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24 Jan 2008 : Column 2238W—continued
NHS: PFI
David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) primary care trusts, (b) hospitals and (c) other NHS bodies are involved in litigation with private finance initiative contractors. [180725]
Mr. Bradshaw: There are no instances of legal proceedings taking place between an national health service body and a private finance initiative contractor.
NHS: Standards
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure patients (a) at Barnet and Chase Farm hospital, (b) at the Royal Free hospital, (c) at Edgware hospital and (d) in the NHS (i) are treated with dignity and respect and (ii) have their human rights observed. [179107]
Mr. Bradshaw: Treating service users with dignity and respect is an important part of hospital care. Hospitals are aware of the need to improve the way in which services are offered to promote dignity and are monitored against it through Healthcare Commission inspections.
I understand that in the most recent Healthcare Commission assessments, for 2006-07, Barnet primary care trust, Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals NHS trust and Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust all met all of the assessments criteria that relate to dignity and respect.
Northwick Park Hospital: Maternity Services
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made in improving maternity services at Northwick Park hospital; and if he will make a statement. [179016]
Mr. Bradshaw: The provision of maternity services at Northwick Park hospital is a matter for the local national health service.
In 2005, the Department introduced “special measures” at the maternity unit at Northwick Park hospital following a report from the Healthcare Commission. Following improvements to the service, these were lifted on 30 September 2006.
We have been informed that the NHS Litigation Authority has recently awarded the maternity unit at Northwick Park hospital level 2, the highest level being 3, in the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts—a national scheme to gauge the safety of clinical care, meaning that the
‘maternity service proactively uses internal and external information to improve clinical care’.
Nurse Family Partnerships
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to extend the services offered by nurse-family partnerships. [180230]
Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.
Over the 2007 spending review period we will be investing £30 million to:
Conduct the final year of the small scale testing phase of the family nurse partnership (called nurse-family partnership in the US), begun in March 2007 on 10 sites in England and running until March 2009;
increase the number of sites testing and delivering the family nurse partnership intervention in England by 20 sites in 2008-09, with the decision about possible further expansion in subsequent years being informed by evaluation outcomes from operating the first 30 sites;
conduct a research trial into the impact of the family nurse partnership in England; and
support integration of the family nurse partnership into the universal child health promotion programme.
Nurses: Training
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many training posts for nurses specialising in (a) inflammatory bowel disease, (b) upper gastrointestinal cancer, (c) lower gastrointestinal cancer, (d) stoma care and (e) liver disease there were in the last five years. [178033]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.
The annual national health service workforce census does not separately identify the number of post-registration training posts from the rest of the nursing workforce.
The Government have supported the development of a range of specialist roles within nursing. However it is for local NHS organisations to commission training places and to deploy specialist nurses in accordance with their local needs.
Osteoporosis: Females
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women have been diagnosed with osteoporotic fractures in each age cohort in the London region in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [178417]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not held centrally.
Physiotherapy: Barnet
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve access to physiotherapy services in Barnet; and if he will make a statement. [177997]
Ann Keen: The provision of physiotherapy services in Barnet is the responsibility of the local national health service.
Nationally, the Department is implementing a therapies improvement programme to improve the available information and data management, and improve access to services provided by allied health professionals. This includes the development of a tool designed to improve access to physiotherapy services.
The Department is also collaborating with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy to pilot introducing self-referral to physiotherapy.
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Stanmore
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future of the Royal National Orthopaedic hospital, Stanmore. [178070]
Mr. Bradshaw: The future of the Royal National Orthopaedic hospital (RNOH) is a matter for the local national health service (NHS).
However, I am informed that NHS London's Capital Investments Committee discussed proposals for the future of the Royal National Orthopaedic hospital in a meeting on 14 January 2008. The Capital Investments Committee confirmed that it is seeking an outline business case for development of the RNOH's Stanmore site. NHS London expects to receive a fully worked up outline business case from the Trust by the end of February 2008.
Screening
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the number of adults who received a regular check up on the NHS in the latest period for which figures are available; [167792]
(2) how many more adults in each year from 2007-08 to 2010-11 he expects will receive a regular check-up on the NHS; and how frequently each adult will receive these check-ups; [167793]
(3) by what date he expects his programme for every adult to receive a regular check-up on the NHS to be fully implemented; [167794]
(4) what guidance he has issued to trusts to ensure that every adult receives a regular NHS check-up. [167795]
Mr. Bradshaw: The General Medical Services contract requires general practitioner practices to:
invite all newly registered patients for a consultation within six months of registration;
provide, on request, a consultation to all patients aged 75 or over who have not had a consultation within the last 12 months; and
provide, on request, a consultation for patients aged 16 to 74 who have not had a consultation within the last three years.
There are no data collected centrally on the number of adults who receive such consultations.
The Department is currently developing proposals for a screening programme. The purpose of the screening programme will be to identify people’s levels of risk for cardiac and vascular disease so that they can be offered preventive measures.
The exact nature of a vascular risk assessment and management programme—and the operational timescales for implementing the programme—are still the subject of developmental work.
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