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15 Nov 2007 : Column 381W—continued
NHS: Management Consultants
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each NHS trust spent on external financial consultants in the last five years. [163406]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not held by the Department.
NHS: Manpower
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change in the number of NHS staff directly employed in the NHS he expects to result from the decrease in the percentage of NHS revenue spending being spent on the pay of such staff in 2008-09, as set out in table 2.4 on page 24 of his Department’s evidence to the review body on doctors’ and dentists’ remuneration. [163377]
Ann Keen: The percentage of national health service revenue spending spent on pay is forecast to increase in 2008-09. This is a national estimate and it is a proportion of the overall growing NHS revenue funding, therefore overall expenditure on NHS staff is expected to increase.
Revenue allocations are made to primary care trusts to provide them with funding to deliver local and national priorities. It is not possible to provide an estimate of the change in number of NHS staff employed, as workforce planning, and therefore setting the number of staff required to deliver services, is a matter for local NHS organisations to deal with. They are best placed to assess the health needs of their local health community and will recruit the appropriate
number of staff to meet those needs. The Department sees workforce planning as a priority and closely monitors strategic health authority local delivery plans to ensure they will deliver the activity required within the finance envelope. As part of that approach, the Department also expects SHAs to be satisfied that local workforce plans are sufficiently robust to deliver the planned activity.
NHS: Procurement
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which organisations he has included in the list of suppliers on the Framework for External Support in Commissioning. [164047]
Mr. Bradshaw: The following suppliers have been appointed to the Framework for procuring External Support for Commissioners:
Aetna Health Services (UK) Limited;
AXA PPP Healthcare Administration Services Limited;
BUPA Membership Commissioning Limited;
CHKS Ltd, trading as Partners In Commissioning;
Dr. Foster Limited, trading as Dr. Foster Intelligence;
Health Dialog Services Corporation;
Humana Europe, Ltd;
KPMG LLP;
McKesson Information Solutions UK Limited;
McKinsey and Company, Inc. United Kingdom;
Navigant Consulting, Inc;
Tribal Consulting Limited;
Unitedhealth Europe Limited; and
WG Consulting Healthcare Limited, trading as WG Consulting.
NHS: Vacancies
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what definition of a vacancy he uses in relation to the NHS workforce. [162483]
Ann Keen: The annual national health service vacancy survey collects information at the end of March on vacancies which trusts are finding hard to fill.
The Information Centre who publish the vacancy survey define a vacancy as
‘one which has lasted three months or more and which employers are actively trying to fill as at 31 March.’
The emphasis is therefore on vacancies which trusts are finding hard to fill, rather than on normal staff turnover.
Pharmacy: Hampshire
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what dispensing pharmacies there are in Hampshire; and what volume of products each dispensed in each of the past five years. [162852]
Dawn Primarolo: A list of pharmacies under contract to Hampshire Primary Care Trust, Portsmouth City PCT and Southampton City PCT at the end of the 2006-07 financial year has been placed in the Library.
It is not appropriate to give the number of items dispensed by each pharmacist as these figures are commercially sensitive. The following table provides information on the monthly average number of items for each Primary Care Trust in Hampshire for each financial year.
| Average prescription items dispensed per month (thousand) | ||||
| Primary Care Trust | 2005-06 | 2004-05 | 2003-04 | 2002-03 |
Primary Care Trusts: Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was top-sliced from primary care trusts in 2006-07, broken down by trust; how much of these top-sliced funds have so far been paid back, broken down by trust; and by what date these funds will be fully paid back to primary care trusts. [163364]
Mr. Bradshaw: Figures showing the value of primary care trust top-slice, and the amount returned by strategic health authorities (SHAs) in 2006-07, have been placed in the Library.
It is for each SHA to manage both the timing and method for repaying contributions made by their PCTs within a reasonable period, not usually exceeding the three-year allocation cycle, and depending on overall affordability within the SHA economy. SHAs should consider the position of PCTs with the greatest health need first.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much is being top-sliced from primary care trusts in 2007-08, broken down by trust. [163365]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department made clear in the national health service operating framework for 2007-08 that strategic health authorities (SHAs) will not generally need to top-slice primary care trust (PCT) revenue allocations to the same level as in 2006-07 because of the substantial improvement in the overall financial position of the NHS. However, for 2007-08 a number of PCTs have chosen to lodge resources with their SHA to be included within the SHA’s strategic investment fund as a safeguard against any risk associated with the lower financial settlement over the period 2008-09 to 2010-11.
The data showing the value of PCT lodgements in their respective SHA’s strategic investment fund have been placed in the Library.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of each sexually transmitted disease were diagnosed in the South Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust area in each of the last three years. [163399]
Dawn Primarolo: Information on the diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in genito-urinary clinics (GUM) is only available by strategic health authority (SHA). The total number of STIs diagnosed in the East of England SHA since 2004 to 2006, the latest date for which figures are available, which includes West Hertfordshire and North East Hertfordshire Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) area, is given in the following tables.
| Infection | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| Source: Health Protection Agency, KC60 returns | |||
| Number of new STIs and other STIs diagnosed in the East of England SHA (2004-2006) | |||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| (1) Includes those defined in table 1 and all others. (2) Includes recurrent and follow-up presentations. Notes: 1. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are for diagnoses made in GUM clinics only. Diagnoses made in other clinical settings, such as general practice, are not recorded in the KC60 dataset. 2. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are the number of diagnoses made, not the number of patients diagnosed. For example, individuals may be diagnosed with several co-infections and each diagnosis will be counted separately. 3. The information provided has been adjusted for missing clinic data. Source: Health Protection Agency, KC60 returns | |||
In addition to diagnoses made in GUM clinics, the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) has been running since 2003. The number of people diagnosed with chlamydia within the programme in the East of England SHA broken down by individual PCTs are shown in the following table.
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