House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 14 Jan 2008 (pt 0043)

14 Jan 2008 : Column 1012W—continued

Departmental Redundancy

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of redundancies in his Department in the 12 months preceding (a) 30 June 2004, (b) 30 June 2005 and (c) 30 June 2006. [175337]

Mr. Bradshaw: The requested information—organised with respect to financial years—is shown in the following table. Data for 2003-04 could be gathered only at disproportionate cost.

	Compulsory (£)	Voluntary (£)	Total (£)	Number of leavers
2004-05	18,808,078	4,334,777	23,142,855	200
2005-06	3,560,055	2,981,767	6,541,822	33

Departmental Sick Leave

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department (a) were disciplined and (b) had their employment terminated as a result of a poor sickness record in each of the last five years. [163701]

Mr. Bradshaw: Central human resources (HR) records do not hold the required information before 1 August 2006 as prior to that date the HR function was devolved and information was held only locally.

14 Jan 2008 : Column 1013W

The Department of Health manages long-term absence through a standard procedure based on accepted policy. Between 1 August 2006 and 31 March 2007, seven staff were taken through the procedure because of long-term absence due to ill-health.

Three of these returned to work with no subsequent recurring absence. The other four are still absent and are at various stages of the long-term sick policy procedure.

Since 1 August 2006 no staff have had their employment terminated as a result of a poor sickness record.

Doctors: Housing

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2007, Official Report, column 714W, on doctors: housing, which elements of the consultation between 1 October and 31 January referred (a) directly and (b) indirectly to the changes to the arrangements for accommodation for junior doctors. [172007]

Ann Keen: The requirement for doctors to be resident was contained within section 10 of the Medical Act. The consultation document contained a copy of the draft order which included a repeal of section 10.

There was also a section specifically relating to the new training and supervision requirements for recently qualified practitioners. This specifically referred to the new section 10A.

The consultation document also contained an invitation for interested parties to submit comments on any issues dealt with in the draft order.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2007, Official Report, column 714W, on doctors: housing, whether the Junior Doctors Committee supported the removal of free accommodation from junior doctors. [172009]

Ann Keen: Changes to the Medical Act, which removed the statutory requirement for residence were subject to consultation. The British Medical Association were involved in the consultation process and do not appear to have objected to the proposed revisions to the Act.

Doctors: Manpower

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many and what percentage of (a) doctors and (b) nurses employed by the NHS were (i) non-UK citizens and (ii) non-EU citizens in each year since 1997; [177407]

(2) how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses were recruited by the NHS from (i) non-EU countries and (ii) African countries in each year since 1999. [177408]

Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.

The Information Centre for health and social care does not collect data on the nationality of doctors
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working in the national health service but does collect data on their country of qualification group. The latest information can be found at table four of the ‘NHS Hospital and Community Health Services: Medical and Dental Staff England 1996-2006’, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. No similar information is collected for nurses.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (the regulatory body for nurses, midwives and health visitors) does not collect data on the nationality of registered nurses or midwives but does record the country of qualification of new registrants. The latest information is available in the document ‘Nursing and Midwifery Council, Statistical Analysis of the Register, 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006’, which is available in the Library. Registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council is not a guarantee of employment in the NHS and newly registered nurses and midwives may not be in the United Kingdom or working in the NHS.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time was for residential rehabilitation treatment for drug addicts (a) nationally and (b) in Plymouth in the most recent period for which figures are available. [177911]

Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available in the format it has been requested.

On average across England, 96 per cent. of people were able to access drug treatment in three weeks or under. Data on waiting times for substance misuse treatment for April to October 2007 show that 89 per cent. of clients entering all forms of drug treatment in Plymouth waited three weeks or under. These data are not broken down by individual types of drug treatment⁽¹⁾.

Latest information from Plymouth drug action team shows that 67 out of 68 referrals for 2007 up to mid December to enter residential rehabilitation treatment (including multiple presentations by the same person) commenced treatment within 21 days and the remaining one commenced treatment within 43 days.

The Department has made available £54.3 million of capital funding commencing in 2007 to support the expansion of residential based treatment services.

⁽¹⁾ Source:

National Drug Treatment Monitoring System.

Eyesight: Testing

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people received free eye tests in each London borough in each year since 1997. [172943]

Mr. Bradshaw: The information is not available in the format requested.

The total number of sight tests paid for by the national health service are available at health authority (HA) level for 1996-97 to 2002-03 (in table 1) and at strategic health authority (SHA) and primary care trust (PCT) level for 2003-04 to 2006-07 (table 2).

In both tables, figures are the total number of free sight tests and do not take into account individuals
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who may have had more than one sight test in the same area within the same time period.

Table 1: Total number of sight tests paid for by the NHS, by health authority, in London^{( 1)} between 1 April and 31 March in the specified years
Thousand
	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
London⁽¹⁾	998	1,023	1,003	1,239	1,254	1,244	1,205
Barking and Havering	53	52	53	72	74	77	81
Barnet	50	51	52	63	70	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—	157	146
Bexley and Greenwich	54	57	60	74	83	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—
Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—	146	144
Brent and Harrow	75	75	76	89	87	89	87
Bromley	37	38	39	58	61	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—
Camden and Islington	63	57	49	58	59	58	55
Croydon	47	46	46	60	60	56	56
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow	85	85	76	97	97	97	93
East London and the City	113	122	118	129	127	121	110
Enfield and Haringey	79	80	79	94	96	⁽²⁾—	⁽²⁾—
Hillingdon	32	32	32	45	44	48	48
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster	37	43	40	49	54	52	52
Kingston and Richmond	33	33	34	51	52	54	53
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham	93	94	88	106	105	103	98
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth	74	76	74	96	96	88	89
Redbridge and Waltham Forest	73	80	86	98	92	96	92
^{(1 )}London is the Government office region and is a sum of the HAs. ⁽²⁾ Not applicable. Note: Totals may not equal the sum of component parts due to rounding. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care