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11 July 2007 : Column 1562W—continued
The data are as provided by the national health service and have not been amended centrally.
The accuracy and completeness of these data is the responsibility of the provider organisation.
NHS: Equality
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons his Department’s Gender Equity Project had difficulty gaining access to a contact list of England’s Directors of Public Health, as stated on page 15 of his Department’s Gender Equity Audit Report, published on 8 June 2007; what steps he has taken to ensure his Department has access to an up-to-date contact list of Directors of Public Health; and if he will make a statement. [147556]
Dawn Primarolo: At the time of the project the Department had a list of Regional Public Health Directors but did not have a detailed contact list of all Public Health Directors working in over 302 primary care trusts across England. However, 155 of the 279 invitations were sent directly to Directors of Public Health. Further to the reconfiguration in 2006 a more streamlined approach is now taken when seeking information from national health service organisations. The Chief Executive Bulletin is used to filter down information, and requests for information, to appropriate personnel in the NHS.
NHS: Finance
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the Capital Challenge Fund Scheme funding allocations are of (a) University Hospital, Birmingham NHS Trust, (b) Frimley Park NHS Foundation Trust and (c) University College London NHS Foundation Trust; and if he will make a statement. [147457]
Mr. Bradshaw: For NHS foundation trusts (NHSFTs), the Capital Challenge Fund offered a potential addition of £300,000 to public dividend capital. In order to receive the addition funding, NHSFTs had to meet the general rules for entitlement to public dividend capital. University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust drew down new public dividend capital of £300,000 from the Fund. Frimley Park NHS Foundation Trust and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust did not draw down any public dividend capital in 2006-07.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reasons were for the increase in the gross deficit in the primary care trust sector between 2005-06 and 2006-07. [147578]
Mr. Bradshaw: The primary care trust (PCT) sector reported a £633 million gross deficit at the end of 2006-07, which is a £17 million deterioration from the position reported at the end of 2005-06. However, the proportion of PCTs reporting a deficit has reduced from 36 per cent. in 2005-06 to 27 per cent. in 2006-07.
From 2006-07, we have stopped the movement of money round the national health service through brokerage or planned support. As we anticipated, this reform of the NHS financial regime has exposed deficits which might otherwise have remained hidden. As part of the strategy to manage the financial position in their overall economy in 2006-07, strategic health authorities (SHAs) were able to top-slice PCT allocations to create SHA reserves. Although this top-slice may have contributed to the less than 3 per cent. increase in the overall PCT gross deficit, this money is not lost, but held by the SHAs on behalf of the NHS. PCTs are entitled to repayment of their contribution over a reasonable period which should not normally exceed the three-year allocation cycle.
A clearer measure of PCT financial performance is shown by considering the in-year financial position, as this excludes both the Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) adjustments in respect of prior year performance and the impact of the top-slice of PCT allocations. The in-year deficit of the 55 PCTs that recorded a deficit in 2005-06 was £326 million. This underlying position improved significantly to a £348 million in-year surplus by the end of 2006-07.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish the long-term plans for the 17 NHS trusts which cannot service and repay loans over an acceptable period, as referred to in his Department's report NHS financial performance quarter four, published on 6 June 2007. [147580]
Mr. Bradshaw: Departmental officials are working closely with strategic health authorities to identify long-term solutions for these 17 trusts. It is intended that the review work will be concluded in the autumn, and that solutions will be prepared in the context of the operating framework for 2008-09.
NHS: Fires
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many fires were reported on the NHS estate as required by FIRECODE policy and principles in each of the last three financial years. [147063]
Mr. Bradshaw: The figures in the table have been obtained from information contained in the fire database held by the Department. National health service trusts are required to report all outbreaks of fire to which the fire and rescue service attend.
The figures may not be representative of the actual number of incidents attended by the fire and rescue services as, for example, NHS foundation trusts are not mandated to provide information in relation to fire incidents.
| Financial year | Number of incidents |
NHS: Repairs and Maintenance
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the repair backlog was of the NHS estate, broken down by (a) high risk, (b) significant risk, (c) moderate risk and (d) low risk in each of the last three financial years; and what the overall risk adjusted backlog was. [147061]
Mr. Bradshaw: Information on the levels of backlog maintenance categorised by risk for the national health service estate in England was first collected for 2004-05. The data for financial years 2004-05 and 2005-06 are in table 1. Figures for the overall risk adjusted backlog are in table 2.
| Table 2 | ||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
|
Overall risk adjusted backlog—defined by a formula which takes into account risk over the remaining life of buildings (as assessed by the Valuation Office Agency). | ||
Investment to reduce backlog maintenance will be prioritised locally based on risk assessment, reconfiguration planning and available resources.
