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14 Jun 2007 : Column 1309W—continued
| Table 2: age profile of health visitors as at September 2006 | |
| Headcount | |
| Health visitor | |
Health Visitors: Training
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many training places there are for trainees wishing to acquire health visiting qualifications. [139229]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally.
Hospitals: Infectious Diseases
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the purpose is of the web based surveillance system for Clostridium difficile and MRSA; and if she will make a statement. [138648]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Web-based reporting systems were introduced for all cases of Clostridium difficile associated disease in patients aged two years and over from April 2007 and for all cases of bloodstream infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from October 2005.
These web-based systems replace the quarterly reports sent by trusts to the Health Protection Agency regional offices. They have been introduced to support initiatives to control and prevent healthcare associated infections. These systems allow more efficient
collection of reports and enable trusts to enter data at any time and view their own data. They provide trusts with a more accurate picture and contribute to building a better evidence base regarding risk factors for infection as trusts can see the data to assess the effectiveness of the interventions to reduce infections.
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust: Hospital Wards
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) mixed wards and (b) single sex wards there were in each hospital in the Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust in each of the last two years. [140844]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many wards in Hull and East Yorkshire hospitals NHS Trust were closed in the last 12 months. [140855]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: This information is not collected centrally. Responsibility for local health services lies with the local national health service. It is now for primary care trusts in partnership with strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders to plan, develop and improve services for local people in accordance with local health needs.
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust: Redundancy
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many redundancies were made by Hull and East Yorkshire hospitals NHS Trust in the last 12 months. [140838]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: No redundancies have been reported for the Hull and East Yorkshire hospitals NHS Trust in 2006-07.
Junior Doctors: Taunton
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many junior doctors are registered in Taunton constituency. [141212]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The General Medical Council (GMC) keeps an up-to-date register of qualified doctors; all doctors must be registered with the GMC before they can work in the United Kingdom. Further information on the CMC can be found at:
The number of doctors in training and equivalent grades employed by national health service organisations within Taunton constituency is shown in the table.
Hospital and community health services (HCHS): medical and dental staff, showing doctors in training and equivalent grades for NHS organisations within Taunton constituency as at 30 September 2006.
| Number (headcount) | |||
| Total | Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust | |
| Source: The Information Centre for health and social care medical and dental workforce census. | |||
Lincolnshire
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when (a) she and (b) one of her ministerial colleagues last visited Lincolnshire. [134673]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has accepted an invitation to visit The Pilgrim hospital in Boston at a date to be agreed. No other Ministers have visited Lincolnshire.
Medical Training
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2007, Official Report, column 584, on medical training, whether the medical training application system was subject to formal quality assurance. [131862]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer to the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr. Stuart) on 19 April 2007, Official Report, column 745.
Medical Training Application Service
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her answer of 16 May 2007, Official Report, columns 613-17, on the Medical Training Application Service, how many of the fixed-term specialty training posts available in 2007 will be converted into run-through training posts in 2008. [138798]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is too early at this stage to say exactly what run-through and fixed-term posts will be available next year. This will depend, as it did this year, upon the results of local discussions between trusts and deaneries to establish the appropriate number of training posts required to meet patient and service needs.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her answer of 16 May 2007, Official Report, columns 613-17, on the Medical Training Application Service, where in the public domain the figures for the number of the medical training posts can be found. [138799]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of training posts agreed for the first round was available on the Medical Training Application Service while it was open.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her answer of 16 May 2007, Official Report, columns 613-7, on the Medical Training Application Service, how many training posts, in addition to those remaining from the 23,500 available after Round 1, there will be in Round 2; and when Round 2 interviews will commence. [138800]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Interviews for the further recruitment round will be managed locally and will start once the offers for each individual specialty in round one have been accepted or rejected. The number of additional training posts will include at least 200 run-through posts plus substantial further opportunities.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her answer of 16 May 2007, Official Report, columns 613-7, on the Medical Training Application Service, how many foundation year two applicants have failed to get an interview for ST1 posts. [138802]
Ms Rosie Winterton: As outlined in the statement by the Review of Recruitment and Selection for Specialty and General Practitioner Training in England on 4 April 2007, all eligible applicants to specialty training (excluding general practice) in England will be invited to an interview for their affirmed first preference.
