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26 July 2007 : Column 1349W—continued
NHS: Working Hours
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the European working time directive on acute hospital services. [151543]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The new deal contract monitoring returns give an indication of national health service readiness for fully implementing the working time directive
48-hour week for doctors in training. Monitoring information for September 2006 is published on the NHS Employers website at
Collection of the 2007 new deal monitoring information will commence this autumn.
Nurses: Children
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 18 July 2007, Official Report, columns 470-1W, on nurses: children, how many of the duplicate records identified paediatric nurses. [152974]
Mr. Bradshaw: In 2006 the census data reported a total of 18,634 qualified nursing staff working within the paediatric area of work. The validation process prior to publication identified and removed 135 duplicate records from the paediatric area of work.
Nurses: Manpower
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) district nurses, (b) nursing auxiliaries, (c) school nurses, (d) mental handicap nurses, (e) community psychiatric nurses, (f) treatment nurses, (g) community midwives and (h) health visitors were employed in the NHS in each year since 2000; and what the projected figures are for each year to 2010, broken down by health trust. [151054]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information has been placed in the Library.
The annual workforce census does not identify mental handicap nurses, treatment nurses or community midwives seperately from the rest of the nursing workforce. Comprehensive data on school nurses have only been collected centrally since 2004.
Projected figures for each year to 2010, broken down by health trust are not collected centrally.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many specialist nurses were employed in the NHS in each of the last five years. [151055]
Mr. Bradshaw: The annual workforce census does not identify the number of specialist nurses.
The workforce census records the number of qualified nurses, midwives and health visitors under the several different branches of nursing which are acute, elderly and general, paediatric, maternity, psychiatry, learning disabilities, community services and education staff.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to increase the number of specialist nurses employed in the NHS. [151056]
Mr. Bradshaw: Workforce planning is a matter for local determination. It is for local workforce planners to determine the specialist nursing needs of their local population with appropriate support from the workforce review team, national workforce projects and NHS Employers.
Nurses: Recruitment
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will estimate the effect on the cost to the public purse of changing from current recruitment practices for nurses to an all-graduate intake for new nurses. [146289]
Ann Keen: As part of modernising nursing careers, the Nursing and Midwifery Council is reviewing the content and level of pre-registration education. If a graduate workforce is deemed appropriate, the costs and benefits of such a change will be taken into account.
Nutrition: Costs
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate he has made of the costs to (a) the NHS and (b) society as a whole of (i) obesity and (ii) undernutrition. [153407]
Dawn Primarolo: ‘Tackling Child Obesity—First Steps’, a joint report from the National Audit Office, Healthcare Commission and Audit Commission published in February 2006, put the cost of obesity to the national health service at around £1 billion a year, with an additional £2.3 billion to £2.6 billion a year cost to the economy as a whole. Information on the cost of undernutrition to the NHS is not collected centrally.
Nutrition: Health Services
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to incorporate indicators of nutrition and diet in the Quality and Outcomes Framework of the new General Medical Services contract. [153408]
Mr. Bradshaw: Currently there are eight points available in the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) rewarding practices for maintaining a register of patients aged 16 and over with a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30. The register includes people whose BMI has been recorded in practice as part of routine care.
There are currently no plans to incorporate indicators of nutrition and diet in the QOF. However, as part of the ongoing development of the framework, indicators will be subject to continuing review in the light of emerging evidence, in the context of a value for money agreement.
Obesity: Young People
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of whether the public service agreement target to halt the year on year rise in obesity among children under 11 by 2010 will be met. [152251]
Dawn Primarolo: The obesity public service agreement (PSA) will be assessed by comparing Health Survey for England figures for aggregate three-year periods, which are used to account for the limited sample size.
This is a very challenging PSA target. Progress has been made:
Ofcom and the Committee of Advertising Practice have announced restrictions to limit advertising of products high in fat, sugar and salt to children;
80 per cent. of pupils participate in at least two hours of high quality physical education and school sport a week;
new, tougher nutritional standards for school food have been announced; and
the Top Tips for Top Mums campaign helps parents tackle the four key barriers to children eating fruit and vegetables (cost, fussy eaters, limited time/cooking skills and a lack of structured meal occasions).
