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19 Oct 2007 : Column 1391W—continued
IVF
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking (a) to monitor and (b) to audit the implementation of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines on IVF treatment across England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [159047]
Dawn Primarolo: When the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published the clinical guideline on fertility services in 2004, we made it clear that we expected primary care trusts (PCTs) in England to move over time to the provision of three cycles of In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) as recommended. We are working with the patient support organisation Infertility Network UK to help PCTs to identify and share best practice in the provision of fertility services and achieving the NICE guidelines. To support this work, and help identify where the national health service may need further assistance in delivering services in an equitable way, the Department will monitor IVF provision.
Maidstone NHS Trust: Managers
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date his Department was informed of (a) the proposed resignation of the former chief executive of the Maidstone NHS Trust and (b) the fact that a financial package was being negotiated for her. [159453]
Ann Keen: The employment of staff, clinicians and managers within the national health service is a matter for local NHS boards. In the case of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells we have asked the NHS trust to withhold any severance payment to the former chief executive prior to the Department considering legal advice on the matter.
Maternity Services
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adverse events have been recorded in NHS maternity services (a) in England and (b) in each strategic health authority area in each year since 1997, broken down by type of adverse event. [157397]
Ann Keen: The National Patient Safety Agency collects reports of patient safety incidents on the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS). All national health service trusts have been able to report into this system since late 2004. Complete statistics relevant to this question are available for the years October 2005—September 2006 and for October 2006—September 2007. Staff usually report patient safety incidents before any further investigation or follow-up has taken place.
The information requested is set out in the following tables.
Around 98 per cent. of incidents reported were classed as ‘no harm’, ‘low harm’ or ‘moderate harm’ in the view of the person completing the incident report.
The information should be considered in the context that there were 635,748 women having babies in 2006. All of these women also have many episodes of care.
Incidents broken down by incident types occurring in maternity related specialties.
Adverse events occurring in maternity services and reported to the NRLS by NHS trusts in England, by strategic health authority (SHA) and by type of event.
| Incidents occurring in maternity related specialties broken down by SHAs | ||
| Date incident was submitted to the NRLS | ||
| SHA code | October 2005-September 2006 | October 2006-September 2007 |
Medical Services: Standards
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent evidence his Department has considered on the effect on clinical outcomes of centralisation of services for (a) stroke, (b) heart attack, (c) respiratory problems and (d) other conditions. [157008]
Ann Keen: “Mending hearts and brains”, published in December 2006, by the National Clinical Director for Heart Disease and Stroke, makes a clinical case for changes to the way heart attack and stroke services are provided in both hospital and community settings.
This, and similar publications issued with respect to mental health, cancer and children and maternity services in particular, is not intended to be prescriptive but to explain the clinical reasons for changing the way in which services are provided in order to save lives and achieve better outcomes for patients.
The Department is currently developing a National Service Framework for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. This will be published in 2008.
Midwives: NHS Stockport Primary Care Trust
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwives were employed in the NHS Stockport Primary Care Trust in each year since 1997; and how many vacancies for midwives there were in the trust in each year. [157999]
Ann Keen: Midwives are employed by acute trusts rather than primary care trusts. The number of midwives employed by Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and its predecessor organisations since 1997 is listed in the following table. The national health service vacancy survey started in 1999 and records vacancies lasting three months or more. Since the survey began, two vacancies have been recorded at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, both in March 2005.
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. On 1 April 2000, Stockport Acute Services NHS Trust and Stockport Healthcare NHS Trust merged to form Stockport NHS Trust. The Trust achieved foundation status on 1 April 2004. 2. Figures listed are at 30 September on each specified year. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care non-medical workforce census. | |
MRSA: Screening
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of introducing MRSA screening for (a) elective and (b) all admissions to hospital. [158463]
Ann Keen: Estimates of costs for introducing meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are up to £37 million per year and for MRSA screening for all admissions to hospital are up to £124 million per year.
NHS: Pay
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in management positions in NHS trusts in (a) England and (b) the east of England earned more than £100,000 per annum in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 1997-98 in (1) cash and (2) real terms. [158783]
Ann Keen: The Department does not collect details on the pay of individuals in national health service trusts. We therefore cannot provide the number earning more than £100,000 per annum.
NHS organisations are public bodies and as such, the pay of their senior executive teams is a matter of public record, published in their annual accounts.
Following the reconfigurations proposed by “Commissioning A Patient-led NHS”, the Department in July 2006 published a new “Pay Framework for very senior managers in strategic and special health authorities, primary care trusts and ambulance trusts in July 2006”. A copy of the report is available in the Library. Primary care trust executives (chief executives and board level directors) are paid a spot rate salary which is determined (within a range) by the size of the population the PCT serves; for ambulance trust executives it is determined by their expenditure on emergency services and activity.
The spot rate salaries for 2006-07 are shown in the following tables, reflecting the staged pay award
announced on 30 March 2006. The Framework also provides for the payment of recruitment and retention premia (of up to 30 per cent. of the spot rate salary) and payments for additional duties (up to 10 per cent, of the spot rate salary) where appropriate.
A copy of the “Very Senior Managers’ Pay Framework” (updated July 2007) has been placed in the Library and is also available at:
| Primary Care Trusts 2006-07 Rates | |||||||
| % of CE | Weighted population: | Up to 150,000 | 150,000 to 300,000 | 300,000 to 500,000 | 500,000 to 1 million | Over 1 million | |
| PCT Band 1 | PCT Band 2 | PCT Band 3 | PCT Band 4 | PCT Band 5 | |||
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