NHS Work Force
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2007, Official Report, column 1121W, on the NHS work force, when she expects the East of England strategic health authority to complete its feasibility study into establishing a local voluntary guaranteed employment scheme; whether she plans to publish the study; and when her Department plans to take a decision on the viability of such schemes. [131895]
Ms Rosie Winterton: One of the recommendations of “The Action Plan - A Social Partnership Forum Action Plan for Maximising Employment Opportunities for Newly Qualified Healthcare Professionals in a Changing NHS” published on 13 April is that East of England strategic health authority undertake a feasibility study to maximise employment opportunities for newly qualified health care professionals. This will include assessing the feasibility of an employment guarantee scheme for newly qualified health care professionals.
The feasibility study will last for one year and was officially launched on 15 May by East of England strategic health authority.
The outcome of the feasibility study will determine whether employment guarantee schemes are a viable option. If so, the nature and length of these schemes will be defined upon relevant factors established through the study.
Stakeholder representatives on the social partnership forum will be involved in this decision-making process and the final outcome, once known, will be published.
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2007, Official Report, column 2045W, on the NHS work force, what
her Department’s most recent estimate is of changes in the NHS work force in the financial year 2006-07. [131903]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The recently published census showed there has been a small reduction in the overall national health service work force of 8,118 full-time equivalent (FTE) or 0.7 per cent. of the total (17,390 headcount) in England from September 2005 to September 2006. This should be seen in the context of there being almost 250,000 FTE (280,000 headcount) more staff working in the NHS in England than in 1997 as there are now over 34,000 FTE (35,000 HC) doctors and over 65,000 FTE (79,000 HC) more nurses in the NHS than in 1997.
Doctors account for 13.9 per cent. of the FTE increase in the work force and nurses 26.5 per cent., compared with just 5.5 per cent. managers.
There has been an increase in the number of doctors and an increase in the number of permanent qualified nurses now in the system. In addition, there are now fewer managers working in the NHS, the first fall since 1995.
The numbers show that the work force overall is starting to re-balance with demand equalling supply.
NHS: Consultants
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date her Department received Treasury approval for the new contract for NHS consultants agreed in October 2003. [140011]
Ms Rosie Winterton: New contracts for doctors formed part of the discussions between the Department and HM Treasury during the 2002 Spending Review, which concluded in July 2002.
Mr. Francois:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department set up a (a) working group, (b) steering group and (c) any other regular
series of meetings on the new contract for NHS consultants prior to October 2003. [140013]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department set up a number of working groups and reference groups, which included key stakeholders, during the negotiation and implementation of the consultant contract.
NHS: Finance
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when account was taken of forecast rates of inflation in determining the (a) prospective increase in the rates of pay for NHS nurses and (b) proposed increase in the cost of a prescription. [126191]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The review body on nurses and other health professions is required to have regard to the Government’s inflation target, and its consideration of pay and price changes in relation to its recommendation of a 2.5 per cent. increase in nurses pay this year is set out in chapter 7 of its “Twenty Second Report on Nursing an Other Health Professions 2007” (Cm 7029) published in March.
No account was taken of forecast rates of inflation in determining the increase in the prescription charge from 1 April 2007.
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average per capita social services spending has been (a) in England and (b) in each local authority area since 1979. [140560]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: There would be disproportionate costs incurred to produce information at this level of detail across the whole time period requested. The following table therefore shows the information (in cash terms, including adults and children's social care) from 2000-01, from which time an improved means was introduced for collecting these data through an annual return.
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