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25 Oct 2007 : Column 560W—continued


The Department does not purchase flu vaccine on behalf of general practitioner (GPs). GPs place orders for vaccine direct from the supplier of their choice. There are six suppliers of flu vaccine to the United Kingdom.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 17 October 2007, Official Report, columns 1171-2W, on influenza: vaccinations, when he expects all 15 million doses of the seasonal influenza vaccination to be delivered; what targets the UK Vaccine Industry Group has been given for (a) producing and (b) delivering the 15 million doses of seasonal influenza vaccine; and if he will make a statement. [160424]

Dawn Primarolo: The Department requested 15.75 million doses from manufacturers for this winter’s flu programme. Latest estimates from suppliers show that over 16 million doses of flu vaccine are available for distribution. We do not set the UK Vaccine Industry group targets for the delivery of flu vaccine however, by week ending 12 October, 13.2 million doses had been distributed in the United Kingdom.

Junior Doctors: Working Hours

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of junior doctors worked a maximum of 48-hours a week in the latest period for which figures are available. [159805]

Ann Keen: The new deal contract monitoring returns give an indication of national health service readiness for fully implementing the working time directive (WTD) 48-hour week for doctors in training. Monitoring information for 2006 is published on the NHS employers website at:

and showed that approximately 40 per cent. of doctors in training worked a 48-hour week. The 2007 new deal information will be collected on 31 October 2007 by local NHS employers, then collated and published in early 2008.

It is the responsibility of local employers to implement WTD as part of their health and safety obligations.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether time spent asleep by a junior doctor on call counts against the 48 hour working time directive; and if he will make a statement. [159986]

Ann Keen: The European Working Time Directive defines working time is as follows:

The European Court of Justice ruled in the SiMAP and Jaeger cases that time spent on call by doctors must be regarded in its entirety as working time, even if they are asleep, if they are required to be present at the health centre.

Life Expectancy

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the life expectancy at (a) birth, (b) 18, (c) 40 and (d) 60 years is for (i) men and (ii) women in each local authority area. [160491]

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:

Macular Degeneration: Rheopheresis

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of rheopheresis in treating dry age-related macular degeneration. [159980]

Ann Keen: The Department is aware of rheopheresis but has not itself made an assessment of the therapy.

Mesothelioma: Merseyside

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in Merseyside have been diagnosed with mesothelioma in each of the last five years, broken down by hospital trust. [157106]

Ann Keen: The information requested has been set out in the following table.


25 Oct 2007 : Column 561W

25 Oct 2007 : Column 562W
National health service hospitals in England, 2001-02 to 2005-06
Wirral Hospital (RBL) St. Helens and Knowsley Hospitals (RBN) Cardiothoracic Centre—Liverpool (RBQ) Aintree Hospitals (REM) Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology (REN) Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals (RQ6)

2001-02

28

37

31

26

***

*

2002-03

11

22

26

26

***

7

2003-04

10

14

50

20

***

*

2004-05

33

24

46

17

136

*

2005-06

22

10

62

27

100

*

Notes:
1. Diagnosis (primary diagnosis)
The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
2. Count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) where the primary diagnosis was Mesothelioma** for selected Acute Trusts in Merseyside.
** The ICD-10 codes used in this analysis were as follows:
C45 Mesothelioma
D19 Benign neoplasm of mesothelial tissue
3. Data on FCEs are currently not available from 2001-02 to 2003-04 for Clatterbridge Centre of Oncology.
4. An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.
5. Low numbers
Due to reasons of confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been suppressed and replaced with * (an asterisk).
6. Assessing growth through time
HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. During the years that these records have been collected within the NHS there have been ongoing improvements in quality and coverage. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series.
7. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example a number of procedures may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and may no longer be accounted in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time.
8. Ungrossed data
Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
Source:
HES, The Information Centre for health and social care

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus: Eastern Region

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of MRSA were reported in each hospital in the Eastern Region in each of the last five years. [160211]

Ann Keen: Data are not available for individual hospitals therefore we have provided data for acute national health service trusts in the Eastern Region. The following table provides data from the mandatory surveillance scheme of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, bloodstream infections in acute NHS Trusts in England.

April to March each year
NHS Trusts 2002 - 03 2003 - 04 2004 - 05 2005 - 06 2006 - 07

Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals

38

30

42

36

24

Bedford Hospital

19

26

9

32

27

Cambridge University Hospitals

127

126

123

112

81

East and North Hertfordshire

86

56

50

58

53

Essex Rivers Healthcare

18

16

37

19

24

Hinchingbrooke Healthcare

25

26

12

32

15

Ipswich Hospital

52

52

51

43

51

James Paget University Hospitals

36

30

50

41

27

Luton and Dunstable Hospital

28

21

19

32

21

Mid Essex Hospital Services

33

43

41

38

12

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital

57

64

58

58

48

Papworth Hospital

24

13

7

14

7

Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals

10

10

16

9

11

Southend University Hospital

23

27

19

29

21

The Princess Alexandra Hospital

37

32

44

20

25

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital .King's Lynn

36

30

51

25

13

West Hertfordshire Hospitals

40

45

53

51

42

West Suffolk Hospitals

24

37

43

29

27

Source:
Health Protection Agency—provisional data

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