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25 Jun 2007 : Column 249W—continued


Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the number of round 2 interviews that will take place via the Medical Training Application Service recruitment process; and if she will make a statement. [145662]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The online Medical Training Application Service is not being used for the round 2 recruitment process. This further recruitment round is being run locally by deaneries.

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the number of round 1 (a) offers made and (b) interviews held through the Medical Training Application Service to date; and if she will make a statement. [145663]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of offers made is not collected centrally. The number of interviews held in round 1 was approximately 40,800 in the United Kingdom and 32,200 in England. England guaranteed interviews for all first choice applications (other than those for general practice) after repreferencing. The Devolved Administrations offered interviews for all four applications. As a result approximately a further 23,400 interviews were held in the UK; 16,300 in England.

Health Services: Immigrants

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to prevent the NHS treating illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers in circumstances where they have no entitlement to such treatment. [145629]


25 Jun 2007 : Column 250W

Ms Rosie Winterton: People who are living lawfully in the United Kingdom for a settled purpose, are entitled to register with a general practice. Regulations do allow practices discretion over whom they register and if the practice list is not closed to new applications the practice must have reasonable and non-discriminatory grounds for refusing an application. Being an illegal immigrant or failed asylum seeker would be such grounds.

For hospital treatment, anyone who is not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, including illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers, is subject to the provisions of the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended. These regulations require national health service bodies providing hospital services to establish whether a patient is ordinarily resident and, if not, whether they are covered by any of the exemptions in the regulations. If the patient is not exempt, they should be charged for any NHS hospital services provided.

Health Services: Procurement

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of which companies (a) have direct experience of managing a healthcare commissioning budget in the UK or internationally of at least £300,000,000 and (b) have supported commissioning for populations over 90,000. [145633]

Andy Burnham: To support the local national health service in undertaking commissioning functions, the Department has recently assessed organisations against a number of criteria through the development of the framework for procuring external support for commissioners (FESC). The procurement of the FESC has been conducted in compliance with European Union law.

Organisations involved in the FESC procurement have, along with a range of other criteria, been assessed against their track-record of supporting commissioning for populations over 90,000 rather than against experience of managing a healthcare commissioning budget.

Herbal Medicine: EC Law

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will require the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to discuss the identification of products made from organic ingredients with representatives of the manufacturers of herbal remedies marketed under the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive; and if she will make a statement. [144790]

Caroline Flint: Following discussions in 2006 the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency met representatives of the Herbal Forum (a group representing manufacturers' trade associations in the herbal sector) and the Soil Association on 14 June 2007 to discuss the development of organic standards which are appropriate to the production of herbal medicinal products, and how products meeting those standards can be identified. We understand that the Herbal Forum intends to bring forward proposals and we will give them careful consideration.


25 Jun 2007 : Column 251W

Home Care Services

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons domiciliary consultations by consultants with general practitioners were discontinued by the NHS. [140538]

Andy Burnham: There is nothing to stop domiciliary consultations by consultants with general practitioners in principle. However, these should normally be scheduled as part of the programmed activities that make up the consultant’s job plan. Alternatively, a consultant may retain any fee that is paid for domiciliary consultations undertaken in the consultant’s own time.

Hospitals: Finance

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the projected financial position is of (a) Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, (b) Worthing and Southlands Hospital, (c) Princess Royal, Haywards Heath and (d) St. Richards Hospital, Chichester for the end of the financial year 2007-08; and what the financial position of each was at the end of the last financial year. [145845]

Caroline Flint: The information requested is collected by national health service trusts, and not by hospitals.

The quarter 4, 2006-07 provisional outturn surplus/(deficit) and 2007-08 provisional plan year end forecast outturn surplus/(deficit) for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, the Royal West Sussex NHS Trust and the Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust are shown in the following table.

£ million
NHS Trust 2006- 0 7 quarter 4 provisional outturn surplus/(deficit) 2007-08 provisional plan year end forecast outturn surplus/(deficit) data

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS trust

(5.3)

(4.5)

Worthing and Southlands hospitals NHS trust

(6)

0

The Royal West Sussex NHS trust

1.5

0.67

Source:
Quarter 4 2006-07 Department of Health financial monitoring returns
Financial plans for 2007-08 are subject to final validation and sign-off with the NHS.

Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each NHS primary care trust allocated to each district general hospital within its boundaries in each of the last three years; what proportion of each trust’s budget that represented in each year; and what the projected figures are for 2007-08. [145950]

Andy Burnham: Revenue allocations are made directly to primary care trusts (PCTs), not national health service trusts or individual hospitals. We do not collect centrally, information on funding flows between PCTs and NHS trusts.


25 Jun 2007 : Column 252W

Hospitals: Greater London

Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the occupation costs were for each of the six hospital trust sites in South East London in each of the last three years. [145948]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information in the following table is as provided by the organisation concerned and has not been amended.

Trust name 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06

Bexley Care Trust

1,627,616

1,559,498

1,869,264

South London and Maudsley NHS Trust

18,196,822

14,903,664

22,948,322

Oxleas NHS Trust

9,916,562

9,681,675

12,218,574

King’s College Hospital NHS Trust

19,092,305

23,658,087

26,079,201

Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

51,474,820

13,434,702

Not available

The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust

10,509,038

11,517,772

12,823,300

Queen Mary’s Sidcup NHS Trust

7,274,001

8,443,453

10,464,410

Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust

6,668,227

6,362,439

18,869,437

Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust

10,080,618

11,621,044

13,775,016


The data represent the occupancy costs (capital charges, rent, rates, maintenance, energy and utility) for the trusts in the South East London Strategic Health Authority for the last three years they were collected.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents of hospital acquired infections have been reported at (a) Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, (b) Worthing Hospital and (c) St Richard's Hospital, Chichester in each of the last five years. [145829]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not available. The best available information is from the mandatory surveillance system, which provides the data for acute national health service trusts in England rather than individual hospitals on the following:

The Sussex county hospital, Brighton, is part of Brighton and Sussex university hospitals NHS trust; St. Richard's hospital, Chichester, is part of Royal West Sussex NHS trust and Worthing hospital is part of Worthing and Southlands NHS trust. The mandatory surveillance data for these NHS Trusts are shown in the following tables:


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25 Jun 2007 : Column 254W
Table 1: Number of reported blood stream infections (bacteraemia) from April 2001 to December 2006
April to March
Trust 2001-02 2002 - 03 2003 - 04 2004- 05 2005 - 06 April 2006 to December 2006

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust

86

74

107

129

141

80

Royal West Sussex NHS Trust

34

25

23

27

27

19

Worthing and Southlands NHS Trust

21

15

22

34

46

39

Source: Health Protection Agency.

Table 2: Annual counts of Clostridium difficile from January 2004 to December 2006
January to December
Trust 2004 2005 2006

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust

368

472

588

Royal West Sussex NHS Trust

270

261

395

Worthing and Southlands NHS Trust

135

195

298

Source: Health Protection Agency.

Table 3: Glycopeptide resistant enterococci (GRE) blood stream infections from 1 October 2003 to 30 September 2005
1 October to 30 September
Trust 2003-04 2004 - 05

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust

5

2

Royal West Sussex NHS Trust

0

1

Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust

0

1

Source: Health Protection Agency.

Table 4: Surgical site infections from April 2004 to March 2006
Number of surgical site infections/number procedures included in surveillance
Trust Surgical procedure April 2004 to March 2005 April 2005 to March 2006

Brighton and Sussex NHS Trust

Total hip prothesis

(1)1/223

(2)4/132

Knee prothesis

(1)2/207

(2)3/147

Hip hemiarthroplasty

(2)1/121

(2)3/147

Royal West Sussex NHS Trust

Total hip prothesis

(3)0/141

(3)6/273

Knee prothesis

(3)1/136

Hip hemiarthroplasty

(3)0/45

(3)1/103

Worthing and Southlands NHS Trust

Total hip prothesis

(4)4/70

Knee prothesis

(4)1/70

Hip hemiarthroplasty

(4)4/57

(1) 9 months data. (2) 6 months data. (3) 12 months data. (4) 4 months data. Notes: 1. Trusts can participate in surveillance for part or all of the year. 2. Differences in reported rates of SSI between these trusts are not statistically significant. Source: Health Protection Agency.

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