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3 Sep 2007 : Column 1873W—continued
Departments: Redundancy Pay
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by his Department on redundancy payments in the last 12 months. [153075]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 July 2007, Official Report, column 231W.
Departments: Taxis
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by his Department on taxis in the last 12 months. [153084]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department's expenditure on taxis in the last 12 months was £310,754.00. This figure consists of taxi travel booked via the Department's contracted agent. There are some exceptional cases of taxi travel outside of the contract but these cannot be identified separately without incurring disproportionate costs.
Travel within the Department is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
Departments: Training
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by his Department on staff away days in the last 12 months. [153076]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not held centrally and to collect it would be at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Tribunals
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by his Department on industrial tribunals in the last 12 months. [153078]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department spent a total of £44,249 on industrial tribunals in the last 12 months. This figure includes settlement costs as well as Counsel fees.
East of England Strategic Health Authority: Pay
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with East of England Strategic Health Authority on payoffs to staff and the effect of such payoffs on the Strategic Health Authority’s budget. [152270]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Staff recruitment and retention is a matter for local trust management in conjunction with the appropriate strategic health authority (SHA). There have been no discussions as to redundancy payments between the Minister and the SHA.
Health Professions: Nutrition
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) headcount and (b) full-time equivalent (i) dieticians and (ii) nutritionists were working in the NHS in each year since 1997. [153402]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley) on 31 July.
The numbers of nutritionists are not identified separately and are included in the numbers of dieticians.
Health Services: Private Sector
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether his Department requires primary care trusts to consult (a) existing acute hospitals, (b) county council overview and scrutiny committees, (c) GPs, (d) patients and (e) other representatives of the health community prior to tendering taking place for independent sector treatment centres; [152690]
(2) whether existing acute hospitals are permitted to tender for independent sector treatment centres; [152691]
(3) what his Department's policy is on primary care trusts tendering for independent sector treatment centres when there is underused NHS operating capacity available locally. [152692]
Mr. Bradshaw:
Procurement of the national Independent Sector Treatment Centres (ISTC) programme is being conducted in compliance with European Union procurement law. There was no bar on any organisation expressing an interest in the notice placed in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) in 2005 in relation to the national Phase 2
ISTC programme procurement. There is a robust process to ensure there is local support and a capacity need for each individual elective ISTC.
With regard to consultation, primary care trusts are expected to comply with their legal obligations under the Health and Social Care Act 2001.
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effects of independent sector treatment centres on NHS staff training and development. [152695]
Mr. Bradshaw: Independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) will provide new training opportunities for staff. The long-term aim is for ISTCs to both source and employ professionals and support staff, while retaining opportunities for national health service employees to have access to employment and secondment opportunities to further develop their skills and experience.
Health: Nutrition
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished in-year admission episodes where undernutrition is recorded as a (a) primary and (b) secondary diagnosis there were in (i) England and (ii) each primary care trust area in each year since 1997-98. [153409]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Home Care Services: Oxygen
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by (a) his Department and (b) each health trust on each type of prescribed domiciliary oxygen therapy in each of the last 10 years. [151014]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is only available for 2006-07 and I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 23 July 2007, Official Report, columns 813-15W.
Hospices: Finance
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what level of funding is being provided by the NHS to (a) adult hospices and (b) children's hospices in Sussex in 2007-08. [152768]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: This information is not collected centrally.
Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for commissioning and funding palliative care services locally. The level of funding a hospice receives is a matter for local negotiation between the PCT and the hospice. It is for PCTs to determine how to use the funding allocated to them and to commission services to meet the health care needs of their local population.
However, under the Dignity in Care for Older People campaign, special one-off capital grants were awarded to a number of adult hospices to improve their physical environment. It is important to note that these were not revenue grants to support running costs.
On 9 April 2007, six of these one-off capital grants were awarded to hospices in Sussex and are shown in the table.
| Amount (£) | |
Hospitals: Private Sector
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effects of independent sector treatment centres on the economics of NHS acute hospitals in their areas. [152693]
Mr. Bradshaw: As part of the planning and subsequent approvals process for any independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) scheme, an assessment is made of the likely impact of the scheme on the local health care economy.
ISTCs will only be introduced in health economies in which the strategic health authority supports the case for them, and is committed to managing the capacity and financial consequences of ISTC implementation, particularly any impacts on existing national health service providers of elective care.