The data provided have not been amended centrally and the accuracy and completeness of these data is the responsibility of the provider organisation.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost was of building and engineering maintenance on the NHS estate in each of the last three financial years. [147062]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is provided in the following table.
| Total building and engineering maintenance costs | |
| £ million | |
The costs relate to the amount spent by the national health service in England on the ongoing and day-to-day provision of building and engineering maintenance services.
The data provided have not been amended centrally and the accuracy and completeness of these data is the responsibility of the provider organisation.
NHS: Standards
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has undertaken any analysis of the NHS’s performance relative to other countries’ health care systems in the last two years. [147536]
Mr. Bradshaw: Yes. International comparisons of health care performance are analysed in support of policy-making and evaluation when such comparisons may be instructive.
The Department also studies international comparative analysis undertaken by others, such as that carried out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, The Commonwealth Fund and the Picker Institute.
We have commissioned specific reviews for particular policy issues, including “Health care outside hospital: accessing generalist and specialist care in eight countries, and Capacity planning in health care: reviewing the international experience”. These are publicly available at:
The Department has also published comparisons of performance on a range of indicators in the report “Health Profile of England”, which has been placed in the Library and is also available at:
www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/idcpig?IdcService=GET_FILE&;dID=22190&Rendition=Web
Tackling health inequalities is an international issue and was a key health theme for the United Kingdom presidency of the European Union in 2005. As part of the presidency, the UK commissioned “Health Inequalities: Europe in Profile”, which is available in the Library and at:
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that data collected through the Quality and Outcomes Framework of the new General Medical Services contract should require gender-specific information. [147555]
Mr. Bradshaw: The data for the Quality and Outcomes Framework are collected by the Quality Measurement Analysis System (QMAS). QMAS does not have the technical capability to collect patient specific information.
Nurses: Manpower
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many specialist (a) stoma, (b) diabetes, (c) kidney, (d) Parkinson’s disease and (e) cancer nurses were employed in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS trust. [148133]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not collected centrally.
The annual national health service workforce census does not separately identify specialist stoma, diabetes, kidney, Parkinson’s disease and cancer nurses from the rest of the nursing work force.
Primary Care Trusts
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many collaborative commissioning groups for specialist services were established by primary care trusts in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [148849]
Mr. Bradshaw: The number of specialised commissioning groups, formed by consortia of primary care trusts, in the last three years, are set out in the following table.
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| Note: In 2005-06 and 2006-07 LSCGs covered specialised services with a planning population of one to two million; SCGs covered a planning population of three to six million. | |||
The overall number reduced from April 2007 following the implementation of the recommendations of Sir David Carter's Review of Commissioning Arrangements for Specialised Services.
Primary Care Trusts: Committees
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what functions exceptional circumstances committees of primary care trusts (PCTs) have; how they operate; what guidance his Department provides to PCTs on the operation of such committees; and if he will make a statement. [148522]
Mr. Bradshaw: Primary care trusts are able to appoint committees of the trust, but there is no requirement for a special exception committee, an exceptional circumstance committee or other committee to approve treatments. There is no national guidance on the functions and operation of any such committee.
Private Finance Initiative
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the National Audit Office on its draft report on the private finance initiative. [148132]
Mr. Bradshaw: In line with established practice, the National Audit Office (NAO) offered the Department an early opportunity to comment on the factual accuracy of the NAO's provisional audit findings.
The provisional audit findings were never submitted for signing off by the Accounting Officer at the Department because the NAO subsequently decided that they were not sufficiently conclusive to justify a report to Parliament.
Shropshire Primary Care Trust: Finance
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) original budgeted figures and (b) actual budget figures were for Shropshire Primary Care Trust in 2006-07. [146522]
Dawn Primarolo: The figures for 2006-07 revenue resource limit and capital resource limit for Shropshire County Primary Care Trust (PCT) are shown in the table.
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