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26 Nov 2007 : Column 256W—continued
Options for the Future of Payment by Results: 2008-09 to 2010-11
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish his Department’s response to its consultation on Options for the Future of Payment by Results: 2008-09 to 2010-11. [166442]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department expects to publish its response to the “Option for the Future of Payment by Results: 2008-09 - 2010-11” consultation before the end of this year.
Patient Choice Schemes
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which web browsers are compatible with Choose and Book; [164552]
(2) what web browsers are compatible with (a) each element and (b) all elements of the NHS information technology programme. [164553]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The choose and book professional application is fully compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0 (IE6). Users are advised to employ IE6, but can also use Internet Explorer version 7.0
(IE7). Instructions on optimum browser configuration for IE7 have been published on the choose and book website.
The choose and book patient application currently supports Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0 (IE5) and above. Microsoft Internet Explorer is used by over two thirds of all internet users in the United Kingdom, and for this reason was selected as the browser for which the patient web application was originally devised in order to provide access to the greatest number of patients in the shortest possible time. While this means that the site is not yet accessible to all internet users, work is in hand to ensure full accessibility, including to those who access via the Firefox and Safari web browsers. A new release of the patient application will mean that the Firefox browser will be supported from December 2007.
All the national programme's core applications and services require web browser functionality. Suppliers are delivering solutions which will in due course be accessible via all versions of IE or Firefox. However, in the short term, some current versions of suppliers' solutions are limited to IE6.
Patients: Transport
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on the Hospital Travel Costs scheme in each year since 1997-98 for which figures are available; and how many patients received grants under the scheme in each year. [167830]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not collect information on the cost of the Hospital Travel Costs scheme, nor on how many patients have claimed a reimbursement under the scheme. It is for primary care trusts, as local commissioners of healthcare services, to make provisions so that patients with either a financial or a medical need for transport can travel to and from their treatment or care.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in the budgets of which NHS organisations funding for the Hospital Travel Costs scheme is held; and whether this money is ringfenced. [167831]
Mr. Bradshaw: Funding for the Hospital Travel Costs Scheme is built into financial allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs), who commission hospital services on behalf of patients. This has not been explicitly identified, in line with the policy to devolve decision making to a local level.
PCTs are responsible for reimbursing healthcare providers for the payments made under the scheme for all patients resident within their districts. Where the treatment given is within the scope of the national tariff, reimbursement will be included in the tariff payment. Where the treatment given is outside the scope of the national tariff, the PCT should make arrangements for healthcare providers to be reimbursed at periodic intervals.
Pharmacy
Ben Chapman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether he plans to give the NHS Business Services Authority the (a) power and (b) additional
resources to monitor the number of claim payments for medicines use reviews by each contractor; [166395]
(2) how many pharmacies exceeded the limit on claim payments for medicines use reviews in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006; [166398]
(3) by how much pharmacy contractors exceeded the limit on claim payments for medicines use reviews in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006. [166399]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 20 November 2007]: It is for primary care trusts to monitor medicines use review service provision by community pharmacies and adjust individual community pharmacy remuneration according to that service provision. Therefore there are no plans to change the role of the Prescription Pricing Division (PPD) of the NHS Business Services Authority.
During the financial year April 2005 to March 2006, 25 pharmacies exceeded the limit of 250 on payments for medicines use reviews (MURs). In the financial year April 2006 to March 2007, 126 pharmacies exceeded the limit of 400. These figures do not take account of the pharmacies to whom the lower limit of 200 applied because they started providing the service mid year. In 2005-06 and 2006-07, the average number of MURs per pharmacy was 39 and 96 respectively.
In the financial year 2005-06, excess payments to those pharmacies that exceeded the limit was £42,218 (1,966 claims) and in the year 2006-07, the excess payment was £67,650 (2,706 claims). These figures do not reflect any recovery of excess payments made by primary care trusts (PCTs) nor does it take account of the pharmacies to which the lower limit of 200 applied because they started providing the service mid year. This is a matter for PCTs as they can locally commission and fund additional MURs above the national threshold.
