Andy Burnham: The notice was drafted in the weeks leading up to its submission to the Official Journal of the European Union on 9 June. The Director General of the Commissioning Directorate was sighted on the notice before its submission.
Simon Stevens had no involvement in drafting the notice.
Prisons: Drugs
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 15 March 2007, Official Report, column 552W, on prisons: drugs, whether the funding announced for the Integrated Drug Treatment System will be ring-fenced. [138391]
Caroline Flint: The investment allocated by the Department for the Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) is not ring-fenced.
The allocation contains specific amounts targeted to those primary care trusts which contain prisons implementing IDTS.
Race Equality
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) cost and (b) content was of the training modules on race equality and cultural capability to which she refers in paragraph 5.268 of her Department’s 2006 annual report; and if she will make a statement. [115551]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
The training packs on race equality and cultural capability were piloted within the national health service from August 2006 to April 2007. 65 practitioners, two administration staff, a number of service users and carers across four NHS trusts were involved in the pilot. The packs are currently being evaluated to determine how they will help people
working predominantly in the NHS and social care towards the 12 service characteristics dealing with the challenges that are outlined in Delivering Race Equality (DRE). The evaluation will report in June 2007. The cost of the training is £240,000, which covers work to ensure the packs’ independent development, testing, trialling and evaluation.
Once the evaluation is complete, the Department plans to start full training with the training modules. The training will be targeted within the newly formed DRE clinical trailblazer network (pilot sites to test the clinically related service change characteristics of DRE). The network aims to take direct action to challenge disproportional admission rates, detention and treatment, and poor satisfaction rates associated with minority service users of mental health services.
Urology: Medical Treatments
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will set a timetable for implementing the recommendations following the recently ended consultation on the supply of urology products. [134094]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 30 April 2007]: Three consultations closed on 2 April 2007:
Arrangements for the reimbursement pricing of stoma and incontinence appliances under Part IX of the Drug Tariff;
Arrangements for the remuneration of services relating to appliances within Part IX of the Drug Tariff; and
Proposed Amendments to the Regulatory Terms of Service of Pharmacy and Appliance Contractors in relation to Dispensing Items Listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff.
Due to the volume and complexity of the responses more time is needed to analyse the information provided. Consequently, no changes will be implemented in July 2007 as previously proposed.
I do not anticipate that the review will be complete before the end of the year. I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement issued on 23 May 2007, Official Report, column 78WS, about the timing of this review.
Duchy of Lancaster
Central Office of Information: Contracts
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will name each contract that the Central Office of Information has with Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO; and what the value is of each such contract. [140739]
Hilary Armstrong: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO (AMV BBDO) is contracted by the Central Office of Information to work on Government business via a framework agreement. AMV BBDO has been awarded a project on citizen and public engagement (dealing with climate change issues) on behalf of DEFRA.
This project is at an early stage, so the final level of advertising activity is still under discussion and therefore so is the final value of the contract.
Delivery Unit
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many joint reviews with other Government Departments the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit has carried out over the last 12 months. [139894]
Hilary Armstrong: Over the past 12 months the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit carried out 38 joint reviews with Government Departments.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2006, Official Report, columns 795-6W, on the Delivery Unit, what (a) key barriers to improvement and (b) action needed to strengthen delivery the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit has identified in providing performance management in key delivery areas. [139900]
Hilary Armstrong: Barriers to improvement vary from issue to issue. Examples of action needed to strengthen delivery identified by the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit include improved delivery plans; clear targets, metrics and success criteria; and a shared understanding of purpose, roles and responsibilities.
Departments: Data Protection
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many times her Department was found to have been in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [139221]
Mr. McFadden: Breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 can be dealt with by the Information Commissioner, the courts or by Departments at an informal local level. Thus, the information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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