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10 Dec 2007 : Column 328W—continued


NHS Business Services Authority

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the NHS Business Services Authority's priority projects for 2008-09. [170032]

Mr. Bradshaw: The NHS Business Services Authority's (NHSBSA) priority projects for 2008-09 are as follows:

NHS Direct

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2007, Official Report, column 611WA, on NHS Direct, what the (a) date and (b) subject was of each ad hoc meeting held in the past 12 months. [169875]

Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not available. These meetings are generally informal and therefore a record is not maintained.

NHS Direct: Nurses

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2007, Official Report, column 612WA, on NHS Direct, how many (a) health advisers and (b) nurse advisers were employed at NHS Direct in each month. [169876]

Mr. Bradshaw: This is a matter for NHS Direct NHS Trust. They have provided the data in the following table.


10 Dec 2007 : Column 329W
Month Nurse a dvis e rs Health a dvis e rs

November 2005

1,043

679

December 2005

1,035

662

January 2006

1,022

652

February 2006

1,014

653

March 2006

998

649

April 2006

989

649

May 2006

960

632

June 2006

942

611

July 2006

916

584

August 2006

911

570

September 2006

879

568

October 2006

869

540

November 2006

843

539

December 2006

810

532

January 2007

800

538

February 2007

861

617

March 2007

933

656

April 2007

858

656

May 2007

836

607

June 2007

830

602

July 2007

834

574

August 2007

817

572

September 2007

810

591


NHS Treatment Centres: Cornwall

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2007, Official Report, columns 612-4W, on NHS Treatment Centres: Cornwall, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the transfer of waiting list patients from the Royal Cornwall Trust to the Independent Sector Treatment Centre on the funding that the Royal Cornwall Trust receives through the Payment by Results system. [169401]

Mr. Bradshaw: Independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) have been able to provide additional surgical capacity in the south-west while offering patients a wider choice of hospitals for their treatment. The treatment centres have helped local national health service hospitals in achieving their own maximum waiting time targets. Prior to the opening of the treatment centres, the local NHS used private sector capacity in an unstructured way to manage demand from general practitioners, but the introduction of treatment centres has reduced the requirement for this.

We do not expect any hospital trust which is providing high quality, accessible services that meet patient needs to sustain a negative impact under Payment by Results, but ultimately it will be for patients to decide where they are treated under Choice.

NHS: Administration

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on (a) administration and (b) management in the NHS in each year since 1992 (i) in gross terms and (ii) as a percentage of the total NHS budget. [164593]

Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is shown in the following table.


10 Dec 2007 : Column 330W
Administration Management
Total costs (£ million) As a percentage of total national health service expenditure Total costs (£ million) As a percentage of total national health service expenditure

1992-93

1,545

5.5

497

1.8

1993-94

1,605

5.5

612

2.1

1994-95

1,637

5.4

716

2.3

1995-96

1,699

5.3

789

2.5

1996-97

1,786

5.4

867

2.6

1997-98

1,825

5.3

912

2.6

1998-99

1,936

5.3

952

2.6

1999-2000

2,078

5.2

1,054

2.6

2000-01

2,279

5.2

1,187

2.7

2001-02

2,597

5.3

1,332

2.7

2002-03

2,893

5.4

1,571

2.9

2003-04

3,188

5.0

1,777

2.8

2004-05

3,412

4.9

2,098

3.0

2005-06

3,648

4.8

2,213

2.9

2006-07

3,619

4.5

2,088

2.6

Note:
Figures for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 exclude data for foundation trusts.
Sources:
Annual financial returns (unaudited) for primary care trusts, (strategic) health authorities and NHS trusts 1992-93 to 2006-07.
NHS total expenditure (England) 1992-93 to 2006-07.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on (a) administration and (b) management (i) as a percentage of the total budget and (ii) as the cost per head of population in the areas covered by each (A) primary care trust, (B) acute trust, (C) ambulance trust, (D) mental health trust, (E) foundation trust, (F) strategic health authority, (G) special health authority and (H) NHS arms length body in England in the last year for which figures are available. [164594]

Mr. Bradshaw: Information available (2006-07) for primary care trusts, all national health service trusts and strategic health authorities has been placed in the Library.

It is not possible to show cost per head of population figures for NHS trusts because they do not serve discrete areas of population.

This information is not held for foundation trusts, special health authorities or arms length bodies.

NHS: Data Protection

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the titles of all items of guidance (a) the Information Centre for Health and Social Care and (b) the NHS Business Services Authority has issued to its staff on the handling of personally-identifiable data; if he will place copies of these items of guidance in the Library; and if he will make a statement; [170074]

(2) what recent assessment the (a) Information Centre for Health and Social Care and (b) NHS Business Services Authority has made of the security of the personally-identifiable data it collects. [170075]

Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007, Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within Departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on Departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review.

NHS: Databases

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health under what circumstances (a) a GP's surgery and (b) another NHS organisation may pass on a patient's personal data to a third party. [168995]


10 Dec 2007 : Column 331W

Mr. Bradshaw: Patient personal data is held by national health service organisations under legal and ethical obligations of confidentiality and subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. It may be passed to third parties when identifying details have been removed so the patient cannot be identified; or in accordance with statutory provisions or where required under court order; or where the public interest is such that obligations of confidentiality and the competing public interest in the provision of confidential health services need to be overridden, for example serious crime or child protection; or with the consent of the patient concerned.

Guidance to the NHS is provided in the Department's publication ‘Confidentiality: NHS Code of Practice’ published in November 2003 is available in the Library.


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