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22 Jan 2008 : Column 1919W—continued
Edgware Hospital
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to (a) expand and (b) improve services at Edgware Hospital as a consequence of the re-organisation of Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital NHS Trust; and if he will make a statement. [179011]
Mr. Bradshaw: The provision of services at Edgware Hospital is a matter for the local national health service.
However, we have been informed that Barnet Primary Care Trust (PCT) has recently developed a variety of services at Edgware Hospital which has helped to improve local access.
We have also been informed that the PCT will look to make further use of community hospital facilities in the light of the recent public consultation exercise on the future of acute services in Barnet, Enfield and Haringey.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made with changes to the Dennis Scott Unit at Edgware Hospital. [179070]
Mr. Bradshaw: The provision of services at Edgware hospital is a matter for the local national health service.
However, we have been informed that Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust started the current refurbishment programme of the Dennis Scott Unit at Edgware hospital in 2007, and plans to have the works completed by 2009.
Edgware Hospital: NHS Treatment Centres
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made with plans for independent treatment services at Edgware hospital; and if he will make a statement. [178063]
Mr. Bradshaw: In terms of the national Phase 2 independent sector treatment centre procurement, Edgware Community hospital is being considered as a potential site—among a number of other sites—for service delivery through the London North scheme. Discussions on the scheme, including potential sites for service delivery, continue between the Department and the local national health service.
General Practitioners: Barnet
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners (a) aged over 65 years and (b) aged over 70 years are in practice in Barnet; and if he will make a statement. [179020]
Mr. Bradshaw: The table shows the number of general practitioners aged over 60 years and 70 years in practice in Barnet.
| All general medical practitioners (GMPs) (excluding retainers and registrars)( 1 ) by specified age bands for selected area, as at 30 September 2006 | ||
| 5A9 | Barnet Primary Care Trust—2006 | Number (headcount) |
| (1) GMPs (excluding retainers and registrars) includes GP providers and GP others. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics | ||
General Practitioners: Enfield
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were seen by GP services, excluding out of hours services in (a) Enfield and (b) Enfield North constituency in each of the last 10 years. [169690]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not held centrally.
General Practitioners: Staffordshire
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve access to GP services in Staffordshire. [179495]
Mr. Bradshaw: North Staffordshire primary care trust (PCT) and South Staffordshire PCT will both be receiving additional investment from the £250 million access fund announced by the Secretary of State (Alan Johnson) on 10 October 2007 to procure a new general practitioner-led health centre each. These health centres, open 8 am to 8 pm seven days a week, will offer flexible appointments, walk-in and other services for either registered or non-registered patients.
Stoke PCT has been identified as one of the 25 per cent. of PCTs with poorest provision. Therefore they will receive new investment for new general practitioner (GP) practices and a health centre from the access fund.
In addition, the North Staffordshire Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) project, which covers the areas of North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent PCTs, is helping to improve access to GP services in that part of Staffordshire by developing modern, purpose-built primary care premises situated where patients can easily reach them. To date, four primary care centres have been opened under this LIFT project and two more are currently under construction.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) average and (b) highest number of patients registered with a GP in Staffordshire was in (i) 1997 and (ii) the most recent period for which figures are available. [179496]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information is not available in the format requested. This is because the general practitioner (GP) census collects the number of patients who are registered to a practice rather than a specific GP, therefore while it is possible to calculate an average GP list size, it is not possible to ascertain individual GP list sizes.
Data on GP numbers and registered patients has been set out in the following table.
| Number (headcount) | ||
| 1997 | 2006 | |
| (1) Data presented for organisations in existence in the specified years covering Staffordshire. (2) General medical practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars) includes GP providers and GP others. Data as at 1 October 1997, 30 September 2006. (3) GP census collects the number of patients who are registered to a practice rather than a specific GP. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics. | ||
Health Inequalities
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what indicators his Department uses to measure health inequalities. [180440]
Dawn Primarolo: The headline measures of infant mortality and life expectancy at birth are used to measure progress on the health inequalities national public service agreement target.
The “difference in all age all cause mortality between the England average and the fifth of areas with the worst health and deprivation indicators” is also used as a proxy for the inequalities gap in life expectancy at birth.
In addition, the Department measures progress on 12 cross-government headline indicators for health inequalities, listed as follows:
death rates from the big killers—cancer and circulatory disease;
teenage conception rate;
road accident casualty rates in disadvantaged communities;
numbers of primary care professionals;
uptake of flu vaccinations;
smoking among manual groups and among pregnant women;
educational attainment;
consumption of fruit and vegetables;
proportion in non-decent housing;
physical education and school sport;
children in poverty; and
homeless families living in temporary accommodation.
Progress on the headline indicators is reported in the ‘Tackling Health Inequalities: Status Report on the Programme for Action-2006 Update of Headline Indicators’, a copy of the Report has been placed in the Library.
Health Services
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times each member of his ministerial team has visited (a) an ambulance service trust, (b) a pharmacy, (c) a hospital ward and (d) an optician service since appointment. [166381]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Secretary of State (Alan Johnson) and other Ministers visit the full range of health and social care services, not all of which are captured in the following table.
The following table sets out how many times the Secretary of State and his ministerial team have visited an ambulance services trust, a pharmacy, a hospital ward and an optician service. This covers the period 28 June to 20 November 2007.
| Health Minister | Ambulance trust | Pharmacy | Hospital ward | Optician |
Health Services: Foreigners
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many foreign national patients were treated at (a) Barnet and Chase Farm, (b) Royal Free and (c) Northwick Park hospitals; how many such patients at each hospital were expected to pay for their treatment; how many have paid; how much has been paid in (i) each of the last two years and (ii) 2007-08 to date; and if he will make a statement. [179092]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information requested is not held centrally.
Anyone who is not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom is considered an overseas visitor and is subject to the “National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989”, as amended. These regulations place a responsibility on NHS hospitals to establish whether a person is ordinarily resident, or exempt from charges under one of a number of exemption categories, or liable for charges.
Health Services: Life Check Programme
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what services will be available to patients under his Department’s life check programme; [178263]
(2) how much has been spent on his Department’s life check programme; [178264]
(3) when he expects to make the life check programme available on a national basis; [178326]
(4) how many people have received check-ups under his Department’s life check pilots; [178327]
(5) in which pilot areas the mid-life NHS life check will initially be introduced; [179118]
(6) what progress he has made in evaluating and developing the early years, adolescent and mid-life NHS life check. [179127]
Dawn Primarolo: The national health service LifeCheck programme is based on a commitment in the ‘Our Health, Our Care, Our Say’ White Paper and three LifeChecks for teenagers, early years and mid-life are currently under development.
Using a straightforward questionnaire approach, the LifeChecks will assess current lifestyle behaviour, provide information on what to change, how to change and assist users in setting behaviour change goals. The LifeChecks will provide information about local services and a way of sharing the results of the questionnaire with health professionals. They will initially be available through the NHS Choices website.
More than £2 million has been spent on the national health service LifeCheck programme so far. This was for staffing costs, research, development, web site hosting, piloting and evaluation.
During the successful piloting of the TeenLifeCheck more than 17,000 persons have taken part and TeenLifeCheck is currently being revised to take account of the findings. This is expected to be ready for national roll out in 2008.
The Early Years LifeCheck is currently being readied for a two-month pilot. Subject to the findings of the pilot, we would anticipate that the tool would be readied for national roll out in 2008.
Development plans for the new Mid-life LifeCheck are currently being assessed in order to complement the Prime Minister’s vision for the NHS. This includes interfacing with and adding value to the new preventative health check-ups. Further plans will be announced in due course.
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