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20 Jun 2007 : Column 1894W—continued
Accident and Emergency Departments
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment (a) her Department and (b) organisations responsible to her Department have conducted into the correlation between survivability and journey times to accident and emergency departments in (i) Surrey Primary Care Trust, (ii) South East Coast Strategic Health Authority and (iii) England; and if she will make a statement. [143277]
Andy Burnham: The Department does not routinely undertake assessments of this kind, either for England or for particular localities.
It is a matter for the local national health service to ensure there is appropriate provision of urgent and emergency care services that are responsive to people's needs. This includes accident and emergency provision. The aim should be to provide safe, high quality care as close to home as is compatible with clinical safety. Local organisations, including primary care trusts and strategic health authorities, may make use of a range of information available to them when considering the planning and provision of local services.
Air Ambulance Services: Finance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she intends to review the funding of air ambulances by charities; and if she will make a statement. [144087]
Andy Burnham: There are no plans to review the funding of air ambulances.
Although air ambulance services are provided by charities, staff costs have been paid by the national health service since 2002. It is for NHS trusts to decide whether they provide any additional funding to air ambulance charities.
Lymphatic Cancer
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the NHS Life Checks proposed in the Our Health, Our Care, Our Say White Paper will include lymphatic cancer indicators. [143740]
Caroline Flint: The purpose of national health service life checks is to highlight modifiable health behaviours and aspects of lifestyle that are risk factors for poor health. These will include smoking, diet and nutrition, physical activity, alcohol, stress and emotional well-being. The mid-life life check for people aged 45-60 will have a particular focus on assessing people's risk of vascular disease, the leading cause of death and disability in England. There will not be a specific emphasis on assessing risks for or symptoms of lymphatic cancer.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the proposed revisions to the payment by results tariff will take into account the care, support and treatment needs of lymphoma patients. [143306]
Andy Burnham: The “Options for the Future of Payment by Results: 2008-09 to 2010-11” sets out plans for extending the scope of payment by results. The consultation is due to complete on 22 June 2007 and the Department will issue a response to the consultation in autumn 2007. Copies have been placed in the Library.
The consultation document outlines how tariffs for radiotherapy and chemotherapy could be introduced in 2009-10.
However, social care is currently outside the scope of payment by results. Care and support services other than those provided during a patient's stay in hospital or as an outpatient where care is consultant-led, are excluded from tariff. Funding for services that are outside the scope of, or excluded from, payment by results is agreed locally between commissioners and providers.
Cannabis: Research
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what licences are current for research into possible medicinal uses of cannabis; what assessment she has made of the progress being made with each research project; and when the results of the research will be available. [135952]
Caroline Flint: Over the last 10 years, the main part of the Department’s total expenditure on health research has been devolved to and managed by the national health service organisations. Details of individual NHS supported research projects including a number concerned with the medicinal use of cannabis derivatives are available on the national research register at www.dh.gov.uk/research.
A total of 50 clinical trials involving extracts of cannabis, cannabis based medicines or cannabis derived medicines have been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency since July 1999. The Agency does not have information on when the results from these trials will be available.
Childbirth
Anne Milton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether an assessment has been made of the
impact of payment by results on (a) the number of home births, (b) the number of caesarean sections and (c) the national choice guarantees made in her Department's Maternity Matters strategy for maternity services as referred to in the answer of 18 April 20006, Official Report, column 230W, on maternity services. [143558]
Andy Burnham: There has been no formal assessment to date of the impact of payment by results on the number of home births, caesarean sections or national choice guarantees made in the Maternity Matters strategy.
However, the Maternity Matters strategy makes clear that a tariff for home births is needed to support the national choice guarantees. Both ‘Maternity Matters and the Options for the Future of Payment by Results: 2008-09 to 2010-11’ consultation document, published on 15 March 2007, commit the Government to achieving this. Clinical experts are also being consulted to ensure that payment by results pays a price that more appropriately reflects costs in maternity services.
Copies of the consultation document have been placed in the Library.
Chlamydia Infection: Screening
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to ensure the accuracy of chlamydia testing kits on sale in the UK. [144153]
Caroline Flint: Manufacturers of chlamydia testing kits are obliged to meet specified requirements for their safety, quality and performance laid down in the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (as amended) before they are placed on the United Kingdom market. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has post market surveillance responsibilities on behalf of the Secretary of State to enforce the regulations and investigate serious incidents involving this type of device.
Dental Services: Barnsley
Mr. Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions between 2003 and April 2006 her Department received representations from Barnsley Primary Care Trust on the adequacy of funding for orthodontic services in Barnsley. [138735]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department worked closely with a number of primary care trusts (PCTs) in the South Yorkshire area between 2004 and 2006 to help develop local dental services and pilot new ways of working, and in that process had a number of contacts with officials from both Barnsley PCT and the former South Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority. The question of longer term activity and funding levels for specialist orthodontic practices was one of the issues raised in those contacts.