Incontinence: Children
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what level of provision there is for continence services for children in (a) Essex, (b) the East of England and (c) England. [147856]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: It is for health professionals in primary care trusts to commission appropriate continence services for local people, based on current and anticipated needs, and in consultation with stakeholders. In commissioning these services, professionals are expected to have regard to the recommendations outlined in “Good Practice in Continence Services”.
Midwives: Training
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 June 2007, Official Report, column 1926W, on midwives: training, if he will make it his policy to collect data on the number of students who qualify as midwives each year; and if he will make a statement. [149858]
Mr. Bradshaw: Collecting data on the number of health care graduates including those in midwifery is challenging and complex, as a result the Department has historically not collected this information.
However, the Department continues to improve its data sources in estimating the number of midwifery graduates in a given year. This includes analysing data
from the Nursing and Midwifery Council, work force review team and the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
Since 1997, the number of midwives employed in the NHS has increased by 2,084 (9 per cent.) from 22,385 to 24,469 (in 2006).
Motor Neurone Disease: Research
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds the Government provided for research into motor neurone disease in each year since 2005; and what funds have been allocated for each year to 2010. [151350]
Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) spent £2.8 million on research into motor neurone disease in 2005-06. Total spend on neurological research in 2005-06 was around £80 million. The amount MRC will allocate in the future will depend on the number and scientific quality of applications received.
Research active organisations in the national health service, funded through the Department of Health’s research and development budget, also support research into motor neurone disease. The Department of Health does not collect details of expenditure by these organisations on research into particular disease areas. Details of individual projects supported in the NHS can be found on the national research register at http://www.dh.gov.uk/research. Their overall reported spend on neurological conditions in 2005-06 was £26 million, and in 2006-07 was £28 million.
The Department of Health has also established and is funding a dementias and neurodegenerative disease research network that gives patients from every motor neurone disease clinic in England the opportunity to take part in national clinical trials.
Musculoskeletal Disorders: Sick Leave
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his officials have had with the Department of Work and Pensions on arthritis and other musculoskeletal problems as a cause of long-term sick leave. [152979]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: There has been no specific discussion on arthritis and other musculoskeletal problems but the Department of Health, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Health and Safety Executive are working together on the Government's Health, Work and Well Being strategy.
This will address all the major causes of long-term sickness including musculoskeletal problems as well as other long-term medical conditions such as arthritis.
NHS: Finance
Mr. Hoban:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice his Department received from the Audit Commission on the impact of resource accounting and budgeting on financial management in the NHS, in addition to the Review of the NHS Financial Management and Accounting Regime, published 26
July 2006; and on what date each piece of advice was received. [147028]
Mr. Bradshaw: In addition to the “Review of the NHS financial Management and Accounting Regime”, the Audit Commission has published the following reports that refer to the impact of resource accounting and budgeting on the financial management of the NHS:
“Financial Management in the NHS—NHS (England) Summarised Accounts 2004-05” published on 8 June 2006;
“Learning the lessons from financial failure in the NHS” published on 11 July 2006.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date the decision was taken to make changes to the resource accounting and budgeting system for the NHS announced in March 2007. [147121]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Audit Commission published its “Review of the NHS Financial Management and Accounting Regime” on 26 July 2006.
The departmental publication “The NHS in England: the operating framework for 2007/08” published on 11 December 2006 stated that although the Department accepted the rationale behind the Audit Commission’s recommendations on resource accounting and budgeting (RAB) it could not commit to implementation at that stage.
Before the final decision could be made we needed to be sure that national health service trusts had the financial discipline to operate outside the stringent RAB rules relating to income deductions following deficits. The improving financial position reported in “NHS Financial Performance Quarter 3” published on 20 February 2007 coupled with new tighter cash controls gave us the confidence that the changes could be made.
The final decisions were made in the period leading up to the announcement on 28 March 2007.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what preparations his Department made for the introduction of the resource accounting and budgeting system in NHS trusts. [147122]
Mr. Bradshaw: Guidance on the introduction of resource accounting and budgeting (RAB) was issued to the national health service during 2000. This was consolidated in “A guide to resource accounting and budgeting” issued by the Department’s Finance Directorate in February 2001. Copies of this document have been placed in the Library. It can also be found on the Department’s website at:
Subsequent changes to financial rules for national health service trusts, including those relating to RAB, have been communicated to the NHS through a number of sources including the finance manual and manual for accounts.
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