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26 July 2007 : Column 1310W—continued


A Choosing Health progress report was published earlier this year and is available at the Department’s website at

It shows that we have made significant progress over a wide range of areas and have created drivers for change through better engagement across systems and organisations, better information and new tools and techniques to support individual action to improve health. Two years through this three-year programme, examples of progress include the following:


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PCTs have played their part in these improvements in public health.

Health Services: Multiple Sclerosis

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in inspection fees for charitable multiple sclerosis treatment centres. [151072]

Mr. Bradshaw: Annual fees to cover the cost of providing assessment and registration services are approved by the Secretary of State, after consideration of proposals submitted by the Healthcare Commission (HC). Assessment of the effects of fees is therefore for the Commission in the first instance.

The HC on its 2007-08 independent healthcare sector fee proposals between 20 December 2006 and 20 February 2007. We understand from the chairman of the commission that during the consultation period it received numerous representations from providers asking that fees should be reduced for voluntarily funded establishments.

The HC revised its proposals after considering the comments it received. For 2007-08, annual fees for multiple sclerosis therapy centres have been reduced from £1,566 to £1,225, a reduction of 22 per cent. This is the first time that regulatory fees under the Care Standards Act 2000 have been reduced. Fees for first time registrations have increased from £907 to £990.

Health Services: Prisons

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the availability of primary care services to prison establishments during night periods; and if he will make a statement. [153681]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on the coverage of health care in prisons is not collected centrally. It is for primary care trusts, working in partnership with prisons, to commission the arrangements for out of hours cover.

Local prisons do usually contain 24-hour health facilities with nursing cover. For example, all prisons in London (with the exception of HMP Latchmere House) have healthcare beds with 24-hour nursing services available.

Out-of-hours medical cover is usually provided by an on-call arrangement with local general practitioners as part of a General Medical Services contract.

Health Services: Public Appointments

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the competition for selection of the new chief executive of Connecting for Health will open; who will sit on the selection panel; what the starting salary for the post will be; and how bonuses for the post will be (a) set, (b) calculated and (c) paid. [151938]

Mr. Bradshaw: These matters have not been decided.


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Health Services: South East Region

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that local primary care trusts are helped to engage with strategic planning organisations on long-term major regeneration programmes in (a) the Thames Gateway, (b) East London and (c) the London borough of Newham. [149777]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Department’s London regional team and their London strategic health authority colleagues support the involvement of local national health service organisations in major regeneration initiatives within the Thames Gateway and East London areas, and the major developments in Newham for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

London’s primary care trusts (PCTs) jointly fund with the London Development Agency the Healthy Urban Development Unit, which offers practical help to all PCTs in London, including Newham PCT. The aim is to significantly improve the health of Londoners by developing partnerships that enable health organisations to engage early, influencing the plan- making process, and have a positive effect on the outcomes of planning applications.

Health Trainers

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the introduction of health trainers; and in which primary care trusts they have been employed. [152229]

Ann Keen: Progress on the introduction of health trainers to date has been good:

Health trainers are employed in a variety of settings and the plurality of employment models means that we do not collect data by individual primary care trust.


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Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health trainers there are in (a) Southampton primary care trust, (b) Hampshire primary care trust and (c) Portsmouth primary care trust. [152231]

Dawn Primarolo: The Department has been informed by the following primary care trusts that

Health: Disadvantaged

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in tackling health deprivation in the spearhead primary care trusts. [152237]

Dawn Primarolo: The 2010 inequalities targets for life expectancy, cardiovascular disease and cancer are based on narrowing the gap in mortality between the population as a whole and the fifth of local authority areas with the worst health and deprivation indicators (the spearhead group), and the primary care trusts that map to them, by 2010.

Life expectancy has increased for both males and females for England as a whole but it has improved more slowly in the spearhead areas. In England, average life expectancy for males is 76.9 and for females 81.1; in the spearhead group it is 74.9 for males and 79.6 for females. The slower rate of improvement in has led to a widening of the relative gap in life expectancy between England and the spearhead group. The latest data for 2003-05 show that the average life expectancy in the spearhead group was 2.61 per cent. lower than the England average for males, and 1.91 per cent. lower than the England average for females. Therefore, the relative gap has widened by 2 per cent. for men and 8 per cent. for women since the baseline (1995-97).