Internationally, our approach is regarded as good practice, informing, for example, the WHO Europe Charter on Counteracting Obesity published in November 2006.
Organs: Donors
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what strategy is in place to increase the number of organ donors. [151768]
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. Government investment in hospital-based funding has helped increase donor rates and an organ donor taskforce will report to Ministers in autumn 2007 on how organ donor rates can be further improved.
Patients
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what models are used by his Department to determine patient flows between major general hospitals; and what assessment he has made of their accuracy. [151467]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has not used models to determine patient flows between major general hospitals. This work is considered at a local level.
Patients: Nutrition
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average expenditure was on each patient main meal delivered in hospital in (a) cash terms and (b) current prices in each year since 1997. [153395]
Ann Keen: Information on the average expenditure on each patient main meal is in the following table. The actual amounts shown are as collected from the national health service in the financial year in question. Information on the basis of constant prices is neither collected nor calculated centrally. The data were not collected before 2001-02.
In respect of hospital food services, there is no relationship between cost and quality.
| Average amount spent per patient main meal (£) | |
In-patients are expected to receive three main meals per day. The expenditure shown includes the cost of provisions and staff costs.
Since 2004-05, the data provided have not been collected on a mandatory basis and therefore may not be complete.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the average additional cost of treating a patient in hospital per episode of care if the patient is undernourished. [153396]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to publish the joint departmental and stakeholder nutrition action plan; which stakeholders are involved in developing the plan; and if he will make a statement. [153399]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department intends to publish the action plan, which was discussed at the second Nutrition Summit on 17 July, in the autumn. A wide range of stakeholders are involved in its development. These stakeholders are shown in the following list.
Age Concern
Association of Directors of Adult Social Services
British Medical Association
British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
British Dietetic Association
Caroline Walker Trust
Commission for Social Care Inspection
Council of Europe Alliance
English Community Care Association
Food Standards Agency
Healthcare Commission
Help the Aged
Hospital Caterers Association
Local Government Association
National Association of Care Caterers
National Health Service Core Learning Unit
National Institute of Health & Clinical Excellence
National Nurses Nutrition Group
National Patient Safety Agency
Patients Association
People First
Purchasing and Supply Agency
Royal Institute of Public Health
Royal College of Nurses
Skills for Care
Skills for Health
Sustain
United Kingdom Home Care Association
Water UK
Physiotherapy: Manpower
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the change in numbers of (a) junior physiotherapists and (b) senior physiotherapists employed in the NHS was between April 2001 and April 2007. [150895]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not collected centrally. The annual work force census, published by the Information Centre for health and social care, does not identify physiotherapists by grade.
The total number of physiotherapists employed in the NHS increased by 5,577 between 1997 and 2006 (the latest data we have) to 19,820.
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many physiotherapy graduates are registered with NHS Jobs. [150896]
Mr. Bradshaw: There were 537 physiotherapy graduates registered on the national health service jobs talent pool as at 17 July 2007.
Pregnant Women: Alcoholic Drinks
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to implement training programmes for health care professionals on the prevention, diagnosis and management of the full range of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders; and if he will make a statement; [148556]
(2) what assessment he has made of the training, guidance and resources available in the NHS for routine screening of alcohol consumption by pregnant women; [148557]
(3) what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the clinical management of individuals affected by foetal alcohol spectrum disorders; and what support systems are available to them and their carers and families. [148558]
Ann Keen: The Department is not responsible for setting curriculums for health professional training. However, the Department does share a commitment with statutory and professional bodies to ensure that all health professionals are appropriately trained, so that they have the skills and knowledge to deliver a high-quality health service to all groups of the population, whatever their condition.
The Department has funded the production of guidance to support the effective delivery of high quality training on substance misuse, including alcohol, within undergraduate medical education in the United Kingdom. Compilation of Substance Misuse in the Undergraduate Medical Curriculum was overseen by an expert steering group and published by the International Centre for Drugs Policy in April 2007.
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