Under the legislation governing the transition to new local commissioning arrangements from 1 April 2006, dentists with general dental services contracts, including orthodontists, were guaranteed new contracts based on their national health service earnings during the 12-month reference period October
2004 to September 2005. The Departments advice to PCTs was that, where practices’ more recent levels of activity exceeded those reflected in the reference period earnings, PCTs should ensure as a minimum that funding was available to complete treatment for all patients under treatment as at 31 March 2006 but that it was a local decision for the PCT, or the PCTs across the wider health economy, based on an assessment of local needs, whether to commit the additional investment needed to sustain the higher levels of activity in the longer term.
We understand that Barnsley PCT has recently completed a review of local orthodontic treatment needs and intends to commission an additional 64 orthodontic courses of treatment annually to reflect the outcome of this needs assessment.
Departments: Advertising
Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much revenue her Department received from (a) adverts on her Department’s public information leaflets and (b) adverts on her Department’s public websites in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement. [142529]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: There is currently no mechanism for recording this information centrally within the Department and to attempt to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
Departments: Official Cars
Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what make and model of car (a) she and (b) each Minister in her Department selected as their official ministerial car; and what criteria were used when making the decision in each case. [141996]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Transport (Dr. Ladyman), on 14 June 2007, Official Report , columns 1268-69.
Departments: Official Hospitality
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on hospitality by her Department in the financial year 2006-07. [133257]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: With the introduction of the Department's new finance system in April 2004 a number of financial codes were combined to include miscellaneous expenditure, which is not classifiable as hospitality. Therefore we do not hold an accurate value for the period 2006-07.
Departments: Property
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was raised from the sale of departmental property in each of the last five years. [139315]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
The only receipt from the sale of departmental property within the last five years was in
2002-03 when the sum of £3,607,067 was received from the sale of Glenthorne Youth Treatment Centre.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was received by her Department from the letting of its properties in each of the last five years. [139334]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: During the last five years the Department has received the following rental sums from the letting of its properties.
| Sum received for rental (£) | |
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate has been made of the value of her Department’s property portfolio. [139377]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department has three freehold properties within its portfolio. It is estimated that they are valued at £74,940,000.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of leasing buildings and office space for (a) her Department and (b) its agencies was in each of the last five years. [139468]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The cost of leasing buildings for the Department and its agencies in each of the last five years is as follows.
| £ | ||
| Department | Agencies | |
Departments: Public Expenditure
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her Department’s delegated expenditure limit is above which expenditure must be approved by HM Treasury. [144521]
Andy Burnham: The Department has delegated limits from HM Treasury for approving the following specific categories of expenditure:
NHS Estate: Land Transactions;
NHS Estate: Capital Projects (Buildings and Equipment)
Civil Estate: Land Transactions
NHS Trust Information Management and Technology Projects
Departmental Information Technology Projects
NHS Losses and Special Payments
Departmental (including Agencies and non-department public bodies) Losses and Special Payments
Clinical and Medical Negligence
Most of these categories in turn involve a number of different schemes and transactions, each of which has a different delegated limit. The delegated limit for the appointment of preferred bidder business case and full business case for a capital investment scheme under the Private Finance Initiative is £100 million; this falls within the NHS Estate: Capital Projects (Buildings and Equipment) category above.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what requests for additional funds her Department made to HM Treasury in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07; what the date was of each request; and whether each was granted. [144522]
Andy Burnham: The Department has not made any requests to HM Treasury for additional funds in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Doctors: Training
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what meetings she has held with the British Medical Association on the operation of the medical training application system. [125094]
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions she has had with the British Medical Association to evaluate the selection process for junior doctors. [129339]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 7 March 2007]: My right. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health met representatives from the British Medical Association (BMA) on 28 February and 14 March.
The Secretary of State and my noble Friend the Minister of State, Lord Hunt, also met Dr. Sam Everington, Deputy Chairman of Council, Dr. Jo Hilborne, chair, Junior Doctor's Committee, Dr Jonathan Fielden, chair, Consultants Committee and Ms Sally Watson, director of representational and political activities on 24 May.
In addition the Secretary of State had phone calls with the BMA on 8 March, 9 and 16 May.
Lord Hunt met James Johnson, chairman of the BMA on 2 May.
There have also been a series of official level meetings with representatives from the BMA on modernising medical careers (MMC) since 1 February.
The selection process for MMC, including the medical training application system computer system, were discussed at all of these meetings and phone calls.
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2007, Official Report, columns 583W, on doctors: training, whether the report into the breach of security of the Medical Training Application Service website will address the question of whether Methods were instructed to issue a password by her Department. [138374]
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