However, although the 2010 target for life expectancy is a challenging one, data for 2003-05 also show that some 60 per cent. of the 70 spearhead areas are on track to narrow their own life expectancy gap with that of England by 10 per cent. by 2010, compared to baseline for either males or females or both. The information is set out in the following table, with comparison data for 2002-04.

Data for 2003-05 have also shown continued improvements in CVD and cancer mortality inequalities between spearhead areas and the national average since the 1995-97 baseline. The absolute gap from circulatory disease has narrowed by 27.9 per cent., and we are on track to meet the 2010 target of at least a 40 per cent. reduction, There has been a 12.7 per cent. reduction in the absolute cancer inequality gap.

Targeted assistance to spearhead areas is being provided through a variety of programmes such as Communities for Health, Health Trainers, Life Check and smoking cessation as well as programmes on cancer, coronary heart disease and primary care.

The following table shows whether the 70 spearhead local authorities are on or off track to narrow their
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share of the life expectancy gap by 10 per cent. for males or females or both by 2010 according to 2003-05 data. The table also shows a comparison to 2002-04.


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Spearhead Group performance on life expectancy for males and females 2003-05 v. 2002-04
2003-05 2002-04
On track both On track male On track female Off track both On track both On track male On track female Off track both

Hackney

Yes

Yes

Hammersmith and Fulham

Yes

Yes

Southwark

Yes

Yes

Tower Hamlets

Yes

Yes

Tameside

Yes

Yes

Warrington

Yes

Yes

Derwentside

Yes

Yes

Hyndburn

Yes

Yes

Islington

Yes

Yes

Lambeth

Yes

Yes

Lewisham

Yes

Yes

Newham

Yes

Yes

Knowsley

Yes

Yes

St. Helens

Yes

Yes

Wirral

Yes

Yes

Sunderland

Yes

Yes

Halton

Yes

Yes

Blackburn with Darwen

Yes

Yes

Chester-le-Street

Yes

Yes

Sedgefield

Yes

Yes

Wear Valley

Yes

Yes

Burnley

Yes

Yes

Lincoln

Yes

Yes

Wansbeck

Yes

Yes

Tamworth

Yes

Yes

Greenwich

Yes

Yes

Haringey

Yes

Yes

Bury

Yes

Yes

Doncaster

Yes

Yes

Gateshead

Yes

Yes

Newcastle upon Tyne

Yes

Yes

North Tyneside

Yes

Yes

Birmingham

Yes

Yes

Coventry

Yes

Yes

Walsall

Yes

Yes

Redcar and Cleveland

Yes

Yes

Stockton-on-Tees

Yes

Yes

Barrow-in-Furness

Yes

Yes

Carlisle

Yes

Yes

Corby

Yes

Yes

Blyth Valley

Yes

Yes

Nuneaton and Bedworth

Yes

Yes

Barking and Dagenham

Yes

Yes

Bolton

Yes

Yes

Manchester

Yes

Yes

Oldham

Yes

Yes

Rochdale

Yes

Yes

Salford

Yes

Yes

Wigan

Yes

Yes

Liverpool

Yes

Yes

Barnsley

Yes

Yes

Rotherham

Yes

Yes

South Tyneside

Yes

Yes

Sandwell

Yes

Yes

Wolverhampton

Yes

Yes

Bradford

Yes

Yes

Wakefield

Yes

Yes

Hartlepool

Yes

Yes

Middlesbrough

Yes

Yes

Blackpool

Yes

Yes

Kingston upon Hull, City of

Yes

Yes

North East Lincolnshire

Yes

Yes

Leicester

Yes

Yes

Nottingham

Yes

Yes

Stoke-on-Trent

Yes

Yes

Bolsover

Yes

Yes

Easington

Yes

Yes

Pendle

Yes

Yes

Preston

Yes

Yes

Rossendale

Yes

Yes


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