Social Services: Finance
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much is planned to be spent by each local authority and in total by all local authorities on (a) direct payments for social care, (b) supported and other accommodation, (c) nursing home placements, (d) equipment and adaptations, (e) meals, (f) other services, (g) assessment and case management, (h) day care, (i) residential care home placement and (j) home care for elderly people; and what percentage of their total health and social care budgets each of these figures represent. [167845]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not available centrally.
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each local authority is planning to spend on care for elderly and disabled persons who are in (a) critical need, (b) substantial need, (c) moderate need and (d) low need according to Fair Access to Care Services guidance to local authorities in 2002 in 2007-08; and what each authority spent on each of these categories in (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05, (iii) 2005-06 and (iv) 2006-07. [167851]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: This information is not held centrally.
It is for individual local authorities to manage and direct their own resources in accordance with local priorities and the needs of the communities to which they are accountable. Local authorities should refer to the “Fair Access to Care Services—Guidance on Eligibility for Adult Social Care”. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Spinal Injuries
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with spinal cord injuries were discharged from hospital to a nursing home in each year since 2001, broken down by age. [167152]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of people with spinal cord injuries discharged from hospital to a nursing home is not collected centrally.
Steroids: Death
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of fatalities caused by the abuse of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in each of the last 10 years. [166641]
Dawn Primarolo: There have been two deaths in England between 1997 and 2006 in which anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs were implicated or may have played a contributory part.
Source:
Statistics from The National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths
Surgery: Private Sector
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department’s policy is on offsetting costs of private operations in order for a person to return to work and leave statutory sick pay. [164670]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 15 November 2007]: The Department has no policy of offsetting the cost of private operations.
By December 2008, national health service patients can expect a maximum wait of 18 weeks from general practitioner referral to the start of consultant-led treatment. Most patients will be treated much quicker than that, allowing them to return to work much more quickly where appropriate. Latest figures for patients who started their treatment in August 2007 show that seven out of 10 patients are already being treated in 18 weeks or less.
The introduction of patient choice is increasing patients’ ability to choose a provider that can treat them rapidly. The Hospital Travel Costs Scheme, part of the NHS Low Income Scheme, ensures that no one is denied access to the hospital of their choice because they cannot afford the cost of travel.
Finally, practice-based commissioners have flexibility to use their resources to achieve longer-term budget savings and better patient outcomes by commissioning
social care or preventative interventions. Such interventions could be focused on helping people to return to work.
Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust: Manpower
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many non-clinical staff are employed by Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust; and how many were employed in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) 2005. [166720]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not collected in the format requested. Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust (PCT) was formed in 2002, and so figures for 1997 and 2001 are unavailable. Also, figures for 2007 are not yet available.
The following table shows figures for non-clinical staff employed by Sutton and Merton PCT from 2002 to 2006.
| National Health Service Hospital and community health services: NHS staff in the Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust by each specified staff group as at 30 September each specified year | |||||
| Headcount | |||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Notes: 1. More accurate validation processes in 2006 have resulted in the identification and removal of 9,858 duplicate non-medical staff records out of the total workforce figure of 1.3 million in 2006. Earlier years' figures could not be accurately validated in this way and so will be slightly inflated. The level of inflation in earlier years’ figures is estimated to be less than 1 per cent. of total across all non-medical staff groups for headcount figures (and negligible for full-time equivalents). This should be taken into consideration when analysing trends over time. 2. General practitioner (GP) practice staff (excluding practice nurses) includes direct patient care, administrative and clerical and other staff paid by GP practices, which are contracted by the PCT. 3. Sutton and Merton PCT was formed in 2002. Sources: The Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census The Information Centre for health and social care general and personal medical services Statistics. | |||||
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many practice nurses there were in (a) Wimbledon constituency and (b) the London borough of Merton in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2007. [166722]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The information requested is only available by primary care trust (PCT) area, and figures
for 2007 are not yet available. Also, Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Primary Care Trust was the organisation in existence in 1997 covering the London borough of Merton.
The following table details the number of practice nurses for Sutton and Merton PCT in 2006, and for Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth PCT in 1997.
| Practice nurses by selected areas, as at 1 October 1997 and 30 September 2006 | |||
| Numbers (headcount) | |||
| 1997 | 2006 | ||
| (1 )Denotes data not available. Note: Data presented for organisations in existence in the specified years, Source: The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics. | |||
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