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16 July 2007 : Column 168W—continued
Mr. Bradshaw:
The Conference of Post-Graduate Medical Deans Steering Group for Recruitment and Selection for Specialty Training was created to establish the rules and criteria for entry to specialty training in 2007. Its membership included post-graduate deans for medical education, representatives of employers, deanery recruitment teams, royal colleges, trainee doctors and the Department. The steering group agreed that all eligibility criteria including for example General Medical Council registration, Royal College exams, English language proficiency and the right to work in the United Kingdom, would be assessed on the last date on which applications to the 2007 recruitment could be submitted. The date was originally set at
4 February. When the application period was extended until 5 February the date for assessing eligibility criteria was also extended. The decision to set the assessment of eligibility criteria on 5 February was a practical one, designed to ensure that all doctors would be subject to the same criteria, and that eligibility was fixed at the start of the process rather than being subject to change at any time, creating operational difficulties.
The Home Office advised that the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme approval letter does not grant doctors leave to remain in the United Kingdom under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme and so was not accepted when the assessment of a candidate’s right to work was made.
The eligibility criteria for round 2 have been published and no changes have been made.
Donors
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures his Department has considered to increase the number of organs retrieved from (a) heart-beating and (b) non-heart-beating donors. [148879]
Ann Keen: The Department launched “Saving Lives, Valuing Donors: A Transplant Framework for England” in 2003 and the National Service Framework for Renal Services in 2004. These set out the Department's key aims for organ and tissue transplantation over the following 10 years. Over the last five years, Government investment in hospital- based initiatives has helped increase live and non- heart-beating donor rates. An organ donor taskforce will report to Ministers in autumn 2007 on how organ donor rates can be further improved.
Fluoride: Drinking Water
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to each health authority of implementing the fluoridation of public drinking water. [148451]
Ann Keen: For a strategic health authority with an average population of 5 million we estimate the capital costs of the water plant would be about £25 million and the recurrent costs of the operation of the plant and the fluoride chemicals would be around 80p per head of population per year.
Health Services: Training
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many training commissions there were for the main health service professions, including podiatry between 2001 and 2006. [148821]
Ann Keen: The number of training commissions for nurses and all allied health professionals including chiropodists/podiatrists between 2001-02 and 2005-06 is shown in the table.
The second table shows the number of trainee doctors who entered medical school between 2001-02 and 2005-06.
| Pre registration training commissions | |||
| of which: | |||
| Nursing | All allied health professionals | Chiropody/podiatry | |
| Source: NMET Quarterly Monitoring Returns | |||
| Medical school intake | |
| Source: HEFCE | |
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 June 2007, Official Report, column 2178W, on health services: training, if he will publish validated data relating to expenditure and training in 2006-07, broken down by strategic health authority. [147495]
Ann Keen: The following table shows the 2006-07 Multi-Professional Education and Training (MPET) allocations made to strategic health authorities (SHAs) and the actual outturn expenditure reported by the SHAs.
2006-07 MPET allocation and expenditure
| £ 000 | |||
| SHA | 2006-07 allocation | 2006-07 outturn | Variance |
| Notes: 1. All figures are provisional. 2. Allocation figures do not include any money recurrently remapped from service. | |||
Health: Stockport
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the percentage of people in Stockport who have long-term illnesses. [147255]
Ann Keen: In the 2005 Healthcare Commission primary care trust (PCT) survey of patients, 34 per cent. of respondents in Stockport PCT responded yes to the question “Do you have a long-standing physical or mental health problem or disability?”
Hospitals: Finance
Norman Lamb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health which major hospital schemes with a capital
value over £20 million reached financial close in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007 so far; which are expected to reach financial close in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008 and (iii) 2009; and what the actual or expected capital cost and completion date is of each scheme. [148931]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information is in the table
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