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11 Dec 2007 : Column 531W—continued


While the calculated value amounts to £38 per nurse visit, the fee level proposed in this consultation is £40 per nurse visit.

Note that it is also proposed that the number of these visits that a dispensing contractor may declare in any financial year (April to March) should be limited to l/70th of the part IXA (catheter), part IXB (incontinence-related) and part IXC (stoma) prescription items dispensed in that year.

Nutrition: Training

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which organisations are developing the online training session on nutritional care and assistance with eating referred to on page 4 of his Department’s document, Improving Nutritional Care; how the training session will be made available to (a) NHS and (b) social care staff; whether he intends to make the training session available to those health professionals who work outside the NHS and social care services; what topics he intends the online training session to cover; what the cost to the public purse will be of its development; and if he will make a statement. [170067]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The online training session on nutritional care referred to in “Improving Nutritional Care—A joint Action Plan from the Department of Health and Nutrition Summit stakeholders” is being designed and provided by the National Health Service Core Learning Unit. The NHS Core Learning Unit is currently developing the content of the course and it will be made available in May 2008. Topics for the course are being decided by an expert reference group and it is expected to cover provision of support to service users during mealtimes. The course will be free to all NHS staff as an online e-learning module and will be made available to all social care staff and also those working outside the NHS and social care system at a negotiated price. The cost of establishing the course is contained within the existing budget of the NHS Core Learning Unit as part of their programme of work for 2007-08.


11 Dec 2007 : Column 532W

Oral Cancer: Screening

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to introduce screening for mouth cancer. [169121]

Ann Keen: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (NSC) advises Ministers and the national health service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy. Using research evidence, pilot programmes and economic evaluation, it assesses the evidence for programmes against a set of internationally recognised criteria.

The current position of the NSC is that screening for mouth cancer should not be offered.

Ovarian Cancer

Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the levels of awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer; [169020]

(2) what steps he is taking to raise levels of awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer through the Cancer Reform Strategy. [169021]

Ann Keen: The Cancer Reform Strategy, published on 3 December, announced the National Awareness and Early Detection Initiative, which will include collaborative work between the Department of Health, health professionals, patient groups and the voluntary sector to develop standardised messages to be used in information resources and campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the risk factors and signs and symptoms of cancer, including ovarian cancer. The strategy also explained that Cancer Research UK is developing a modular assessment tool to assess levels of awareness of cancer risk factors and symptoms.

Paramedical Staff: Private Sector

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on registering private training programmes for non-NHS paramedics; and if he will make a statement. [170546]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Health Professions Council has the responsibility for regulating the paramedic profession and sets standards for the education and training of paramedics. These standards are the same for all education providers and programmes—public and private.

Patients: Nutrition

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 3 September 2007, Official Report, column 1884W, on patients: nutrition, how many bed days for finished episodes there were where the (a) primary and (b) secondary diagnosis was (i) malnutrition and (ii) nutritional anaemias in each year since 1997-98. [164606]

Dawn Primarolo: The information is in the following table.


11 Dec 2007 : Column 533W
Count of bed days in the year for finished episodes where there was a primary or secondary diagnosis of nutritional anaemias( 1) (D50-D53) , n ational health service hospitals, England, 2005-06 to 1997-98
Bed days during the year

2005-06

836,984

2004-05

802,632

2003-04

779,913

2002-03

752,241

2001-02

660,658

2000-01

632,467

1999-2000

613,567

1998-99

602,670

1997-98

588,023

(1 )Nutritional anaemias
Notes:
D50 Iron deficiency anaemias
D51 Vitamin B12 deficiency anaemias
D52 Folate deficiency anaemias
D53 Other nutritional anaemias

Prescriptions: Hampshire

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the dispensing doctors in Hampshire, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) primary care trust for each of the last five years. [170319]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested can be found in the following table. Data are only collected at primary care trust (PCT) level.

