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24 Oct 2007 : Column 386W—continued
Medical Treatments Abroad
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in England had operations abroad approved in advance and funded by the NHS in each of the last three years. [160496]
Dawn Primarolo: Since November 2002 primary care trusts have had powers to refer patients abroad directly at the national health service expense if they decide to but details of the costs and volumes of this activity are not collected centrally.
Figures are only available centrally for the number of people who receive authorisation for treatment in other member states of the European economic area and in Switzerland under the E112 referral scheme, in accordance with European Union Regulation (EEC) 1408/71. This regulation coordinates the social security and healthcare schemes of the member states.
Information about patients from England, Scotland and Wales referred abroad using the E112 procedure is shown as follows:
| Number of E112s issued | |
Mentally Ill
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what records his Department holds on the number of people with mental illnesses in each year since 1997. [159722]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Records of this nature are not held centrally.
The survey of psychiatric morbidity among adults in private households, a United Kingdom-wide series of surveys last carried out in 2000, indicated that one in six adults between the ages of 16 and 74 had symptoms of neurotic disorder and four adults in a thousand had symptoms of psychotic disorder. The overall prevalence of psychosis is believed to be around one in a hundred as a disproportionate number of psychosis sufferers do not live in private households. The first survey of psychiatric morbidity was carried out in 1993, and it produced very similar results.
NHS Direct
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the guidance documents which are issued to staff answering calls at NHS Direct. [159964]
Mr. Bradshaw: Information on the documents issued to staff answering calls in NHS Direct is not held centrally but may be available from the Chairman of NHS Direct NHS Trust.
NHS: Finance
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the reduction in NHS expenditure arising from the two-year price freeze on products in part IX of the drug tariff; [160451]
(2) what assessment he has made of the impact of his Department’s proposals for Part IX of the drug tariff on the workloads of specialist nurses; [160452]
(3) if he will publish an impact assessment on the proposed changes to storma and incontinence appliances in Part IX of the drug tariff. [160453]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 23 October 2007]: The review of the arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances—and related services—in primary care is ongoing. A further consultation, “Arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances—and related services—to Primary Care. Revised Proposals”, was published on 6 September 2007 and closes on 28 December 2007. Copies of the consultation have been placed in the Library and it is also available on the Department’s website at:
A partial regulatory impact assessment was published with the previous consultation that was published in November 2006. A copy has been placed in the Library.
An impact assessment will be produced as part of the Department’s final recommendation.
Some dispensing contractors employ specialist nurses who visit patients. The most recent consultation, “Arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances—and related services—to Primary Care. Revised Proposals”, proposes that these dispensing contractors should be remunerated for providing this service. This is in keeping with one of the Department’s stated objectives: maintain, and where applicable improve, the current quality of care to patients and provide a consistent level of care.
In meeting this objective, the Department does not anticipate any impact on the workload of the specialist nurses employed directly by the national health service.
The current spend on stoma and incontinence appliances by the NHS is about £200 million a year. Reimbursement prices for Part IX items are usually subject to an annual increase.
The Department froze the levels of reimbursement in April 2006. The value of this 18-month freeze is estimated to be £7-8 million. However, it should be noted that this cost avoidance has been offset by the additional cost of an increased number of Part IX prescription items dispensed in the same period.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average (a) income per patient, (b) nurse to patient ratio and (c) doctor to patient ratio was for each (i) primary care trust and (ii) hospital trust in England at the latest date for which figures are available. [156441]
Mr. Bradshaw: The average income per primary care trust and NHS Trust has been placed in the Library.
PCTs recognise a combination of funding and miscellaneous income in their accounts. We have supplied both as normally we do not just add these together, as funding is cash based and income is based on accruals accounting. PCTs with large amounts of
income will commonly be commissioning on behalf of other PCTs or have pooled budgets with local authorities.
Information on the average doctor to patient ratio and nurse to patient ratio for each PCT and hospital trust is not collected centrally.
Psychiatry
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in which 20 areas of the country his Department will be rolling out psychological therapies in 2008. [159936]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We anticipate that the sites will be located across all 10 strategic health authority (SHA) regions in England. The Department will be working with the National Institute for Mental Health in England and the SHAs to determine where these sites will be located.
Radiography
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radiographers are employed by each NHS trust; what change each figure represents on the previous year; and what plans he has to improve the retention of MRI radiographers. [157366]
Mr. Bradshaw: We cannot isolate the number of magnetic resonance imaging radiographers from the census data. The number of all qualified diagnostic radiographers by each national health service trust and the change from the previous year is shown in the following table.
A range of recruitment, retention and returner initiatives are already place as a result of meeting the challenging work force targets set out in the ‘NHS Plan’ and ‘Delivering the NHS Plan’. The NHS is striving to be an employer of choice and is developing and implementing modern recruitment practices.
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