Summary of dispensing doctors in Hampshire
Financial years
PCT 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08

All specified organisations

151

156

165

166

147

Blackwater Valley(1)

2

2

2

2

0

East Hampshire(1)

23

27

27

26

0

Eastleigh and Test Valley South(1)

19

19

20

20

0

Fareham and Gosport(1)

0

0

0

0

0

Mid Hampshire(1)

64

63

68

69

0

New Forest(1)

12

12

11

12

0

North Hampshire(1)

31

33

37

37

0

Hampshire(2)

0

0

0

166

147

(1) These PCTs ceased operating on 30 September 2006
(2) Hampshire PCT starting operating on 1 October 2006
Note:
Data as at 1 April in each period
Source:
NHS Business Service Authority—Prescription Pricing Division

Pressure Sores

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when his Department last commissioned studies into the prevalence of pressure sores in (a) hospital settings, (b) care homes and (c) the community; [172553]


11 Dec 2007 : Column 534W

(2) how many critical incident reports in which pressure sores have been cited as a factor were produced in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS trust; [172555]

(3) what guidance his Department provides to NHS trusts on collecting and recording data on bed sores. [172562]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department does not provide guidance to the NHS on collecting and recording data on bed sores.

The Department has not commissioned studies on the prevalence of pressure sores in hospital, care homes, or the community.

Information on the number of critical incident reports, in which pressure sores were cited as a factor, is not available centrally.

Prostate Cancer

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase the numbers of clinical nurses specialising in prostate cancer. [168785]

Ann Keen: Workforce planning is a matter for local determination. It is for local workforce planners to determine the prostate cancer nurse needs of their local populations with appropriate support from the Workforce Review Team, National Workforce Projects and NHS Employers.

Queen’s Hospital Romford: Abuse

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many instances of abuse of hospital staff have been recorded at Queen’s Hospital, Romford, since its establishment. [167438]

Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the number of reported physical assaults on national health service staff in England 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 at Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust
Physical assaults

2004-05

143

2005-06

174

2006-07

137

Source:
National Health Service Security Management Service (NHS SMS)

A table showing the estimated number of reported violent incidents collected by the Department of Health for 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03 for each hospital trust in England is contained in the Survey of Reported Violent or Abusive Incidents, Accidents Involving Staff and Sickness Absence in NHS Trusts and Health Authorities, in England, which has been placed in the Library.


11 Dec 2007 : Column 535W

Radiotherapy: Finance

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what mechanism the additional £200 million allocated for increased radiotherapy capacity under the new NHS Cancer Reform Strategy will be allocated to individual (a) primary care trusts and (b) hospitals. [171904]

Ann Keen: £200 million is the annual cost to the national health service of radiotherapy services. To increase capacity and deliver world class treatment to cancer patients in England we will invest £130 million in new equipment and staff over the next three years.

The revenue component of the £130 million will be included in primary care trust (PCT) allocations, with PCTs agreeing funding to hospitals in line with locally agreed contracts.

The capital funding for improvements to cancer services is included within the total capital funding available to the NHS. The detail of how this investment will be delivered will be agreed as part of the NHS capital planning process.

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the potential effect on the incidence of seasonally affected depression of introducing British Summer Time in winter and Double British Summer Time in summer. [172285]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Seasonal affective disorder is thought to be related to the overall number of daylight hours a person experiences through the year. The introduction of British Summer Time alone would thus have no overall effect on its incidence.

Spectacles: Voucher Schemes

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider the merits of introducing NHS vouchers to meet the cost of sports glasses for those under 19 years of age and in full-time education. [166740]

Ann Keen: National health service optical vouchers are available to children under 16 and children aged 16, 17 and 18 in full-time education. Where optical vouchers have been issued following the testing of sight they are used towards the cost of a powered optical appliance which meets the needs identified in the sight test. This is intended to be for optical appliances which meet the everyday needs of the patient. Primary care trusts have the discretion to approve the issue of a second NHS optical voucher although this would only be in exceptional circumstances and based on clinical need. There are no plans to alter the current voucher arrangements.


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